ARE YOU WORRIED?

 The gospel  passage at today's mass (Saturday) is a treatise about worrying (Mt 6:24-34), Since the summer heat is wearing me down, I’m taking a shortcut and presenting a chapter from my book “Walking in Valleys of Darkness.” 

It's no wonder that ours is sometimes called "The Age of Anxiety." Everyone, it seems, is worried about something -- or probably about a lot of things. The pressures of daily living in a complex society – balancing job and family, providing for a secure economic future, concern for the safety and education of our children leave us feeling anxious. We stopped worrying over a nuclear showdown in the "cold war" with the Soviet Union only to be faced with the new worry of global terrorism in our cities, and warnings about drug-resistant diseases that could wipe us out.   

Since the NT word for “worry,” merimnao, comes up a dozen times, we can get some idea of the kinds of things that the people in the early Christian churches worried about. The first Christians probably a lot of the same things you and I do! In the story of Martha and Mary, Jesus points out to the harried hostess Martha, “you worry (merimnao) and fret over many things, but only one is necessary. (Lk 10:41)”

Before looking further at how the word is used, though, it would be helpful to know that the Greek New Testament verb merimnao, and the noun form merimna come from the verb merizo, “to divide,” to draw in different directions. By extension merizo means “to distract.” in the sense of “to divide someone’s attention, to cause them to go off in a different direction.” 

To be worried is, then, to be distracted from something. Martha in the passage quoted above was distracted from the opportunity to listen to God Incarnate in her own living room and soak in his words. 

Worries can distract us from many important things. In the parable of the Sower, the seed gets sown among thorns gets choked off. The thorns, Our Lord explained, are the worries (merimna) of this world that distract us from the Word sown in our hearts. In another place Jesus warns, “Take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be overcome with surfeiting and drunkenness and the worries (merimna) of this life, and that day catch you unawares. (Lk 21:34)”  

It's true that worries can distract us from paying attention to God’s word, and can leave us unprepared for the coming of the Lord on the last day, but the bible is clear that not all anxiety is bad.

There is a kind of anxiety that is a natural part of loving and caring about someone This is the kind of anxiety that can push us closer to God. Paul tells the Philippians that he hopes to send them Timothy, the only one who is concerned about (merimnao) them the way Paul himself is (Phil. 2:20). In his list of his sufferings as an apostle Paul includes, along with shipwrecks, floods, hunger and thirst, his “anxiety” (merimna) for all the churches. (II Cor. 11:28)" 

What makes worry harmful is its power to distract us from our true goal in life. However, at least in Paul’s eyes, to be deeply concerned and even anxious for a brother or sister is not a distraction from our true mission, but is in fact something we ought to feel toward one another as Christians! He tells the Corinthians that the parts of Christ’s body should have concern (merimnao) for one another (I Cor. 12:25).

What kind of help does the bible offer to keep anxiety from distracting us from our truly important concerns? There are two texts that offer some insight. The First Letter of Peter tells the community to be humble, because God resists the proud. “And all of you, clothe yourselves with humility in your dealings with one another, for: 'God opposes the proud but bestows favor on the humble.' So humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time. Cast all your worries (merimna) upon him because he cares for you. (I Pet. 5:5-7)” 

The writer connects worrying with pride. He seems to be telling us to be more humble, and stop trying to be so much in control of everything and cast our care on the Lord instead. Let God worry about it! Not such bad advice for worriers. 

In the Letter to the Philippians Paul offers a second bit of advice about how to handle worries: “The Lord is coming soon. Have no anxiety at all [= do not worry (merimnao)], but in all things, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Phil. 4:6-7)” Notice that peace comes only after you make your requests known to God. Once we include the Lord in the situation everything changes: our worries become gifts! They give us a reason to get close to God in prayer, and opportunity to admit our neediness and our dependence on God. They can lead us to the peace that surpasses all understanding – and that overcomes all anxiety.

Read Mt. 6:25-34, the section of the Sermon on the Mount that contains a treatise on worrying. Some form of the word merimnao comes up half a dozen times in those ten verses, including “Let tomorrow worry (merimnao) about itself” so that you don’t get distracted from the opportunities of today.

Read Lk 12:11 in which Jesus advises “When they bring you to trial before the synagogue do not worry (merimnao) about how you will answer or what you are to say. It will be given you at that time.” “Don’t be distracted from your present apostolic task,” he seems to be saying, “by worrying about your trial.” Have you ever been so distracted by anxiety that you lost your focus on important tasks at hand? Is there anything right now that is causing you a great amount of concern? Make up a prayer to the Lord and ask him to take that worry over for you so that you may have peace can be about the important business of being Christ to others.