This Is How You Should Live -- Don't Worry - Seek the Kingdom! -- 07/11/2021

Don't Worry - Seek the Kingdom!

How can peace overcome our worry?

· Our lives individually?

· Our life together as a church?

· We all have a natural tendency toward worry.

Illustration

My grandmother was known as a natural worrier

coming up a cloud stories

Guess I come by my tendency to worry honestly

I did not think I was a worrier.

Later in life came to realize and accept that much of my success in life (and many of my hardships in life) were driven by fear of failure - in other words, I was driven by worry - always scanning the horizon for cloud that was coming up and scurrying to get the windows down before for disaster strikes.

Transition

If we are honest, we know that we all come by worries honestly. Our tendency to worry is baked into our fallen nature as a response to our fallen world. How can we find peace in our worried world?

We could . . .

Smoke the Toad

A certain famous TV start “claims she's in an entirely new headspace after smoking a psychedelic toad that she says curbed her anxiety.”[1]

· when the toad wears off the - the worries are still there

Smoking the toad is a way to . . .

Escape Reality

· Increase pleasure

often leads to self-destructive behavior and addictions.

Leading to more worries

Attempts to escape reality cover over the pain of life (temporarily)

Deny Reality

Positive Thinking - living as if all is well and nothing is a risk.

Eventually reality will overcome positive thinking - we will be forced to face the fact that all is not well and that our wellbeing is threatened.

Attempts to deny reality stuff the pain of life out of sight (temporarily).

Surrender to Reality

We become . . .

· Consumed by worry and fear

· deep depression

· self-protective behaviors (self-centeredness)

When we surrender to reality, we absorb the pain of life into ourselves so that it shapes us - we can't separate ourselves from it. It defines us - the classic "victim".

Transition

Contrary to escaping, denying, or surrendering to reality . . .

Jesus teaches us to live in reality

Our passage this morning is so familiar, and we so often fail to experience the freedom from worry that it promises that it is easy to want to just move on past it. "Oh, I've heard this a million times. Boring, doesn’t work- tell me something new.” It is amazing how quickly we want to run away from this passage. We want to run away from it, I think, because it forces us to confront everyday life. Every day we are tempted to worry about something. Often, we do succumb to it - even though we call it other things. "I'm concerned, I'm anxious, I'm not sure, I'm depressed. I'm afraid, - all at their base worrying.

We worry all the while denying that we are worrying. Part of our worry is our instance in denying reality. We live in the belief that everything should be just fine, therefore I will life "as if everything is just fine" when in fact it is not.

The whole basis of Jesus teaching on worry is that everything is not just fine. In verse 34 Jesus tells "Each day i.e. every day - every day you draw breath has enough trouble of its own and tomorrow – every tomorrow is going to have its own troubles.

This is in fact why positive affirmations are such a craze: The often the advice given is when your feet hit the floor, "say it's going to be a great day!" You see we have to convince ourselves its going to be a great day, because deep on our souls we know there's no telling what kind of trouble I will have to overcome today. We live in a fallen world - the whole cry of our society for social justice, racial justice, environmental justice, economic justice is an acknowledgement that all is not well - we are a broken people, who face a world of trouble.

Jesus is the ultimate realist. Jesus never calls to deny the real problems, the real injustices, and the real needs of life. Jesus in effect says to us in this passage - Yes, life is hard. Nevertheless, do not worry.

In verse 30 Jesus cuts to the heart of our worries when he call us,

You of Little Faith

· in God's love

· in God's willingness and ability to provide for our needs

· in how ultimately valuable we are to God

Look at the birds of air - they are totally dependent on God. Your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not more important than these birds? Of course, you are! (v. 26)

Look at the flowers in the field. God dresses each flower more gloriously than King Solomon! If God loves and cares for these temporary flowers, will he not much more love and care for you? Of course He will!

Our little faith is a problem for three reasons

1. all of our worrying - changes nothing in our external circumstances and makes no positive change in us. (v. 27)

2. It means that we are one of two things:

a. an unbeliever in God

b. we are currently living like an unbeliever in God

The first places us under the judgment of God; and the second places us under the discipline of God

show last week's sermon slide

3. Chasing after these things causes us to choose to serve (mammon) the wealth of this world as our God, which causes us to live as if our physical and emotional wellbeing is what is life is all about.

· what shall we eat?

· what shall we drink?

· what shall we wear?

· What will make me feel secure and happy?

Jesus clearly ties our choice of serving mammon or serving God together with weather or not we will be capable of not worrying about our life.

