PROBLEMS WITH LACK OF FAITH
Matthew 6:19-34
INTRODUCTION
ILLUSTRATION WHOEVER ISN’T SCHIZOPHRENIC these days isn’t thinking clearly.—LIFE magazine, January 1981
We can avoid becoming schizophrenic if we learn to live by faith regularly. One application of living by faith is relative to our material needs. Living by faith requires trusting God for our material provisions. (Read Matthew 6:19-34) Our passage says that we should trust God for our material provisions instead of worrying. Why should we trust God for our material provisions?
EXPOSITION
1. Failure to trust God for our material provisions would result to INAPPROPRIATE ACTIONS in fulfilling our needs. (vv. 19-24)
Verse 25 concludes that we should not worry about material provisions. The Greek word translated “worry” literally means “to be drawn in different directions.” Worry pulls us apart. Thus the common picture of a worried person is a restless person walking back and forth. What are the indications that man worries about material provisions?
The answer is found in verses 19-24 where Jesus used the images of two treasures, two eyes, and two masters. Failure to trust God for our materials provisions would result to inappropriate actions, that is we think that we can both aim for two treasures, or focus our eyes to two objects, and serve two masters. Jesus said no.
Read verses 19-21. These verses do not say that it is wrong to have wealth. The Bible commends work and provision for the future (SEE Proverbs 6:6-8), and encourages us to be good steward of the resources God entrusted to us. (SEE Matthew 25:14-23)
Jesus would like to point out that we cannot both keep enriching ourselves on earth and in heaven at the same time. We need to choose between the two by comparing the disadvantage and advantage of each. Earthly treasure is not secure and lasting while heavenly treasure is secure and lasting.
Jesus also pointed out that where your treasure is there your heart will be also. If you choose to keep storing up treasures for yourself on earth then your heart’s commitment is in earthly matters. If you choose to keep storing up treasures for yourself in heaven then your heart’s commitment is in the will of the heavenly Father.
What is going to happen if we choose to be rich on earth? (SEE Luke 12:16-21) If we choose to be rich in heaven, then we need to do the following: (1)PUT SOME RESTRAINT IN ACQUIRING EARHTLY TREASURE (SEE Proverbs 23:4-5), (2)BE GENEROUS AND RICH IN GOOD DEEDS (SEE 1 Timothy 6:17-19) and (3)TRUST GOD FOR HIS PROVISIONS (SEE Luke 12:33-34)
In like manner, we cannot focus our eyes on two objects – earthly goals and heavenly goals, and experience positive effect in our lives. Lastly, we cannot serve two masters – God and money. Either you will hate the one and love the other or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.
Jesus is therefore saying that the man who "divides his interest and tries to focus on both God and possessions ... has no clear vision, and will live without clear orientation or direction." This is the reason we see believers who compromise and live a dual lifestyle and personality.
2. Failure to trust God for our material provisions would result to UNNECESSARY SUFFERINGS in life. (vv. 25-30)
ILLUSTRATION
Slow me down, Lord.
Ease the pounding of my heart by the quieting of my mind.
Steady my hurried pace with a vision of the eternal reach of time.
Give me, amid the confusion of the day, the calmness of the everlasting hills.
Break the tension of my nerves and muscles with the soothing music of the singing streams that live in my memory.
Teach me the art of taking minute vacations—of slowing down to look at a flower, to chat with a friend, to pat a dog, to smile at a child, to read a few lines from a good book.
Slow me down, Lord, and inspire me to send my roots deep into the soil of life’s enduring values, that I may grow toward my greater destiny.
Remind me each day that the race is not always to the swift; that there is more to life than increasing its speed.
Let me look upward to the towering oak and know that it grew great and strong because it grew slowly and well.
Why should we not worry about our material provisions? Here Jesus talked about provision for living and for the body. For living – food and drink; for the body – clothes to wear. He used the birds as illustration of God’s commitment to provide food and he used the lilies as illustration of God’s commitment to provide clothing.
Jesus mentioned two reasons to avoid worrying and trust God instead for our material provisions:
a. We are valuable to God (v. 26) – we are more valuable than birds and lilies in the field; if God provides for their needs, how much more for us. When we worry, we begin to question God’s love and care for us. We even doubt the ability and sensitivity of God to meet our needs. (SEE Romans 8:32)
b. We accomplish nothing when we worry (v. 27) - Instead we are endangering our lives by worrying: misjudgment, paralysis, impulsiveness, restlessness, body pains, and ineffective. We develop self-pity and insecurity and become irritable. Eventually it affects our lifestyle and relationship with others. (SEE Philippians 4:6-7)
ILLUSTRATION PUT FIRST THINGS FIRST and we get second things thrown in: Put second things first and we lose both first and second things. —Wayne Martindale, The Quotable Lewis
3. Failure to trust God for our material provisions would result to INCORRECT PRIORITY in life. (vv. 31-34)
When we failed to trust God, we begin take actions and our priority is what we think, what we plan, and what actions we can take regardless of God’s approval. We do it our own way as if God never cares. Jesus said that our heavenly Father knows what we need and we simply put our trust in Him.
Jesus’ disciples must live lives qualitatively different from those of people who have no trust in God’s fatherly care and no fundamental goals beyond material things. Jesus’ disciples are not simply to refrain from the pursuit of temporal things as their primary goal in order to differentiate themselves from pagans.
What can we do instead of worrying our material provisions? Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well. To seek first the kingdom is to desire above all to enter into the kingdom of God, submit to the rules of the kingdom. Seeking first his kingdom also means to participate in spreading the news of the saving reign of God, the messianic kingdom already inaugurated by Jesus.
To seek God’s righteousness is not, in this context, to seek justification. It is to pursue righteousness of life in full submission to the will of God. It also means to pattern our lives to that of God’s righteous character and not the pattern of this world. Within such a framework of commitment, Jesus’ disciples are assured that all the necessary things will be given them by their heavenly Father.
Note the three important words in this passage: (1) faith (Matt. 6:30), trusting God to meet our needs; (2) Father (Matt. 6:32), knowing He cares for His children; and (3) first (Matt. 6:33), putting God’s will first in our lives so that He might be glorified. If we have faith in our Father and put Him first, He will meet our needs.
CONCLUSION
Failure to trust God would result to:
1. Inappropriate Actions
2. Unnecessary Sufferings
3. Incorrect Priority
Trusting God for our material provisions means that we:
1. Remain faithful to godly values
2. Maintain positive attitudes in life
3. Make God the priority over anything in this world.
