Sermon Tone Analysis

One thing we could say about Jesus’ teaching in the Sermon on the Mount is that He doesn’t fail to hit any of the taboo topics, does he?

From marriage and adultery and divorce, to finances, to anger.

If you bring up just about any of those things in conversation you’re bound to have a lively discussion because opinions vary widely.

But we’re not really after opinions when we approach God’s Word, when we approach Jesus’ teachings here.

We’re after the truth.

Well, today’s topic is no less taboo, or personal perhaps, because it is the topic of worry, or as many translations have it, Anxiety.

If we polled the room this morning and asked the question, how many of you have ever faced worry or anxiety, there would no doubt be a 100% response in the affirmative.

Worrying about things is a universal human experience.

There is nobody alive today who is absolutely free from the effects of worry.

Now, there are many reasons for that, reasons that we will get into this morning, although we cannot possibly cover them all.

Earlier this week, I did a little poll online among contacts that I have on social media, knowing that worry is a universal experience, and I asked people if they were willing to share, in simple and general terms, what most causes them worry or anxiety.

In just a couple of days I got scores of responses.

The responses that I got were very informative, but not really surprising at all, because they were almost all normal parts of life.

Here are some of the responses.

My Children’s Safety

Health

My Children’s Spiritual Life

Financial Insecurity

Other people’s expectations

Changes in plans

Family trouble

Feeling over-commited or short on time

retirement

relationship problems

fearing that someone is upset with me

Covid

Problems that our children and grandchildren will have

Winter

Work

Fear of Rejection

Uncertainty of the future

Feeling unaccomplished

Parenting

Responsibilities

In-laws

Finances

Needles

Bills

Confrontation

The future

Health

Finances

Money

Finances

Feeling trapped

Health

Now, you may be asking yourself, “does he know that he’s repeating himself?”

Yes, I do, and there is a reason for that.

You probably noticed some themes in that list didn’t you?

I didn’t give every answer, I tried to represent the array of answers accurately.

Somewhere on that list, no doubt, you probably found yourself agreeing with or feeling a sense of familiarity when thinking about some of those things.

Perhaps, for some of you, hearing one or two of those things on that list caused you to worry right now.

And it is interesting what we think and worry about isn’t it?

I mean nobody in the survey said they were worried about tornadoes, or sharks, or bears, or nuclear explosions, or drowning, did they?

All the answers were regular, normal parts of life that we face on a day-to-day basis.

And there is a reason for that.

If I had asked the question, what are you most afraid of, then we may have gotten some answers like sharks, or drowning, or fires, or disease.

But we don’t worry and have anxiety over the things that are a slim possibility, we worry and have anxiety over the things that we are facing now.

On my poll, I didn’t share the passage that I was preaching on this week, although a few people guessed it or brought it up in conversation, but Jesus’ words in our text today are so fitting for all of these kinds of worries, because Jesus’ addresses not the big one-in-a-million chance fears in this passage, but the regular, daily worries that people face on a normal basis.

Let’s read his words together.

In simple terms, Jesus shows us that we are not to worry, we don’t need to worry, we don’t have to worry, and we should not worry.

He ties this back to faith, He ties it back to providence and God’s faithfulness, He ties it back to creation and the order of the universe, He ties it back to our priorities.

So I ask you today, are you worried?

And maybe you are not worried right now.

But I ask you still, do you worry?

If so, listen to the Words of Jesus and seek to follow His instruction in this passage.

As believers, Jesus assures us that we must not worry.

God our Father who feeds the birds and clothes the lilies cares much more about you.

Seek Him and His Ways.

Why Must we Not Worry? - 25

Again, like last week, Jesus gives us this very clear “do not do this” warning.

“Do not be anxious about your life.”

Or like I have it memorized from when I was a kid, “Take no thought for your life.”

A working definition of what it means to worry or be anxious in this sense, is to be unduly concerned for something, to meditate on it, to overthink something, or to be cumbered by something.

Now, before we can even get into the rest of Jesus’ words here, we have to address the “therefore.”

The word “therefore” in scripture often answers a lot of questions for us, and the question that this one answers is “why must we not worry?

“Therefore” goes back to something that Jesus just said, particularly what we looked at last week.

Last week we learned this: “Our life does not consist in our treasures, but in our Lord.

May we treasure and look with a single eye to our true Master.”

The teaching last week was “don’t treasure treasures.”

We learned that what we treasure, what we value and focus on, is very revealing.

We learned that the most wealthy people alive cannot secure that wealth and treasure beyond their final breath, and that the only things we are to treasure are Godly things, and things that God treasures.

Now, it is totally unironic that Jesus speaks one paragraph about treasure and money, and then in the next paragraph talks about worry and anxiety.

Remember that list I read you of all the things people worry about?

Well, finances and financial security were on that list at least one in every 7 or 8 answers.

Jesus’ teaching on treasure was all about focus, all about our master.

What masters us?

Is it our treasure?

Or is it our One master, our true Lord Jesus Christ?

So with that, Jesus says “therefore, do not be anxious...”

Why?

Because you should not treasure earthly treasures, do not be anxious.

Because we must not focus on temporary and fleeting things, do not be anxious.

Because you cannot serve two masters, do not be anxious.

Let’s just look at that last one, because that is the direct antecedent of verse 25.

Because you cannot serve two masters, do not be anxious.

Do not worry.

I want to say something here that may not come across as gentle, but I have found it to be true in my life, and we see it in Jesus’ words here.

In most cases, worry and anxiety is allowing our situation to be our master.

Worry and anxiety often reveal a problem with the location of our treasure, and worry and anxiety tell a story about our faith and our focus.