Sermon on the Mount - (Don't Worry, Part 1)
Matthew 6:25-30 (NIV)
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 than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 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? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
28 And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 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--you of little faith?
INTRODUCTION
This section is justly famous, wonderfully practical, and precious to Christians through the ages. It begins with "therefore," and as always, when we see a "therefore," we should ask, "What is it there for?" In other words, what is this instruction building from in the previous section?
Clothing is a basic human need, just as food is. In most places in the modern world, even those that culture thinks of as "poor" rarely have serious concerns about where to obtain clothes or food. However, that was an ongoing challenge for those living in poverty in Jesus' day. It remains so for people living in many parts of the world today. It is natural to expect someone in that position to experience anxiety. It is something we tend to sympathize with and even approve of.
COMMENTARY
(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 than food, and the body more than clothes?
This section is justly famous, wonderfully practical, and precious to Christians through the ages. It begins with "therefore," and as always, when we see a "therefore," we should ask, "What is it there for?" In other words, what is this instruction building from in the previous section?
The answer here is that Jesus, having talked about money and our need not to serve money, now tells us not to be anxious. One great source of anxiety is material anxiety, anxiety over possessions, and provision. However, if we serve God, we have no cause to worry—which Jesus will now explain.
Most people hearing Jesus' Sermon on the Mount were "poor." Most people in that era lived from day to day. For some, what they earned each day was all they had to live on for the next day. When Jesus instructed these people to pray for "daily bread," it resonated with their life experience (Matthew 6:11). They might have struggled more with Jesus' teaching in the previous verses: not to obsess over wealth but to focus on godly and eternal life.
Indeed, poor people can hardly be guilty of stockpiling treasures on earth—they are not even sure where tomorrow's bread will be coming from. However, in this passage, Jesus shows that even those with little wealth can become preoccupied with material things. Even the poorest people can serve money instead of God (Matthew 6:24). To the poor, Jesus applies this by reminding them not to be anxious about the money they do not have.
He commands His followers not to worry about their lives, including what they will eat, drink, or wear. People of the ancient world often wore the same one or two sets of clothes until they fell into rags. A large part of each day focuses on obtaining, preparing, or earning money for food. Jesus points out that life is about more than what we eat and wear—God has purposes for us beyond those brief details.
Jesus is not telling His followers to quit their jobs. He is not telling them to sit idly and wait for God to provide simply supernaturally. Nor is He suggesting it is wrong to earn money to provide for their families. He is not telling His followers that they should not wisely save for future needs. In keeping with the rest of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus commands His listeners to take control of what is going on in their minds and hearts. The word "worry" or "be anxious" here is terminated. This can mean caring for or thinking about something. In this context, it means to obsess or agonize. Jesus' point here is not that we should be careless but should not be fearful.
In a meaningful sense, constantly worrying about money is a way of "serving" money instead of serving God. Living in fear, Jesus says, is not the point of real life. He will clarify this in the following verses.
He begins with a series of questions. This is brilliant teaching because the psychological experience of worry is often rooted in asking the wrong questions in our minds and hearts, as one thought races around another thought, and all these thoughts pile up on each other and generate anxiety. So instead, ask the right questions. They include the following:
"Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?" (6:25). In other words, even if we were (worst case scenario, for anxiety loves to go to worst case scenarios) lacking food and clothing, is it not true that life and body are more than these things? It puts the issues in perspective. This is not life and death—difficult as it may be, and in extreme examples, could be.
26 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?
Jesus has commanded His followers not to store up wealth for themselves on earth but to instead store up "treasure" in heaven by living righteously out of sincere devotion to God (Matthew 6:19–24). To those who might be tempted toward greed or materialism, this is a sobering warning. Recently, Jesus has applied that same idea to those who are in no immediate danger of stockpiling wealth: the poor. Those who do not know where the money for food, drink, and clothing will come from can still be overly concerned about material things. Christ says believers should not live in anxiety about these basic life needs. Life is about more than just food and clothing—there is meaning and purpose even if you do not have these things. To live in worry about the money we do not have is living under the control of money rather than the control of God. Living to serve God includes trusting Him to provide what is needed without living in fear and anxiety.
Now Jesus turns to nature as an example of this. He says birds do not plant, harvest, or store crops in barns. They have no organized system for providing for themselves beyond the moment they are in. Still, they eat, Jesus says, because God the Father feeds them. That is the work of God.
The question clarifies that we are much more valuable than birds to our heavenly Father, yet he provides for them. "Are you not of more value than they?" (6:26). He has told the illustration of the birds of the air. As has often been commented, the birds do not store but peck around for food. So Jesus is not teaching against?working?for a living, but against?worrying?as a way of living.
Jesus asks His listeners a pointed question: Are you not more valuable than birds? The implied answer is that God's children are more valuable to God the Father than birds. If God feeds the birds, He will also feed those of greater worth than birds. Instead of living in anxiety about these basic needs, Jesus urges His followers to trust God the Father to provide what is needed in the right amounts and at the right time.
A careful reading of this passage gives essential context. Jesus has carefully pointed out that God's plans and will are not always identical to our preferences (Matthew 5:3–12). God will provide all that we "need" to obey His will. At times that might not include what we sometimes think of as "needs." The fact that life—true life (John 10:10; 14:6)—is more than these earthly things is a crucial part of understanding this analogy.
27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
Jesus is teaching about money's place in the hearts and minds of God's people. He has said that living to build wealth on earth for oneself is like living with bad eyes. It creates moral darkness inside a person. Instead, God's people should live in light by serving Him, not money (Matthew 6:19–24). Next, Jesus commanded His followers to reject anxiety about money, even if they do not know what they would eat or wear. Those who serve God trust God to provide all they truly need. Worrying about money when you do not have any still amounts to serving money instead of God. Worry is evidence of faulty faith (Matthew 6:25–26).
Here Jesus points out another problem with anxiety, fear, and worry: they are useless. They do not work. They do not help. Those emotions are powerless so far as those actual needs are concerned. Anxiety is a natural human response—especially when you are wondering how to feed your family. Still, it is a brute fact that worry, in and of itself, cannot add a single hour to anyone's life. Worry is ineffective.
Of course, many will protest that anxiety is not like a hat: it is not simply something we can remove. If being a born-again believer made all our fears and doubts disappear, there would be no reason for God to remind us not to worry! God knows this and understands how difficult it is to trust God when times are difficult. This is why these reminders are in Scripture. Jesus will continue in this passage to show why it is essential for God's people to make an effort to shed worry.
