Worry
Sermon Transcript
0:00:14.0
Well, good morning, everyone. Last week we were back in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6:19-24. I invite you to take your Bibles and turn again to Matthew 6. As we go on in the Sermon on the Mount on chapter 6 verses 25-34, we move from the subject of wealth—are you ready for this?—to worry. To worry and how to handle worry. And it shouldn’t surprise us that the Holy Spirit and Jesus as He delivered this message juxtaposed these two topics in the Sermon on the Mount. In fact, there is a word that begins verse 25. It’s the word “therefore,” and it is there for the specific reason of connecting Jesus’s previous thoughts to the thoughts that follow. And that shouldn’t surprise us, should it? Because one of the things we worry the most about in life seem to be our finances. We worry about whether we’re gonna have enough. We worry about whether we’re gonna have enough to put clothes on our family and food on our table. We worry about whether we’re gonna have enough for the future, for retirement. We worry about whether we’re gonna have enough to send our kids to college. We worry about all kinds of things, and especially during these deep and painful recessionary times. Perhaps you lost a job and you worry about whether you're ever gonna find a job during a difficult employment climate like it is today.
0:01:43.8
We don’t just worry about financial things. We also worry about medical things. We worry about our children. We worry about a whole host of things. I was talking to a guy this morning before our 8:00 service. And he says, “I grew up in a family full of world-class worriers.” He says, “I inherited that gene. You just ask me. I can worry about just about anything in this world.” And so isn’t it good of Jesus to give us some simple, practical instruction about worry? One old preacher says that worry is putting a question mark where God has placed a period. I think that’s a pretty good way of thinking about worry. So let’s try to erase some of those question marks today, especially in the places where God has put a period.
0:02:35.6
Now, in Matthew 6:25-34 Jesus approaches the subject of worry by doing a couple things. First, He diagnoses worry. And if you’ve ever been to a doctor or to a counselor, you know the first thing we want them to do is diagnose the problem. And Jesus does that in verses 25-32. And then He gives us a prescription for worry. After the diagnosis, I want to hear quickly what the prescription is and what the prognosis is for the future. Jesus is gonna do this in a very simple and practical way.
0:03:05.8
So let’s follow His lead and His teaching this morning first by diagnosing worry. What is it? And He gives us five statements or five things that we need to know about worry. The first thing He says is that worry is irrational. It’s irrational. Look at it in verse 25. “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on.” And then He asks this rhetorical question. “Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?” He asks a rhetorical question because the reality is it’s irrational to worry about the things that He mentioned- what we wear, what we eat, what we drink, I mean, the basic necessities of life. It’s irrational to worry about those things because there are far more important things in life than the basic necessities in life. But more so than that, there is this sense that there are some big things in life and some little things in life. The big thing is life itself, and this is what God our heavenly Father has given to us. And if He is able to give us life, the big thing, isn’t it true that He can also handle what we might consider to be the little things of life, the basic necessities of life- what we wear, what we drink, what we eat?
0:04:30.5
Now, the advertisers want us to believe that those things are the most important things in life. You look at any of the glossy magazines today, and most of the advertisements are about some designer piece of clothing they want you to wear or some new kind of chic restaurant to attend or maybe something to drink. The advertisers want us to believe those are the most important things in life. But Jesus would say no, there are far more important things in life than that. So it would be irrational of us to worry about those things, especially when God our creator, who gave us life…if He can handle the big thing of life, He can also handle the little things and the basic necessities of life.
0:05:09.6
He goes on in verse 26 as He diagnoses worry to also say that worry is irresponsible. Look at it in verse 26. He says, “Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” Another question. And this text is full of questions that He gives to us. It’s the first of two, kind of, creation illustrations that Jesus harkens upon here. It suggests to us that a creation worldview helps us in times of worry. He points us to the birds of the air. And He says that “they neither sow nor reap or gather into barns,” kind of a reference to our text last week. “Do not store up yourselves treasures on earth,” He says. The birds, although they’re hardworking…you ever have a bird feeder out there, you see how hard the birds work to kind of get the food in there. But they don’t sow. They don’t reap. They don’t gather into barns. Why? Because our heavenly Father who created them takes full responsibility for that, He says. And so it would be irresponsible or us to worry and to fret and to be full of anxiety about those things when our heavenly Father takes full responsibility for even the birds of the air.
0:06:36.9
Martin Luther, the catholic priest who sparked the protestant reformation, said this about the birds of air in his exposition of the Sermon on the Mount. He says, “You see, He is making the birds our schoolmasters and our teachers.” I like that. “It is a great and abiding disgrace to us that in the gospel a helpless sparrow should become a theologian and a preacher to the wisest of men. We have as many teachers and preachers as there are birds in the air. Their living example is an embarrassment to us. Whenever you listen to a nightingale, therefore, you are listening to an excellent preacher.” I like that. “It is as if he were saying, ‘I prefer to be in the Lord’s kitchen.’ He has made heaven and earth, and He Himself is the cook and the host. Every day He feeds and nourishes innumerable little birds out of His hand.” And the idea is that if He does that, friends, we are of much more importance and much more value than the birds, Jesus says.
