Message
Do you ever feel fearful about life?
It feels like having the Theme Song from Jaws playing itself out in your life.
Play part of Jaws Theme Song – while song is playing
Money ...
Purpose ...
Success ...
Doubting; Dating; Testing; Taxing; Waiting; Wishing; Crying; Crushing
Hating; Hurting; Rushing; Rejecting; Lying; Living; Mocking; Masking
Your heart is beating and you’re just sitting there waiting for this fin. And it is coming towards you. And you are ... arrrgh.
Any moment we think a fin is going to appear and cause us to walk to the drum beat of fear. We become slaves ... slaves to our own anxiety.
That is how life can unfold. But Jesus doesn’t want it to be like that.
Matthew 6:25-34
Before we move on let’s make sure we understand what Jesus is not saying.
He is not saying, “When you go for your driving test you can’t have butterflies in your stomach”.
He is not saying, “When you see your credit card debit you are not allowed to be concerned”.
He is not saying, “When you are sitting in the doctor’s office waiting for the results that you can’t think about the possibilities”.
He is not saying, “When you are going through difficulties just let it wash over you as if it doesn’t matter”.
We can plan. We can think ahead. We can be affected by stressful situations. Jesus isn’t against this. The bigger issue Jesus is addressing is this one:-
If I am completely sold out for God how am I going to look and act?
Does being sold out for God mean I have to start being daggy? That’s what a lot of Christians look like. They are smaller of stature. And all the women have their hair in a bun. They wear special clothes and dress a special way. If I am sold out for God is that what I need to do? What does a person who is sold out for God look like?
And if I am sold out for God does that mean I need to not have so much stuff. I’ll have to start buying the no-name wheat bix and no-name clothes. My house will be functional but small and be sparsely furnished. What sort of house does a person who is sold out for God live in?
What happens to my relationships? You know there is that hunky bloke that I like who isn’t so sold out for God? He is bronze and has blonde hair and can surf on his little toe. He has more muscles in finger then most ministers in their whole body. He walks into the room and everyone swoons. But he has no room for God. What happens then?
How am I going to look? How am I going to act? What are the expectations? What are the standards?
What is going to happen to me?
That is the issue here. And Jesus is saying, “Don’t be anxious”.
Which seems like a strange thing to do. One of our members is an air hostess. Imagine her giving the talk about wearing your seatbelt and how to put on a life jacket and all those safety things which won’t make a scrap of difference if the plane falls out of the sky. Then at the end she says, “If there is anyone anxious about flying can you put up your hand”. And the dear old lady in seat 15C puts up her hand so Kylie walks down to her and says, “Are you anxious dear?”.
“Yes, yes I am anxious”.
“WELL STOP IT. STOP RIGHT NOW! Pull yourself together. You’re just being ridiculous”.
Is that was Jesus is doing? Acting like some air-hostess Nazi who couldn’t care less about how you feel? He isn’t is He. Rather Jesus helps us to look at life in a more rational way. He does surgery on our thinking to get us to see the real issues.
The first part of the surgery involves giving us a definition of anxiety.
The definition is found in verse 34.
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (Matthew 6:34)
Anxiety is taking the falsehoods of tomorrow and bringing them into today.
Instead of focussing on what is actually happening now.
Instead of living in the moment and enjoying that moment.
Instead of addressing realities.
Instead of that we spend all this energy focussing on stuff that never actually happens. We want to try and control the uncontrollable. That is anxiety.
Which means we need to see anxiety for what it really is.
Isn’t anxiety really an effort on our part to try and play God?
The only way to control the uncontrollable is to be God. And none of us are.
Half the time we can’t even control our own kids.
Let’s be honest, we can’t even control ourselves.
Yet through all this worry we think to ourselves, “If only I try a little harder – I can make my little contribution – I can make my piece of the world a better place”.
Isn’t anxiety really nothing but putting our trust in lies?
An epitaph on a grave stone in Britain says:-
“He had a lot of troubles in his life, most of which never happened”.
Basically he believed all these lies that were happening in his mind and he worried himself to death. How often have we worried about what is going to happen in the future, only to find it never happens. The fears of the future are nothing more than liars.
Isn’t anxiety really a sign that we lack trust?
Guys will relate to this. When you go driving and there are two drivers – a male and a female – who usually drives? It’s the man isn’t it! This is despite the fact that men are twice as likely to have an accident than women – and the severity of the accident will be greater. It’s a lack of trust issue isn’t. Anxiety is the same. We just have difficulty letting God have control even though He has proven on numerous occasions that He is more than capable.
Being sold out for God means letting go of the controls and trusting that God has tomorrow ... and the day after that ... and the day after that ... in hand. But it is so hard to do, because we constantly feel so vulnerable.
