88 dead - don't worry

I was struggling with the reading we had from the gospels in church this morning. Having just listened to the over-night news from Ukraine, with 88 deaths declared as a result of the recent uprising, I heard Jesus telling us to "not worry about tomorrow". With America backing the new provisional government in Kiev, Putin now free from celebrating the Sochi Olympic success, pro-Europeans in Independence Square, Kiev, and miners on the streets protecting the statue of Lenin in Kharkiv ... sure I'm worried.

The good old King James Bible says "Take therefore no thought for the morrow". I know we celebrated the King James Bible just last year but I'm glad we moved on. The New International Version translates Jesus' words here in Matthew 6:34 as "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself" (going on to add the telling, "Each day has enough trouble of its own"). There is an ocean of a difference between "take no thought for" and "do not worry" and I believe the more recent translations of scripture have done us a service here.

If Jesus was, as I believe he is, sitting around a brazier on Independence Square in Kiev tonight I don't think he would be advocating any degree of thoughtlessness about tomorrow - the future of Ukraine (and Europe with it) requires very careful thought tonight, by courageous and honest thinkers. But Jesus might tell us not to worry. Worry betrays a lack of faith in a God who does not intervene in history (at least not every day) but who always and everywhere has our best interests at heart.

With my friends in Ukraine I go to bed tonight with many thoughts and uncertainties about tomorrow - but, please God, let me not worry.