A Greater Righteousness (24)

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Announce text: Matthew 6:31-34

Key Text: Matthew 6:31-34

Introduction (ME/WE)

▶ SLIDE 1 — Series title: A GREATER RIGHTEOUSNESS / Right Relationships / Matthew 5–7 > Matthew 6:19–7:12 > Matthew 6:31–34 (up as you begin).

◆ YOUR STORY — written in first person from your notes. Change any detail that isn't exactly how it happened.

Last week I started telling you my story. I was young, in the military, newly married, with a newborn and orders to Saudi Arabia, when out of nowhere my heart started racing and I was sure I was dying. The ER said my heart was strong. And a military doctor from our church finally put a name to it: anxiety. Panic attacks.

And I walked out of there with a diagnosis, a prescription, and a question I didn't know how to answer: Now what?

Well, the "now what" became a decision to take the medication. I was desperate. If a pill would get me out of that torment, I'd take it right now.

And the prescription helped. I put my trust in a pill, and it worked. It got me through each day. The days turned into weeks, the weeks turned into a month, and so on.

But it didn't take long before I began to feel guilty. I mean, I had the proof: nothing was wrong with my heart. Nothing was wrong with me physically. So why did I need this medication?

And then it dawned on me. I'm trusting in this medication. I'm depending on it. Why am I trusting a pill to fix my anxiety? It seemed to me this was a spiritual issue, and I was treating it with a physical means.

I knew the Scriptures.

▶ SLIDE 2 — 1 Peter 5:7

1 Peter 5:7 NASB95

casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.

We looked at that one last week.

▶ SLIDES 3–4 — Philippians 4:6–7

Philippians 4:6–7 NASB95

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

So why didn't these Scriptures help? All they did was make me feel guilty. I'm trusting in a pill when I should be trusting in Jesus.

And then the condemnation came. You call yourself a Christian, and you don't trust Jesus? There's not even anything wrong with you! You're weak. You're pathetic. You don't have any faith.

That became my life. The days turned into a season of wrestling with anxiety, guilt, and condemnation.

So I determined I needed to give up the medication. I started by skipping a day, or going as long as I could until I couldn't stand it anymore. Then I'd pop a pill. Which led to more guilt. Which gave the voice of the enemy room to bring condemnation and shame. And I'd start the whole process over again: stop the medication.

The cycle repeated for a while, until I decided I needed to chuck the medication. If I threw it away, I couldn't take it. So that's what I did.

Of course, the panic attacks still came. But I was armed with the knowledge that nothing was "really wrong." So I picked up coping mechanisms.

I'd drink ice-cold water; the cold soothed my chest on the inside. I'd go outside in the middle of the night in nothing but my boxers and sit on the stoop in the cold night air. There could be frost or snow on the ground, and I'd sit there until I couldn't take it anymore. Or I'd take hot showers and hot baths. Seems odd, I know. I guess it was the extremes that helped.

Those things brought just enough relief to let me relax and go back to sleep. Yet all I did was shift my trust from a pill to something else: these coping mechanisms. I didn't realize it at the time. I guess I felt better because I wasn't taking pills anymore.

So that was the cycle I lived in, and the coping mechanisms "worked" for a while. Until a series of events woke me up three nights in a row at exactly 3 AM.

◆ Act this out: the gasp, a hand on your chest, sound out the heartbeat.

I woke the same way each night. Gasping for breath. The same weight on my chest. The same tingling in my arms. The same racing heart: thump-thump-thump-thump. The same sense of impending doom.

So I did the only thing I knew to do. I drew as hot a bath as I could stand. I made an ice-cold glass of water. I grabbed my Bible. I climbed in the tub, opened my Bible to no particular place, and frantically read. And prayed. Desperate for relief, I confessed anything and everything that came to mind, from the time I was a kid to the present.

For three nights straight. At some point I probably started making stuff up, you know? How much confessing can a person do for three nights straight?

Finally, exhausted from the stress, the hot bath, and the desperate crying out, I'd crawl back into bed for an hour or two of sleep before work.

For three nights straight. Until…

◆ Slow down here. Let the room get quiet.

Somewhere in that third night, something shifted. I knew Jesus had entered the room. I remember experiencing His presence, and the anxiety, the fear, it all vanished. And what replaced it was joy: the sheer delight of His presence.

Eventually I went back to bed and slept. And the next morning I woke up anxious. Not with panic, but with eager anticipation of being woken at 3 AM the next night, because I was so looking forward to spending time with Jesus. If a panic attack was what it took, I didn't care. I couldn't wait.

And then I slept through the night. And again the next night. And every night after that for a very long time.

WE — Identification

Maybe you've never sat on a frozen stoop at 3 AM in your boxers. Please don't start. But most of us know something about that cycle.

