Worrying About Tomorrow – a Sermon on the 2nd Sunday Before Lent
Rev Darren’s sermon from the second Sunday before Lent, on Matthew 6:25-end
Darren begins with Jesus’ words from Matthew 6: “Do not worry about tomorrow,” and sets them alongside the anxious times in which we live – wars, climate fears, global uncertainty, health concerns, money worries, work stress and relationship troubles. He acknowledges that simply telling people “don’t worry” can be deeply unhelpful, especially for those going through difficult times, and that Christians can sometimes feel added guilt, as though worry means they lack faith.
The sermon’s central move is to read Matthew 6 alongside Matthew 26, where Jesus prays in the Garden of Gethsemane on the night before his death. Darren notes that although Jesus says not to worry about tomorrow, Jesus himself is shown facing tomorrow’s suffering with deep grief and anguish. This tells us, first, that it is okay not to be okay; second, that Jesus truly understands human anxiety and suffering; and third, that faith is not the belief that nothing bad will happen, but trust that God is with us whatever happens.
The sermon then turns to the Eucharist as the place where Christians remember Jesus’ body broken like bread and his life poured out like wine. In sharing the bread and wine, we are reminded that the broken, poured-out and risen Christ is still with us, sharing his life and love with us and through us. In anxious times, Darren says, our hope is not a neat formula or simple answer, but Jesus himself, promising that nothing will ultimately separate us from God’s life and love.