Sermon Preached by The Reverend Robert Green 8th February 2026

Isn’t it interesting that after all this time, this passage from the Sermon on the Mount, which was our Gospel reading this morning, resonates with us today. ‘Don’t worry’.  It is all too easy to say, but not so easy to practice. Somehow our lives are caught up with daily concerns, deadlines to meet, finance, health matters, you name it. Here we need to take stock, and look at the examples that Jesus gives us. No doubt from his own experience of life. He had seen the birds wheeling around, high upon the currents of air in the Galilean hills, simply enjoying being alive. He realised that they never did the sort of work that humans did, and yet they mostly stayed alive and well. He had noticed the abundance of flowers growing in the fertile Galilean soil, and held his breath at their fragile beauty, and yet one sweep of a scythe or the trampling of an animal, and they are gone. Where did its beauty come from? It didn’t spend hours in front of a mirror putting on make-up or go shopping for fine clothes. It was simply glorious, God-given, beautiful.  

When Jesus told his followers not to worry about tomorrow, we must assume he led them by example. He was clearly someone who could live totally in the present moment, celebrating the goodness of God in the here and now, and he wanted his followers to do the same. When he urged them to make God their priority, it’s important to realise which god he is talking about. His God is not remote and distant from the world, and doesn’t care about beauty and life and food and clothes. His God is the one who created this beauty and surrounded us with wonder and mysterious creatures, a world full of excitement and energy who wants his human beings to trust him and love him, and receive their own love and excitement and energy from him.

When Jesus said we are not to worry about what we eat or drink, or wear, it didn’t mean that these were not important, they don’t matter. Nor does it mean that we should eat and drink as little as possible, and wear any old clothes, because we despise such things. No far from it, for we know that Jesus liked a party, and when he was stripped of his clothes before being nailed to the cross, the soldiers threw dice for his garment; it clearly was of good quality. It is all a question of priorities. If we put the world first, it is transient and perishable. If we put God first, then ‘all these things will be given to you as well’. 

It is all a matter of trust. I am an only child, and as I grew up my parents were inclined to be over protective, so much so that I didn’t think that they really trusted me, Even when I was at university, any mail that was forwarded to me at college had always been opened first. I resolved from that experience that I would always try to trust people. Sometimes I have been let down, but mostly it has been rewarding, and with my own children, family life was built on trusting each other, especially as they grew up. For those who have had major negative experiences in their lives, especially if they have had an uncaring or abusive father, trusting God can be hard, and requires a totally different outlook as they begin a life of faith. On a slightly lighter note, one new Christian was asked what is her memory of her father, and she replied he was always hiding behind a newspaper!

Putting our trust in God, does not mean we are then immune from the trials and disappointments of human life, but because we have that trust, he can help us work through whatever it is. Because we are surrounded by so many anxious and worried people, we as Christians can show that there is a different way of dealing with the problems and difficulties that may beset us. Not long ago I was in conversation with a confirmed atheist who knew I was a Christian, and he remarked that he always admired Christians in their confident and positive attitude to life. That is because we can put our trust in God.  As the chorus puts it based on this bible passage: ‘Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you, Alleluia!’