Winning Over Worry
Matthew 6:25-34
October 16, 2005
Morning Service
Introduction
Someone tells about a woman who for many years couldn’t sleep at night because she worried that her home would be burglarized. One night her husband heard a noise in the house, so he went downstairs to investigate. When he got there, he found a burglar. The husband said to the burglar, "Come upstairs and meet my wife. She has been waiting 10 years to meet you."
This story is of course rediculous, but it does illustrate the fact that few of things that we worry about come to pass
An average person’s anxiety is focused on :
40% -- things that will never happen
30% -- things about the past that can’t be changed
12% -- things about criticism by others, mostly untrue
10% -- about health, which gets worse with stress
8% -- about real problems that will be faced
If you add those percentage up they will total 100% and out of all the things that most people worry about only 8% are actually problems that have to be dealt with. In other words, 8 out of 100 worries that you have are genuine in nature. We are far more likely to live out of fear rather than faith.
What do you worry about? How many of you have lost sleep this past week over one of these issues?
• Family Problems
• Finances
• Issues of faith
• Failures from the past
• Guilt and shame over sin
• Health issues
Worry does nothing for us. It does nothing to help us cope with the troubles of the day. It does nothing to give us greater strength to face life’s challenges. It does nothing to assist us in overcoming the trials of life. Worry does absolutely nothing!
This morning I want to look at what Jesus has to say about worry and find a model for us to live a life of faith instead of fear. If you have your Bibles with you open them to Matthew 6:25-31
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? 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 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? 28 "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies 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, O you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, `What shall we eat?’ or `What shall we drink?’ or `What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
I. Worry comes from a lack of faith
The words of Jesus still ring true today - do not worry
Our English word worry is actually rooted in a German term that means to choke or to strangle. Worry will literally choke the quality of life that you have.
The Greek word for worry means to be anxious, to be troubled with care or to be agitated.
Growing up my grandmother had one of those old open drum washing machines that you could actually see washing the clothes. My cousin saw that I was watching the washing machine run and dared me to put my hand in during the cycle. I wish I could tell you that I was smart enough not to do that but then there would be no story to tell. I stuck my hand into the washing machine and took a bit of a beating. This is exactly what worry does to us spiritually. It beats us up and leaves us worse for wear.
Jesus says, “Do not worry,” three separate times in this passage. He is giving them emphasis for a reason. Why does Jesus so concerned about worry? Worry is not only an emotional issue, it is also a spiritual issue.
The Greek word for worry also means to seek one’s own interests or to be absorbed with one’s own affairs. The central issue of worry is really the central barrier to discipleship, selfishness. Jesus is striking at the heart of the issue of worry and showing the true heart of discipleship. It is absolutely impossible for you to follow Jesus and do your own thing.
When we worry, we are taking our focus off of Christ and placing it on our own interests. I can see some of you getting uncomfortable with this. I worry about my parents or my children or my grandchildren. The truth is the reason that you worry rests in the fact that you have not fully given the situation over to God. If you worry you cannot trust, if you trust you cannot worry. Worry is only a one way street that takes you away from God.
Even when things are going good in our lives we still are plagued with worry.
Several years ago one of the astronauts who walked on the moon was interviewed and asked, "What did you think about as you stood on the moon and looked back at the earth?" The astronaut replied, "I remembered how the spacecraft was built by the lowest bidder."
Isn’t this the way we do things? Isn’t this the way we truly are at times?
II. Worry is clearly not necessary
Jesus uses three specific areas of life that cause us the most worry.
1.) Food
Jesus illustrates this by describing the nature of birds. Even in the depths of winter birds always seem to have food. Birds have been provided with rich resources of food and the God given instinct to find that food. They spend a great deal of time and effort to find food but they never store it up. They live from day to day.
It is important to remember that in the time of Jesus, that food was daily concern. Each day the family worked with the goal to place food on the table. We are so spoiled in America, that we think nothing of having food to eat. We get wrapped up in the kinds of food we have, the amounts of food we have and strive to satisfy our likes over our dislikes.
