Trivial Pursuit- Practice Makes Perfect (a series on practical righteousness) #7; Build your Life #26

Intro: You all have heard of the game Trivial Pursuit. Trivial means of little value or importance. Trivial Pursuit is a game where you win by answering trivia and pop culture questions. Most of what I know is trivial, so I really like the game. I am full of useless information.

But you do know, there are things that are not trivial, or nontrivial. Nontrivial means significant, or important. In our text, Jesus is going to teach us about both trivial and nontrivial pursuits. In fact, there is one thing that is the most nontrivial thing that you & I can pursue that will absolutely transform our lives & the world.

Matthew 6:25–34, Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? 28 “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

(vs. 25) Therefore-connects to what came before, specifically Matthew 6:24, No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. These verses (25-34) cover the practical implications of serving God vs. serving mammon (money, riches, wealth).

If we choose mammon as our master, we will have a certain kind of life pursuit (hint: it will be trivial), but if we serve God as our master, we will have a different kind of life pursuit (nontrivial). Most everyone here claims Christ as our Lord, profess God to be our Master, but how do we know that is true? How can we test our trust in God? Let’s play a game of Nontrivial Pursuit- asking ourselves 3 questions:

1. What are we WORRIED about? Vs. 25

Jesus says to His disciples to not be worried about their life (soul, self): what we eat, drink, or wear. Notice it’s not a worry THAT we will eat, drink, or have clothing, but WHAT it will be.

Worry- be anxious, care for; sense of concern, to be concerned with. Eng. translations are in any of those ways, e.g., take no thought, do not be anxious, do not be concerned about, etc.

This word (merimnao) can have both positive & negative connotations & is translated differently depending on context. E.g., Luke’s version of this passage, after translating the word “do not worry about your life” (Luke 12:22), & “(25) which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature” then follows it by translating in Luke 12:26, If you then are not able to do the least, why are you anxious for the rest?Anxiousness has a different connotation than worry. Anxiety is a feeling; worry is a mindset. People can have real physiological conditions that produce mental, emotional, or social anxiety. Jesus isn’t talking about that.

e.g., 1 Corinthians 7, in the section about singleness, Paul tells them 1 Corinthians 7:32–34, I want you to be without care. He who is unmarried caresfor the things of the Lord—how he may please the Lord. 33 But he who is married cares about the things of the world—how he may please his wife. 34 …The unmarried woman cares about the things of the Lord… But she who is married cares about the things of the world—how she may please her husband.

E.g., Philippians 2:20, Paul is sending Timothy to them, “For I have no one like-minded, who will sincerely care for your state” (positive). Philippians 4:6, Be anxious (worry, care) for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.

The range of translations help distinguish the positive aspects of care vs. the negative mindset of worry, accompanied by feelings of anxiety.

E.g., one more to shed further light on worry. You remember the family of friends Jesus had in Bethany- Mary, Martha, & Lazarus. He stopped in at Martha’s house & she got busy serving. Her sister Mary sat at Jesus’ feet to listen to Him. Martha went to Jesus & told Him to tell Mary to get up & help her. Luke 10:41, And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worriedand troubled (distracted) about many things.”

Martha was concerned to the point of distraction. Let me ask you- what are you worried about? What causes you anxiety? What has your care? What are you so concerned about, that has you distracted?

It’s doubtful that it is one of the 3 things Jesus listed. Most of us are not worried about our next meal, fresh water, or clothes to wear. But Jesus was talking to a people who didn’t always know where that next meal was coming from, & maybe they only had one change of clothing. When you don’t have the most basic needs of life, you worry about how to get them. You feel anxious about the next one. Surviving becomes your life’s occupation, and anything else is a distraction.

But we don’t have that problem, do we? Ours’ is the opposite. It’s not that we don’t have enough, our pursuit is for more than enough (treasures). Jesus is saying that in His Kingdom, serving God is the occupation and pursuing the things of life is the distraction.If you want to know if you really trust God, ask yourself the question- what am I worried about? What has my concern? What am I preoccupied about?

