Anxious Toil - Ministry Exchange (MX)

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Anxious Toil

Read slowly and prayerfully

MATTHEW 6. 25-34 ANXIETY AND TRUST

If you decide for God, living a life of God-worship, it follows that you
don’t fuss about what’s on the table at mealtimes or whether the clothes in
your closet are in fashion. Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not
tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count
far more to Him than birds. Instead of looking at the fashions, walk out
into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop, but
have you ever seen color and design quite like it? ...If God gives such
attention to the appearance of wildflowers-most of which are never even
seen—don’t you think He’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do His best
for you? “What I’m trying to get you to do here is to get you to relax, to
not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving.
People who don’t know God and the way He works fuss over these things, but
you know both God and how He works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-
initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all
your everyday human concerns will be met. Give your entire attention to
what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may
not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come
up when the time comes.

—The Message, Eugene
Peterson

Prayerfully consider the passage and your life.

What are the things you are tempted to fuss over? What are the patterns to this fussing? What are the fears that occupy your mind and heart that keep you from
relaxing? Do these fears reveal something about how you view yourself? How does this passage address those fears? Do your fears and fussing reveal something about how you view God? (You might send a lot of time meditating on the connections between your places of anxiety and you view of God.) Does Jesus give you a different picture of God? Awareness of the presence of the Divine instills gentleness in the human soul. This same gentleness seems in turn to deepen awareness of the Presence that evoked this feeling in the first place. The key to a gentle life style, that pervades all thoughts, feelings and actions, seems to be a continuous awareness of the Divine Presence. . Gentleness is an attitude of letting be, combined with a patient abiding with myself or with the person, task, or problem God calls me to be involved in. This attitude leads to peace and contentment. I can be busily engaged in a demanding task like writing a paper, organizing a business deal, fighting for a cause and yet be gentle inwardly. One condition is to keep in tune with the real me and with my real life situation and not to become a prisoner of my projects or of the outcome of my task. It is unrealistic to strive after something I cannot reach without overextending myself. Such efforts wear me out. I feel frustrated when I cannot reach goals too sublime for me. Even when I achieve such goals, frustration may still result. I may have so depleted myself by vehement strife that I cannot enjoy my success. It may seem meager in comparison to all I had to go through to make this achievement come true. For too long a time I may have used my life as merely a tool for achievement in the eyes of others. In spite of momentary success, I suffer the frustration of a vehement or willful life. In contrast, the gentle attitude leaves room for what is more than mere usefulness. When I am willful instead of gentle, I program my life. Things are not allowed to appear to me as they are. The willful man squeezes every experience in a tight little box tied up with unbreakable strings. His mind becomes a store house of these little air tight compartments.. He does not allow any new situation to touch the content of his store. What he has done is to forfeit his ability to abide with things as if for the first time. He moves through life as a programmed computer lacking any sense of wonder. A vehement or willful person cannot “let go” in prayer, love, or play. The most relaxing activity becomes just another form of work for him. He brings to love or play the same demands for accomplishment that deaden his daily life. Soon his spirit dies too. The gentle person is more free. . In living the gentle life,.it becomes easier for me to pray, to meditate, to stay attuned to God’s presence.” Spirituality and the Gentle Life— Adrian Van Kaam PSALM 127 If Yahweh does not build a house in vain do its builders toil. If Yahweh does not guard a city in vain does its guard keep watch. In vain you get up earlier, and put off going to bed, sweating to make a living, since it is he who provides for his beloved as they sleep. Sons are a birthright from Yahweh, children are a reward from him. Like arrows in a warrior’s hand are the sons you father when young. How blessed is the man who has filled his quiver with them; in dispute with his enemies at the city gate he will not be worsted.

Do two things with this Psalm-read meditatively using the Lectio Divina
pattern and then consider the questions at the bottom of the page.