We all have our coping mechanisms: the fridge, the phone, the bottle, or just staying busy, filling every minute so we don't have to feel anything.

And for a lot of us church folks, it's spiritual busyness. We read more, pray harder, serve more, and we still lie awake. Then the guilt shows up: "If I really trusted God, I wouldn't feel this way."

◆ Pastoral word. Please don't skip this one.

Let me say this clearly, because some of you are under a doctor's care. My story is not a prescription for yours. Throwing my pills away isn't what set me free, and I'm not telling you to throw yours away. God works through doctors and medicine too. And that voice that says, "You're weak, you have no faith"? That is not your Father's voice.

▶ SLIDE 5 — Romans 8:1

Romans 8:1 NASB95

Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

◆ Transition to the Word.

So what was different about that third night? It wasn't a new technique. Jesus shows us what it was, right here in Matthew 6. Matthew 6, starting in verse 31. Hear the Word of the Lord:

Announce text again: Matthew 6:31-34

Scripture Reading

Matthew 6:31 NASB95

“Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’

Matthew 6:32 NASB95

“For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.

Matthew 6:33 NASB95

“But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Matthew 6:34 NASB95

“So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Prayer for added blessing to the reading of the Word

Let's pray.

Father, we don't just want to know about You. We want to know You. Quiet the frantic seeking in us, and teach us to seek You first. In Jesus' name, amen.

Message

▶ SLIDE 10 — Title: Empty Activity / The Danger of Knowing About God but Not Knowing Him / Matthew 6:31–34  ·  ▶ SLIDE 11 — Big Idea (advance as you begin "True fulfillment…")

The title for today’s message is Empty Activity: The Danger of Knowing About God but Not Knowing Him." And here's the big idea: True fulfillment is found not in activity for God, but in an intimate relationship with Him through Christ, leading to a life free of anxiety.

Here's the pocket version, the one to carry out the door:

▶ SLIDE 12 — Big Idea (Reimagined): Doing for God can't replace knowing God.

Doing for God can't replace knowing God.

Say it with me: Doing for God can't replace knowing God.

Jesus draws a line in these verses between two kinds of seeking: the frantic kind and the kind that brings us home. So let's look at both.

GOD — Illumination

1. Worrying Is Worthless — Matthew 6:31–32

▶ SLIDE 13 — Worry Is Worthless: Frantic seeking. A Father who knows. (Matthew 6:31–32)

Verse 31: "Do not worry then." Jesus already said that in verse 25, and He repeats it on purpose, along with the three questions: What will we eat? Drink? Wear? When those questions run your life, Jesus says you're living like somebody else.

Verse 32: "For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things." Jesus isn't mainly talking about ethnicity. "Gentiles" here means people living outside the covenant relationship that makes us God's children: a way of living with no Father in it. Paul calls it your "former manner of life."

▶ SLIDE 14 — Ephesians 4:22

Ephesians 4:22 NASB95

that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit,

Jesus is saying, "That's how people live with no Father. That's not who you are anymore." When anxiety takes over, we've forgotten whose children we are.

And listen to how they seek: eagerly. The Greek word is epizēteō. Zēteō means "to seek," and the epi on the front cranks it up. It's not mild concern. It's relentless, exhausting pursuit, the frantic searching of someone who believes, "If I don't hold this together, nobody will."

That was me in that bathtub. Frantic seeking. Epizēteō. And what was I seeking? Relief.

The Father's kids are called to rest. Not inaction; the birds still dig for their worms. Rest means we work, plan, and steward without the crushing weight of believing it all depends on us. It's a worry-free partnership with the Father in His provision: we do our part, and we rest in knowing He will provide.

Then comes the promise: "for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things." The word for "knows" is oiden. It's not a guess or a hunch. It's settled, complete knowing. Jesus said it earlier in this same sermon:

▶ SLIDE 15 — Matthew 6:8

"Your Father knows what you need before you ask Him" (Matthew 6:8). He knows your needs better than you know them yourself.

And think about who it is that knows. Not just "Father." Your heavenly Father.

▶ SLIDES 16–17 — Psalm 147:4–5

Psalm 147:4–5 NASB95

He counts the number of the stars; He gives names to all of them. Great is our Lord and abundant in strength; His understanding is infinite.

The One who holds the cosmos together, with all authority and all power, who never runs short and never sleeps, knows your grocery list, your doctor's report, and what wakes you at 3 AM. And this all-powerful, all-knowing God is not a distant ruler. He's your Father. The issue was never His power or His knowledge. The question is where we're looking.

Doing for God can't replace knowing God.

2. Seek Sovereignly First — Matthew 6:33

▶ SLIDE 18 — Seek Him First: Seek the King first. Keep on seeking. (Matthew 6:33)

"But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."

