THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT (part 17)
Matthew 6:25-34
I did a sermon a couple of years ago titled, Be in the Now. It's about being in the moment. One of the points I made involved the extended version of the Serenity Prayer. In it, we see this line, "Living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time, accepting hardship as a pathway to peace". "Enjoying one moment at a time". This isn't just, be in the now, this is, enjoy the now.
How often do we not enjoy the moment because we're focused on something else? Worry moves us away from being in the now. We're worried about tomorrow's meeting or how we're going to pay that bill. So when you're at a fun event or even just sitting at home being around your family you're not enjoying the moment because your mind is on something else.
The be here now mindset allows me to make the most of it. If I'm worried I cannot enjoy one moment at a time because I'm worrying one moment at a time. What does worry accomplish for us? Nothing. It robs us. It robs our joy; it robs our peace. Worry robs our ability to trust and rely on God. It robs our ability to think rationally and find solutions to our problems. It steals our patience in waiting for God to move in his perfect timing.
No wonder Jesus tells us to not worry. Let's see what he has to say about it.
1) Don't worry.
Matt. 6:25, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?"
"Therefore". Jesus connects the previous passage about not focusing on building up treasures on earth with this one on worry. And it makes sense. One of the reasons I'm so focused on building up treasures on earth is because I'm worried about getting or keeping or having enough material things. But Jesus tells me not to worry about these things.
Notice he lists the most basic things-food and clothing. We can't manage without food and clothing. We need food and water to live and we can't go around naked. Well, we could but in my case it wouldn't be too pretty.
Jesus asks us two rhetorical questions, 'Isn't life more important than food and the body more important than clothes?' What does he mean? What could be more important than having the most basic necessities? He's talking about the spiritual. Our lives are more than just the physical. Our bodies are more than what we clothe them with.
Think about it-people can be very focused on food and clothing. We love to go to restaurants and are willing to spend a lot of money eating out. We simply enjoy a good meal and are willing to pay for it.
And we live in a culture where people can be defined by what they wear. The better dressed I am the better I feel and the better I'll be treated. ZZTop-'cause every girl's crazy 'bout a sharp dressed man'. So, we Americans can fixate on these things and worry about them.
But even if it's not in a luxury sense, Jesus still doesn't want us worrying about them; even if we don't know where our next meal is coming from or if we have one set of clothes to our name. If it's the end of the month and the fridge is empty, we can easily find ourselves worried about that. If winter's coming up and we don't have proper clothing, we could worry about that. Consider Jesus' example.
Matt. 4:1-4, "Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
Satan wanted Jesus to focus only on the physical. But Jesus highlights the spiritual component. He quotes from Deut. 8.
Duet. 8:1-4, "Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase and may enter and possess the land that the LORD promised on oath to your forefathers. Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands.
He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years."
Our lives don't consist merely in the physical. The flesh is temporary but the spirit is eternal. We need things to physically survive but we are not to worry about them. We can think about them but we can't worry or obsess about them. If such things are causing you anxiety then your focus on them is not healthy.
Notice that during the forty years the Israelites wandered in the desert they were fed and their clothes did not wear out. That doesn't make sense. They should've died in the desert-they had no food or water. But God fed them supernaturally. He gave them manna from heaven and caused the quail to come into the camp when they were crying for meat. And when they were thirsty he gave them water out of a rock. And after all that time their clothes should've been rags but God took care of that too.
We can look to what God did for a bunch of complaining Israelites and realize that he will take care of us too. We are all here today because God has been taking care of us. How many times were you worried about a situation and then God provided? How many times were you worried and the scenario you conjured up in your head never happened?
Jesus tells us to not worry about your life. In vs. 27 he says, 'who by worrying can add a single hour to his life'? It's natural, especially the older we get, to worry about our lives. When you see or hear about people passing away in your age bracket it can be a little unnerving. Or if you receive a serious diagnosis you could really start to worry. Or if you have a serious accident or near death experience you can start to worry about your life.
