Essentials Of The Faith / Sunday Morning Sermon Series / The Sermon On The Mount
Raising The Bar Without Worry 4/06/08
Message: ‘Raising the Bar without worry’ Text: Matthew 6: 25-34
Introduction:
ILL: A man went to a psychiatrist and said ‘Doctor, sometimes I feel like a teepee and at others times I feel like a wigwam.’ The doctor thought about it for a moment and said ‘I better treat you for anxiety. You’re two tents.’ (J David Hoke)
ILL: A well meaning church made a real blunder when it put the following on it’s outside sign. ‘Don’t let worry kill you. Let the church help.’ (Greg Yount)
Then there’s the song ‘Don’t worry. Be happy!’ You know the one I’m talking about…it’s a fun song. They’re easy words to say, but not very easy words to put into action, especially when you also hear the words
· …it’s cancer,
· or ‘Due to the economy, I’m going to have to let you go.’
· or ‘it’s the police, we have your daughter at the station.’
· Or ‘honey, there isn’t enough money in the checkbook to pay our bills this month.’
Do you ever worry? If you could learn how to stop worrying, would you want to know how?
Transition: Open your Bibles to Matthew 6:25 (pg. 741 in the Bibles under the chair in front of you) It’s there that we will find we raise the bar of spiritual expectations and actions in our lives without worry.
I. Matthew 6:25 Therefore…
Read: Matthew 6:25
· You cannot serve God and money.
· You cannot build an earthly treasure and at the same time build an eternal treasure.
Therefore…if you’ve made a wise investment and made God your treasure…you don’t need to worry. But we do worry, don’t we? About many things, including food and clothing. And why do we worry about these things?
· We worry that we’ll lose some pleasure in life. Food and drink tastes good, they’re pleasurable. (Cheese steak hoagies and brewed iced tea with lemon and orange.)
· We worry that we’ll lose the admiration of others if we didn’t have nice clothes.
· We worry that we’ll lose the hope of a long life if we die of starvation or thirst or freeze for lack of warm clothes.
So, we worry. But Jesus says that if we worry about these things, we’ve truly lost sight of what life is all about.
· Life isn’t given primarily for physical pleasure…but for something greater…the enjoyment of God.
· Life isn’t given primarily for the approval of man…but for something greater…the approval of God.
· Life isn’t given primarily for the extension of our days on earth…but for something greater…eternity with God in heaven.
Three times in this passage Jesus tells us, no commands us not to worry. Is he serious? Yes!
ILL: Someone once said that worry is like putting your car in neutral and revving the engine. It burns a lot of gas and oil and is hard on the engine, but it doesn’t get you anywhere. (Reese Blanchett)
Don’t raise your hands, but how many of you are worrying about something in your life right now?
There is something you need to know. The word ‘worry’ in the Greek, means ‘to strangle or choke.’ It feels like that sometimes…doesn’t it? That’s what worry does. Can you see why Jesus doesn’t want you to experience that?
Worry is the opposite of contentment and that’s what Jesus wants you to experience.
Read: Phil. 4:11b-13 ‘…I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. (Paul, what’s your secret?) I can do everything through him who gives me strength.’
· When we make God our treasure, when
· When we allow him to break through our earthly entanglements,
· When we begin to really trust him
· we will find him faithful and sufficient to meet our every need.
Transition: You can’t serve God and earthy treasures, therefore, serve God and you won’t have need to worry. It’s almost as if Jesus is saying ‘Having a hard time believing me? Let me give you a few examples.’
II. Matthew 6:26-30 Examples and arguments against worry
Jesus gives us 4 examples of why we don’t need to worry.
1. The birds of the air
Read: Matthew 6:26
· God provides for the birds. And if he takes care of them, wouldn’t he take even better care of you, since you’re one of his children?
· You may ask, is God really that concerned with the details of my life? Yes
Read: Luke 12:6-7 ‘Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.’
· The details of your life are known to your Heavenly Father and he cares.
2. The human lifespan
Read: Matthew 6:27
· Our society is obsessed with trying to lengthen life…with exercise, diet, regular medical attention. These are good to improve the quality of life, but Scripture says that God knows the length of our days and they’re fixed.
· No matter what we do, we can’t delay our appointment with God.
3. The lilies of the field
Read: Matthew 6:28-29
· Have you ever seen a field of lilies? It’s gorgeous.
· Lilies’ have no power to make themselves look so beautiful. God does it. He delights in adorning things.
· Don’t you think he delights in adorning you with great blessings since you are his child?
· What makes you beautiful is not what you wear on the outside, (what you do) but who you are on the inside (what God does).
4. The grass of the field
Read: Matthew 6:30
· God even makes the grass beautiful. And it’s here today and gone tomorrow.
· Don’t you think God delights in you, even more since you are his child for all eternity?
