Matthew 6:25-34

Have you thought about calming down?  Just don’t worry about it!  Giving that kind of advice will get you in trouble around my house.  Most of us don’t need to be told what we already want to do, we need the tools to be able to do it. 

We’re in Matthew 6:25-34, the part of the sermon on the mount when Jesus talks to his listeners about their anxious hearts.  It turns out that “don’t worry, be happy” is a catchy tune but there’s more to it than that. 

Transcript

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Have you thought about calming down? Just don't worry about it. If you give advice like that in our house, you're gonna get in trouble real quick. You see, most of us don't need somebody to tell us what we already want to do, but we might need some of the tools in order to get us there. On that happy note, welcome to Meet Me in the Word. I am genuinely glad that you've joined us today. We're in Matthew chapter six, verses twenty five through thirty-four, the part of the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus speaks to his listeners' anxious hearts. Go ahead and open up your copy of the scriptures there, and we'll go ahead and listen to the teacher, the good teacher, Jesus, together. But first, let's talk to him. Jesus, thank you that you do understand us and know us so very well. We're glad that we get to be with you. Would you please be our peace and our strength? Amen. All right, Jesus is speaking, and this is what he says. Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air, they do not sow or reap or stow away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you, by worrying, add a single hour to your life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin, yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or what shall we wear? For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Let's go ahead and pause to pray and listen. What was the Holy Spirit speaking into your heart? If you'd like to pause this for a moment to do that, go ahead and do that. All right, let's make a few observations about this passage. It's one of those passages, one of those teachings of Jesus that can both comfort us and challenge us almost in the same breath. I find myself kind of relaxing a little bit and going, like, yeah, I don't I don't need to stress about all of these different things in my life. And then if I spend too much time saying I don't need to stress, that can turn to I shouldn't be anxious about anything or worry about anything. And then if I find myself doing that, I'm like, oh shoot, like maybe I'm getting myself in trouble. Anyways, don't overthink it. All right. Step number the first one, don't overthink it. All right, let's look at verses 25 through 27, which I've kind of uh captioned for myself. Don't worry. Look at the birds. In essence, that's what Jesus is saying, isn't it? He's saying, look at, don't, don't be anxious about all these things. Take a look at the birds and look how they live, look how they operate, right? They're not trying to store up this big, you know, nest, right? There's we're staying with the birds. They're not trying to build up this nest so that they can retire at some point in life. They're trusting God day by day, moment by moment, and that's how they're functioning. And Jesus is pointing out not that we should not take personal responsibility, but we ought to trust him. And sometimes we chase too much after those things, and it's not being responsible, it's it's actually from a place of anxiousness, that we're putting our hope or our dependence in the material things of this world rather than simply trusting Jesus for who he is and and what he desires for us. So when you find yourself in that place where you start to really get anxious about how all of your life is going to work out, and by the way, I I want to recognize in this moment that most of you that are listening in or perhaps watching are living in a society where you know food is fairly easily accessible to you, but some of you may not be. And and this might strike a a little bit different for you, where you are like, I I hope I do get something to eat today. And and if that's your uh your situation, I want you to know that Jesus does see you and he cares about you. He wants you to be sustained in the most real way possible. But we look at all of what's taking place, and and then uh and then Jesus asks two questions there kind of towards the end of uh verse 26 and then verse 27. He says, Are you not much more valuable than they? Man, that's both encouraging and convicting, isn't it? Like when we look out there and we see these birds just doing what they're thinking. By the way, just this morning I heard um just some rustling right outside the window here as I was I was getting things ready. And I was like, What's what's making that noise? And I thought it was maybe out in the kind of we have some like bushes off to the side of the house, but actually it was right next to the house, and there was a little robin that was ruffling through some uh through some leaves, looking for, I don't know, worms, grubs, whatever the robin was looking to eat, and it was just doing his deal, you know, and I was like, oh, yeah. That that's that's so appropriate for today, but just a reminder that that that we are more valuable than them, you know, and that's the birds are valuable, animals are valuable to God, but but the Lord delights in us in a different kind of a way. And then verse 27 says, Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? Oh man, like that is convicting, is it not? Like, my goodness, it's so true. The the worry part of our our heads and our hearts doesn't actually change anything. It's not an action step, it's not a prayer step, it's not any of those things. It's just getting all worked up about something that we may or may not be able to fix. So don't worry, look at the birds, and then ask yourself, is there any benefit to me stressing out? Obviously the answer is no, there's no benefit. The second part, verses 28 through 30, I've called this. Don't worry, look at the flowers. And again, Jesus is just using things that the people recognized and that we get to recognize as well, even in our age today. Look at the flowers of the field, look at how they grow. They're not working hard, they're just being who they are and what they are, and and God's taking care of them, right? And if God delights in them and they're so very temporary, doesn't it make sense, right, that he he's concerned with you, that he pays attention to you? Doesn't it make sense that that God knows exactly what you need and I need? If he's taking care of the birds and the flowers, doesn't it make sense? Right? And it's it's almost like Jesus is using our logical side to gay to to say, hey, like look around you and recognize that God is good and he desires good things for us. Verses 31 and 32, you'll notice a theme here. Don't worry. God knows what you need, right? God does know what you need. And he says, What shall we eat? What shall we drink? What shall we wear? And then he says, For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly father knows that you need them. And I think he's like, Why is he talking about pagans there? I think he's just talking about people who don't know him. And he's he's saying, Look, it everybody's running after these things. I'm gonna take care of you. You don't have to chase after this as much as you think you do. And we do spend a lot of time chasing after security, right? Security in our stuffs, security in our bank accounts, and we want that sense of stability. But the Lord's saying, no, you don't need to look for it in that way. I'm gonna ask you to do something different. And so the the final thing here hits a little different. It's not a don't worry, it's a chase after. Chase after God's kingdom and let your mind rest, right? Verses 33 and 34. If you grew up in the church, you probably memorized verse 33 as a kid. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore, don't worry about tomorrow. Tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. And so there's this recognition here that Jesus has has uh spent these previous verses saying, Don't worry about your life, right? Look at the birds, don't worry about your clothes or all the look at the flowers, don't worry about what you need. Even the pagans chase after these things, and your father knows what you need, and and then he and then he gives us something to do, right? He shifts the conversation. And here's my hot take, right? I don't know if it's actually that hot of a take, but uh this is what it is. Seeking God's kingdom first will help you with your worry thoughts, right? With your anxious thoughts. I'm not saying that they all go away, and I never want to tell anybody to treat God's word like a formula. I just think that's so super dangerous. But I really do believe that that that shift in perspective, that desire that says, you know what, I'm gonna chase after God. I'm gonna go after him, I'm gonna do what he desires for my life, it it just it it take it takes our eyes off of ourselves. And and then I believe that not only just that mental shift, but the reality of the goodness of God, that he is the one who does take care of his people, he will not only give you purpose, but he will also give you peace. So chase after God. I'm gonna give you just one sort of a takeaway for today, and it's super simple. How can seeking God change your day? Let me say it a different way. How can seeking God first, there we go, how can seeking God first change your day? How can it change even today? Think about that. Don't just leave it in the place of ideas or concepts, but think about one practical way that seeking God first will in fact change the way today goes for you. Let's pray. Jesus, thank you for this good day. Thank you for being all that we need. We love you and we desire to follow you with all that we are. God, wherever we do feel anxious, we're just laying that before you and we're asking you to help us prioritize our lives and our days to follow you with all that we are. Thank you that you provide for us. Amen.