In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells us (Matthew 6:24-34, ERV):

“You cannot serve two masters at the same time. You will hate one and love the other, or you will be loyal to one and not care about the other. You cannot serve God and Money at the same time.

“So I tell you, don’t worry about the things you need to live — what you will eat, drink, or wear. Life is more important than food, and the body is more important than what you put on it. Look at the birds.

“They don’t plant, harvest, or save food in barns, but your heavenly Father feeds them. Don’t you know you are worth much more than they are? You cannot add any time to your life by worrying about it.

“And why do you worry about clothes? Look at the wildflowers in the field. See how they grow. They don’t work or make clothes for themselves. But I tell you that even Solomon, the great and rich king, was not dressed as beautifully as one of these flowers.

“If God makes what grows in the field so beautiful, what do you think he will do for you? It’s just grass — one day it’s alive, and the next day someone throws it into a fire. But God cares enough to make it beautiful. Surely he will do much more for you. Your faith is so small!

“Don’t worry and say, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ That’s what those people who don’t know God are always thinking about. Don’t worry, because your Father in heaven knows that you need all these things.

“What you should want most is God’s kingdom and doing what he wants you to do. Then he will give you all these other things you need. So don’t worry about tomorrow. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Tomorrow will have its own worries.”

The Sermon on the Mount is a speech full of surprises. Christ wanted to help those who wanted to follow God to find a new way of doing that.

The old way was religion, which is the attempt of humans to get right with God through following rules and performing rituals and having a priest to bridge the gap. That is what everybody thought about God and people were quite aware of their shortcomings and separation from God.

Thus they thought God must be angry with us and will probably punish us one way or another. That is how it often is in this world, too. You better make amends with those in high places, keep the law, pay your taxes, and provide for the future yourself, as you cannot count on them.

Faith versus fear

The new way was to develop faith, which is trusting that God will get things right with us and care for our needs. It was a totally new way to look at God.

God is not that angry avenger people thought, but according to this Jesus, God is a loving and caring God. God does not want sacrifices from us, instead God is providing for us and the real sin is that we don’t trust this God enough and want to take things in our own hands.

Even the sacrifices requested in the old Testament, like giving the first fruit, where just to show the trust, that there will come more.

So yes, it was a surprise approach to tell people not to worry but to trust. Pray more, worry less. Just do your best, leave the rest. Trust the love of God for you.

Does that work in our modern world?

Can we apply this though in our modern world? We are so well informed and we can see reality and the world for what it is, and then we may start to worry.

Will we have what we need when we get older? What if we get sick? What about our children or grandchildren? Look at the world, things are crazy.

Those thoughts and questions are actually not new and unique for our modern world. People in Jesus’s times had similar worries. What will we wear, what will we eat or drink, who will care for us when we get sick or old?

Look how the Romans cause problems all the time … Back then people tried to build their “portfolio” by having a full barn or building a bigger one (Jesus talks about this in Luke 12:13-21), lending money for interest, or investing in caravans to other countries and trade. Today we just have different investment means.

Christ does not say that having some security is bad or earning a living is against God’s plan. What he is trying to change is the worry part even though we are well, this often irrational fear that it is never enough. When that happens, we just serve money.

In contrast with faith in God, we do not fall into a pit even if things might go different or develop worse than we expected. We still have a God who can work in mysterious ways. Worldly treasures, even the best of investments, could lose value over night.

It is all about trusting God that we have what we need and can share with those who may have less. Yes, that too is part of trusting God. A few verses later in the Sermon on the mount, Jesus says (Matthew 7:7, NIV): “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” and in John 14:14 (NIV) Jesus says: “You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.”

God is not a vending machine

However, God is not a vending machine where you put in a coin (prayer) and receive the goods by pushing a button. It is a relationship in which God is still free to answer as he thinks is best for the relationship.

Sometimes this answer is: “yes”, at times it is “yes, but not now” or “yes, but I have a different or better suggestion”, and sometimes God may just say: “You must be joking”, or, “No way”.

Thus Jesus adds to the promise we just read the request (John 14:15): “If you love me, keep my commands.” And then he promises the Holy Spirit which will guide Christians in their relationship with God.

A relationship has at least two parts, and both need to be respected and trusted and cared for. That is what love is.

We know that from our worldly relationships as well. Husband and wife, parent and children, employer and employee, business owner and customer, nation and nation: for a good relationship it takes respect, trust, and taking care of the needs of the other, being reliable.

Then we get a win-win situation. Then the relationship can survive even difficult times and share in good times great benefit.

• Karsten Decker was the pastor of Peace Lutheran Church in Bermuda from 2010 to 2017, and after returning from Germany is now the temporary pulpit supply at Centenary United Methodist Church in Smith’s