Collect
Almighty God, you have created the heavens and the earth and made us in your own image: teach us to discern your hand in all your works and your likeness in all your children; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit reigns supreme over all things, now and for ever.
or
Almighty God, give us reverence for all creation and respect for every person, that we may mirror your likeness in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Post Communion
God our creator, by your gift the tree of life was set at the heart of the earthly paradise, and the bread of life at the heart of your Church: may we who have been nourished at your table on earth be transformed by the glory of the Saviour’s cross and enjoy the delights of eternity; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Psalm
1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is gracious,♦
for his mercy endures for ever.
2 Give thanks to the God of gods,♦
for his mercy endures for ever.
3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords,♦
for his mercy endures for ever;
4 Who alone does great wonders,♦
for his mercy endures for ever;
5 Who by wisdom made the heavens,♦
for his mercy endures for ever;
6 Who laid out the earth upon the waters,♦
for his mercy endures for ever;
7 Who made the great lights,♦
for his mercy endures for ever;
8 The sun to rule the day,♦
for his mercy endures for ever;
9 The moon and the stars to govern the night,♦
for his mercy endures for ever;
23 Who remembered us when we were in trouble,♦
for his mercy endures for ever;
24 And delivered us from our enemies,♦
for his mercy endures for ever;
25 Who gives food to all creatures,♦
for his mercy endures for ever.
26 Give thanks to the God of heaven,♦
for his mercy endures for ever.
Psalm 136
The OT lesson is Genesis 1.1 – 2.3
Epistle
I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labour pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
Romans 8.18–25
Gospel
‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, “What will we eat?” or “What will we drink?” or “What will we wear?” For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
‘So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.’
Matthew 6.25–34
Sermon on Second Sunday before Lent
‘So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.’
What do these words mean? On the surface, people consider them a licence to have no cares in the world, that we should be “as happy as Larry”. However, I don’t think this is the case at all because these people are considering only that first phrase, “so do not worry about tomorrow”.
But the whole of the verse of the bible says that we will always have troubles, even today. These are the things that should concern us, not those things that are beyond our control – tomorrow’s affairs. Today we can do something about the problems of today. Tomorrow is not in hand like today is. When we say “mañana”, don’t we say it will never come? Tomorrow is like yesterday, when “all my troubles seem so far away.” Perhaps Lennon and McCartney have a lot to teach us about the cares of the world. Yesterday’s concerns can follow us and blight today, as the song sings. She had to go and she wouldn’t say. Perhaps I said something wrong? I am only half the man I used to be. Love was such an easy game to play, now I long for yesterday …
The song is so short, but it is powerful for it brings together two of the most powerful things in life, love and regret. We all know about our love for the one who has walked away, and how we regret what was in the past because it was perfect. Now we hide away in shadows today because time has taken over. Love and regret, they can hang together in life. We all know this, don’t we? – We need only look at past loves, or just at our families. True regret lingers there, doesn’t it? And in that regret may hide rancour, which spoils all memory and hope.
Lennon and McCartney are stuck in our usual state of mind, our normal regret of the past and our fear for the future. We think the cares of the past will be compounded in the future. We long for something that had never been. We fear the future as we try to grasp the past fleeing away to wherever time flies.
‘Why?’ is the question we always ask about the past and its failures, and we then ask it about the future, when we speculate on what could go wrong tomorrow.
Well, happy Larry might say “What could possibly go wrong?” Larry may be, just as deluded as we are, as we sing about how inadequate we feel. On the contrary, we are not unsatisfactory at all. We may have been dealt a blow and we are reeling under its burden. The weight of yesterday threatens to obliterate us – at least that is what we think with Lennon and McCartney.
But what of tomorrow? Jesus considers our consternation about the future, that worry which adds nothing to what the facts of life are. He says the present is all we can deal with. Jesus’ words should waken us to “Today”. Today is the only day we should be worried about because we can do something about it. This, I think, is the meaning of our verse. We repeat a verse from the OT every day in Matins, “Today, if you would only hear his voice …” Jesus speaks with the OT prophets with respect to being in the moment – he asks us to wake ourselves up to Today.
Jesus speaks about all the everyday worries we have, but he dismisses our anxiety about them, doesn’t he?
‘But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.’
Our everyday concerns will be taken care of, if we strive for something greater than just those worries. Our attention should be on those intangibles which give life sense, or meaning, or value. With that greater concern, our everyday worries are put into their place, and we strive for something greater than the clothes we hang on ourselves or the food we gorge.
However, who does not worry about those things which consume the Gentiles? I know we all do at some time. But there is a majority who do not. Who are they? – the childlike. Children do not worry about their clothing or the food they want to eat. Their needs are immediate. If they are cold, they will wear what they have. If they are hungry, they will eat what they are given (usually). Children deal with what is there in front of them. They don’t look for problems, they don’t manufacture excuses. They are immediate and problem solving in that moment. They do not project the past into a possible future. They forget what has happened and don’t anticipate what might come. They deal with the present in ways we “adults” find charming and amusing.
Children are like those flowers of the field, the grass all around us. They neither toil nor spin, but live their lives in the splendour of the greatest of kings. Jesus tells us that those beautiful blooms are of no great moment, for they fade and are thrown into the fire. But humanity is more significant than the lilies of the field. Jesus assures us that we will be cared for in the moment of our greatest need, if we are willing to seek the kingdom first.
We have faith that grace will come when we are at our lowest ebb and that we will be transported. All the cares of past, present and future will pass away and the very real rewards of life will be revealed – not what the gentiles grasp for, but that life in all its fullness which Jesus promises.
So, I think we must become childlike. We have to enjoy life in all its fullness as it unfolds in front of us, just as our children do. They accept what they have to wear, they eat what is in front of them, they enjoy the company of all the people around them. Our children up to a certain age are innocent and can teach us a great deal. When they “grow up” they become just like us adults, worrying about the future, regretting the past, and paralysed into inaction because of the troubles of the present.
I want to be that child whom Jesus uses as an example for his disciples. I want to be that innocent who has been plucked out of the crowd to enter the kingdom, a saint whose vision is clear and whose purpose is true. I want to be that child about whom Jesus speaks, don’t you?
With Lennon and McCartney, I would like to sing “all my troubles are so far away”, but I would rather believe that I am a whole person, one standing happily in the here and now, living immediately in the full light of the truth of past and and the grace of the future just like you.
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