(LECTIO DIVINA

Read Scripture devotionally, slowly praying through what you are
reading. In many ways this method is as much letting the passage read you,
as you reading the passage. The following is a method of reading scripture
that is 1700 years old. It is called “Lectio Divina” which simply means
“divine reading”. It is a meditative reading encourages you to engage your
heart as well as your head. It can be practiced in groups or individually. Prepare: Take a moment to come fully into the present. Sit comfortably, alert and relaxed. Try, if you can to put away your thoughts of the day and assume a listening open posture. 1. Hear the word that is addressed to you. First, read the passage twice. Listen for the word or phrase that attract you from the passage. Don’t analyze the passage for the key work, that is work that is done at another time. Here just hang on to the word or phrase that jumps out at you. Repeat this word or phrase over to yourself softly for one about one minute. (If you are in a group the leader should signal after a minute, and every one in the group say aloud only that word of phrase with no elaboration.) 2. Ask how is my life touched by this word? Read the passage a third time. Listen to discover how your life is touched by this passage. During two minutes of silence consider the possibilities, or receive a sensory perception. For example you may feel cold or warm. One time when I was praying through a passage where Jesus was getting out of a boat I had a strong sense of the smell of fish. (If in a group, the leader gives a signal asking each member to share their perception with the phrases “I am touched by… ,” “I hear…,” “I see…,” “I sense…,”—or you may pass.) 3. Ask, “Is there an invitation here for me?” Read the passage for the fourth time. Listen to discover a possible invitation relevant to today (or the next few days). Ponder it during several minutes of silence, in fact do not leave this place until you feel you have heard all there is for you. (If in a group, the leader, after ample time gives a signal, and each member shares about their sense of invitation—OR you may pass) 4. Pray for yourself or one another that you will be able to respond. . With the other passage you have been looking at the “vanity” of toil- here the Psalmist connects the gift of children to the temptation of toiling without Yahweh. Why? How are children related? Is there an angle into this toiling issue in thinking about your own children, or in thinking about children in general that you know?
MAKING OUR HOME (Abiding) IN HIS PRESENCE:
JOHN 15.1-17 THE VINE AND THE BRANCHES “I am the Real Vine and my Father is the Farmer. He cuts off every
branch of me that doesn’t bear grapes. And every branch that is grape-
bearing he prunes back so it will bear even more. You are already pruned
back by the message I have spoken. “Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you. In the same
way that a branch can’t bear grapes by itself but only by being joined to
the vine, you can’t bear fruit unless you are joined with me. “I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you’re joined with me
and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to
be abundant. Separated, you can’t produce a thing. Anyone who separates
from me is deadwood, gathered up and thrown on the bonfire. But if you
make yourselves at home with me and my words are at home in you, you can be
sure that whatever you ask will be listened to and acted upon. This is how
my Father shows who he is-when you produce grapes, when you mature as my
disciples. “I’ve loved you the way my Father has loved me. Make yourselves at
home in my love. If you keep my commands, you’ll remain intimately at home
in my love. That’s what I’ve done-kept my Father’s commands and made
myself at home in his love. “I’ve told you these things for a purpose: that my joy might be your joy,
and your joy wholly mature. This is my command: Love one another the way I
loved you. This is the very best way to love. Put your life on the line
for your friends. You are my friends when you do the things I command you. I’m no longer calling you servants because servants don’t understand what
their master is thinking and planning. No, I’ve named you friends because
I’ve let you in on everything I’ve heard from the Father. “You didn’t choose me, remember; I chose you, and put you in the
world to bear fruit, fruit that won’t spoil. As fruit bearers, whatever
you ask the Father in relation to me, he gives you. “But remember the root command: Love one another.” The Message, EugenePeterson How at home with Christ are you currently? Is your obedience and activity an expression of making your home in Christ’s love or something else? How can you better make your home in Christ’s love? Are there disciplines you need to employ, attitudes you need transformed, fears you need to be alleviated? Think about the things that make you feel homeless. “Jesus, The Very Thought of Thee” JESUS, the very thought of Thee With sweetness fills my breast; But sweeter far thy face to see, And in thy presence rest. JESUS, our only joy be Thou, As thou our prize will be: JESUS, be thou our glory now, And through eternity. Bernard of Clairvaux
PRAY PSLAM 130

Other scripture if needed: Eph. 5.1-2; I Jn. 3.1-3, 11-24; Psalm 145. 13b-
21; Psalm 31.1-8
– THE BREAD OF ANXIOUS TOIL – The fourteen-hour workday is a perfect metaphor for a way of life so
ingrained in our culture that it has virtually become a status symbol. It
is as if the busier we are, the more important we must be. I wonder how
many of us feel that our lives are justified only if we are continually
occupied, flying from one activity to another, from one urgent task to the
next. Our cultural values urge us toward a perverse pride in being
overextended. If work is good, more work must be better! Isn’t it how
much we accomplish that gives us our worth? If we believe this, we can
keep ourselves near the borders of exhaustion in the name of productivity,
commitment, and responsibility. We can even do it in the name of God’s
“will!”
The second verse of Psalm 127 is quite challenging: “It is vain that you
rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for
God gives to his beloved, even while they sleep.”

Within this world, work is a necessity, and within the church, active
service is an expression of our call. The problem is not work or service.
The problem is the pervasive anxiety that we have too much to accomplish in
too little time; the worry that what we do will be inadequate,
unappreciated, not thought “good enough.” It is inner turmoil, felt in the
rush and pressure of conflicting concerns, that does us violence.

