OPEN: Years ago, there was popular rock group named Steppenwolf.
How many of you have ever heard of Steppenwolf? (most raised their hands)
How many of you have heard of their song “Born To Be Wild”? (everybody raised their hands)
The chorus went like this (I sang it for them)
“Like a true nature's child, we were born, born to be wild.
We can climb so high, I never wanna die.
Born to be wild …”
Now Steppenwolf was not a Christian band. They were a secular group, but their songs often carried interesting messages. And in this particular song Steppenwolf declared:
“I don’t want to be like everybody else.
I was born to be different than others.
I was born to be wild and free.”
In that song of the 60’s – a song of rebellion and counterculture – Steppenwolf touched on a truth that the Bible has taught us for centuries. And that Biblical truth was this:
As Christians, we weren’t born to be like everybody else.
We were REborn to be different.
We were REborn to be wild and free from this world.
In fact we have our own song that declares that truth.
Sing it with me if you know it:
“This world is not my home I'm just a passing through.
My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue.
The angels beckon me from heaven's open door.
And I can't feel at home in this world anymore.
Oh Lord you know I have no friend like you.
If heaven's not my home then Lord what will I do?
The angels beckon me from heaven's open door.
And I can't feel at home in this world anymore.”
This world is NOT my home.
I don’t belong here.
I was saved to be freed of this world.
In fact, that is a repeated theme in Scripture:
• Jesus said: If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. John 15:19
• Peter says it this way: Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. 1 Peter 2:11
• Paul wrote: Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is— his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:2
• John wrote the Christians of his day: Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 1 John 2:15
So, the question is: If that’s true –
If it’s true that we don’t belong here.
That we are aliens and strangers in this world
If it’s true that God doesn’t want you and I to conform to… or love this world.
Then, why would we???
Why would we want to belong to this world?
Why… would we love it?
Well, because that’s all we’ve ever known.
ILLUS: In my house have a pet - his name is “Pickles”. He’s a ferret and he’s a lot of fun. When I let him out he runs all over the place. He’ll take food and hide it in a special place to be eaten later (which he never gets around to doing). He’ll also raise the small wastebaskets to find shiny objects he can also hide in his hidey spot.
And then he loves to play. Mostly hide and seek. But we have a game where I take him into the kitchen and slide him across the linoleum. He’ll skittle across the floor and then run right for me, pretending to want to get around me, and I pick him up and slide him across the floor again. I do that with him 4 or 5 times and then let him go do something else.
And he loves to follow me all over the house. He’s a great pet.
But, he lives in a cage. I feed him food pellets and he drinks out of a bottle with a nozzle that drips water as he sucks on it.
I’m always a little concerned that, one of these days, I’ll forget and leave him out of his cage and then open the front door to the house… and he’ll slip out.
Now why would I be concerned about that?
Because he’d probably die.
He’s not a wild animal anymore. He’s domesticated. He’s gotten used to being in my house. You could say he’s become conformed to my world… in fact, he kind of likes it.
When Jesus saved us, He called us out of our cage.
He called us to live a different kind of a life than others do.
He called us to a “wild” and “free” kind of life.
And here in our text this morning we see Jesus using things in the wild to describe how we should live: “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
A couple verses later: “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the LILIES OF THE FIELD grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the GRASS OF THE FIELD, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?” Matthew 6:28-30
Jesus speaks of the birds without cages and flowers without flowerboxes.
These are wild things.
They’re out in the wild… and yet they SURVIVE.
In fact, God makes sure they survive.
Jesus is saying to us: don’t be domesticated by this world.
Don’t conform to this world.
Don’t fall in love with it.
Don’t let it cage you and enslave you.
Because the security and comfort it SEEMS to offer… is deceitful.
Jesus said: "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:19-21
Don’t store up treasures on earth.
It’s a trap.
It’s a cage.
It will control and enslave you.
A lot of people (including many Christians) do lay-up treasures for ourselves on this earth. Fancy cars, big houses, TVs and game machines, the newest and brightest gadgets. And the problems isn’t so much that we “have” those things… it’s that we get to feeling that we have to have those things to be happy.