0:07:41.0
Notice also in verse 26, it’s the first of two times that Jesus uses the reference to our heavenly Father. He does it again later in this text, and I’ll show you where. But it reminds us that the God our heavenly Father wants to father us. Think about that. He wants to father us through the cares and worries and the anxieties of this life. I don’t know about you, but when I was a little boy, when my daddy showed up all my cares and worries went away. And when my parents divorced and my daddy was the one who moved out, my grandfather used to come over to our house and have dinner every Wednesday night. And when my granddaddy showed up, just all the cares and the worries went away. And later I learned that there were times when my mother, who was a single mom, needed some things. And my grandfather took care of those needs. He wasn’t a perfect grandfather. My father wasn’t a perfect father. I’m not a perfect father. I probably won’t be a perfect grandfather. But we do have a perfect heavenly Father who wants to father us through the cares and the worries and the anxieties of life. So it’s irresponsible of us to worry and to be full of fret.
0:09:00.6
Thirdly, He says worry doesn’t change thing. Look at it in verse 27. “Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?” Some of your translations might read, “Which of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” The word translated “cubit” or “hour” is kind of vague in the original text, and so you have some different translations. It really doesn't change the sense of what Jesus is saying here. He is saying by worrying you can’t change anything. You can’t add an inch or a foot to your height. You can’t add an extra hour to your day or an extra day to your life. You can’t do any of that by worrying. Somebody once said you can’t change the past, but you can sure ruin a perfectly good present by worrying about the future. Think about that for a moment. Somebody else once compared worry to a rocking chair. You know, a lot of activity, a lot of stuff going on, but it just doesn't get you anywhere. It just doesn't get you anywhere. Corrie ten Boom said, “Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows. It empties today of its strength.” And there is a lot of truth to that.
0:10:05.3
It reminds me of a husband who was kind of all frustrated by his wife, who just worried about everything. He looked at her and he said, “Why do you worry about all these things? It never changes anything.” And she said, “Oh yes, it does. 90% of what I worry about never happens.” Think about that. Actually, she was on to something, although her percentages were a little off. According to a University of Wisconsin study, this study categorized worry in four different ways. Listen to this. 40% of the things we worry about never happen, 40%. 30% of the things we worry about are in the past and cannot be changed, according to this study. Now we’re up to 70%, okay. 22% of the things we worry about, according to this university’s study, are petty or needless. Now we’re up to 92%. And this University of Wisconsin study now says that 8% of the things we worry about are legitimate concerns. And so my question is, cannot our heavenly Father who wants to father us through the cares and worries of this life handle the 8% if we realize that worry really doesn’t change anything? And it doesn’t.
0:11:26.7
Fourthly, in verse 28-30 Jesus suggests that worry reveals a lack of faith. Now He is going to meddle in our spiritual life. Everything you’ve heard up to this point you might have heard from Dr. Phil, okay. But now it’s gonna get a little bit deeper here. Verse 28, “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that not even Donald Trump…”—I’m sorry—“…Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you…” And I wish He’d stopped right there. I wish He put a period right there, because these next few words are kind of a little bit a dig, isn’t it. “O you…”—say it with me— of little faith?” Faith? You mean my worrying and my fretting and my anxiety has something to do with a lack of faith in me? I think it was Jerry Bridges who called worry one of those respectable sins. Yeah, it is among us, right? “Oh, I just worry a little bit. Didn’t sleep all night. Just full of anxiety and worry.” A respectable sin, right? But it says something about our lack of faith.
0:13:02.2
We might think of it this way. You cannot trust God and worry any more than you can serve God and money. You see the connection between the two texts here from last week to this week? Jesus said in verse 24 you cannot serve God and money. You can’t do it. Well, likewise, you cannot trust God and worry at the same time. If you're trusting, you're not worrying. If you're worrying, you’re not trusting. That’s the hard part of it, isn’t it? Remember, we’re diagnosing worry here. Jesus says it reveals a lack of faith because worry, when you really get down to it, is all about the fear that I’m bound up with about something in the future. And fear, friends, is the antithesis of faith.
0:13:51.4
Think of Hebrews 11:6. “Without faith it’s impossible to please God.” It’s impossible to please Him. It’s not hard. It’s not difficult. It’s impossible to please Him without faith. And so the corollary of that might be worry displeases God, because it’s not full of faith. It’s full of fear. And so we need to handle our fears. When we worry, we really doubt God in one of a number of ways. We doubt that He loves us. When we’re full of worry and anxiety and we’re fretting about something, we wake up in the middle of the night and we’re so full of worry that we can’t sleep and we’re wringing our hands. What we’re really saying is, “God, I’m not so sure that You love me and care for me the way You say.”
