Refrain and Replace

Illustration

One of the most wonderful things in life is having a baby.

But, let me tell you this from experience, the pregnancy industry in India is designed for one thing and one thing only. It is not designed to deliver your child. It is designed to make you anxious and empty your bank account so that you feel in control.

But so many of the scans, and injections and tests are simply done because we just want control and we hate not knowing what is coming. In my opinion, the worst of these is a 5000 rupee blood test called the Quadruple Marker Test.

5000 rupees for someone to stick a needle in you.

And you know the end result?

The test will give you a probability of whether your child might have birth defects. First of all, as Christians, we know that we do not create our children and I’m not sure whether what we call “defects” are defects in God’s eyes. Second of all, this 5000 rupees is going to give you a max probability of around 75%. Meaning, that even if you ace the test, there is only a 75% chance that your child will be “normal”.

But church, the pregnancy industry is a good indicator that tells us what we all want.

We want control over our future.

Jobs, salary hikes, clients, savings, insurance, diets, gyms, exercise routines, high protein and sugarfree food are all just like the pregnancy industry.

We might call it wisdom, but the Bible calls this worry. Ultimately:

Need

We want control over our future.

Topic

And Jesus tells us how we can avoid worry and guarantee our future in

Reference

Matthew 6:25–34 NASB 2020

“For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is life not more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the sky, that they do not sow, nor reap, nor gather crops into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more important than they? And which of you by worrying can add a single day to his life’s span? And why are you worried about clothing? Notice how the lilies of the field grow; they do not labor nor do they spin thread for cloth, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! Do not worry then, saying, ‘What are we to eat?’ or ‘What are we to drink?’ or ‘What are we to wear for clothing?’ For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided to you. “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Organisation

5 Refrains

3 Risks

1 Replacement

Backdrop

This is the well known sermon on the mount,

but before we go any further,

I’d like us to note who Jesus is speaking to.

It is wasy to imagine a large crowd of people

listening attentively to Jesus,

But if you read Mt 5:1-2, you see that he

is primarily teaching those who come to him.

That is, he teaches his disciples.

And the sermon is given

because the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.

God’s visible life-giving rule (kingdom) has come

In the person of his Son and Servant,

Jesus the Messiah,

And only those who

submit to Jesus

can enter this life

and can enter this kingdom.

Jesus has just exhorted his disciples

To store treasure in heaven.

And to not serve Mammon, the god of money.

In the light of such a demand,

the disciple would think:

How would I take care of things?

Jesus takes out a gun

and fires 5 bullets of encouragement

To tells us not to worry.

Each bullet from his gun of encouragement is heavy.

I will call them 5 Refrains.

Implicit in the passage are 3 Risks

But he also exhorts his disciple

to Replace worry with something better.

For our case, just remember the replacement.

5 Refrains

3 Risks

1 Replacement

5 Refrains

5 times Jesus explicitly encourages his disciples to not worry,

and each time he gives some solid reason or explanation

to not worry about material things.

There is More to Life than Food and Clothing (v25)

v25 introduces the section and is parallel to v31.

Basically, we shouldn’t worry about material things like food and clothing because our existence is much more than that.

What is this “more”? We’ll see it later in v33.

If Your Father Feeds Birds, He Will Feed His Children (v26-27)

Look at v26-27

Birds don’t go to office

plan their investments

and have PF’s, PPF’s, FD’s, stocks and mutual funds,

but their food and drink is taken care of.

Your Father is the one who feeds tiny birds; if your Father cares for birds, will he not take care of his children who are far more valuable to him?

And worrying about food and your life is not going to increase your lifespan.

If God Clothes Firewood, He Will Clothe His Children (v28-30)

In v28-30, God takes all the effort to decorate flowers and grass better than Solomon. And grass was used to start cooking fires. If he takes all the trouble to decorate firewood, he’ll certainly clothe his children!

Unlike the Gentiles, You have a Father Knows your Needs (v31-32)

v31 repeats v25

And adds two reasons - pagans run after material things, and unlike them, we have a Father who knows our needs

Before Tomorrow, there is Today (v34)

Tomorrow enough things to worry about, so focus on today

So if you want control, read the reasons for the 5 refrains:

There is more to life than food and clothing

If Your Father feeds tiny birds, He will certainly feed you, his child

If Your Father takes the effort to decorate flowers and firewood, he will certainly cover you

Your Father knows your needs, so you don’t need to seek them like pagans

Before tomorrow, there is today

3 Risks

How is this connected to the immediate context?

To worry is to deny that we are Sons of the King of the Universe

Within the sermon, this section from 6:1-7:12 repeats the idea of “Your Father” 12 times! And “Our Father” once.

The disciple is the Son of God, the King of the Kingdom.

I have hundreds of fish and shrimp in my home.

Everyday I feed them.

Here’s the thing, though. I can’t cook for peanuts, but I can make a sunny-side-up and I can make Maggi.

Which do you think gives me more joy?

Making motta for Liaara

And Maggi for Atheera?

Church, how many times do you need God to call you his beloved Son? If we are in Christ, he is going to proclaim: “This is my beloved son or daughter, with whom I am well pleased.”

Worrying about Material things makes money my Master

In v25 “Therefore” or “For this reason” in v25 is tied to where your treasure is and who your God is. I cannot serve two masters equally.

Me worrying about food, drink and clothing is me running after money.

And me worrying about what money can do will hinder my devotion to God.

Church, how much time and money do we spend on Swiggy or Zomato?

How much time do we spend on what kind of diet you need to follow?

How much time do we spend on looking at clothes, and bags and shoes? How much money do we spend on these?

What about haircuts? And hairstyles?

What is our priority? Beware of making money your Master.

Worry about material things is a symptom of little-faith.

See v30.

Little faith is Jesus’ nickname for his disciples when they think that Jesus is too small. In Matthew, whenever the disciples fail to be disciples, Jesus rebukes them by calling them “little faith”.

There is no room for little-faith in the kingdom.

Church, how do we exercise out faith in daily life? Do we see God’s work in nature, at least?

1 Replacement

v33 tells us the replacement for worry.

Instead of Worrying, I should seek His Kingdom and his righteousness

If you want to feel in control, free from worry, here is your solution

Within the context of the sermon, this is another way of saying “store up treasures in heaven” (v19).

How?

By fulfilling the Law and the Prophets (5:17, 7:12)

By being perfect as God is perfect (5:48)

By living a life that reflects whose son I am

By doing to others what I want them to do for me. (7:12)

When I am worried about money, job, food, do I think about how I can give better?

Have we as a church started talking about how to serve the pastors who teach us now and will teach us in the future?

Are we so secure in God’s sovereignty and provision, that we can happily give and love?

This is what seeking the kingdom means!

Application

Everyday for the next week, look for the first living thing around you. It could be a tree, a bug, a bird or even your spouse. When you see that creation alive, I want us to sing “Great is thy Faithfulness”