What Are You Worried About? - Matthew 6:25-26 Series

Matthew 6:25 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 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.

Introduction

Our stressed-out world

We live in a stressed-out world. Think of how many books and products and services exist for the purpose of helping people with stress. And yet, it seems the more effort they put into fighting against anxiety the more anxious they get. It is amazing when you think about it. We have to be the most indulged, lavished, comfortable society there has ever been. You would think we would be the epitome of tranquility. We can adjust our cars to the exact temperature that is most comfortable – to the degree. There are couches and Lazy Boys everywhere. We frequently feast on our favorite foods. Every convenience imaginable is at our fingertips. And yet, not only are we not a paradise of tranquility – we are very possibly the most anxiety-ridden, worried, anxious, stressed out, panicked culture ever. Even with all our comforts and luxuries and conveniences, in the United States alone we spend $50 billion a year on counseling and drugs to help us calm down.

I read this week that fifty percent of Americans have some kind of anxiety disorder. There is Obsessive Compulsive Anxiety Disorder, Social Anxiety Disorder, Panic attacks, post-traumatic stress; there are phobias for just about everything that exists. And if you are feeling left out there is what they call General Anxiety Disorder. No anxiety goes unnamed. No anxiety goes undefined. No anxiety goes uncataloged. No anxiety goes undiagnosed. And no anxiety goes unmedicated. They just go unrelieved.

After all the counseling and all the medications and all the therapy and all our luxuries and comforts we sit back in our plush, comfy furniture in our warm, comfortable castles and worry ourselves sick about how we are going to pay for it all. But Jesus has the solution to all of it in the closing section of Matthew 6.

Every Christian should know where this text is in their Bible. If you do not know your Bible very well - if you only know about eight or ten important chapters, make sure this is one of them. Or write in the back of your Bible – “When I’m afraid or worried, read Matthew 6:25-34.” It is an incredibly comforting passage when you are tempted with worry. And it is one of those passages that does not require a lot of study. It is comforting just reading it.

Worry is a destructive sin

But what makes this such an important passage is not just to make you feel better. It is important because worry is an incredibly destructive sin. It is a sin that not only dishonors God by portraying Him as untrustworthy, but it branches off into so many other sins. When you are worried about money it leads to all kinds of sins of coveting and greed and hoarding and stinginess and cutting ethical corners and flat-out stealing. When you are worried about what people think of you, you will be tempted to become self-absorbed, or dishonest in the way you present yourself. Anxiety about succeeding at some task can make you irritable or abrupt or easily angered. Anxiety about relationships can make you withdrawn and indifferent and uncaring about other people.

Anxiety is a killer. And I do not mean just physically. We know anxiety creates all kinds of other health problems in your body, but far worse than that it destroys your spiritual life. In Matthew 13 Jesus told a parable about the different kinds of human hearts that receive the gospel. One is like good soil, one is like rocky ground, one is like hard ground, and one is like thorny ground. And then He gave the interpretation for each kind of ground, and He interprets the thorny ground in verse 22.