Here's what I love. The word for "seek" in verse 33 is zēteō: the same root as the Gentiles' epizēteō, minus the frenzy. Jesus doesn't tell us to stop seeking. We were made to seek. He changes what we seek, and how: not a frantic chase for more, but a steady, purposeful pursuit of Him.

And look where He puts "first." Not "once you've got everything else handled." First. Prōton. Above every other pursuit.

Remember what Jesus said a few verses back:

▶ SLIDE 19 — Matthew 6:21

"For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (Matthew 6:21). Same principle. Orientation comes before affection. You don't wait to feel like seeking God. Seek Him first, and your feelings catch up with your obedience.

There's a little note in my NASB on this verse: "Or continually seek." Jesus uses a verb of ongoing action: keep on seeking. It reminds me of Paul:

▶ SLIDE 20 — 1 Thessalonians 5:17

"Pray without ceasing" (1 Thessalonians 5:17). That doesn't mean you never stop talking. It means coming back to Him over and over, because we're easily distracted, and when our focus drifts off the Father, we get into trouble. Seeking His kingdom works the same way: turning back to Him all day long.

So what are we seeking? His kingdom and His righteousness. The kingdom is the sphere of God's authority, His rule and reign. Righteousness is our response within that sphere. Together, they mean seeking alignment with God's rule that transforms how you actually live.

And it's His righteousness, not ours. Ours means nothing.

▶ SLIDE 21 — Isaiah 64:6 (KJV)

Isaiah says, "All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags" (Isaiah 64:6, KJV).

▶ SLIDE 22 — Philippians 3:9

Paul wanted to "be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ" (Philippians 3:9). We're not seeking a better religious résumé. We're seeking Him.

When you live from that place, you become His agent in this world, so focused on His kingdom that you can't afford to waste energy worrying about needs the Father already knows. You learn with what confidence you can depend on the Father's hand. Your focus on His kingdom becomes both your work and your rest.

Then the promise: "all these things will be added to you." The word for "added" is prostithēmi. And here's something beautiful: it's the same word Jesus used in verse 27, the verse we looked at last week.

▶ SLIDE 23 — Matthew 6:27

"And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?" (Matthew 6:27). Worry can't add a thing. But when you seek Him first, God does the adding. Our provision is His responsibility. Provision becomes the byproduct of faithfulness, not the object of our striving.

Doing for God can't replace knowing God.

3. Trusting Today's Triumph — Matthew 6:34

▶ SLIDE 24 — Trust Today: Tomorrow is His. Grace comes daily. (Matthew 6:34)

"So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

Jesus isn't promising tomorrow won't have trouble. He's saying tomorrow is in your Father's hands. A preacher long ago put it this way: anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows; it only empties today of its strength.

God doesn't hand out tomorrow's grace today. He gives it one day at a time, as it's needed. That's why Jesus taught us to pray:

▶ SLIDE 25 — Matthew 6:11

"Give us this day our daily bread" (Matthew 6:11). If tomorrow brings new trouble, it will also bring fresh grace.

▶ SLIDES 26–27 — Lamentations 3:22–23

Lamentations 3:22–23 NASB95

The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.

Your job isn't to carry tomorrow. Your job is to seek Him today.

4. What Changed on the Third Night

▶ SLIDE 28 — The Third Night: I wasn't seeking Jesus. I was seeking relief.

Now, I'd like to tell you I never experienced anxiety, panic, or that sense of impending doom ever again. But that wouldn't be true. It came back in isolated moments after we were out of the military and living back in Michigan, and at times I turned to those same coping mechanisms, though it was never quite the same.

But here's what I learned. Even this week, as I was preparing and thinking through how I would share this with you, the Holy Spirit was revealing things to me about that season of my life.

◆ You wrote "yesterday morning." Adjust the timing to when the dream actually happened.

Yesterday morning I was dreaming, in that place where you can't tell if it's a dream or your thoughts as you wake up. In my dream, I had just finished giving my testimony, and a flurry of revelation about what I'd experienced came rushing in. At some point I realized, "This is good stuff. I'm awake. I need to write this down, or I won't remember it." That happens to me all the time. So I went downstairs to my computer and started frantically typing. It was scattered, and I had to come back and digest it, but here's the part I was able to piece together for us this morning.

There's a reason that sometimes Bible reading and prayer don't seem to work. Not always, but in my situation, it wasn't about spiritual activity. I'd been busying myself with anything: cleaning, putting things away, coping. And in that bathtub, all I did was exchange one activity for another. I traded physical things for "spiritual" things.

I wasn't seeking Jesus. I was seeking relief.

