A Biblical View of Worry

Introduction:

This is the last brief series I announced that I planned to get to this summer.

2 Thessalonians and the Gospel of Matthew are next.

We live in a society where everyone is anxious.

It is normal for human beings to have worry/concern about life.

We have tasks to accomplish.

Some value their worries or concerns to a great degree.

They see their worry as confirmation of how much they care.

When others do not share their worries, they see them as unconcerned.

Jesus taught about worry/anxiety.

Paul and Peter address it as well.

Intro Part 2:

When might worry/anxiety be a spiritual problem?

It can show a misunderstanding about the highest priority in life, and therefore, a misunderstanding about life’s purpose.

It can expose misunderstandings about the true God, the God of creation.

Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament based on Semantic Domains (25.225 μεριμνάω)

25.225 μεριμνάω: (derivative of μέριμνα ‘worry,’ 25.224) to have an anxious concern, based on apprehension about possible danger or misfortune

We reviewed the context this morning.

Jesus teaches his disciples about the nature of God.

He also teaches them about being genuine disciples.

The question from the man demonstrates that he was not following Jesus as a priority. Something else motivated him to be in that crowd.

God should be our highest priority.

We must be careful about letting other concerns hinder our discipleship.

Think of how this might especially be relevant for people needing to follow Jesus around Palestine.

Worry is a human characteristic. Jesus refers to the kind of anxious disquiet that causes earthly matters to become the most important concern of life. Worry becomes a problem when we let our anxieties be the most important concern of life. Worry can be a spiritual problem. We cannot permit our worries and be a disciple of Jesus. Hence, Jesus' teaching emphasizes the importance of having God as the chief priority of life. When worry prohibits seeking God as the highest purpose of life, then the priorities are wrong.

Remind of the contrast Jesus gives in Lk. 12:29-30.

Background:

Jesus has been teaching his disciples to be genuine.

Lk. 12:1.

In addition, he has explained that God must be the highest valued person.

He has the power to punish beyond death, so that makes him much more important than life itself.

Life depends on him.

Jesus, though, is teaching as well about God’s true nature.

He cares for us.

He is not distant, aloof, or uncaring about us.

In this discourse, he emphasizes to his disciples:

How they differ from birds.

How God cares for them/values them.

Jesus line of thought, however gets disrupted in Lk. 12:13-15 by a man who wanted more of what rightly and legally belonged to his brother.

This shows the man valued Jesus as a means to getting more wealth, more earthly possessions than he valued following Jesus for the right reasons.

He was a greedy fake.

Note Lk. 12:15, 21.

Stop Being Anxious:

Once Jesus addresses his disciples again, he teaches them to stop worrying/being anxious.

In the modern world, it is easy to see ourselves as mere animals interested in food, drink, and clothing (shelter).

The zeitgeist encourages us to reduce ourselves down to the animal kingdom.

Darwinianism devalues human life by reducing it to nothing more than a functional existence.

A Clear View of Life’s Purpose

In Lk. 12:23, Jesus places human existence into perspective.

“Life is more than food and the body than clothing.”

This hearkens backs to Lk. 12:16-21.

Animal life may be about having food, drink, and shelter, but that is not so with human life.

Jesus explains life’s purpose by explaining what it is not.

Deeper Consideration

Jesus invites is listeners to give consideration to something by way of illustration.

He will do this again in Lk. 12:27.

He uses the crow or raven as the first illustration.

They neither plant nor harvest.

There are no inner rooms or barns (the terms here echo back to the “inner chamber” and the parable).

Yet, God is nurturing them.

How much do we differ from birds?

Refer back to Lk. 12:7.

We must be careful neither to permit food, drink, and shelter to define our existence.

We must also exercise caution that it does not define our spiritual lives.

It must also not prevent us from being genuine disciples of Jesus/making him our priority.

Consider Lk. 10:38-42.

Jesus has taught that "anxiety" can have spiritual consequences. We have seen this in two places. Luke 8:14 - worry may prohibit someone from genuine salvation. Luke 10:38 - Martha's worries caused her to privilege hospitality over listening to Jesus' teaching.