No Worries
The Greatest Sermon Ever • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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If Jesus says to do something and we don’t do it, is that a sin?
If Jesus says not to do something and we do it, is that a sin?
The longest quote from Jesus is in the book of Matthew, chapters 5-7. It is known as the sermon on the mount. For the purposes of having a sermon series title, we are calling it “The Greatest Sermon Ever”.
Today we are going to see what Jesus has to say about worry or as some translations say anxiety. It is something we are looking at from the other side in our small group meetings as we consider a book called “I Choose Peace.”
It just so happens that our passage in Matthew 6 is a really good centering point for us as we think about the difference between peace and worry/anxiety. We are going to see a major theme today as we read this passage:
Worry/anxiety represents a sinful worldview…said a little more blunt…Worry is a sin.
I have four points I am going to leave with you today. The first is this...
Worry puts me on the throne of a Kingdom I can’t rule
Let’s ready starting in Verse 25..
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 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
Worry puts me on the throne of a Kingdom I can’t rule
Can you imagine being in charge of feeding all of the wild birds in your area? Not just the finches and the robins, but also the hawks and crows and the turkeys and hummingbirds. They all need a little something different.
God has designed each of them to find exactly the food they need at exactly the time they need it. Not only has he designed them that way, he has designed the bugs and the worms and the seeds and mice and the flowers to be available for the birds in just the right amount at just the right time.
We have this idea that we can be on the throne of that kingdom, that we can figure out how to get all of the things we need by our worry and concern and thought and planning. When we worry, we are taking that responsibility on as our own…that leads to the second point...
Worry says that my faith is on me to provide
Let’s read that passage again...
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 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
Worry says that my faith is on me to provide
I think it is interesting that Jesus chose birds as his first analogy. Birds are always at work. They are building a nest, foraging for food or moving to a new area. Yet they don’t plant or raise the food they eat. They don’t store food for later…they eat what they find.
While they are “working” the provision of food is not up to them. God provides. They work to find it, but it is ultimately God who feeds them.
I know at times in my life I have place my faith in my work to provide rather than just working and trusting God to provide. My pride has said that the provision I have is because of my hard work rather than giving God the credit.
One of the things that happens if I give myself too much credit is that inevitably there will come a lean time and I will worry myself on how we are going to make it. The better way is to always give God the glory and credit for our provision and when a lean time comes, I know that God will provide.
There is another little nugget of truth in what Jesus says…he says that I am much more valuable than the birds. We were created in God’s image. He personally breathed life into man at creation. He calls us friend. As a result of salvation, God’s Spirit dwells in us.
Let’s read the next section of this passage...
28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers 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—you of little faith?
When we worry, Jesus says that we are of little faith…in Him. Out faith is in ourselves.
Jesus uses another analogy here which are the flowers in the field. I was looking out our back window and noticed that these beautiful Daffodils are in bloom. I love these flowers. We didn’t plant any of them…somewhere along the way previous owners planted them.
So, I had nothing do with them being where they are. I don’t have to go out and remind them to come up because it’s spring. I don’t give them extra water or any attention to get them to bloom. I’m glad I don’t have to, because I would probably forget them...
God designed them to store their energy in their bulb and them when the season and time is right they pop out of the ground and display their beauty. Unfortunately, they last only a few weeks and then their gone again…forgotten by me until next spring when they pop up again to announce the coming of spring.
Jesus says here, if God clothes the flowers and the grass…won’t he cloth you as well? The key is to place our faith in him and not in ourselves.
Our next point is this...
Worry is the world’s way of justifying our wants
Let’s keep reading...
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.
Worry is the world’s way of justifying our wants
Has anyone heard the term FOMO? Fear of missing out. A culture has been created…sometimes even in the church…that we are worried about missing out on something. It could be an experience, an event, but most of the time it’s just a thing…stuff.
Marketing and social media create this in us…an anxiety and worry that because we don’t have…fill in the blank...we’re missing out.
Sometimes it can seem helpful because there is something that will make your life easier, but mostly this worry for things and experiences is keeping us in bondage.
The antidote is what Jesus says in the very next verse..
33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
This is ultimately the solution to all our worry…is to seek God and His Kingdom, and His righteousness. When we do that, all of the things that we need - food to eat, water to drink, clothing to wear…will all be given to us as well. That is the promise of eternal kingdom focus and thinking.
We’ll come back to that in a moment…let’s look at our last point...
Worry has a way of ruining today because of what tomorrow might be
Let’s read verse 34...
34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Worry has a way of ruining today because of what tomorrow might be
How many of you can think of something that was happening in the moment and you were worried about the thing in the very moment?
Most of the time, something happens and we are worried about what that means for 30 minutes from now…a day from now…a year from now.
I don’t think it is possible to worry about something that is already happened…our worry is always about a potential future thing. I want to say that again our worry, our anxiety is always about a POTENTIAL future thing.
There was a study done where participants had to write down their worries over a long period of time. They also wrote down how many of those worries came true. The results…85% of what worried these folks never happened. In the 15% of time that the worry came true, only 20% of the time was it as bad as they thought it would be....that’s only 3% of the total worries...
That means that 97% of the time when we worry about something, we’ve added a layer of trouble on today that tomorrow never brought.
I love this quote…Worry is like a good rocking chair. It gives you something to do, but it doesn’t get you anywhere.
In this passage, Jesus specifically says “Do not worry” or “Do not be Anxious” three times. I see each of these as a command, and if he is saying it multiple times, I think he means it.
Jesus is not saying we shouldn’t think about the future, to plan and thoughtfully enter the next day, but he tells us not to worry while doing so. Instead, he says here to...
33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Paul says it another way in Philippians 4…turn with me there if you have your Bible…if you are a highlighting, underlining type…I recommend these next verses get the full treatment…maybe even an asterisk or star in the margin...
6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
What would our lives look like if our focus was first on Jesus and who he is? Our thoughts on him instead of our perceived problems?
We see this lived out in the life of Jesus...
22 One day Jesus said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side of the lake.” So they got into a boat and set out. 23 As they sailed, he fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger.
24 The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!”
He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. 25 “Where is your faith?” he asked his disciples.
In fear and amazement they asked one another, “Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.”
What would it look like if we were a people who could fall asleep on the boat? A people who could rest even though the winds of life are howling and the waves of trouble were crashing against our boat.