Who, Me Worry?

Kingdom Heart Sermon Series

Do you remember Mad magazine? When I was kid one of the things I liked about visiting my cousins in Denton (just north of Dallas) was that they always had copies of Mad magazine

Mad magazine was satire, poked fun of just about everything - their mascot was character they named Alfred E. Neuman. He was comical character, red hair, freckles and this toothy grin.

His motto was, “What, me worry?” That was his whole shtick. Only issue of magazine that he expressed worry was after Three Mile Island scare in 1979, his motto then was “Yes, me worry.” (although I guess it turns out he didn’t need to worry about that).

But rest of time, no worries. One look at Alfred E. Neuman and his expression showed that indeed, he didn’t worry. But that his lack of worry had nothing to do with great sense of security or wisdom.

But, rather, because he seemed rather clueless, oblivious. That’s why he had no worries.

Worry comes out of care and concern - but a lack of control.

First time parents with their newborn baby - what if they get sick? Will I know what to do? Can I keep them safe?

That goes on in life, as they get older, more independence - can’t watch your children 24/7. Are they making good decisions? Not doing stupid things?

Coronavirus has definitely been one of things that has cause a great deal of worry for many. It’s unseen enemy - who knows where it’s lurking, where it’s spreading. How is this going to work with trying to start school back up?

A lot of people are worried because of lockdowns - how will they pay their bills? Their mortgages? Put food on the table?

Alfred E. Neuman’s strategy was simply not to care, no concerns. Therefore, no worries.

But Jesus wants to teach us much better way.

After all, we don’t want to be people who’ve shut their hearts off, who don’t care, who live in utter ignorance or blissful indifference.

What Jesus wants to teach us is that we need not worry because He is in control.

As we’ve made our way through Jesus’ teaching on Sermon on Mount, we’ve had two foundational principles:

First is that Jesus is teaching us here what greater righteousness looks like, how to have true inner goodness, genuine heartfelt love for all others…Kingdom Hearts.

Second is that Jesus is one who can teach us how to have Kingdom Heart - which includes having heart free from worry. He can teach us that. Because he is perfect in love and wisdom. We would be wise to hear his words and put them in to practice, to live them out.

Prayer / Matthew 6:25-34

Yes, me worry!

Worry really is strange thing

When Jesus reminds us here that worry doesn’t help (you can’t add single hour to your life by being anxious), we know that’s true. We know worry has never solved problem, or helped us feel better about situation. We know that.

No one, I think I can safely say, wants to be worrier - and yet we find ourselves doing it all same.

Some of us have terrible tendency to immediately go to worst case scenarios in our minds - we will think of all possible dangers. That gets us to worrying.

Or we’re facing great difficulty, just can’t stop thinking about it, going through it over and over in our minds.

You know you’re worrying when you’re so eager for any information or news that will reassure you in some way, because not knowing always seems to make it worse.

Never ceases to amaze me how relevant Jesus’ teachings are, how well he knows us - he knows our hearts, our temptations

This passage reveals that so well. When Jesus first taught this 2,000 years ago on that mountainside, there was reason he was focusing on basic necessities in life…don’t worry about what you will eat or drink, or about your body.

like vast majority of world throughout history, life was hard for these people. We live like royalty in comparison.

For most of us, our concerns are not about getting enough food or having enough clothing.

You would think that having pantries and fridges stocked with food, closets that keep getting bigger in our houses in order to hold all clothing we own, that we wouldn’t have much to worry about.

And yet we do. In spite of our basic needs being met, we worry more. Anxiety is actually an increasing problem, not decreasing one.

Says something significant about our hearts, that we really need to listen to Jesus and learn from him - because in spite of fact that we live in wealthiest, most secure, most advanced time in human history - we worry. We are anxious people.

Our capacity to fight illness & disease, to deal with natural disasters, to produce food - all these things are greater than ever before. Global poverty rate has been decreasing steadily over last 50-60 years. Idea of having to deal with famine, feels like issue you read about in history books. Last war on American soil was amongst ourselves - Civil War.

And yet, we find things to be worry over…coronavirus (before that Ebola and West Nile Virus), ability to afford health care, political divisions (I know this upcoming election is going to be source of great worry for many of us - on both sides of political divide), climate change (some young people don’t want to bring any children into world), drug addiction, racial inequality, Asian Giant hornet!

Many of our worries are much more personal. What others think of us. Having to make big decision. Facing severe illness in family. Being safe. List goes on, but I don’t want to add to your anxiety level.

Let me give you a few statistics that show you exactly what I’m talking about:

Anxiety disorder is most common form of mental illness, 40 million adults, almost 1 in 5.

Not just for adults - studies show that younger generations are more anxious in general and they are starting younger. 1 in 3 of all adolescents, 13 to 18, will experience anxiety disorder. That number jumped 20% from 2007 to 2012 (just five years).

And here’s crazy thing: we really do suffer more from worry and anxiety the wealthier we are - in wealthier nations, on average - it’s much more common to suffer anxiety disorder. And we here in U.S. are head and shoulders above everyone.

Dallas Willard writes that perhaps more energy has gone into dealing with this human situation than into anything else - from songs about “Don’t Worry! Be Happy!” to $250-an-hour sessions with a therapist.

Here’s point. It’s not that all these sources of anxiety aren’t legitimate concerns, things we shouldn’t care about - they definitely are.

We need food and clothing. We and people we know and love do suffer and face hardship as result of illness or addiction or financial struggles or any other number of things.

Natural disasters do occur. there are people who seek to do us harm. Coronavirus is real.

Alfred E. Neuman’s oblivious, “What me, worry?” is not direction we want to go (although from time to time it is very good idea to turn off news, put our phones down and get away from it all)

Jesus isn’t teaching us to ignore these realities, he’s teaching us to trust in greater reality of presence of Kingdom of God. That He really is Lord. And even now, he sits on his heavenly throne, on right hand side of God the Father Almighty. That He reigns.