All of these situations can grip us with fear. But worrying about it won't help; it won't add any time on to your life. On the contrary; worry will probably take time off of your life. But Jesus said don't worry about your life; any part of it. Not just regarding the end of our lives, but everything to do with our lives.
He mentions food and clothing but we could include everything else too. Don't worry about that interview, don't worry about that bill, don't worry about that trip, don't worry about that upcoming event. These things need to be addressed and you can be concerned about them, but when we worry we are essentially removing God out of the equation. We're thinking we alone need to handle this; that God is not going to help. Worry makes our problems bigger than our God.
Bobby McFerrin song, Don't worry; be happy. "In every life we have some trouble; But when you worry you make it double. Don't worry, be happy." Worrying only makes things worse.
2) Consider the birds and the lilies.
Matt. 6:26-30, "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? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? “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?"
"Look at the birds of the air". Jesus points out that although the birds don't sow, reap or store, God still feeds them. The birds might not sow or reap but that doesn't mean God just drops it in their laps, either. They still have to fly and hunt their prey. But God provides for them. He shows them where to go to find food. And since they don't store their food, they must rely on God to provide the food they need each day. And it's obvious that God is doing so since there are plenty of birds flying around. The way my car looks in the summertime will verify that.
When God was talking to Job and asking him all those questions, we see this in Job 38:39-41, “Do you hunt the prey for the lioness and satisfy the hunger of the lions when they crouch in their dens or lie in wait in a thicket? Who provides food for the raven when its young cry out to God and wander about for lack of food?"
God is the one who gives the wild creatures their food. Yes, they need to hunt and find it, but God is the one who provides for them. Likewise, when we are in need, we can trust in God to provide for us, because we are much more valuable to him than animals. We are his crowning creative achievement; he saved the best for last!
The flowers of the field are beautiful but fragile and expendable. God knows that the grass of the field will be thrown into the fire yet he still beautifies them. We cut them, enjoy them for a time, admire their beauty and fragrance and then within a short period of time they're gone. We need to look at the care God takes in dressing the wildflowers and caring for all the wildlife and realize that he will do all that and more for us. If we can grasp that then we will not worry.
However, as the lion and the bird need to hunt, we, too, need to be proactive in getting what the Lord provides. That doesn't mean he won't sometimes provide for us without us having to work for it, but it's wrong for us to assume because God provides that all we need to do is sit back and wait for him to bring it to us. We need to be active but not frenzied. We do what we're supposed to do but not in a frantic way.
"You of little faith". Here Jesus highlights that it's a faith issue. At various times, Jesus used this phrase to describe a shortcoming of his followers. In Matt. 8 the disciples were in a boat and a storm blew in that threatened all on board. But Jesus was asleep on a cushion. They frantically went and got Jesus, amazed that he could be calm at a time like this.
After Jesus calmed the storm he said in vs. 26, "You of little faith, why are you so afraid?" It makes sense why someone would be afraid but Jesus said this because there had been times before when they saw Jesus' miraculous power and should've known that there was nothing to worry about here.
In Matt. 14 when Jesus came out to his disciples walking on the water, Peter got out of the boat and started walking on water. But he got focused on the wind and the waves and began to panic and sink. Jesus reached down and grabbed him and said in vs. 31, "You of little faith, why did you doubt?"
It would be easy to be afraid, worried and doubtful in a situation like this but Peter had seen Jesus calm the storm before so he should've known he wouldn't have let anything happen to him now. When we worry, we're not having the faith we should have in these situations. We need to remember the times when God provided for us before. Stronger faith results in less worry, fear and doubt.
3) Seek first the kingdom.
Matt. 6:31-34, "So 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. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."
"The pagans run after these things". Jesus is telling us not to behave like those who don't know God. When those who don't know Christ chase after the things of the world it's understandable; they don't know any better. It makes sense when those who don't have access to the peace and joy of Christ are worried and anxious.
But when Christians do these things it's not sensible. We know God. We have seen the power of God. We have seen the miraculous work of God. So there's really no reason for us to worry, fear or doubt. We know better, we have seen better and we have the power to do better.
