Several years ago there was a family movie entitled “The Wilderness Family.” The movie is about a California family that gets tired of the rat race of metropolitan life and moves to the wilderness of Alaska. I am sure each of us have felt the desire to get away from the fast pace and hurry of life. In our hearts there is a desire for something more.
When I was in seminary there was a young man named Peter Jenkins that stopped by our seminary as he searched for something more. Peter was disillusioned with life and people so he set out to find answers. In his quest he set out to walk across America. From that experience he wrote two books: Walk Across America and The Walk West. By the way, on his walk Peter meet Jesus Christ at a crusade in Mobile, Al. The wilderness family and Peter had something in common. They were looking for something more than the hustle and bustle of life.
Jesus lived a life that represented something more. He was at peace. He had a purpose. Jesus wants us to experience the something more of life. Last week I began a series entitled “Get Off Of the Freeway.” Jesus wants to help us get off of the freeway. Today we search for the something more Jesus has to offer. For a text look at Mt. 6:25. Jesus said “Is not the life more than food and the body than raiment?” Is not life more than hurry, worry and anxiety? Is not life more than the rat race? This is the focus of Mt. 6:25-34. God has something more available for us. The message of the gospel is that God has something more than the damaging stresses of life.
How do we experience the something more which God has for us? We can find several clues in Mt. 6:25 and the surrounding verses.
I. The first clue is that we go through a process of examination. This passage should cause us to do some serious soul searching. This passage raises some vital questions each of us should ask.
- What is the quality of my life the way? (vs. 25)
- What am I doing to myself? (vs. 27)
- What does my life say about my faith? (vs. 30)
- What are my priorities? (vs. 33)
Let’s consider each of them individually.
First question: what is the quality of my life. “Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?” Will clothes make me happy? Will money make me happy?
Let me ask some questions.
- Suppose I make a million dollars by the time I am 40 but destroy my health in the process. Is that a good quality of life?
- If I build the house I always dreamed of but have no family to enjoy it with, is that a quality life?
- If I get to the top of my profession but lose my mate in doing so, is that a quality life?
Jesus said “what does it profit if a man gain the whole world but lose his own soul.”
Illustration: Chuck Swindoll has written a book entitled “Living on the Ragged Edge.” In the introduction of that book Swindoll discusses the fast paced life of California. He says many people are getting fed up with the fast paced life of California and are moving to other slower environments. In fact, Swindoll says one road leading out of California has a sign “You are now leaving California, please resume normal behavior.” (P. 10) This humor reflects the poor quality of life many people are facing (not just people from California).
A second question we should ask: what am I doing to myself? Jesus said “Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?”
Illustration: Another Chuck Swindoll story illustrates this principle. This new clock was ticking away on the shelf two ticks to the second as any good, self-respecting clock should tick when it began to think about how many times it was going to have to tick. “Two ticks to the second means 120 ticks per minute,” it mused. “That’s 7200 ticks per hour, 172,800 ticks per day, 1,209,600 per week for 52 weeks, and a total of 62,899,200 per year.” Horrors! Straightway the clock had a nervous breakdown.
The clock was taken to a psychiatrist who patched up the mainspring as well as he could then asked, “Clock, what’s your trouble?” “Oh, doctor,” wailed the clock, “I have to tick so much. I have to tick two ticks a second and 120 ticks per minute and 7200 ticks per hour, and.” “Hold it,” the psychiatrist cut in, “How many ticks do you have to tick at a time?” “Oh, I just have to tick one tick at a time,” was the reply. “Then let me make a suggestion,” replied the doctor. “You go home and try ticking one tick at a time. Don’t even think about the next tick until it’s time. Just tick one tick at a time. That you can do.”
(The Clock that had a Nervous Breakdown, C. Swindoll)
(Contributed to Sermon Central by Troy Borst)
Third question: what does my life say about my faith in God? (vs. 30)
R.H Mounce said “Worry is practical atheism and an affront to God”
(Contributed to Sermon Central by Martin Dale)
Illustration: About three or four years ago my brother’s pastor got cancer. After learning of this bad news the pastor said “For all these years I have preached about faith and victory in Jesus. Now, it is time for me to show that I believe what I preached.” That statement reflected volumes about that man’s faith.
A fourth question we should ask: what are my priorities? Jesus said “Seek first the kingdom of God.” (vs. 33)
Illustration: Bill McCartney retired as the head coach of the Colorado football team several years ago. His reason for retirement was not because he was unsuccessful as a coach. His teams had won the national championship. They had been in the top 10 many times.
McCartney said that he was retiring because he wanted to reevaluate his priorities. He said, “I’m leaving coaching, & I’m going to take a whole year to re-evaluate my priorities. Is God first? Is my family second? Is my work third?”
And when that year was over, Bill McCartney had dedicated his life & talents to Christ, & threw his efforts into founding the great men’s renewal gatherings that we know today as “Promise Keepers.”
(Contributed to Sermon Central by MELVIN NEWLAND)
In order to discover the something more we should evaluate our situation and our reliance on the Lord Jesus Christ. That is the first clue.
II. The second clue into finding the something more of life is elimination.
- If you had a bad headache, would you want to get rid of it?
- If you had a bad stomachache, would you want to get rid of it?
- If you had a thorn in your hand, would you want to get rid of it?
- If you had cancer, would you want to get rid of it?
