The Weakness of Worry (Matthew 6:25-34)
I love Thanksgiving, largely because I have so much nostalgia around the holiday. You see, Dad’s parents lived about 3 hours away from us, and every Thanksgiving we’d hop in the car and head off to Mamaw and Papaw’s for the weekend.
We normally arrived late on Wednesday evening, and we three boys slept in Mamaw and Papaw’s family room. Mamaw would get up around 4:00 in the morning, come through the family room, and put the turkey in the oven. Her turkey was nothing special, but her sage dressing was to die for! Around noon, we’d transport Mamaw’s food a couple blocks up the street to her sister’s house. Aunt Vina’s house had so much food and so many people that I don’t know how she fit everything and everyone inside. Every Thanksgiving, I admit that I long for a return to those simpler days when I was a kid at my grandparents’.
I’m sure each of you has special Thanksgiving memories centered around your own family. I’m also sure that you’re looking forward to Thursday. You may have a special food item you’re anticipating—after all, calories don’t count on Thursday. Perhaps you’re anticipating being with family members you don’t get to see all that often. You might be one of those guys who just can’t wait to watch football all day long. Or you may simply be looking forward to Thursday because it’s a day off work.
Whatever anticipation you have for this year’s Thanksgiving Day, I’m confident that your life isn’t perfect. Maybe your life isn’t perfect because you’re missing someone who once sat at that Thanksgiving table. Or it might be that your health isn’t as good as you let on, and you worry about the future. Maybe your life isn’t perfect because you know there are bills piling up and Christmas is right around the corner. Or it might be that your family is facing upheaval that the rest of us don’t know.
What do you do when it’s Thanksgiving and you have anxiety? Well, Jesus was quite clear on the subject: “Worry not, for God values you.”
Scripture (Matthew 6:25-34)
verse 25:
The average person in Jesus’s day didn’t have much of this world’s goods, except for life’s necessities—food, clothing, and shelter. And those necessities were often dependent upon the seasonal weather—a drought would mean that people didn’t even have life’s necessities. Thus, people worried a great deal about life’s necessities.
verse 26:
The birds don’t work for food, but God still feeds them. A human being is far more valuable than any bird.
verse 27:
Jesus may have meant one of two things here: 1) Worrying won’t add any time to your life; or 2) Worrying won’t add any height to your stature. Both ideas would have been expressed by the same Greek phrase. It obviously doesn’t matter which one Jesus meant, for his point was obvious: Worrying doesn’t offer anything constructive.
verses 28-30:
All the flowers in the field have more glory than Solomon in his royal robes had; however, those “lilies of the field” are nothing but fuel for the fire when they die in the fall. God makes sure that they are arrayed in splendor, and he will clothe you.
verse 31:
Since God provides for the birds and robes the flowers in splendor, one doesn’t need to be anxious about what he will eat or drink or wear.
verse 32:
The Gentiles—those alienated from God—seek after food and clothing; instead of relying on God, they attempt to do it themselves. But God knows that you need the necessities of life.
verse 33:
Instead of seeking after food and shelter, Jesus’s disciples seek as their first priority “the kingdom of God and his righteousness.” In other words, they seek God’s kingdom within their own lives—to allow God to reign in their hearts first and foremost—and God’s righteousness—the lifestyle God demands. If one puts God first, all the necessities of life will be added to him.
verse 34:
One doesn’t need, therefore, to be anxious about the future.
Application
“Worry not, for God values you.” We’ve just read a text that’s easy to read—the words are understandable and there aren’t any hard-to-pronounce names—but it’s a text that’s very difficult to practice. “Do not be anxious about your life,” Jesus said, but how do you keep from worry? Jesus told you how to keep from worrying in this passage.
One: Consider
Jesus told you to Consider nature: “Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. . . . Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these” (Matt 6:26, 28-29). When is the last time you saw a bird worried about where it would get its next meal? When is the last time you saw a field of bluebonnets worried about their beauty? Neither birds nor flowers have souls—they do not bear the likeness and image of God, but you do. If God cares for his created things as he does the birds and the flowers, he surely cares far more for you, the apex of his creation.
Instead of being bogged down in worry, look at the flowers and the birds. When you see a bird flying through the heavens, thank God that he cares more for you and will provide your food. When you see the beautiful flowers of the field, thank God that he cares more for you and that he will clothe you also.
Two: Count
Jesus said to Count your time on earth: “Which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?” (Matt 6:27). If you stop and Count your time on earth, what is worrying going to accomplish?
What good would it have done Paul to worry about his thorn in the flesh? What good would it have done Peter to worry about being crucified upside down? What good would it have done John the Baptist to worry about being beheaded? What good would it have done Jesus to worry about the cross?
Worry never changes anything, and some things are simply out of your control. Worry will not add one hour to your life. Count and see.
Three: Chase
Jesus said that if you want to have the necessities of life, you must Chase God’s kingdom and righteousness. You must put God, God’s priorities, and God’s standards above everything else. God has always expected to be first in the lives of his people. “You shall have no other gods before me” (Ex 20:3). When he was asked about the greatest commandment in the Law, Jesus replied, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matt 22:37).
What do you Chase in this life? Hobbies? Family? Sin? What are your priorities in this world? Do you need to come this morning and Chase God?
This sermon was originally preached by Dr. Justin Imel, Sr., at Church of Christ Deer Park in Deer Park, Texas.