One day, a man was having a conversation with a friend. "I have a mountain of credit card debt", he told him. "I've lost my job, my car is being repossessed and our house is in foreclosure; but I'm not worried." "You're not?!"his friend exclaimed. "Nope; I've hired a professional worrier. He does all my worrying for me. That way, I don't have to think about it." "Wow, that's great! How much does he charge for that?" "Fifty thousand a year." "What?! Where are you going to get that kind of money?" "I don't know; that's for him to worry about."
Although we can't hire a professional worrier, there is someone we can pass our worries off on. 1st Peter 5:7, "Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you." When we know and are convinced that God loves us and cares about us, we can find freedom from worry. God wants us to give all the things that worry us over to him so that he can deal with it and so we don't have to be burdened with it.
"Seek first his kingdom". Jesus is saying, "Stop worrying about all this; you have better things to focus on". Worry takes us away from focusing on the kingdom. And we see there's nothing to be concerned about when our focus is on the kingdom because God will take care of all our needs and concerns.
Last week I talked about Solomon's choice to seek wisdom and discernment to govern God's people over anything else. God rewarded him with what he sought after and all the other things as well. Same with us. When our focus is the kingdom of God then God will give us the things that pertain to that as well as all the other things we need.
"Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness." We also need to focus on righteousness. We center on building the character of Christ in us and others and we focus on doing the work of the kingdom. This is what we are to seek first and foremost and worrying has no place in that.
Worry makes us impatient, demanding and critical. Sometimes when we're frustrated with God about not answering our prayers it's because we're anxious. But if we can present our requests to God and then let them go and focus on the things of God then we won't be worried about when God is going to come through for us. Seek first his kingdom and worry won't be a part of your life.
Phil. 4:6-7, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
Prayer with thanksgiving is key. If we're thankful for what God has already done; if we're mindful of the ways he has already provided, then we can be at peace. The peace that transcends understanding is the ability to be at peace when there's a seemingly legitimate reason to be anxious. When we're facing a situation where it would be easy to worry but instead we are at peace about it; that doesn't make any sense apart from God. And that peace will guard our hearts and minds from gravitating toward worry, fear and anxiety.
"Do not worry about tomorrow". That's hard to do, isn't it? We have that doctor's appt. coming up next Friday and we can't stop thinking about it. Meanwhile, we're not focused on the concerns of today. I think we could even break this down to the same day. I have that appointment at 3:00 but when I wake up I'm consumed by it. I'm not able to enjoy my morning or early afternoon because I'm worried about my appt. at 3:00. I could see Jesus saying, "don't worry about what's coming up at 3:00, focus on what you're doing right now."
I see this principle also applying to when we focus on too much at once. We get consumed with all the things that need to be done instead of focusing on one thing at a time. When Jesus was with Mary and Martha, Martha got upset that Mary wasn't helping. When she approached Jesus about this, he said in
Luke 10:41-42, “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” Mary wasn't worried about getting the housework done; her focus was on her special guest. Martha was neglecting Jesus because she was worried and upset.
We can make the same mistake. We are worried and upset about a lot of things but we aren't taking the time to be with Jesus. If we do that, we will find the peace and strength to get through our situation. We'll be able to put things in perspective. We'll find that worrying about these things will be fruitless. When we spend time with Jesus, we calm down and we're not upset anymore.
Things may still need to get done, but we won't worry about them. I'm sure Martha looked at all the things that needed to be done and she got overwhelmed. We can do that too. We look at all the things on our to-do-list and we get overwhelmed because we're thinking about the whole thing. We need to settle down and take one thing at a time. A lot can get done when we're not worrying.
Norman Vincent Peale said, "The word worry is derived from an old Anglo-Saxon word meaning to strangle or choke. How well-named the emotion it has been demonstrated again and again in persons who have lost their effectiveness due to the effect of anxiety. Normal sensible concern is an important attribute of the mature person but worry frustrates one's best functioning."
Do not worry; it accomplishes nothing.
