Introduction: FILM CLIP FROM CITY SLICKERS
Life would be simple if we could discover the “one thing” in life we are suppose to be about. Unfortunately the worries of this life rob us from discovering the one thing!
Worry is a strange creature, Worry is like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do but doesn’t get you anywhere.
• The best definition I heard of worry; Worry is wasting today’s time to clutter up tomorrow’s opportunities with yesterday’s troubles.
As Americans we like to worry – We worry about… Our jobs, our children’s schools, the Traffic, The Crisis in Iraq, Rising Gas Prices, Hurricanes, Our Kids, Our Parents, our Church, our Finances, our Retirement, our Health.
WE ARE WORRIERS!
We have every right to worry, right?
Maybe not, in the book Scared to Life, Douglas Rumford cites a study that explains why we shouldn’t allow worry to rule our lives:
• 60% of our worries are totally unfounded;
• 20% are already behind us;
• 10% are so petty they don’t make any difference;
• 4-5% of the remaining 10% are real, but we can’t do anything about them.
That means only 5% are real worries that we can do something about.
QUESTION = WHY IS WORRY SUCH A PROBLEM FOR GOD’S PEOPLE?
If I took a poll this morning and asked, “Have you worried about something in the last 24 hours?” I believe the majority of us would answer yes.
SOME OF YOU MAY BE WORRIED RIGHT NOW!
In “The Sermon on the Mount”, Jesus called his disciples to live a distinctive life, one marked by prayer, relationships and choices, but right in the middle of his Sermon he speaks to his disciples about worry. In fact this section of the Sermon on the Mount covers more content than any other part of the Sermon except the Beatitudes. (9 verses)
Before we get into our text this morning let me make 2 observations about worry
1. There is a difference between worry and concern:
Legitimate concerns motivate us to action. Concern is a change agent in our life.
• When it comes to health – I am concerned – I make changes, I exercise, I watch my diet, etc. But if I am worried I sit and think about what might happen, I make excuses or do nothing.
• When it comes to money – I am concerned – I take action I watch my spending, I become a wise steward of my purchases, but worry I fret and have anxiety
Concern should stir one to action, but worry often paralyzes us.
2. Unchecked worry has damaging effects.
• Worry affects our relationships.
• Worry damages our health.
• Worry hinders our witness. Worry is an indication that we think God cannot look after us – Oswald Chambers
Once we understand the damaging effects of worry we are able to look at how Jesus told us to cope with worry
In MATTHEW 6:25-34 Jesus gives us 4 reasons why worry is unprofitable for God’s people.
Worry is Unfaithful because God is our Master
"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? 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? Matthew 6:25-26
A. Jesus begins this passage by saying THEREFORE I TELL YOU, DO NOT WORRY
1. First we have to note this is a command – not a suggestion!
2. Second we have to look at the context of the message – “THEREFORE”
In the previous section of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus has confronted his disciples with the stark truth, they able to serve only one Master – You can serve God or Money, but you cannot serve both. Followers of Christ have but one Master – God.
Jesus is teaching his followers, “BECAUSE GOD IS YOUR MASTER DO NOT WORRY!”
3. In the Master/Servant relationship, the Servant’s only responsibility was to do the desires of the Master. For the Christian when we recognize God as our master our desire is to please him, and not to worry about the things of this life.
4. Worry is the sin of distrusting God’s providence and provision for our life. Worry is a sin Christians commit often. The root word for worry means to strangle – and that is a good word picture for worry, worry strangles us physically, mentally and emotionally.
5. The goal of a Believer is not worry but contentment. Every believer should be able to say as Paul said in Philippians 4:11-12, I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.
A Christian’s contentment is found in God and God alone – He is the source of every good gift and blessing that comes to us.
6. When Jesus said "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? Matt 6:25. He was saying don’t worry about your daily provisions – because your master (God) is aware of your needs. THEREFORE LIVE IN SUCH AWAY AS TO PLEASE YOUR MASTER – DO NOT WORRY!