You go to the doctor and they say, “I think we need to run some tests. Come back when you have the results”. So you go and get the tests and then you get this big envelope which has a sticker across the back CONFIDENTIAL – TO BE OPENED BY A MEDICAL PRACTITIONER. So what do you do? As soon as you are in the car you open it and find out what the report says. Why? Because you feel so vulnerable.
You’re a uni student and you have had an exam. You don’t know if you have done well or not, but you know the results are going to be available at 6:00am on the uni portal. So even though you can’t get up for anything else you will set your alarm and have the computer on waiting. Wanting to know the result at the first moment. Why? Because you feel so vulnerable.
We don’t like it do we ... feeling vulnerable. We want to be the master of our lives. But those who are sold out for God need to learn that there is a different way. A better way. Which brings us to the next stage of the mind surgery. Now that we know what anxiety is we need to start adjusting our thinking.
Look at birds of the air.
Not, “Oh look there is a Red-crested Plymouth Warbler”. Tick that off the list.
But, “Have a real think about this. Chew the cud”.
That common magpie that always comes back in breeding season. The one you hate because they swoop you and dig their claws and beak into you. Have a close look. Do they have a storehouse of food somewhere? No. They go through life on a day to day basis, with no though about tomorrow. You hate them and think they are nothing. Yet they are abundantly provided for by God. Aren’t you more important? Hasn’t the Lord given you an even greater ability? Won’t God help you all the more with your needs?
Look at the lilies.
How beautiful they are. Intricate. Amazing. Natural beauty that can’t be matched by any fashion house in the whole world. God put in all this effort for something that is grass. It’s insignificant. Nobody weeps when lilies die.
When it comes to clothes God knows what you need. And He knows that what you wear and who are can be two very different things.
Some people wear beautiful expensive clothes – but they are ugly people who live cheap lives.
Others might not have all the clothes – they might not have much at all – but they are beautiful.
Anxiety comes when we spend too much time worrying about what people think about us. Do you want to be judged on the basis of what you wear? Or judged on who you really are? We need to trust God in this.
Do you want to know why there are so many anxious Christians? Because they are not thinking. Faith in God and thinking go together. Anxiety and not thinking also go together. If you are not a thinking Christian you will be an anxious Christian. Because when you stop thinking about what God is doing it is then that your emotions start to take control. And the “what if” syndrome starts.
Here is an example that many can relate to, especially as it is not exam block time. What if I fail my exam? Well I won’t reach my goals. And I will feel useless. And I will not be able to get by financially. And ... and ... and.
Passing an exam is not everything. In 2010 Frank Lowy – he is the man who owns the Westfield shopping centres - topped Australia’s Most Rich list. He never even went past grade 10 at school.
If we are anxious the surgery we need to do is to adjust our thinking. But there is also one more step.
Remember who your Father is.
Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? (Matthew 6:26)
For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. (Matthew 6:31)
You can see the trend can’t you – if you are anxious let your relationship with the heavenly Father give you comfort.
He is not a miserly Father ... He is generous and full of blessing.
He is not a weak Father ... He is Almighty and Powerful.
He is not an abusive Father ... He loves us and wants an eternal relationship with us.
He is not a confused Father ... He has a plan and a purpose for us.
He is the Father that knows what you need.
Good parents are like that ... and sometimes they say some horrible things.
Things like, “Don’t eat worms”. What a horrible thing to say, “You eat spaghetti, why can’t I eat worms”.
Or they will say things like, “DON’T put that knife into the power-point”. Horrible parent – I’m just practising my hand-eye coordination.
Or they will say things like, “Be careful who you choose to be your friends”. How horrible is that – what would they know?
Then one day we will look back and realise that they weren’t being horrible – everything they did was out of love. Everything was done because they knew what we needed at the time.
Sometimes, maybe many times, our parents get it wrong. But God the Father never does. Your heavenly Father knows what you need – after all He is a Dad. A Dad who has a Son. A Son who He loves very much.
But the Father looked at you ... and He looked at me ... with all our filth and guilt and shame.
Then He went to His own Son and said, “You’re going to have to die for these people. I want them in My family”.
This Father poured out His anger about sin onto His Son. He knows what you need ... every one of your needs.
Do you want to live a life free from fear and anxiety? Seek the kingdom ... seek righteousness ... seek God ... first. Because the moment you do that is the same moment that you become the centre of the universe ... indeed you will be the centre of God the Father’s universe. The same Father who didn’t even stop from giving His Son for you.
Anxiety is a daily fax to God where we say God, “I don’t really trust that You love me”.
“Do you love me God?”
And He says, “Yes of course I love you. I can’t do anything else. I want the best for you.”
Trust Me to look after your daily needs.
Trust Me to look after your relationship needs.
Trust Me to look after your long term concerns.
Trust Me to look after your finances.
Trust Me to look after your employment.
I want the best for You. Just put Me first.”
Prayer