Bottom line here…these examples show us that worry and anxiety are a trust problem.
ILL: George Mueller said ‘The beginning of worry is the end of faith and the beginning of true faith is the end of worry.’ (Christian Cheong)
If we’re going to have victory over worry, we must come to the realization that God loves us, desires our best, and is able to do what he says…when we allow him to break through our earthly entanglements and make him our true treasure.
Read: Jeremiah 29:11 ‘For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’
Transition: Jesus said serve God alone and you’ll have no need to worry. He then gave us examples of why it’s foolish to worry. Next he tells us that as Christians, worry isn’t our concern.
III. Matthew 6:31-32 Worry is not your concern
Read: Matthew 6:31-32
Jesus invites us to experience a life of freedom from worry and anxiety that comes from undue concern about our earthly treasures. He is inviting us to a lifestyle different from those around us who don’t know Jesus as Lord.
You see, when we worry we place ourselves on the same level as unbelievers who don’t have a Heavenly Father caring and providing for them. They do have reason to worry…not us.
· To have the promises of God,
· to have the blessing of God,
· to have the presence of God in our lives
· and still live in the realm of worry
…is not our calling. Jesus says…trust God.
Transition: The high point of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount is the statement
· ‘You can not serve God and money.’
· Or you can’t serve two masters,
· you can’t have an earthly and an eternal treasure.
What Jesus says next tells us how to serve one master, how to seek one treasure…how we can remove the power of worry over us.
IV. Matthew 6:33 Put God’s Kingdom first
Read: Matthew 6:33
Put the Kingdom of God first in your life. Done...let’s move on. What...not that easy you say? I agree. But I don’t believe it is as hard as we make it.
Let’s make this practical. The question Jesus is asking is
‘Is physical well being a worthy object
to which I will devote my life?’
If you think it is
· Then your god is earthly treasure
· Then your life will be burdened with worry
· Then you’ll live as the unbelievers who seek only the lesser things in life.
If you don’t think that physical well being is a worthy object to which you will devote your life, then you’ll enjoy what Jesus calls ‘all these things.’ What things?
· God’s heavenly treasure
· Resting in God’s abundant provision
· Experience God’s love and acceptance
· Having confidence in the guidance of God’s Holy Spirit
· Enjoy fellowship with Almighty God
· Being a part of God’s eternal Kingdom
Lets look at the big picture. Jesus just taught his disciples how to pray…
remember Matthew 6:9-13? It was a Kingdom prayer, for those living in God’s Kingdom. What did we learn from that Kingdom prayer?
· The kingdom is where the King is.
· Those living in the Kingdom obey the King.
· The King provides for the needs of his people.
· The king grants forgiveness to his people.
· The king protects his people.
This is the context for Jesus’ command to ‘seek first the Kingdom of God’ in our lives. Is it all starting to fit together?
To ‘seek’ means ‘to go after’ ‘to strive’ ‘to pursue’ ‘to desire’ ‘to aim at’ ‘to search for.’ The idea is to be preoccupied with living out the Kingdom of God, as a practical reality in your everyday life.
You see, when you ‘seek FIRST the Kingdom of God’, then the King begins to work on your behalf and provides your needs.
The best way to stop worrying, is to realize that when you do…God breaks through your earthly entanglements and begins working.
The mature Christian seeks God’s Kingdom and his righteousness FIRST in his/her life...it’s their top priority.
Transition: Finally, Jesus tells us to use the common sense God gave us.
V. Matthew 6:34 Using your common sense
Read: Matthew 6:34
Deal with your troubles today and trust that the same God
· who will help you today…
· who has helped you in the past…
· will help you tomorrow too.
In other words…live one day at a time. Truth is, that’s all you can really do anyway.
This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t plan for the future. It’s ok to buy life insurance or put money away for retirement so you won’t be a burden on your children. There’s a difference between having a concern for tomorrow then making plans and worrying about tomorrow and living in fear.
Jesus is saying…use your common sense.
Conclusion
Not worrying…seeking first the Kingdom of God…what does that look like?
Consider our use of money.
· Think about how much we spend on daily bread for the belly and how little we spend on the bread of life.
· Think about how much we spend on clothing and how little we spend that the world might put on robes of righteousness.
· Think about how much we spend to shelter us from the storms of life and how little we spend to shelter others from the storms of Hell.
Consider our use of time
· How much time do we spend making a living and how little making a life.
· How much time do we spend reading the paper and how little reading the Bible.
· How much time do we spend talking about sports or the weather and how little talking about Jesus.
· How much time do we spend working for our future and how little working for our Lord.
Hard questions…but necessary to our maturing as Christians.
There’s a song we sing that truly tells it like it is.
‘Turn your eyes upon Jesus.
Look full in His wonderful face.
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim.
In the light of his glory and grace.’
We raise the bar of spiritual expectations and actions in our lives …without worry.