Worry is unnecessary because God is our Father
A. Not only is God our master, but he is our Father as well.
B. The basic thrust of verses 26-30 is that since we have a Heavenly Father who cares for us; why should we worry? In Verse 25, Jesus says because he is our Master we live to please him, then he turns the tables and says God is our Father and he desires to care for us!
C. He illustrates his care for us in three ways
• Why worry about food?
Matthew 6:26, 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 says look at the bird, it does not gather, does not store and yet God takes care of them – Jesus went on to say later that not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. (Matthew 10:29) If God attends the funeral of a sparrow, how much more does he care for you?
The idea of God providing food for man was not a foreign idea to the disciples.
• God provided manna from Heaven
• Elijah was fed by ravens
• Psalm 37:25, I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread.
Jesus was reminding of a principle they had seen several times God will provide physical substance – REMEMBER WHAT THEY WERE TO ASK FOR IN THE LORD’S PRAYER – Give us this day our what – daily bread!
• Why worry about longevity
Matthew 6:27, Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
Our culture is obsessed with lengthening our days on this earth. We exercise, eat right get check up all for the purpose of extending our life. Many people when they face middle age – the age when people become aware of their mortality begin to make significant changes in their health because they are worried about their health.
A GUIDE TO KNOWING YOU ARE MIDDLE AGED:
By the time a man is wise enough to watch his step, he’s too old to go anywhere.
Middle age is when you have stopped growing at both ends and have begun to grow in the middle.
A man has reached middle age when he is cautioned to slow down by his doctor instead of by the police.
Middle age is having a choice of two temptations and choosing the one that will get you home earlier.
You know you’re into middle age when you realize that caution is the only thing you care to exercise.
Don’t worry about avoiding temptation. As you grow older, it will avoid you.
Growing old cannot be avoided – God has our life numbered, physical disciplines are good when they are done in moderation, but they will not force God into extending our life span. The gift of life is a gift from God to be used to for his purposes, for spiritual and heavenly reasons. Our concern should be to obey honor and praise and give glory to him, and let him care for us. Ps 90:12, Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
• Worry about clothing
The third illustration of worry free living comes from clothing and uses flowers as a model - he states they are more beautiful then Solomon and his entire regal wardrobe.
It is an indictment on us today as we have become overly concerned about fashion, the number of clothing stores and the amount of clothes in the stores is staggering. Many people have made an idol out of fashion. Yet Jesus warned his disciples not to worry about what they would wear. God would provide for them.
Because our Father cares for us we should worry about the pressures of this life, what to eat, or wear or give to much attention worrying about our health.
Worry is unreasonable because of our Faith
A. Worry is inconsistent with our faith in God.
Worry is a characteristic of unbelief. Jesus said the concern over food, clothing and the externals of life is what the Gentiles seek. Those who have no hope in God naturally put their trust in the things they can enjoy now. Since they have no God to care for them it is consistent for them to have a lifestyle of worry.
B. What are we to do instead of worrying?
Jesus gives us a “worry free” formula
• Seek First His Kingdom and His Righteousness
The cause of worry is seeking the things of this earth, so Jesus says redirect your energies to seeking out the Kingdom of God and his righteousness. How do we seek God’s Kingdom? By living a life of obedience
We seek God’s kingdom when we begin to pour our lives into His work. Being involved in the ministry of the church. What are you doing today that is helping the kingdom of God? Are you involved in Kingdom work? Too many people are on the sidelines of Kingdom work – they watch, they cheer they make comments and critiques, but they never involve themselves in the Kingdom.
Seek God’s Kingdom when we strive for personal holiness and are to his will.
We seek God’s Kingdom when we make our relationship with God a priority in our life
When a believer is not fresh in the word every day, so that God is in his heart and mind, Satan moves into the vacuum and plants worry. Worry then pushes the Lord even further from our minds.