2. How much are we WORTH? Vss. 26-30.

e.g., birds of the air (vs. 26)- they don’t sow seeds or reap harvest, nor store up food in barns. Birds don’t work, but they do eat. They are witnesses of God’s care for them. Jesus asks us, are you not of more value (i.e., worth more) than they? If God feeds the birds, won’t He feed (& water) you too? Give you a nice bird bath?

e.g., lilies of the field (28)-field flowers, not garden flowers. They grow but they do not toil or spin (i.e., they do not clothe themselves, that is a human preoccupation). These flowers are not tending to themselves, in fact, no one is tending to them, except God Himself.

Jesus said (29) that even Solomon, the wisest and wealthiest king who ever lived, in all his glory was not clothed like one of these flowers.

Jesus asks- (30) If God would so take care of field grass, which springs up today & withers tomorrow (thrown into the oven), will He not much more take care of you, O you of little faith?

Trusting that God will clothe you like he does field flowers; this is a faith issue. A belief that God will care for you like He does the birds, is a faith issue. At the heart of this belief is what you believe about God. If God is who the Bible says that He is, our good Creator, providential Sustainer, and benevolent Savior, then we should have no trouble believing that He cares for us and will take care of us.

I know what you might be thinking- I see dead birds. Was God taking care of that bird when it ran into that window or got run over by that car? Yes, He was! Matthew 10:29–31, Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. 30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.

Jesus didn’t die for the birds; He died for us. His sacrifice shows just how valuable we are to God- He traded the life of His Son for you to live in the Son! If we are worth that much to God, then what are we worried about? What is that kind of worrying doing for us? (27) By worrying we cannot add one cubit to our stature. Cubit- measurement, usually the length of a small step (18 inches). This is in reference to adding a span of time to our lives. Luke 12:25(NASB), And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life’s span?But worry we do, don’t we? The measure of our worth should put an end to our worry.

3. What are we WORKING for? Vss. 31-34.

In vs. 31, Jesus repeats the opening command- do not worry. Remember, that means not to be so overly preoccupied with life (food, drink, & clothing) that it becomes a distraction from life.

Jesus is not saying to not work to provide for yourself, but to not worry about what you are providing for yourself (food, drink, clothing). He gives us two reasons why- (1) Unbelieving people seek after those things, (2) God already knows you need all these things.

Gentiles(lit. nations), refers to people who were not Israelites, who didn’t know God. Unbelieving people seek after (seek out) the things of life, Jesus’ followers seek first the things that are life.

Vs. 25- Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? It was not a rhetorical question. Yes, there’s more to life than what we eat, drink, or wear! We are so prone to chase after consumables, store things that are subject to corrosion, gather stuff that can be carried off.

If we seek after all these things, we will get all these things. But if we seek first the kingdom, we will get the kingdom, and all these things too. To seek first is to make God’s kingdom & His righteousness your first priority. First = before anything else, food, drink, clothing, etc.

So, what are we working for? Let’s be clear- we are not talking about working our way into the kingdom or working to receive righteousness. We’ve been talking about how to be right with God, and having received the righteousness of Christ, how to practice it. As a Christian, when we give, pray, forgive, fast, use our money in a godly way, & trust God to meet our needs, that’s how we seek the kingdom & His righteousness.

So, what are you working for? Yourself, or the kingdom? Your righteousness, or to bring His righteousness? You see, this text is really about our pursuits. Are we in trivial pursuit of the things of life- food, beverage, clothing, etc.? Or nontrivial pursuits- life in God’s kingdom, His righteousness? The tell-tale sign will be tomorrow.

What you worry about tomorrow will tell you what you are concerned about today. Jesus said to not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Today has enough trouble of its own. Psychology Today reports- about 85% of the things we worry about never happen. If what we worry about does happen, 79% said we handled the outcome better than we thought we would. People who let go of worries instead of stressing over them are healthier than those who don't.

Trouble is going to come. Job 14:1, Man who is born of woman is of few days and full of trouble. To worry about trouble before it happens is to invite trouble to happen. If you are already thinking about tomorrow’s trouble, then you’ve already lost the capacity for today’s triumph.

What are you worried about? What are you worth? What are you working for? If you are on a trivial pursuit; it’s time to change your path.