Jesus said,

“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. 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?” (Matthew 6:24–25, NIV)

Jesus teaches that if we want peace and real security in this world, we must choose to serve God and abandon the service of mammon.

We will be free from worry in this world to the extent we seek God’s kingdom and righteousness

We seek God's kingdom.

· We place ourselves under the scope of God's authority

· We become a kingdom citizen and a child of God through faith in Jesus

The bottom line: no relationship with God through Jesus - no peace in this world or the next – period.

We will be free from worry in this world to the extent:

We seek God's righteousness

· We seek to live in accordance with God's law.

· Every Kingdom has a king and that king has a law that must be obeyed.

· King Jesus has just laid out for us - the law of the Kingdom.

· King Jesus has defined and explained for us what his righteousness is.

The bottom line: No obedience to the teachings of Jesus - no peace in this world or the next – period.

When we live inside of a relationship with Jesus and in obedience to his teachings we will have troubles in this life - but we do not have to worry because we are kept safe in our Father's care as his infinitely valuable child.

Our Father has promised that he will work all things to make us like Jesus, which is the highest good in all the created order. God is so true to this promise that any perceived lack that we have is itself contributing without fail to make us more like Jesus - and our lack may in fact be a blessing of infinite value for it is working out the salvation of our soul within us.

However, if we choose to live outside of a relationship with Jesus and disobey his teaching - we will have trouble compounded by the worry, anxiety, and fear that come with them in this life and in the next.

Transition

How can we have peace that overcomes all our worry? The Good News the Gospel for us this morning is . . .

The reality of Jesus living in us crushes worry!

Jesus says to us

· [seek God's Kingdom] - you seek God's kingdom.

· seek God's righteousness - you seek God's righteousness.

This may sound like everything depends on us - on our act of seeking. But wait, there is more . . .

Jesus says if you seek God's Kingdom and his righteousness. "All these things will be given to you as well."

If something is given to us - it is a gift.

All these things - what we shall eat, what we shall drink, what we shall wear - all the needs of our life our Father in Heaven gives to us as his good gifts to us.

The phrase "as well" implies that the ability to seek God's Kingdom and his righteousness is also a gift.

We know this ability to be in relationship with God and obey him is a gift because Jesus taught us,

“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6, NIV)

“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them. (John 6:44, NIV)

“I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.” (John 14:16–17, NIV)

“On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.” (John 14:20, NIV)

“Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.” (John 14:23, NIV)

This is how infinitely valuable we are to the Lord our God

· Father, Son and Holy Spirit move in - take up residency within us.

· God draws us to himself and then indwells us so that over time we become a more and more a reflection of his righteousness.

· He becomes our daily bread.

· He commits to fulfilling all our needs: spiritual and otherwise.

· And it is all a gift of his grace.

We can experience Jesus living in us crushing our worries by . . .

· Agreeing with God that our worrying will not benefit us in any way (vs. 27)

· Remembering how valuable we are to God (vs. 26, 28)

· exercising faith that in every moment of every day our loving Heavenly Father brings to us on that which is good for us. (vs. 33)

whether it is financially or materially beneficial or depleting.

whether it is physically pleasurable or painful.

whether it is emotionally uplifting or stressful.

whether it is spiritually encouraging or challenging.

· Meditating on God's Word

Do not worry/about your life.

Seek first God's kingdom and righteousness / and all things will be given to me.

· Verbally and mentally confessing the truth of God’s word.

Show Scripture

Psalm 118:24 ESV

This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

As Christians we have a much more solid hope, something infinitely greater than convincing ourselves that today is going to be a great day. When we get up in the morning, when our feet hit the floor we can confess the truth, "This is the day, the Lord's has made. I will rejoice and be glad in."

Affirmation such as, "It's going to be a great day - have no basis in truth. In fact, it is highly likely it's not going be a great day for the whole fallen creation is stacked against us having a great day.

However, It is absolutely true to say, "This is the day the Lord has made." This affirmation wraps our whole day in the sovereign, creative, love of our Father in Heaven, who has tailor-made this day specifically for my well-being in the things that feel like joy to us, and the things feel like trouble. God has promised us everything in our lives works to conform us into the image of Jesus Christ - which is the highest good imaginable. Therefore, I can rejoice in whatever this day brings me – because it is all good no matter how it feels It is the life of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit within us that helps us to receive all of life as God’s good gift to us giving us confidence that there is no need to worry, because Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are actively making all things well for us.

So, I advise, when your feet hit the floor tomorrow morning, confess the truth, “This is the day Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it!”

There's is one thing I advise against:

Whatever you do, don't smoke the toad!

[1]https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/christina-haack-smoked-toad-venom-rid-anxiety-reset-brain