Title: Jane Harper Funeral Message Scripture: Mt. 6:25-34
Type: Funeral Where: GNBC 6-16-23
Intro: What's worse than being trapped behind prison bars? Trying to live while avoiding capture.
Sergei was a Latvian prison convict with ten months left to serve on his seven-year burglary sentence, when he decided to escape. But even after years of freedom, the escapee couldn't relax. "Worry over being caught was proving too stressful." Sergei worked several jobs and moved into an apartment with his girlfriend, but he was constantly looking over his shoulder. He was constantly anxious. In a move that surprised prison officials, Sergei showed up at the minimum-security facility and turned himself in five years after he first escaped! When asked why he did this, Sergei replied: “I was constantly anxious and had no peace.” (The Christian Science Monitor (3-14-05). Anxiety is a real issue. Anxiety was an issue Elizabeth struggled with in her life. She was not alone. An estimated 19.1% of U.S. adults had any anxiety disorder in the past year. Past year prevalence of any anxiety disorder was higher for females (23.4%) than for males (14.3%). An estimated 1/3rd of U.S. adults experience any anxiety disorder at some time in their lives. (NIMH Website). The prospect of death or the loss of a loved one can certainly contribute to anxiety. But listen, I think Jesus offers us some very wise words to help us in our time of loss.
I. To Overcome Anxiety Jesus Tells us Not To Get Wrapped Up in Temporal Matters. V.25
A. Notice what Jesus tells us here in this Passage.
1. Jesus Encourages us to Not Grow Anxious over the Mundane Matters of Life.
a. Jesus tells His listeners to not be anxious for the things that cause most of us anxiety daily: your life (What you will eat or drink.), nor what you will put on your body (Clothing, etc.). We spend so much of our time being anxious for these, and a host of other mundane, daily matters. We can allow them to monopolize our time and rob our lives of joy and pleasure.
b. Illust: Jane grew up in rural Iowa, near Wellman. Growing up in late 1960’s and 1970’s she enjoyed a somewhat idyllic childhood playing with her cousins and enjoying the simple pleasures of the rural life. Anxieties were few. Yet over time, those anxieties would grow in Jane’s life.
2. Sandy, Tommy, Jenny, losing a parent causes us to realize the eternal in the midst of the temporal. *We met your family over ten years ago when Sandy moved in next door to take care of your father. Tom, in the last year of his life. Losing loved ones brings eternity into view. Eternity matters and the temporal pales, especially when we mourning a loved one. Even in your time of loss, I Pet. 5:7 tells us to “Cast all your cares upon Him because He cares for us…”
B. Jesus Reminds Us that Eternal Matters are of Significant More Importance.
1. This section takes us back to what Jesus Previously said in vv. 19-24.
a. In vv. 19-24 Jesus tells us the importance of preparing for eternity. It is so common for people nowadays to prepare for retirement. Laying up their treasurers, working hard to plan for the years of rest and pleasure. Yet for many, we never actually get to experience that retirement. Jesus reminds us of something very serious in this passage. Eternity will come for each one of us. Will we have prepared for it? Will we have taken the time and effort to “lay up treasure” in eternity?
b. Illust: A 5 years old boy went to funeral of his beloved grandfather. At the cemetery little boy stood over the hole dug for the coffin. Just before the service started, looked up at mother and said: “How is grandpa ever going to get out of there?” He didn't understand. He’d never seen anyone die before and it puzzled him. In fact all of mankind has been puzzled by death. Most have fear it • Aristotle called death the thing he feared most because “it appears to be the end of everything.” • Jean-Paul Sartre said death “removes all meaning from life” For men like them, death was the end of everything. It was like walking into a dungeon and throwing away the key. It was like being trapped in a room from which they’d never escape.
2. Realize that in Light of Eternity There Are More Important Matters to Focus on than Simply Daily living.
a. Here’s the harsh truth. All of us will face this day one day. Let me ask you, how much will worry about food, clothing, finances keep us from eventually meeting our eternal destiny? Isn’t it more important to take the time now to get to know God?
b. "God loves you just as you are but too much to leave you that way." ~ Max Lucado That’s why He wants us to realize that eternal matters are important. He wants us to take life seriously, but ourselves not too seriously.
C. Applic: It’s a good thing, it’s the right thing to take the time to reflect upon eternity at the time of the loss of a loved one. Jane’s passing should speak to all of us on the futility of worrying about temporal things and the importance of considering eternity. Jane enjoyed many of the simple things of life: spending time with friends and family, cheering her kids in sports and other events, reading books, listening to music.
II. To Overcome Anxiety Jesus Tells us to Focus on Our Father’s Providential Care. Vv. 26-30
A. Jesus Tells us to Focus on God’s Providential Care.
1. Christ gives three examples of God’s providential care in order to encourage believers to not worry but to instead trust God. He says look at the “birds in the sky,” how God feeds them (v. 26). Look at the “flowers of the field,” how they grow. Their clothes are better than that of Solomon (v 28-29). We can discern this with the naked eye as we consider their rich colors and designs; however, if one looked through a microscope, the rich complexity of color and texture would be even more apparent. God also provides for the grass, even though its lifespan is short (v. 30).
2. Jane graduated from HS in 1980. She and Tom married a couple of years later. Three children were born to this union. The military moved them but eventually moved back to the Midwest. Jane experienced some hardship and setbacks in life. Not everything was easy.