This greater reality is why, as Dallas Willard says, “we have no reason ever to be anxious.” And “this present world is a perfectly safe place to be.”

I hope you hear shock of those statements. They sound absolutely absurd (repeat statements). “What planet do you live on?” We live on a planet ruled by Sovereign God. He is creator of heavens and earth. He is Lord of all.

And this is exactly what Jesus is pointing us toward when he sums up at end of this passage, Matthew 6:33, But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. He knows best way to live is with our whole lives oriented toward His Kingdom.

The Reality of Kingdom

Problem is, we forget reality of Kingdom of God. As Willard says, “we are habitually inclined toward physical or earthly reality.” We neglect reality that we are spiritual beings.

And because we focus on earthly reality, we run after food and drink and clothing and stuff for houses and trying to find our happiness and security here. Or, as Jesus put it to us last week, we lay up earthly treasures for ourselves.

And because we are habitually inclined toward physical reality, we live more concerned with what others are thinking than with what God may be thinking (audience of many over Audience of One)

And because we do all this, Willard says “our fate is anxiety.”

Study published in 1990’s found that people who pursued money, looks and status were more likely to feel anxious and depressed.

Jesus knows exactly what he’s talking about. Pursuing external things will never do it for us.

All these things Jesus has been teaching - earthly versus heavenly treasures and living more concerned with what others think rather than what God thinks and what we run or seek after - all these have to do with what we trust is most true about reality.

Jesus says, it’s Kingdom of God. His reign over all things. All things.

He is ruler over all nations…including this one. And if this one didn’t exist, it wouldn’t change one thing about reality of Kingdom of God.

Why Jesus could say unabashedly to those gathered, Blessed are poor in spirit (because of Kingdom of God can be yours), and blessed are those who mourn (because greater reality is God who can turn mourning into dancing) and blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness (because God’s righteousness, his way of love for all others will win out).

In this sense, circumstances of our lives do not matter because no matter circumstances of our lives, you can be blessed - because there is always, always greater reality of Kingdom of God. So, no worries.

Which is why command is to seek the Kingdom of God and its righteousness. It’s to learn to live with greater awareness that it’s here, all time and that we have place in God’s kingdom now.

Psalm 23, that wonderful psalm of David, is a seeking-the-Kingdom-of-God-and-his-righteousness prayer. To read, reflect and pray that Psalm is way of seeking reality that my life is fully set within God’s Kingdom and therefore, I need not worry - about anything.

The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me besides still waters. He refreshes my soul. He guides in path of righteousness for his name’s sake. Though I walk through the valley of shadow of death, I will fear no evil - because you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil, my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

That’s what Jesus is teaching here in Matthew 6 - that you and I have good shepherd. We have no wants. We have heavenly Father who knows what we need. He provides for us, leads us where we need to go (whether that’s beside quiet waters because my soul desperately needs refreshing or further down path of righteousness, teaching us what it looks like to have Kingdom Heart). He walks with us in most fear-inducing situations. But goodness and mercy always follow. And we’ll be part of his Kingdom forever. Each of us have room in his house with our name on it.

That’s why birds don’t worry. They live fully and freely in Kingdom of God. Their Heavenly Father provides for them. And so they simply seek food as they need it and take what they find.

Flowers of field, no worries here either. As fragile and fleeting as their are, God’s adorns them with glory and splendor.

And so it can be with us, as we seek first Kingdom of God and his righteousness. Because, as Dallas Willard says, “The natural beauty of the human being is given from the Kingdom to every person who will receive it…as we live from God and God’s world, a beauty is ours that overwhelms the flowers.”

That’s because it’s true beauty, inner beauty of soul.

Of course, when we ignore this reality, our focus is all on external beauty, our physical appearance.

None of this exempts us from usual problems of life, struggles, difficulties. Jesus suffered terribly.

In fact, being part of God’s Kingdom may bring about suffering, endure persecution precisely because we follow Jesus.

But his rod and staff comfort us. He is preparing table for us, right there, in presence of our enemies. When we seek first Kingdom of God, our treasures are laid up in heaven, safe and secure. Our lives are hid with Christ.

We have promise of eternal life in Kingdom that will last forever and ever.

I hope you’re seeing why Jesus gives us this command (and why we really would be wise to hear his words and put them into practice). Why he is teaching us to move away from that all too easy focus on earthly, physical things and to seek first Kingdom of God and his righteousness. Let me offer three quick reminders here.

For one, it reveals to us how precious we truly are. To have such a shepherd who cares for our every need, always leads us in right directions and is always right there with us in darkest of times.

You’ll never learn that running after food and drink and clothing. We only learn this when we trust in him, seek after him.

When we seek first God’s kingdom and his righteousness, we discover true purpose and meaning.

40 year study that asked college freshman their attitudes on variety of things. Over that time frame number of students who placed high importance on financial gain doubled.

Whereas developing a meaningful philosophy for life has dropped in importance dramatically.

No small wonder, then, that anxiety in our culture is increasing. We’re chasing after wrong things!

There is no greater life philosophy than seeking first kingdom of God and his righteousness.

To laying up treasures in heaven.

Finally, it really does free us from worry and anxiety. Jesus doesn’t give us command that we cannot live out.

When we seek God and his kingdom, we will find it. We’ll become more and more aware of his presence and power. More and more aware of our heavenly Father who knows our needs and meets them. That he is with us whatever dark difficulty we’re walking through.

Worries will simply dissipate - because our minds and hearts will not be on the things that we cannot control…but on God is in total control. Who is sovereign over all.

So, as Alfred E. Neuman so often said, “What, me worry?”