What? Me Worry?
Text: Matthew 6:25-34
(GIVE THANKS)
So last Monday one of my family members sent me a video of an interview with a man named Victor Davis Hanson. Now for those of you who don’t know, Victor Davis Hanson is a political commentator, a classicist and historian, and basically a pretty smart and educated guy. And in this interview, Hanson was talking about the state of our nation, and the things that we may soon see happen. Things like SUPER HIGH INFLATION, and Stagflation (Imagine paying $30 for a loaf of bread, and $150 to fill up your cars tank with gas). Things like continued loss of freedom and free speech. And he talked about things like Oprah (who’s a billionaire) can talk to Lebron James (who’s a multi-millionaire) about how oppressed they are by people like you and me who are barely squeaking by on less than 40K a year. He talked about how China basically controls our Presidency and is aggressively building its military and influence all over the world. He talked a lot of things… and if I’m being honest; none of it sounded very good.
After watching that video (which was good by the way… don’t misunderstand me… it was very informative and insightful)… but after watching it, I turned on the TV and it was on One America News, and they were talking about the crisis at our southern border. Which is again, a very frustrating and messed up situation, and unless things change, it doesn’t look very hopeful.
Now I don’t know about you all, but often times, when I read these things, or hear these things, I am moved to pray and seek the Lord’s perspective on such issues. So that’s what I did… and the passage we’re going to be looking at today is what was impressed on me from that time in prayer.
So let’s go ahead and open our Bibles to Matthew’s telling of the Gospel… Matthew 6:25-34 (READ).
So we’re given a command here right? DO NOT BE ANXIOUS!
Now the Greek Word for “Anxious” is the word “merimnáo” and it literally means to be torn in two directions due to opposing concerns. Have you ever heard someone say, “My life is falling to pieces”? This is where that comes from! It means to have a lot of concerns, fears, worries, anxiety, about a lot of different things. Specifically for your own future needs.
But Jesus here in verse 25 very clearly says, “Do not be merimnáo.” – DO NOT BE ANXIOUS! So the question I immediately ask, after reading this is: HOW? How do I not worry? How do I not worry about the state of my nation? I don’t want my kids, or future grandkids growing up in a socialist, Marxist country. I’m a history guy… and let me just tell you, Marxist countries are hellish. They never have and never will bring about some utopia on earth. They’re Satanic and evil and wicked. But even closer to home… how do I not worry? I’ve got two daughters in college, who are daily being assailed by a wicked world view… How do I not worry about providing for my wife and kids? And even as believers – we have a certain set of worries that come up that the unbelieving world doesn’t… We worry about the salvation of our loved ones… we worry about our progress in our faith…
So how do we keep this command?
Well… Jesus actually tells us how right here in this passage we just read. So let’s walk though it again and I want to show you how Jesus reassures us along with the command.
First… in verse 25, He says, “… Don’t be anxious about your life… what you’ll eat or drink, or wear…” And then He says, “Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?” And that’s true isn’t it? Life is more than what you eat and wear. Life is experiencing things. It’s learning things. It’s growing and finding joy, and love, and relationships with friends and family. It’s also going through different things… sometimes they’re good, sometimes they’re bad… sometimes they’re hard or difficult. But all of that is life, in the human sense of the word.
And those things aren’t necessarily bad, or wrong… I would even say they’re good things, but eventually we die… and like the quote from the movie Braveheart says, “Every man dies, but not every man truly lives.”. But when this body returns to dust, we don’t cease to exist. And so Jesus is saying here, “Do you have true life?” He’s saying, “GET THE RIGHT PERSPECTIVE! Life is more than just eating and drinking and it’s way more than the clothes you wear.” Those things are your livelihood, not your life… and of course, TRUE, ETERNAL LIFE is found ONLY in CHRIST! Sometimes we substitute all of those other things for the true life that’s found in Christ, and we’ll find in the end that we confused our livelihood for real, true, eternal, life. And so Jesus is saying, “You need to trust the God who gave you life in the first place. He is your Source. He is your Provider. He will give you what you need.”
So that’s the first key – have a right, and true perspective on what life is.
Secondly; look at verse 26 (READ).
God holds you as valuable. He sustains the birds; He sustains the creatures of this world. They are going to perish, but you are eternal. Let me tell you a story that actually relates to this. I currently have two dogs… Not by choice. They are my kids’ dogs, but being that they’re in college, the dogs are stuck with me… or rather I’m stuck with them. And I like dogs. I just didn’t want any right now, due to our current living situation. And so… these two dogs, for the last few months have been a constant source of frustration and stress to me… and yet, I feed them and water them every day. I’ve spent more money taking care of my kids’ dogs than I’ve ever spent on taking care of any of my own dogs… As much of a pain in my backside as they are… God is still using me to provide for those dogs. And during that time, they’ve gone from cute little, hyper puppies, to full blown, full grown, destructive, agents of Satan… Seriously though… they have grown and matured and are healthy, happy, hyper dogs. If God will provide for a dog… or a bird in the air… or a deer in the field, Jesus says, “Then surely He’ll take care of you. You are of more value than they.”
And I think where we get messed up here is that we get a wanky view of God… We trust Him for our salvation and the forgiveness of our sin… We trust that He sent Jesus to die on the cross for us, and that He raised Jesus from the dead for our justification, but then we somehow get it in our heads that God’s too busy to be concerned with the little things of life. I really do… And I’m just going to say it… I think that this kind of thinking comes from Christians who know God, but just not very well. They don’t know or trust God as the Provider and Sustainer. And I’m talking about real Christians here… people who are saved by the grace of God through faith in Christ alone… people who have been born again and forgiven of their sin by the shed blood of Jesus. And they know that, but for whatever reason they have doubts about the continual, sustaining, provision and care of God. They have an ignorance of the full character of God… and understand that when I say “ignorance” I’m not insulting anyone. Ignorance doesn’t mean stupidity, it means you just don’t know. I’m ignorant about a lot of things… I’m ignorant about math from the algebra level and beyond. I just don’t know it. And there are some Christians who know God, but not very well. They’ve never taken the time to really read through Scripture and see the full revelation of God or Christ.