0:14:37.4
There’s a guy who came to our Saturday night service last night. He was sitting about back there. I talked with him after the service. It was his first time in church in 12 years. Here was his question for me. “How do I know God loves me?” That’s a great question. But when we worry, when we’re anxious, when we fret, we’re doubting God’s love for us. We also doubt His wisdom for us. We say, “Well, maybe He really doesn’t know how to plan for His kids. Maybe He doesn't really know what’s best for His kids.” We doubt His power as well to change the circumstances for the better. We doubt His timing because we want to change now. And we doubt that maybe He has a more perfect timing intersecting our life sometime in the future. So worry reveals a lack of faith.
0:15:29.4
But Jesus goes deeper here. Worry exposes atheism in my heart. Look at this. Verse 31, “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles [or the pagans] seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.” Now, you might have taken some offense at me suggesting that your worrying exposes atheism in your heart. But let me suggest to you that I’m talking about a practical atheism. You can be a proclamational theist, okay. “I believe in God. Well, of course, I do. I believe in the creator God. I believe in Genesis 1:1. I even proclaim Jesus as my savior.” You can proclaim all you want, but you can live like a practical atheist. Because it’s the pagans, it’s the Gentiles, it’s those who do not know God or acknowledge God who worry about all these things, Jesus says. And so we can proclaim all we want. But if we’re truthful with ourselves, if we’re really caught up with worry, in that moment we are acting more like a pagan than we are a child of God, Jesus would say. “For your heavenly Father.” There’s that phrase again. That heavenly daddy who wants to father us through the cares and the worries of this life. He knows that you need all of these things.
0:17:12.7
Well, so much for the diagnosis. What’s the prescription here? Well, it’s simple. And for all of you who might have one, two or three PhDs and you’re looking for something that really intellectually challenges you this morning, I’m going to disappointment you. Actually, Jesus is going to disappoint you, because the prescription is really simple. Simple, simple, simple, simple, simple. But don’t confuse simple with easy. Because some of the most difficult things to put into practice are the simple truths that we learn from scripture.
0:17:41.6
And here is prescription number one. You’ll find in verse 33. Put God first in your life. Put God first in your life. Look at it in verse 33. He says, “But…” He contrasts everything that He’s said up to this point with what He’s gonna say now. “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” You see the contrast there? The pagans, the gentiles seek after all these things. But you, as a child of God, seek first His kingdom and His righteousness. Don’t seek Him for what He can give you or what you can get from Him. Your Father already knows what you need. He’s taken full responsibility for it. But seek Him. Not Him for all of this, but just seek Him. Be a kingdom person who puts the kingdom of God and the advancement of His kingdom first in your life. And then there’s a promise associated with this verse. You do that, you put God first in your life, and all these things…what things? All the things that we worry about will be added unto us.
0:18:58.6
Do you want an (0:19:00.0) example of this? I came across a couple of them this weekend. There is a family in the church who received one of the Family Life Weekend to Remember scholarships that we make available every year because we love to pour into families and into marriages and do what we can to strengthen them. And so for families who can’t afford to go to the Family Life Weekend to Remember, we provide some scholarships. And this family received notification of a scholarship they would receive for the registration and the hotel. They received that notification on Monday. Notice the timeline here. On Monday after last weekend. And when they received that notification, they sent this email, which was forwarded to me. “Oh my!!!! The hotel is more than we could ask for. What an extra blessing!!!!!!!!! You know, yesterday at church Pastor Jones asked everyone to empty their wallets for a special collection. I had a dime in my pocket and my husband had about (0:20:00.1) $60. It was very painful, but we put all of our money into that collection basket. And look what happened today. Not only the registration, but the hotel as well. Is this not just an answer to prayer but a blessing after being obedient to His calling yesterday? Thank You, Jesus.” You see, I can think of no more tangible area of our life to put God first than in the area of our finances. That’s why we went through that little exercise last week. And look at how God added to their things a need that they had for their marriage and providing that.
0:20:42.6
You say, “Well, that’s a coincidence.” Well, all right, let’s try another one. Got this email from a lady who gave me permission to read it. She says, “I want to let you know how glad I am that you had us empty our wallets last Sunday. I love doing things that are out of the box to shake us up. And even though I am still only making a tiny bit of money, not enough to live on, I gave all $13 that I had in my wallet. I know that God loves a cheerful giver, and I wish that I had more to give. Please do this again.” Not today. We won’t do that today, all right. She goes on, “When I got home Sunday afternoon and checked my email, I had one from a former employer who owes me a last paycheck and money for expenses. I had already written it off as a loss. And then I got the email that asked me to resend my invoice because they had received some money and they wanted to pay some outstanding debts.” And she writes, “Pretty coo, huh?” Pretty cool. That is pretty cool. Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. Your heavenly Father, He knows how to take care of you. That’s prescription number one.
