No Worries

Introduction

-Today I want to talk to you about worry and anxiety, which is ironic coming from a man who has suffered his fair share of both. But thankfully the Words of God behind the message are much more powerful and stable than the messenger is.

-Our society seems to excel at worry and anxiety as more and more people need medications and counseling sessions to cope with the worry and anxiety that almost cripples them from living a normal life----and this very much includes Christians.

-Worry has been variously defined as “a small trickle of fear that meanders through the mind until it cuts a channel into which all other thoughts are drained.”----others have said that the ulcers that you receive do not come from what you eat, but come from what is eating you.

-Worry and anxiety are self-inflicted and come from having a greater concern over one’s earthly life than anything else.

-A few weeks ago I preached on the passage that comes immediately before this one, and spoke on finding that which is true treasure.

-This passage is connected with the previous one in that what Jesus points out to us that when we concern ourselves with earthly treasure and earthly concerns, and when these concerns become obsessions of the mind, they create worry and anxiety in us.

-When our focus is on ensuring that everything in our earthly life goes exactly as we want it, and we get out of this life what we want out of it, we are going to meet up with a lot of resistance because this is a fallen, cursed world. And when our earthly dreams and our earthly treasures somehow come into danger of not being fulfilled as we would desire, it creates in us worry and anxiety.

-But Jesus tells us in this section of the Sermon on the Mount that we do not need to worry ourselves over worldly, material affairs because if we concern ourselves with the work of the Kingdom of God, God will ensure we receive what we need {not necessarily what we want, but what we need}

-So if you get anything out of today’s message, I hope that you and I stop worrying about and concentrating on our earthly affairs, and instead we trust God to take care of our earthly needs when our concentration is on His Kingdom work.

Matthew 6:25–34 ESV

25 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

-What I want to do is to answer the question:

How can we stop worrying about our earthly needs and instead concentrate on Kingdom work and values?

I) Rearrange your priorities (v. 25)

-in v. 25 Jesus connects the previous passage about what constitutes true treasure with the fact that we therefore do not need to worry about our earthly life. He gives a summary of some of the points that He will make: that we don’t have to worry about food and drink and clothing. Jesus then challenges us by saying: IS NOT LIFE MORE THAN FOOD, AND THE BODY MORE THAN CLOTHING?

-What is He saying? He is saying that there are higher priorities—that there are more important things to concern oneself with—other than these basic necessities of life. What’s more important than these things that keep us physically alive? It is that which has to do with spiritual life.

-Now, in 21st century America, food and clothing for the most part isn’t a great concern because we have an overabundance of both, but for the 1st century, where there was a scarcity of both these things, these things would become obsessions of the mind and would crowd out anything else.

-We too have these obsessions of the mind, but maybe in a little bit different format than the 1st century. Honestly, for 21st century Americans we become obsessed with keeping up with everybody else, so we get bigger and better things all the time, and what happens is we either get into major debt and/or we have a zillion bills to pay that we begin to worry about whether or not we will be able to keep up with the bills.

-This is a refection on the fact that we believe that living the American Dream is our top priority. But Jesus is challenging us here: Does life on this earth merely consist of keeping up with everybody else? Does life on this earth merely consist of having as many material benefits as possible? Does life consist of being involved in every possible sport or having every possible toy? Is life about having the biggest and best?

-Or, as Jesus asks it, is not life more than food and clothing and material things? The expected answer is yes, life consists of so much more that is more important—and He is speaking of the spiritual—really, we could say He is speaking of Himself.

-You do all you can to pursue this material stuff, but in the face of eternity what does it mean and what does it matter? We worry and have anxiety because in our minds and lives the here and now becomes priority, but Jesus is pointing us to a greater priority: the spiritual; the eternal; that which has to do with Jesus and His Kingdom

-And here’s the point He’s trying to make with this: when we place everything in its proper priority, worry and anxiety disappear because now we get Jesus’ eternal perspective.

II) Remember God’s provision (vv. 26-32)

-In the next 7 or so verses, Jesus gives us an argument for consideration. He gives some examples from the realm of creation for us to think about.

-He tells us to think about the birds. They don’t do anything to cause food to grow, and yet they get fed by God. He tells us to think about the flowers in the field. They don’t use a sewing machine to make clothes, and yet they are dressed better than even King Solomon. Why are the birds fed and the flowers clothed? Because God took care of it—God provided for them.

-Now, I do want to make a note here—Jesus is in no way advocating a “sit back and do nothing” attitude. Jesus isn’t saying that we don’t need to do anything, and God will still take care of us. The birds still have to go out in search for food. There is still labor involved in being fed and being clothed. The thing is, these are things that we don’t need to be anxious about.

-So Jesus’ argument is that if God provides food for birds and clothing for flowers (so to speak), how much more will God provide for human beings made in His image, who have become His children through faith in Jesus Christ?

-This is an argument from the lesser to the greater. God takes care of parts of His creation that do not bear His image. If that is the case, would He not do the same for His children who bear the image. And the expected answer is: OF COURSE GOD WOULD PROVIDE FOR HIS CHILDREN.====Any good parent makes sure that their children has at least the basic necessities, so why would God be any different.

-Since, then, we are in agreement that God will provide for His children, why then do we become anxious and why then do we worry about these petty earthly things?

-We don’t have to ask the questions WHAT WILL WE EAT OR DRINK OR WEAR?