You know… before I became a Christian, I had actually read through the Bible twice. I did that so that I could argue with Christians, because I had found out that many of them had never read the entire Bible. They had their favorite verses and passages, but never had read through the entirety of God’s Word. And Biblical ignorance is a real things within the Church. But that’s a whole different sermon… let me get back on track here. If you are a Christian… if you have been saved by God’s grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone… let me reassure you, without a doubt – GOD LOVES YOU! Jesus Christ died for you! He laid down His life, while you were yet a sinner, and gave of Himself, enduring the very wrath of God, on your behalf. There should be no doubt in your mind that God loves and cares for you, and that He will take care of you!
And there is nothing and NO-THING that can separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus! Paul lays it out for us in Romans.
So… First… we need a right perspective of what life is… and second we need a right perspective of God’s love and provision. THIRDLY; we need the right perspective on our inability, God’s sovereignty, and God’s goodness.
Look at verse 27 (READ).
Have you ever noticed that we worry about things we have no control over? I don’t worry about the grass in my yard getting too high if I’ve got a good mower that works – right? I just go out and mow it. I don’t worry about a light bulb burning out if I’ve got extra light bulbs stored in the closet… I just grab one and change it. We don’t worry about things we can fix or control… we worry about things we can’t control, or about things that we have no power to change. If you’ve got food in the fridge, you’re not worried about starving… you might have a decision to make about WHAT to eat, but not about whether or not you’ll GET TO eat. So I want you to really think about what you’re worried about… maybe it’s the way our nation is headed? Maybe it’s a health concern? Or finances? Maybe it’s your marriage, or your kids? Or your job? What you’ve got to do is look at those things honestly and ask yourself what can I do to fix this? If there is something you can do… GET ON IT! It’s not rocket science. But if it’s something that is beyond your ability to control or fix… GIVE IT TO GOD! Turn it over to Him, trust that He’s going to work all things together for good to those that love Him and are the called according to His purpose. Do what you can with what you’ve got. Do what you can where you are. If God wants to raise up another Moses, or Paul the Apostle, God can do that. He’s sovereign!
When I say God is sovereign, what I’m talking about is that God is in complete and absolute control. He is the Maker, Creator, and Sustainer of all things. He is in complete control of all things. He is the King of the Universe. There is nothing too hard for Him. There is nothing that is beyond His reach. Now granted, if it’s not His will, He won’t bring it to pass. So you can’t be praying, “God let me get away with sin.” That’s not going to happen.
Look at verse 30 with me (READ)…
Notice what Jesus says their anxiety and fears are here? A lack of faith! Do you believe that God can do those things, and take care of those things that are causing you anxiety? Yes, or No?
And if you say “YES” to that question, but you still find yourself worrying, then maybe it’s because you’re worrying that this thing you’re wanting, whatever it might be, actually isn’t His will for you. In other words, there’s something you’re worrying about, and even though you know that God is completely sovereign and all powerful… you’re worrying because deep down inside you know that His will is different than your will… His desire is different than your desire. I’ve had the privilege to speak with a lot of Christians from all over the place, especially here in Oklahoma… from Muskogee, to Tulsa, to OKC, to Lawton and Enid, and even Woodward and Guymon out west, and there is this sense of fear and anxiety of this growing Marxist movement… This job killing, economic destroying movement… this immoral and unethical movement. And you’ve got these “WOKE” leaders within the SBC pushing Critical Race Theory and Intersectionality, and the “woke” agenda, and there’s a fear… and anxiety among Christians. And so I talk to them, and we go through these very things.
Do you have a right and true perspective on what life is? Do you have a right and true perspective on God’s love and provision? And do you have a right and true perspective on human inability, God’s sovereignty? And a lot of times; they do, and yet they still have the fears and anxiety… and so that brings us to God’s goodness.
Remember the old Scottish prayer? “God is great. God is goode’. Let us thank Him for our food.” “GOOD” is not a lesser form of “GREAT”… Good is a moral condition. God is GOOD!
He is perfectly upright and moral in every way. He is without sin, without malice, without corruption or wickedness. HE IS GOOD! So we have to know and understand that when He allows something to take place.
Even when it’s hard… even when it’s painful… even when it seems that the wicked are advancing and prospering, and the world is going down the toilet… we as believers have to that somehow, someway, God is working all things together for good! That God is using the wicked in the world, and the schemes of man, to bring about some kind of good. We don’t always see it, or understand it… because we don’t always see the big picture. But we have faith, that God is good. That He is not only sovereign and all-mighty, but that He is perfectly and completely good, moral, and upright.
So here’s Jesus’ solution to our anxiety – Verse 33, “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
Seek God’s rule and reign in your life. Trust and obey your sovereign King. Seek first the righteousness that only comes from being found in Christ. Jesus is the standard. Not the elites in the SBC, or some other religious organization. Not the pastor of the Mega-Church that has a million podcast listeners and 14 best selling books. Not the local pastor. Not your spouse. JESUS! He is the Author and Finisher of your faith. When the waves are crashing around you, look to Him and call out. He is quick to save. And if the Lord tarries, tomorrow will come with its own set of problems… but when it does, “Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in His wonderful face. And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of HIS glory and grace!”
CLOSING