And once we get to that point, it’s all about how much money we need to possess those things. And how much money we have to have to maintain those things. And after a while, I don’t possess those things… they possess me.
Those possessions - and the debt they demand of me - become my cage.
ILLUS: In the last house I owned I installed a water conditioning system under the sink. Originally I bought it from a local company, but they sold out to another company in a larger city nearby.
I needed to have the “bladder” of the unit replaced and so I called the company and asked that they send someone to fix it for me. And while he was there I carried on a conversation with him.
I said “So you’re from (name of the city)”
“Yes,” he replied.
I guess you guys really do more business there than here. After all we’re not as large a community and they have (I mentioned the names of two or three major companies that employed people there). I would imagine you’d really prefer to do business there than here.”
“No, we really prefer the people in this community.”
“Really, why?”
“Because everybody there is broke. It’s true they’re paid a lot of money, but they spend it faster than they can make it. If their neighbor has a boat, they’ve got to have a boat. If the man next door has a bigger car, they get a bigger car. If the other guy puts in a pool, they put in a pool. Before you know it, they’re working 7 days a week and overtime just to pay on the money they owe on all their toys. The folks here don’t usually do that. They pay as they go and they’re good customers.”
Now, we’re not necessarily any better than those folks in that larger city. It’s just that this world has convinced them that they need THINGS to be successful and happy. After a while, they don’t possess their things… their things possessed them. Their possessions - and the debt those things have brought into their lives – have become their cage.
As I was preparing this message my mind went back to the story of Israel in the wilderness.
Now notice that I said “wilderness”
What do the first four letters of wilderness spell?
That’s right WILD.
Israel was in the WILDerness
God had freed them from slavery and led them into a wild place.
You might ask: Why would God do that?
Why lead them into the wild?
Why not just do a quick march into the Promised Land?
Well – the answer is very simple:
God led them into the wild so that they’d learn to depend on Him!
He wanted to divorce them from this world so they’d learn to cling to Him.
He wanted them to learn that HE was ALL they needed and that HE would meet ALL their needs.
Now, did God do that?
DID God meet all their needs?
Yeah… when they were hungry God supplied them with food.
What did God give them for food? (Manna)
The Bible says manna was like wafers flavored with honey. I could live on that.
And God gave them Manna every day, except on the Sabbath.
And when they were thirsty He always led them to a water supply. And, even when there wasn’t water available, He MADE it available. Twice Moses struck a rock (once in Horeb and once in Kadesh) and God caused water to flow sufficiently to supply water for over a million people.
And all the time in the desert God led with a pillar of fire by night and a pillar of cloud by day. God was always with them. God was ALWAYS there for them.
He changed their lives completely
No more chains.
No more slavery.
No more toiling to make bricks for the Egyptians.
And they were marching towards a Promised Land – a land flowing with milk and honey. A place where they’d live in cities they didn’t build; drink water from wells they hadn’t dug; and enjoy vineyards and olive groves they didn’t plant.
It was ALL going to be theirs!
They were freed from their cage!
They were being led to a wondrous new home!
And you know what they did?
They got HOMESICK… for Egypt
They said “We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost—also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!” Numbers 11:5-6
They wanted to go back to their cage.
They’d forgotten their tears and sorrow in slavery and began to yearn for the world they once knew.
Now many Scholars who read this story and say (in a slightly more scholarly way than this):
HOW DUMB COULD THEY BE?
How could they be so foolish?
I wouldn’t act like that!!
Would you act like that? (wait for a response)
Sorry to tell you this… but we might. In fact the fact that we might behave like this is the reason God said He’d had Israel’s behavior written down in our Bible.
“These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come.” 1 Corinthians 10:11
We needed to be WARNED.
You and I are not that much different than those folks. And that’s why the Bible repeatedly warns us:
• Not to “conform any longer to the pattern of this world, Romans 12:2
• Not to “love the world or anything in the world, 1 John 2:15
God repeatedly warns us that we “born to be wild”.
We were “born to be free”.
We live in a wilderness.