-Jesus says these are questions that the Gentiles ask and these are things that the Gentiles seek after. What Jesus means by Gentiles is unbelievers. Those outside the covenant people of God. Those who have never trusted in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior by faith and repentance.

-You see, those who don’t know God have nobody else to trust in other than themselves, and so they constantly worry about things that are outside of their control like famine and drought. Or maybe in our context they are constantly worrying about a downturn in the market or a bad economic atmosphere. Or they are worrying about layoffs or demotions or firings.

-But, in contrast, believers in Jesus Christ have faith in the One who has complete control over every aspect of life. One who is greater than any famine or drought or destructive storm. One who has control over layoffs or demotions or firings or the market.

-We need not worry remembering that God provides for the children that He loves—the children that He sent His Son to die for. But it doesn’t end there:

III) Relish the eternal (v. 33)

-What “relish” means is to find one’s joy and pleasure—that which is to consume us, that which is to be our focus, that which is to be the joy of our heart is the Kingdom of God and His righteousness==those things that have eternal weight and consequences.

-When Jesus calls us to seek the Kingdom, He means that the top priority of all our wants, needs, and desires is to be in a right relationship with God through Jesus Christ, that we would live in a harmonious fellowship with Him through our obedience, and we would seek His kingdom to come and His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven as God takes up His rule and reign in other people’s lives.

-A Kingdom is a place where an authority rules—therefore what we seek in our life is that God has complete rule and reign over every aspect of our lives—not that we merely pay lip-service to that fact, but that He actually does, because when He does then the eternal takes precedence.

-And with the Kingdom we are to seek righteousness----that is, we are to seek a right standing with God that comes only through Jesus Christ, and then we are to seek that God’s righteous standard is held up in our own lives and in the world around us====all of this is eternal, heavenly, Kingdom-focused.

-American Christians need to get their mind off of what they need and want in the here and now and instead need to take their pleasure in thinking in heavenly, eternal ways; take pleasure in fulfilling God’s will and purpose in their life; and doing what they can such that God’s kingdom work would advance in the world (not their own desires and agendas).

-And, American Christians need to stop merely talking big about their relationship with God when their lives don’t match their words----STOP BEING FAKE.====If God’s rule and reign in your life is not top priority, stop trying to pretend like it is when you’re around others.

-And then what does the verse say: after you seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, then and only then will all those other things be added unto you----that is, then and only then are you able to see clearly enough to trust that God will take care of all your earthly concerns.

-We could say that, in a way, you need to make a trade with God—you give Him all your earthly concerns and you instead take up all His heavenly concerns. And when you take up God’s heavenly concerns, you trust that God will take care of all your earthly concerns. That being the case, why would you have any anxiety or worry?

-If we seek Christ, the Kingdom, and the eternal, there will be no room for us to be obsessed over lesser matters, and we will not have a place for worry and anxiety over them.

IV) Refuse to fret (v. 34)

-Jesus concludes this passage by telling us to just refuse to get anxious over stuff because worry and anxiety will not be able to change anything anyway. Why worry about those things over which you have no control?

-Worrying is not going to change what tomorrow holds for us. And as Jesus said earlier in the passage, worrying isn’t going to extend your life in any way—if anything, it will shorten your life.

-One article spoke about the fact that nine times out of ten, worrying about a thing does more damage to those who worry than the actual thing itself that they were worrying about.

The article says that modern medical research has proved that worry breaks down resistance to disease. More than that, it actually diseases the nervous system—particularly that of the digestive organs and of the heart. Add to this the toll in unhappiness of sleepless nights and days void of internal sunshine, and you have a glimpse of the work worrying does in destroying the effectiveness of the human body.----So there is both physical and spiritual consequences for worry and anxiety.

-Is there going to be trouble, problems, tribulations, persecutions, sorrows, heartaches in our lives? Yes. Will those times of troubles, problems, tribulations, persecutions, sorrows, and heartaches take God by surprise? No. Is God in control of all things in spite of the times of troubles, problems, tribulations, persecutions, sorrows, and heartaches in our lives? Yes. Then why worry and be anxious?

-We worry and are anxious because we are worldly and materialistically focused. Change the focus, you change your attitude.

-American author Dale Carnegie spoke about an interview he did with Henry Ford (founder of Ford Motor Company) when Ford was 78-years-old and had time to reflect on life. Carnegie had expected to find a gaunt, nervous old man. When he asked Ford if he worried, Ford replied, “No. I believe God is managing affairs and He doesn’t need any advice from me. With God in charge, I believe that everything will work out for the best in the end. So what is there to worry about?”

-This is not some form of fatalism where we just way QUE SERA SERA, WHATEVER WILL BE WILL BE----this is a trust in the living God who sent His Only Son to die on our behalf. We seek His priorities first, we trust He’ll take care of what we need so that we can continue to seek His priorities first. No worries…

Conclusion

-If you are a Christian full of worry and anxiety, I invite you to come to the altar and give your earthly, materialistic concerns over to the Lord, and instead take up the concerns of His Kingdom and righteousness.

-But if you have never trusted in Christ, you have every reason and right to worry, because not only will you have problems on earth, your eternal state will be even far worse. But Jesus died for your sins and rose again that you might have life. Get rid of the burden of worrying about your soul’s eternal destiny by trusting in Christ.