Dr. James O. Chatham--Consider The Lilies Of  The Field

Matthew 6:25-33; Luke 12:13-21

"Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They neither toil nor spin, yet even King Solomon in all his glory was never arrayed like one of these. If God so clothes the grass of the field, which lives today, and tomorrow dies, how much more will God clothe you? Must you have so little faith? Do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or "What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' God knows what you need! Seek first the kingdom of God, and your needs will be provided."

Impossible to live by! I have never seen anyone do it! There is no way we are not going to have anxiety about the future. Jesus' Sermon on the Mount includes several exhortations that seem highly unrealistic: love your enemies; if someone strikes you, turn the other cheek; do not judge others; do not look upon persons of the opposite sex with lust. Which one of us can claim to have followed these faithfully? But this exhortation seems the most impossible of all: do not be anxious about tomorrow; remember the lilies of the field!

Impossible, and yet so very attractive. Which of us would not like to live this way? Not beset by worry. Not anxious. Trusting the future to God.

Kristy Hubert told of working in Yucatan. "No one there had anything," she said; "they were all poor. But they didn't worry about it!  They had community, a binding spirit, a mutual caring that was vital and alive. They were all in it together and that was their great strength!"

Consider the lilies of the field. If you want to see an unhappy life look at a person who has great possessions and who spends most of life trying to keep it. Several years ago, I was talking with a man I knew,  and I said, "How are things going for you?" He said, "Not so good. I'm worried!" "Why?" I said. "My daughter is getting married." "That's wonderful!" I replied. "No, it isn't," he said. "He's from a different background, and I have this uneasy feeling he is trying to get our money."

Consider the lilies of the field. I tell you now a personal story. I was born of English/Scotch ancestors, the Chathams and the Baileys of England and the Poindexters of Scotland. Flowing deeply in our veins is an innate wariness, a wariness over life around us and over the future. I figure that for centuries we had to defend ourselves against both the hostilities of the severe Scottish environment and the threat of barbarian attack. And this made us a cautious, wary people.

Add to that, once we reached this country, the Great Depression. My father and mother, were newly married young adults when the stock market crashed. My sister was born four years after the crash and I eight years later, while life was still very uncertain. So I was raised in a setting of great caution. Being careful, always scouting ahead. Plotting inwardly how best to negotiate the future -- which translates into anxiety.

I remember vividly one summer when I was in college. Six of us who were engineering students had good summer jobs,  and we were reasonably well paid. Toward the end of the summer, three of our number instigated a plan: let's all go to Myrtle Beach the final week of the summer and celebrate, before we have to dive back into the rigors of academic demand. It sounded great! But I begged out. While I'm making this kind of income I thought to myself, I need to work as long as I can. Always cautious, always plotting the future.

The most liberating time in my life came when I finally discovered how much I was robbing myself - when I finally crawled out, at least some, from beneath that suffocating blanket of future fixation.

Consider the lilies of the field. Anxiety steals from us the most valuable thing we possess: this moment! This time right now! Anxiety robs of us of relationships with other people - our attention is elsewhere, and we aren't there. Anxiety robs us of enjoyment ‑ life is simply no fun. Anxiety robs us of meaning -- we miss so much of what is happening. Anxiety steals from us this moment.

How do we diminish anxiety? How do we stop worrying about the future and give ourselves a chance in the present?

The world tells us that we do that by building a big stash.  Like that man in the Bible story. Build bigger barns. Create a nest egg. Buy insurance. Build a diversified portfolio. In some measure, it is certainly true. I would rather have a few shekels to depend on than nothing. But, does that solve the problem? Does possession make us like lilies of the field?

Our Biblical text suggests a different way. In Jesus' words, "Seek the kingdom of God." Translated, that means to me: Adopt into your life a purpose for which you live, a purpose that is greater than your insecurities. Devote yourself to a cause that will transcend your self‑occupation. Let God take hold of you and point you in a direction that will give your life such meaning and such purpose that your anxieties no longer own you.

Anne Braden, recently honored by the Governor of Kentucky for her accomplishments in civil rights, says that the turning point in her life came when she decided that she was not going to worry about her future, that she was going to devote herself to the cause of human justice and let her security take care of itself.

There is a concept that I find vital to human life. The concept is: enough. The unhappiest people I know are those who are never able to figure out what enough is. Those who know its meaning are blessed. Like lilies of the field, they are arrayed in glory. May God grant us the wisdom.

Dr. James O. Chatham, Highland Presbyterian Church, Louisville, KY 40204

Christian Observer, September 2002