So what changed on the third night? It was an encounter with Jesus that made all the difference. Scripture reading didn't help; I had Scriptures memorized. Desperate prayers didn't help; I prayed and prayed with no relief. My focus was still on the torment, on the pain, so none of it helped. It wasn't until I truly focused on Jesus that relief came. Then the authority of the Scriptures had power. Then the prayers had focus and power. Jesus made all the difference.

That's Matthew 6:33. Anxiety can't hold its ground in the presence of Jesus. Kingdom-first living isn't a technique. It's a relationship. Remember Martha?

▶ SLIDES 29–30 — Luke 10:41–42

Luke 10:41–42 NASB95

But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”

"Worried" there is merimnaō, the same word Jesus uses all through Matthew 6. Martha was busy serving Jesus. Mary was sitting with Jesus.

And I think that's a word for the church in the West.

▶ SLIDE 31 — 2 Timothy 3:5

Paul warned about people "holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power" (2 Timothy 3:5). I used to think that was about some particular denomination. Now I think it can be any of us. If I could just read my Bible more… pray more… give more… volunteer more… But all the Bible reading and all the prayer in the world can't take the place of knowing Him. It's not about activity. It's about relationship: an encounter with Jesus.

One of the scariest passages in all of Scripture to me comes at the end of this same sermon.

▶ SLIDES 32–34 — Matthew 7:21–23

Matthew 7:21–23 NASB95

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’

Listen to their defense: "Lord, Lord, didn't we…?" And then a list of activities. Pretty good ones, too! Casting out demons. Miracles! Who here has done that?

But it wasn't about the activity. It never is, good or bad. It's about relationship. "I never knew you." The word for "knew" is ginōskō. It's not knowing about someone. It's personal, intimate, relational knowing: not casual, not surface-level.

You can know about God and not know God.

Doing for God can't replace knowing God.

So, pj … What’s the point?

Conclusion — How This Points to Jesus

▶ SLIDE 35 — Pointing to JESUS: Eternal life is knowing Him. He is our righteousness. (John 17:3; 2 Corinthians 5:21)

Here's the good news. Jesus didn't just come to tell us to seek. The night before the cross, He prayed:

▶ SLIDE 36 — John 17:3

"This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent" (John 17:3). Eternal life isn't an activity. It's knowing Him.

And the righteousness we're told to seek? We could never produce it. So Jesus became it for us.

▶ SLIDE 37 — 2 Corinthians 5:21

"He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Jesus is the King of the kingdom we seek. He is the righteousness we could never earn. And He is the One who walked into that bathroom at 3 AM. When you seek first His kingdom, you're not chasing a program. You're seeking a Person, and He has been seeking you all along.

YOU — Application

▶ SLIDE 38 — Application: First Five for 7 Days. Before phone or plans, seek His face, not relief. (Matthew 6:33; James 4:8)

So here's my one ask this week. Let's call it First Five. For seven days, before you reach for your phone, the news, or your to-do list, give Jesus the first five minutes of your day.

Not to check a box. Read Matthew 6:33, then just sit with Him. Tell Him, "Lord, I don't just want relief. I want You."

▶ SLIDE 39 — James 4:8

"Draw near to God and He will draw near to you" (James 4:8).

Then, through the day, every time worry shows up, let it be your cue to turn back to Him. Continually seek. Just whisper, "Your kingdom first."

Seven days. Five minutes. Seek Him, not relief.

Kids, you can do this too. Before breakfast, tell Jesus good morning, and ask Him to help you think about Him all day.

◆ Optional handle: 3x5 cards at the door printed "First Five — Matthew 6:33."

WE — Inspiration

▶ SLIDE 40 — Vision: Less activity. More intimacy. A church that knows Him.

Now imagine what could happen if we did this together.

Imagine a church in Libby known not for how busy we are, but for how well we know Jesus. Where our potlucks and work days and ministries flow out of time with Him instead of replacing it. Where people worn out from seeking relief find a family that points them to the One who gives rest. Where none of us will ever hear "I never knew you," because we spent our lives getting to know Him.

Imagine what that church could do in this valley with energy no longer spent on worry, but poured into His kingdom.

So church, one more time:

Doing for God can't replace knowing God.

Let's pray. Lord Jesus, forgive us for trading You for activity, even good activity. We don't just want to know about You. We want to know You. Meet us the way You met me in that bathroom at 3 AM. Be our first pursuit, our provision, and our peace. In Your name, amen.

Closing prayer & benediction

Numbers 6:24–26 NASB95

The Lord bless you, and keep you; The Lord make His face shine on you, And be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance on you, And give you peace.’

Scripture records the following words in v.27:

Numbers 6:27 GW

“So whenever they use my name to bless the Israelites, I will bless them.” 

So, receive and go with the blessings of YAHWEH!