Thinking About Tomorrow

Matthew 6:25-34

"So do not worry about tomorrow,” Jesus advises his listeners in the gospel of Matthew, “for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today's trouble is enough for today” (Matthew 6:34). The poignancy of these words comes when we recognize to whom Jesus was speaking. The original audience would have been predominantly poor people forced to struggle for survival. Oppressed by a foreign power they would have had ample reason to worry about the near future. Even the later audience for whom Matthew wrote would have been concerned about their own circumstances. The early church faced persecution and in many cases survived day to day. Deal with the matters at hand, Jesus is saying, and quit looking ahead to what may or may not happen.

At first glance the band Fleetwood Mac seems to offer a significantly different perspective. Their song, “Don’t Stop,” includes the following lyrics:

Why not think about times to come

And not about the things that you’ve done?

If you’re life was bad to you

Just think what tomorrow will do.

Don’t stop thinking about tomorrow,

Don’t stop, it’ll soon be here.

It’ll be better than before,

Yesterday’s gone, yesterday’s gone.

Quit dwelling on the pain of today, the song tells us, because the future offers hope for a better life. Could it be that Jesus’ pessimism has been countered by the optimism of an Anglo/American rock band in the late twentieth century?

No. If we look closely we’ll see the same message in each case, and it is hardly one of gloom. The wider context of Jesus’ remarks in Matthew 6 makes it clear that God will care for God’s people, no matter how poor they may be and no matter how oppressed. Do not worry about tomorrow or the troubles it will bring because the future belongs to God and is a source of grace. Fleetwood Mac may not have been speaking in Christian terms but the message is the same. The future is not to be feared. Focus on what is to come and not on the pain of today.

The apostle Paul puts the same idea this way: “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 8:24-25). Don’t worry about tomorrow, Jesus says. Don’t stop anticipating the future, sings Fleetwood Mac. Live with hope and patience, says Paul. In each case the message is clear. By God’s grace the best is yet to come.

Prayer: Lord, help us to live the present as those who yearn for the future you alone can bring into existence. In Jesus’ name. Amen.