B. To Overcome Anxiety Jesus Tells us we Need to Realize Our Great Value to God. V. 26
1. Jesus points to the fact that God provides daily for the birds of the air. They don’t plan t or reap or store up food for the winter in barns and yet God provides for them.
2. Notice what Jesus says in this passage: “Are you not worth much more than they?” Can I tell you, one of the greatest causes of anxiety in our world today comes from the fact that most people don’t have a clue how absolutely radically and extensively God loves them! God won’t stop loving us when we mess up. The central message of the Bible is this: God doesn’t love you because of who you are or what you’ve done but because of who Jesus is and what he has done. God made you. He loves you. It’s settled! You can’t make God love you more. You can’t make him love you less. He loves you just as much on your bad days as he does on your good days. His love is not performance based. The Bible has a word for this. It’s called grace—and it’s absolutely amazing. God looks down and says, “I choose to love you. And you can’t make me stop loving you.” Even when we’re ridiculously bad, God won’t stop loving us. It truly is amazing grace. When you understand his grace, you can relax in life and allow Him to release the control anxiety has over our lives.
C. To Overcome Anxiety Jesus Tells us we Must Recognize How Unproductive It Is. V.27
1. Jesus tells us that anxiety is unproductive in light of eternity. He tells us that worry about life won’t add a “cubit” to our lives (The distance from elbow to the tips of your fingers.) Illust: A long time ago my father gave me some sage advice that Jesus would have approved of: “Chris,” he said, “It doesn’t do you a lick of good to worry. 90% of everything we worry about won’t happen anyway.” I suppose that’s pretty true.
2. Illust: I love the opening lyrics of the Alan Jackson song: “The Older I Get”: “The older I get
The more I think, You only get a minute, better live while you're in it, 'Cause it's gone in a blink, And the older I get, The truer it is, It's the people you love, not the money and stuff That makes you rich.” The only correction I would make to the lyrics would be “ it’s the God that you love that makes you rich.”
D. Applic: Friend, God loves you! He provides for us. God will also take care of you during time of loss.
III. To Overcome Anxiety Jesus Tell us we Must Pursue God’s Promises. Vv. 31-34
A. Jesus Tells us the Secret to Overcoming Anxiety.
1. Jesus tells us to Focus on God’s Truth and Not our Anxieties in Life.
a. Illust: I’ve read there are some 3000 promises in the Bible, and v. 33 is one of the best!. God tells us the importance of seeking first His Kingdom and His righteousness. When we do, He promises to “add all these things” to us and our lives. The “things” that others worry about, you won’t have to worry about when you trust and know you have a loving and faithful heavenly Father. Christ promises His disciples that if they made God’s kingdom and his righteousness their chief priority, all their needs would be met. The word “pursue” is a present imperative meaning that this must be one’s unceasing quest, not an occasional endeavor. Do you treat God like He is your passion/quest, or is He only an occasional endeavor?
b. When we pursue God’s kingdom and his righteousness, God meets our needs, which implies the opposite of this promise is also true. When we don’t pursue his kingdom, but instead neglect God and enjoy the world and sin, we will often lack. As in the Parable of the Prodigal Son, God often allows his wayward children to go away from him, enjoy sin, and reap the consequences of it. He allows them to experience lack until they come to their senses and return home (Lk 15).
2. Fear and failure came in the Fall of Man.
a. In Gen. 3:10, after Adam sinned in the garden, a new word entered man’s vocabulary. He said, “I was ‘afraid.’” Now man continually lives with anxiety and fear—fear of failure, fear of success, fear of death. Fear became the norm because there was an absence of love. John says, “perfect love drives out fear” (1 John 4:18). People’s relationships with God and others are fractured. Therefore, people are constantly plagued by fears, which often inhibit their ability to love and receive love.
b. Jesus Christ came to this earth to restore that which was lost. To restore those who were alienated. To offer hope. To bring salvation. Have you trusted in Him?
B. To Overcome Worry, We Must Focus on God’s Grace for Today.
1. Although we daily face trials God gives grace for the day we face.
a. Read v. 34. It must be noted that Christ says today will have “trouble.” The fact that Christ calls us not to worry is not based on the fact that believers are exempt from hardship. We have no such promise. In this world, we will have “trouble and suffering” (John 16:33). We live in a sin-filled world—we will hurt people and they will hurt us. Because of man’s sin, We experience earthquakes, flooding, drought, and other natural disasters. There is pain and toil in our daily labor, and it’s often unfruitful. We get a failing grade on a paper, though we worked our hardest to complete it. Our work projects give us mental stress and at times fall apart. Through pain and toil, we will provide for ourselves on this earth (Gen 3:17-18). There will always be some trouble in the day, and some days will have more than others, like the day that you heard of Jane's untimely passing.
b. However, amidst the troubles, God promises to give us grace for the day. Lamentations 3:22-23. Illust: God will always provide grace for the day. It is when we bear the burden of the next day, it is too much for us. George Macdonald said: “No man ever sank under the burden of the day. It is when tomorrow’s burden is added to the burden of today, that the weight is more than a man can bear.”
C. Applic: I’ve read before that the Bible tells us 365x, “Do not be afraid.” That’s one for every day of the year. There can be a lot of fear and uncertainty at the passing of a loved one. Turn to Christ, allow Him to give you His peace in a relationship with Him.