We are strangers and aliens in this land.
This world is not our home… we’re just passing through
Our treasures are laid up… somewhere beyond the blue
The angels beckon us from heaven’s open door
And we can’t feel at home in this world anymore.
‘Cause we ain’t home yet!!
But the danger is still remains.
We’ve grown up being “domesticated” and being conformed to this world.
How do we free ourselves from the chains of that kind of life?
Well – first we need to recognize when we’re in danger of becoming enslaved again.
Jesus tells us of the major danger sign.
In fact 6 times in our text this morning, Jesus warns us NOT to do something.
What do you think Jesus told us NOT to do? (Worry)
“… do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.” Matthew 6:31-32
The pagans RUN after all these things.
ILLUS: How many of you have ever seen a Hamster cage?
What is the most prominent thing you’ll see in a Hamster cage? (the wheel)
Have you ever seen a Hamster use that wheel. He gets inside it and he runs and runs and runs for all he’s worth. But he doesn’t get anywhere. He’s making really good time, but he doesn’t go anywhere. He just runs.
And that’s the way with those who run after the things Jesus described. They may look like they’re making progress, they may look like they’re making good time… but they’re not really getting anywhere at all. And it’s really sad.
These folks are trapped in a cage. They’re enslaved by their passions and desires.
But you weren’t born to be like them.
You weren’t born to worry and fret like they do about tomorrow.
You were born to be wild and free in Jesus.
Worry leads to unhappiness and dissatisfaction with our lot in life.
And this worry comes from only one source – a lack of faith.
That’s why Jesus said “O ye of little faith.” Matthew 6:30
Have you ever felt anxious and worried.
So have I.
I know I’ve struggled with doubt and fear when life doesn’t go as it should.
And Jesus says to you… and to me – Do not worry.
Why?
Because your heavenly FATHER KNOWS you need them.
“… do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.” Matthew 6:31-32
Your heavenly FATHER KNOWS you NEED these things.
And God won’t leave you anymore than He left the Israelites in the wilderness.
ILLUS: Do you realize that God NEVER left the Israelites while they were in the desert? I’ve read about how those folks behaved while they were wandering about – how they grumbled and complained and rebelled. How they made life difficult for Moses and constantly doubted God’s faithfulness. Frankly, if I’d have been God… those folks would STILL be wondering in the desert. I’d have left them behind longggg ago.
But God didn’t.
God never left them, nor forsook them.
Do you realize how comforting that is? If He didn’t leave those losers to bake in the desert (and they really deserved it) he’s not going to leave you or me either. Even when we don’t feel that our faith is as strong as it should be, or that we’ve totally lived up to what God wants of us – He won’t leave us.
But, how do I fix this “worrying” thing?
How do I stay free from the doubts and the fears of this world?
Well, let me turn you to my favorite Bible passage on this:
Turn with me to Philippians 4:4-13
In this passage, God tells us how to control our doubts and fears. This advice won’t remove the source of our anxieties, but it will blunt their power to control us.
“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” Philippians 4:4
Why do parents repeat themselves to their children? They’ll say things like “If I told you once, I’ve told you a thousand times…” Why repeat themselves?
Because they’re kids aren’t paying attention. They’re not doing what they’ve been told to do. So here in Philippians 4:4 Paul repeats himself, because Christians tend to not pay attention to this vital command: REJOICE. Let me tell you again: rejoice.
It’s the core to our dealing with doubt.
“Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.” Philippians 4:5
The Lord is near. He hasn’t left you. He’s not going to leave you. He’s there to hold you through all the things that demoralize and destabilize your life.
“Do not be anxious about anything (there it is again – “do not worry”), but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” Philippians 4:6
God’s not offended by you bringing your doubts and fears to His throne. Go ahead. Bring your prayers and your petitions to Him as often as you need to… BUT sprinkle in some thanksgiving in the mix.
“And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:7
You do what Paul tells you to do in this passage, and the peace of God will envelop you. This special peace is such a powerful force from God that it doesn’t make any sense. It “transcends all understanding”.