These questions have obvious answers. Even so, Jesus knew worry was excess baggage we would want to eliminate.
A. Each of us have conflicts swirling around in our hearts and heads. There are conflicts such as anger, worry, bitterness, fear, insecurity and the like. Jesus wants to help us eliminate these as we walk with Him. Last week I spoke on the subject “Who is the boss?” Jesus said “No man can serve two masters.” (vs. 24) If you are torn between two masters you will find yourself in a conflict.
In our immediate text Paul discusses worry. Worry is a conflict with faith. Worry and faith cannot coexist. Worry will conquer faith or faith will conquer worry. Such conflicts must be eliminated.
B. This brings us to the real issue in this whole discussion. The root of all human struggles is one of unbelief. Worry results from failing to trust Jesus with our problems. Fear results from failing to depend on God. Anger results from taking things into our own hands.
This is where humility enters the picture. Humility requires that we admit our need. Humility requires that we confess our short-comings and failures and admit we need God’s help. Humility requires that we give our struggles to God.
Illustration: Following the Civil War, a dejected confederate soldier was sitting outside the grounds of the White House. A young boy approached him and inquired why he was so sad. The solider related how he had repeatedly tried to see President Lincoln to tell him why he was unjustly deprived of certain lands in the South following the war. On each occasion as he attempted to enter the White House, the guards crossed their bayoneted guns in front of the door and turned him away.
The boy motioned to the old soldier to follow him. When they approached the entrance, the guards came to attention, stepped back and opened the door for the boy. He proceeded to the library where the President was resting and introduced the soldier to his father. The boy was Tad Lincoln. The soldier had gained an audience with the President through the President’s son. It is through Jesus, God’s only begotten Son.
(Contributed to Sermon Central by John Williams III; SOURCE: Abraham Lincoln, as cited by Donald G. Barnhouse, "God’s River)
Faith is more than eliminating the bad. Faith is eliminating the negatives in our lives. However, there is another step. Faith eliminates the negative but replaces the negative with faith.
Have you ever heard someone say:
“I need to stop drinking.”
(or)
“I need to stop smoking.”
(or)
“I need to lose some weight?”
Some people think faith is a matter of eliminating bad habits. Faith is a matter of asking God to eliminate bad habits and allowing God to fill that void with His richness and fullness.
Illustration: Several years ago I went to my dentist. He said I needed a crown on one of my teeth. The dentist drilled away the decay and damage of the old tooth and replaced it with a new crown. He replaced the old with something new. Faith involves getting rid of the old and replacing it with something better. Jesus said “ the thief comes to steal, kill and destroy. I came that they might have life and have it to the full.” (John 10:10)
III. In arriving at the something more level of life requires evaluation, elimination and finally affirmation. We must affirm our relationship with our Heavenly Father. The best way to deal with worry is affirming our Heavenly Father. What do we affirm about Him?
A. We affirm His person. Jesus referred to God as “our Father.” In this passage and on numerous other occasions Jesus referred to God as “our Father.” In the Lord’s prayer he referred to “our Father.” In Mt. 7:7-11 Jesus said we are to pray to God as if we are a hungry child asking for bread. As Jesus faced the cross and prayed in the Garden he prayed to God using the term “Abba, Father.”
In realizing there is something more to life we must realize there is something more to God. There is more to God than “the man upstairs”; the God of hellfire and brimstone; a kill joy or any of the other distorted concepts we develop. God is a personal God who wants you and I to address him as “Father.” He loves us and wants us to love Him in return. As long as we limit God to some impersonal force or see him as our opponent we will never experience the joy he has to offer.
David addressed God as “my shepherd.” This is why David could face his enemies and the valley of the shadow of death un-afraid. He affirmed the personal loving God who wanted to make him lie down in green pastures.
Illustration: One tribe of native Americans had a unique practice for training young braves. On the night of a boy’s thirteenth birthday, he was placed in a dense forest to spend the entire night alone. Until then he had never been away from the security of his family and tribe. But on this night he was blindfolded and taken miles away. When he took off the blindfold, he was in the middle of thick woods. He was by himself all night long.
Every time a twig snapped, he probably visualized a wild animal ready to pounce. Every time an animal howled, he imagined a wolf leaping out of the darkness. Every time the wind blew, he wondered what more sinister sound it masked. No doubt it was a terrifying night for many.
After what seemed like an eternity, the first rays of sunlight entered the interior of the forest. Looking around, the boy saw flowers, trees, and the outline of the path. Then, to his utter astonishment, he beheld the figure of a man standing just a few feet away, armed with a bow and arrow. It was the boy’s father. He had been there all night long.
(Citation: Leonard Sweet, SoulSalsa (Zondervan, 2000), pp. 23-24. Contributed to Sermon Central by Christian Cheong)
B. We affirm His person but we also affirm His provision. Notice verse 32. “For your Heavenly Father knows that you have need of all these things.” There is a remarkably moving prayer recorded in II Chron. 20 Jehoshaphat was surrounded by his enemies, the Moabites. In that period of distress he prayed and affirmed God’s providential provision. He affirmed what God had done (vs. 6); what God could do (vs. 7) and what God would do (vs. 12). That is the type praying that brings results.
We serve a God who loves us. He reflected His love by sending His son to die in our place. That good news can and will change our lives. When worry or other conflicting emotions threaten to destroy us may we take refuge in God’s love and ask Him to help us gain victory over them. God has something more for us!