0:21:57.1
Second prescription is to live one day at a time. I know that’s simple. That’s simple. But how difficult it is to put into practice. Here is how Jesus says it. “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” Your translation might read, “Each day has enough trouble of its own.” And it does, doesn’t it? Somebody once said, “Worrying is wasting today’s time to clutter up tomorrow’s opportunities with yesterday’s trouble.” Chew on that for a while. Somebody else said, “Worry is the interest paid by those who borrow trouble.” Live one day at a time. You know what I’ve noticed over the years? That’s a hard thing to do, is to live one day at a time. Because I’m kind of built like…I’m a visionary. I like to look out into the future, all that kind of stuff. I’ve got all kinds of worries and cares about my kids going to college and retirement and all that. You know, living one day at time, what’s that all about? But I’ve noticed over the years that people who have gotten really sick physically and received a diagnosis that looks like their days are numbered, they kind of kick into that “one day at a time” gear. You know what I’m talking about? Life just becomes real simple. Each day has enough trouble of its own, especially for somebody who received a bad medical diagnosis.
0:23:31.2
My friend Kevin, who is a year older than I am, is a worship leader in Colorado Springs. He was diagnosed with lymphoma about 6, 8 months ago. A week or two after he was diagnosed, his 80-year-old father was diagnosed with the same lymphoma. Kevin’s father died just a few days after Christmas. And that was pretty hard on him. Kevin is, from all human perspective, not winning his battle. The doctors have told him to prepare for death. And that is pretty hard for him to receive. But he is living one day at a time. I sense that in his Caring Bridge entries. This one dated Sunday, January 10th, 2010. “Yesterday was possibly the worst I have felt since all this happened. I barely could get around the house. I fell at the top of the stairs. Didn’t get hurt, but I was totally embarrassed as I spilled my dinner. After six days of radiation plus coming off steroids, it hit me so hard. All day the enemy kept telling me that I was going to die. And even in my sleep I dreamed that I wasn’t going to make it. Somewhere my crying became crying out. I think there is a difference,” he says. “Crying seems to be giving up to me. Crying out says, ‘I’m not done. Your life is my answer.’ I guess there is a place for just crying, but I want to turn it to crying out to my source, to my shield and my rock. Like Psalm 143 says, ‘The morning brought me word of his unfailing love,’ as the sun came up, the hope flooded me again. Julie and I sat and talked about it some this morning and read verses of healing over my body.” Kevin says of his daddy…he says there is nobody who reminds him of Jesus more than his daddy. And there are few people who remind me of Jesus more than my friend Kevin. And I’m praying for him as I hope you pray for him, because I believe in a God who heals.
0:25:39.9
But here is what I’m also praying for, is that God would teach me to live one day at a time and it wouldn’t take a medical crisis to bring me to that point. To put God first and to live one day at a time. I don’t know how you walked into church this morning. Maybe you're caring a bag full of worries and anxieties and stresses and concerns. Maybe you didn’t sleep well last night. Maybe you’re worrying about your finances. Maybe you’ve got a medical concern you’re worrying about. Maybe it’s your kids, your grandkids. Maybe it’s the economy. Maybe it’s our country. I don’t know what you're worrying about, but here’s what I want us to do this morning. And it doesn't involve reaching for your wallets. I promise you that. I want us to empty our hearts this week of worry. How do you do that? You’ve got to understand worry. We’ve diagnosed it as best as we can. But then you’ve got to take the prescription. Put God first in your life and ask God to help you to live one day at a time and to erase those question marks and to put the period back where God puts the period in our life. Let’s pray.
0:27:02.8
Father, thank You for Your Word. And I thank You that You are a heavenly Father, a heavenly daddy who wants to father us through the cares and the worries and the anxieties of our life. Father, from Your perspective, none of it’s big, none of it’s small, it just is. And You say to us, “Don’t worry, my child. I’ve got you covered. I’m taking care of you. Trust Me.” Father, there are some perhaps here today whose biggest worry is, “What happens to me after I die?” They’re worried about eternity, heaven or hell, life or death, in the presence of God or somewhere apart from His presence. I pray that this message might drive that person to the cross of Jesus Christ, who bore our burdens and our sins, who paid the penalty for them, who rose triumphantly from the grave so that we wouldn’t have to worry about anything in this life, let alone in the life to come. We thank You for Him. And we praise You for the work You’re doing in our hearts right now. And I pray that as we leave this place, it would be empty of any burdens and anxiety and fretfulness because we have once and for all chosen to put You first and to live one day at a time. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.
0:29:01.1