ILLUS: I was once visiting with some relatives who are not Christians, and happened to be explaining this concept to them. The wife rolled her eyes in disbelief. Why would she do that? Because it makes no sense to her. It’s illogical to her. God has no influence on her life so she no idea what God’s peace would even be like. And it seems too simplistic to her to be reasonable. It transcends her understanding.
Now, we get to the meat of things in Philippians 4:8-9
“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable— if anything is excellent or praiseworthy— think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me— put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.”
There’s that “peace of God” thing again. And Paul essentially teaches us that the way to attain that peace is to focus on what God has done in our lives. To focus on the blessings we have in our lives.
ILLUS: I was explaining this to a businesswoman I know in town. She was explaining how overwhelmed and anxious she was all the time. And as I told her it was as simple as counting her blessings and she said “I can’t do that. It would be dishonest.” She felt it would be dishonest for her to count her blessings in the face of her difficulties.
I said, “Listen. You’re a businesswoman. You keep a business ledger. And in that ledger there are two sides to the balance sheet. On one side are you’re debts. The things you owe and the products you purchase for your business. If all you did was focus on the negative side of the ledger… you’d get depressed. Look at all that money that you’re having to spend!”
“But, there’s another side of the ledger. This is the side where you list your income. This is where you see how much money is coming in. It doesn’t bother you to pay for your debts, because you know there’s income on THIS side of the balance sheet. That’s what it means to count your blessings. You’re not ignoring the bad things in your life, you’re just focusing on the good. And when you do that, (and you give God the glory for those blessings) God promises you His peace.”
ILLUS: That’s why the Israelites were such a pain in the desert. They focused on the wrong side of the balance sheet. Think about it: they’d seen God bring 10 plagues upon Egypt, and they weren’t even touched. They’d been led to the edge of the Red Sea and the waters parted for them to go through on dry ground. Then, as their enemies came in after them, the walls of water collapsed on them… and they never saw their enemies again. Then, they come to the Mountain of God and they hear His voice and they see His power.
Do they focus on the protection and power of their God.
Noooo.
(In a whiney voice)
“We don’t have any fish anymore.
We don’t have those juicy melons we used to have.
We want onions and garlic again.
Nyea, nyea, nyea, nyea.”
What a bunch of ungrateful losers.
God says: don’t be like that. Focus on Who I Am and I What I have done. Then you’ll have peace of mind and freedom from doubts and fears.
Lastly, I want you to notice what Paul writes in verse 12 and 13:
“I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.” Philippians 4:12
Secret?
There’s a secret?
Oh yeah. It’s a secret because the world doesn’t understand it and they can’t access it… all because they don’t know Jesus. Paul tells us that his secret is this:
“I can do everything through HIM who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:12-13
Jesus is the one who makes all the difference in our lives.
Jesus is the one who brings us freedom.
And Jesus is the one who gives you and me the strength to live a contented life - to be free of the worries and anxieties of this life.
CLOSE: We were called to be wild and free.
Born to be wild so that we can follow Jesus without the chains of fear and worry
There’s a story I read once about Abraham Lincoln (I’m not sure if it’s true, but it fits with the character of the man) The story tells of a time when he was passing through a given town as an auction was being held. On the auction block was an African woman in chains, being offered for sale.
This sight angered Lincoln, and as the auction commenced, he found himself bidding for her. The bidding went back and forth until finally he had purchased her. They brought her over to him, and he instructed them to take the shackles off her wrists and ankles.
Then he said to her, "You are free to go."
She looked at him and said, "You mean that I don't have to go home with you?"
He said, "No, you don't."
She said, "You mean that I don't have to do what you tell me to do or say what you tell me to say?"
"That's right."
"You mean I don't have to be your slave, I don't have to put up with your whims and your fancies?"
He said, "No Ma’am , you don't. You are free to go."
She bowed her head, and tears started coursing down her cheeks.
She looked up at Abraham Lincoln and said, "Then I guess I'll go with you."
Jesus freed us so that we could make the choice to follow Him. Because it’s only in following Jesus that we find true freedom from the chains of life.
INVITATION.
