Matthew 6:19-21, 25-27, 33

¹⁹"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also….
²⁵"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? ²⁶Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? ²⁷Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life ? …
³³But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

A few weeks ago, I was preparing to move a bookcase to our downstairs study and I was also tormenting myself about a sermon topic for today. Loaded down with an armful of books, I watched as a small paperback fell from the shelf above onto the pile I was holding. It seemed God was giving me a heads up, so to speak, saying, "Don't worry, it will all work out". The title of the flying book? -"Don't Sweat the Small Stuff"… "And it's all small stuff," by Dr. Richard Carlson.

 How many of you are familiar with Dr. Carlson's book? It's a great book, isn't it? The punch line below the title reads "Simple ways to keep the little things from taking over your life."

Now I'm never one to finish one project before I start another, so of course I promptly forgot about moving the bookcase and sat down to read. In the book's Introduction, a quote by William James moved me. He said, "The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitude."

 Skimming through the book I noticed that much of Dr. Carlson's words could be paraphrasing for the teachings of Jesus.

   In the chapter titled "Develop Your Own Helping Rituals", the author says that if you want your life to stand for peace and kindness it's helpful to do kind, peaceful things. One of his favorite ways to do this is by developing his own helpful rituals. These little acts of kindness, he notes, are opportunities to be of service and reminders of how good it feels to be kind and helpful to others.

   In his family, a helping ritual that he practices regularly with his two children is picking up litter in the surrounding area of their home in rural San Francisco Bay area. They do this so much that his daughters will often say, "There's some litter, Daddy, stop the car!" And the author says, if he has time, he does! 

 My mother also had a practice of picking up litter near our home by the bay. She would beautify her outdoor world for everyone to enjoy and she set a good example for all of us. As an adult I have been known to carry a plastic bag or two on my daily walks. Have any of you done that or taught your children to do that?  

Well, the author says picking up litter is only one of an endless supply of helping rituals. He gives examples of holding a door open for people or visiting lonely elderly people in nursing homes. It's personally rewarding and sets a good example. "Everyone wins!" he says.

         There is a chapter in Don't Sweat the Small Stuff titled "Be the First One to Act Loving or Reach Out". I'll give an illustration from my own life. A few years ago our neighbor bought a snow blower. The first winter, he started clearing his own driveway and the driveway of a neighbor, who was recently widowed. The next year he dutifully added his plowing regimen to the driveway of a third neighbor, a single woman holding down two jobs. This last hard winter was especially difficult on all of us. This year a neighbor with a back problem suddenly and magically saw his drive cleared of three feet of snow.

Our now retired neighbor puts smiles on all our faces. He asks for nothing in return. He says he does it "Because it's the right thing to do!"                             

In Don't Sweat the Small Stuff several chapters deal with worry and strategies to simplify our lives. One of those is called "Ask Yourself, Will This Matter a Year from Now?"

   Almost every day the author plays a game in his mind called "time warp". All he has to do is imagine whatever circumstance he's dealing with at the moment, isn't happening now, but a year from now. Then he asks himself, "Is this really as important as I make it out to be?

 My mother had a shorter version of this game. When one of her five children would come whining to her about a problem, she would simply hold up her hand and say, "Fifty years from now, you'll never remember this."

And then she would walk off to do some chore around the house. Often her remark would put a new light on our self-absorbed lives and we could laugh at our situation.  

We do tend to worry about our wants and needs. The small problems in our lives become overblown. Our anxiety builds. We loose sight of our faith, our family and perhaps even ourselves.

Dr. Carlson says that it's easy to get lost and overwhelmed in the chaos, responsibilities and goals of life.  But he says, if you "Keep asking your self what's really important", you may find that some of the choices you are making are in conflict with your own stated goals. This strategy, he notes, will help you align your actions with your goals and encourage you to make more conscious, loving decisions.

In a chapter titled "Make Peace with Imperfection", the author says that when we focus on imperfection rather than being content and grateful for what we have, we concentrate on what's wrong with something and our need to fix it. Whether it's related to ourselves, he says, or someone else's imperfections-the very act of focusing on imperfection pulls us away from our goal of being kind and gentle.

As you begin to eliminate the need for perfection, in all areas of your life, he continues, you'll begin to discover the perfection in life itself.

A personal example of not worrying about imperfection happened to me several years ago. I received a phone call from a friend and neighbor, who owns a well-known chocolate shop in town. It was a call of some desperation.

Did I know of anyone who could help her in her store? Fall was approaching. It was a very busy time. I was employed in the graphic arts, but not happy. I said I would keep an eye out for her.

In the next few weeks, negative situations peaked at my job, so I called my neighbor and I told her I would work for her. In that moment, we talked about being each other's angels. Then reality set in. For me there was a huge cut in pay, for her- a huge cut in sanity. Not familiar at all with food retail and the literally hundreds of facts, types of candy, and rules to learn, there were plenty of mistakes on my part.

     My saving grace and a constant soothing balm for my nerves, was a phrase my neighbor, now boss, said continually. "You're working here now; we don't sweat the small stuff!" That phrase has stayed with me for the fifteen years I've been happily employed there.

Finally, in all our lives there are many wants, worries, and imperfections but when we explore God's Word and His world, we will discover perfection ---in Him.

Have a wonderful week!