Episode 426 Do Not Worry about Tomorrow (Matthew 6:25-34)

This week BibleWorm reads Matthew 6:25-34, Jesus’s well-known instruction not to worry about tomorrow. We talk about anxiety and the difficulty of living in the present moment, entrusting the future into the hands of a loving God. But once we observe that the passage begins with the word “Therefore,” connecting it to the previous verse, things take a turn. “You cannot serve both God and money,” says Jesus, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow.” As it turns out, this passage is about economic anxiety and the fundamental importance of trusting that God will provide enough for tomorrow so that we can tend to the needs of our community today. We talk about spiritual practices that can quell our anxiety and help us trust in God’s capacity to provide. And we discuss the urgency of forming communities of radical trust, in which we place the needs of the widow, the orphan, and the stranger ahead of our own desires for economic security.