Instead of longing for the things of this world, Paul tells us we are to long for the things of God. Colossians 3:2-3, (TLB) Let heaven fill your thoughts; don’t spend your time worrying about things down here. You should have as little desire for this world as a dead person does. Your real life is in heaven with Christ and God.
Peter goes on to say in his letter to Christians, Since everything (The Earth and all of its works) will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 2 Peter 3:11
Seek God’s Kingdom when we put our trust in him and not in our selves
E. Stanley Jones tells of a missionary who was lost in an African jungle, nothing around him but bush and a few cleared places. Finally he found a hut and asked the owner if he could get him out. The native said he could.
“All right,” said the missionary, “show me the way.”
The native said, “Walk,” so they walked and hacked their way through unmarked jungle for more than an hour.
The missionary began to have some anxiety about his guide. “Are you quite sure this is the way? Where is the path?”
The native’s response, “Sir, in this place there is no path. I am the path.”
God does not guarantee an easy road – but he does promise he will never forsake us.
What we worry about strikes to the heart of our faith. Hebrews 13:5-6, Don’t be obsessed with getting more material things. Be relaxed with what you have. Since God assured us, "I’ll never let you down, never walk off and leave you,"
If we are preoccupied with the things of earth – WHAT TO EAT, WHAT TO WEAR, Then you have the wrong focus, but if you are seeking HIS Kingdom and His Righteousness your vision is clear and you are living a life of obedience in faith.
C. If we seek first the kingdom and his righteousness, Jesus tells us the second part of the worry free formula
“all these things will be given to you as well” What things what we eat, wear and how we live – short he removes our worries by providing our needs.
Worry is unwise because of our future
Matt 6:34, Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Jesus closes out this teaching by reminding us not to be anxious about tomorrow. Jesus is not saying to take a cavalier approach about tomorrow, but to know that Just as today is in the hands of God so is tomorrow.
Isaiah 26:3-4, He will keep in perfect peace all those who trust in him, whose thoughts turn often to the Lord! Trust in the Lord God always, for in the Lord Jehovah is your everlasting strength.
I have to admit the future is what brings me the most worry; in this present world I am indeed blessed. I have my family, my health; I have resources – BUT THE FUTURE IS A CAUSE FOR CONCERN.
What will the next year bring
What troubles are on the horizon
We can look at these concerns and become paralyzed in fear refusing to act. BUT WHAT DOES JESUS SAY? Do not worry about tomorrow – Why because he will take care of it.
Making reasonable provisions for tomorrow is sensible, but to be anxious for tomorrow is foolish and unfaithful. God is the God of tomorrow as well as the God of today and all of eternity.
The LORD’S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23
So whatever the future holds – we are not to be held by anxiety or fear, or worry, for The Holy Spirit is in our life to Comfort us.
When we worry we begin to take on a responsibility that belongs to God, he is in control and by faith we trust him, not simply with our daily needs but also with our future hope.
JESUS SAID IT CLEAR – DO NOT WORRY!
If you ever have an opportunity to go to the Ringling Brothers Circus winter home in Venice Florida, you will note an interesting item about the elephants; the ropes around the elephants’ feet are not tied to anything.
The handlers will tell you not to worry. We never tie them up. We just tie a rope around their leg and drop it, and they think they are tied up.
How many of us imagine ourselves tied up to something from which we cannot get away, when in truth the ropes are in our head and heart, not on our hands and feet? Worry has that kind of effect on us that is why Jesus said – DO NOT WORRY!
Conclusion:
There is one group of people who must be worried, those who have not put their trust in God.
People who are far from God
Christians who continue to walk by sight and not by faith
But today your worries can be set aside, you can embrace the one who holds the world together,
Seek His Kingdom
Seek His righteousness
And discover a life free from anxiety
Leo Tolstoy said, “Where there is faith, there is love, where there is love there is peace, where there is no peace there is no God and where there is no God there is no need.
WHERE YOU PUTTING YOUR FAITH I TODAY?