“It is vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of
anxious toil.” The bread of anxious toil-isn’t that a choice description of
what we try to sustain ourselves with? We can literally fill ourselves
with it, day after day, gulping it down in guilty haste. It is not the
toil, but the anxiety that distorts God’s glory in our lives. God’s
goodness and love are obscured by anxiety; anxiety refuses to believe that
the Lord “gives to his beloved, even as they sleep.” Isn’t that a lovely
description of pure grace-unearned and un-earnable? God delights in
children who trust enough to rest in peace, knowing they are embraced by
divine care….

In our rapidly changing society, we are especially obsessed with what lies
ahead. Why else would we expend so much energy forecasting the economy
like weather? Why is much of American religious culture fixated on the
Book of Revelation? Why do mainline church leaders try so hard to predict
the future of our denominations? We want to know outcomes in advance.
Why? Is it not so that we can be as much in control as possible?

Our anxiety about tomorrow seems to be connected to a rather astounding
conviction that we could handle things better than God, given half a
chance. Maybe that’s why some of us take chances wherever we can find
them. We keep trying to occupy the driver’s seat in this universe. But
the seat is just too big for us. So our need for control turns around to
terrify and enslave us. It is very stressful to have to be in control of
everything! ...

I hope we’ll catch on to the idea that “the bread of anxious toil” is not
so necessary as we imagine it to be. Certainly it is no source of
sustenance! It is a bitter food, draining away courage, dissipating our
energy, sapping away joy and gratitude, and leaving us brooding and
exhausted. The bread of anxious toil is truly miserable fare!

Thank God there is another kind of bread-an antidote to the slow poison of
anxiety. There is a bread that nourishes us to the core. It refreshes the
spirit, calms the mind, heals us, body and soul. Even in the midst of
trying circumstances, it offers love strong enough to cast out fear,
inspire trust, restore joy, bring peace. This is the Bread of Life,
Christ, our God incarnate: “O taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed
are all who trust in Him.” (Ps. 34:8) To taste the Bread of Life is to know
quiet confidence in the midst of frantic activity and confusion.
-Marjorie J. Thompson
“I meant to accomplish a good bit today—instead I keep thinking: Will the
next generations of people remember to drain the pipes in the fall? I will
leave them a note.”
Teaching a Stone to Talk- Annie Dillard
Be not anxious! Earthly possessions dazzle our eyes and delude us into
thinking that they can provide security and freedom from anxiety. Yet all
the time they are the very source of all anxiety If our hearts are set on
them, our reward is an anxiety whose burden is intolerable. Anxiety
creates its own treasures and they in turn beget further care. When we
seek for security in possessions we are trying to drive out care with care
and the net result is the precise opposite of our anticipation. The
fetters that bind us to our possessions prove to be cares themselves.
The Cost of Discipleship -Dietrich Bonhoffer “FIRST THINGS” For too long we have thought of the Christian life as essentially either
involvement in political, economic, social concerns that wear us out and
result in depression or activity which keeps the church intact and
doctrinally pure. Our primary orientation cannot be to an institution or
some great cause or even other people, but first and forever to God.
Unless our identity is hid in God we will never know who we are or what we
are to do. Our first act must be prayer, Oratio. To be human is to pray,
to meditate both day and night on the love and activity of God. We are
called to be continuously formed and transformed by the thought of God
within us. Prayer is a disciplined dedication to paying attention.
Without the single minded attentiveness of prayer we will rarely hear
anything worth repeating or catch a vision worth asking anyone else to gaze
upon.
Too many of us are thinking these days as the world thinks because we do
not begin our thinking by thinking about God. Only by paying attention to
God will we experience the ecstasy that leads to wisdom. Prayer is that
work, that disciplined attentiveness, that bold losing of oneself, that
openness to divine leading which defines the everyday spiritual life of
every human being. We are called to work and pray. But if we don’t pray,
if we don’t pay close attention to God, our work becomes drudgery rather
than vocation, meaningless rounds of activities rather than meaningful
human life, even our actions on behalf of social justice become self-
righteous and self-serving rather than a radical witness to true human
life.

Prayer is at the heart of the Christian life. Prayer is communion with
God, a personal response to God’s presence.
The Spiritual Life: Learning East and West—John H. Westerhoff III and John D.Eusden The Garments of God By Jessica Powers God sits on a chair of darkness in my soul. He is God alone, supreme in His majesty. I sit at His feet, a child in the dark beside Him; my joy is aware of His glance and my sorrow is tempted to nest on the thought that His face is turned from me. He is clothed in the-robes of His mercy, voluminous garments- not velvet or silk and affable to the touch, but-fabric strong for a frantic hand to clutch, and I hold to it fast with the fingers of my will. Here is my cry of faith, my deep avowal to the Divinity that I am dust. Here is the loud profession of my trust. I need not go abroad to the hills of speech or the hinterlands of music for a crier to walk in my soul where all is still. I have this potent prayer through good or ill: here in the dark I clutch the garments of God.