God cares for the birds that we see each and every day. Have birds been made in the image of God? Do birds have a place prepared for them in heaven? Can birds have a special relationship with God? If God cares for the birds, what makes you think that He is not going to take care of you? We live by fear instead of living by faith.
2.) Longevity
How many of you have seen a commercial this week that deals with some type of anti-aging product?
We have everything from anti-wrinkle cream to cosmetic surgery. We have fad diets and plastic surgery to remove fat cells. We have hair coloring and hair restoration. We do everything we can to stay young. There is nothing wrong with being healthy and staying fit but it can be taken to an extreme.
Life is gift from God and every day that we have is just part of the gift. There will come a day that I will no longer live on this earth. I accept that fact and I embrace it. Why? I am not leaving this world before God’s time and when the time comes I will be ready. I cannot add any more time to my life by worrying about when it will end or by trying to add more time.
3.) Clothing
This is one of those areas that most Americans don’t have to worry about. How many of you tried on more than one outfit before you came this morning? Our worry about clothing is not about having it but how we appear.
Jesus uses the illustration of the flowers of the fields. Flowers have no effort to change or color themselves. Flowers have amazing detail and often brilliant color - created by God. Solomon was one of the most famous and splendid kings of Israel, even in his riches and fantastic attire - he would not compare to the flowers of the field.
The ancient use for the grasses of the fields was to start ovens for baking. The grasses would be cut, which included the dried flowers, and placed into the oven to get fires started. The grass would not last long but God gives it an incredible beauty. How much more important to God are you than the flowers? You are made to last for all eternity. God will take care of you.
III. Worry is completely without reason
Jesus makes it extremely clear that worry and faith will not and cannot mix. Either we have our trust in God or we don’t. Either we live like Christians or we live like pagans.
Jesus clearly is saying the things that worry the world are not the things that Christians need to concern themselves with. The three things mentioned by Jesus were symbols of wealth and fame. The focus is complete place on the earthly rather than the eternal.
God is the one who created the entire universe and has all things at His disposal. There is nothing beyond His ability because He is all powerful. God knows every detail of every fact in all creation. There is nothing that escapes His knowledge because He is omniscient.
If God knows everything, sees everything and can do everything, why do we worry so much? We either forget this fact or we fail to believe it. Our biggest problem in life is that we are not satisfied with what God graciously provides.
Jesus gives a clear solution for the issue of worry. He says to seek first his kingdom and his righteousness. Remember, one of the definitions of worry is to seek one’s own interests. Jesus is telling the disciples to do exactly the opposite of what the world does. Our first priority in life needs to be on God. When we live our lives pursuing God, he gives us everything that we need.
IV. Worry is certainly not wise
Worry is wasting today’s time to clutter up tomorrow’s opportunities with yesterday’s troubles
To make preparations for the future is sensible, making good plans is always wise. Making these preparations the focus of life is unwise, to obsess and worry about what tomorrow holds is foolish. God is God today and He will still be God tomorrow and the next day and so on.
“No man ever sank under the burden of today. It is when tomorrow’s burden is added to the burden of today, that the weight is more than a man can bear.” Gordon MacDonald
It seems if we do not worry about things today - we focus on worry about things for tomorrow. We need to focus on meeting the challenges of today, rather than worry about the uncertainty of tomorrow. We may not be able to know what tomorrow holds for us but we do know who holds tomorrow that should be enough to give us comfort.
Conclusion
George Muller Massena, one of Napoleon’s generals, suddenly appeared with 18,000 soldiers before an Austrian town which had no means of defending itself. The town council met, certain that capitulation was the only answer. The old dean of the church reminded the council that it was Easter, and begged them to hold services as usual and to leave the trouble in God’s hands. They followed his advice. The dean went to the church and rang the bells to announce the service. The French soldiers heard the church bells ring and concluded that the Austrian army had come to rescue the town. They broke camp, and before the bells had ceased ringing, vanished.
When we lay our worries and our burdens in the hands of God, may not make the problems go away but our fear of them will vanish. Worry is nothing more than fearing that which we do not see. We can make the choice to either live in fear or live by faith. This morning if you have some burdens that need laid at the feet of Jesus, come forward to the altar and hand them over. The only thing you might lose is your fear.
