What Are You Worried About?

Matthew 6:25-34

June 25, 2008 – ©Rev. Dr. Linnea E. Carnes

Introduction

What do you worry about? Everybody worries about some things. Yet we have a strange habit or worrying about mere possibilities while ignoring probabilities—of building walls against perceived dangers while leaving ourselves exposed to real ones.

For example, we worry about the avian [bird] flu, which [as of December 2006] had killed precisely no one in the U.S., but have to be pushed into getting vaccinated for the common flu, which contributes to the deaths of 36,000 Americans each year. People afraid of flying often choose the car when traveling long distances, even though a few hundred people die in U.S. commercial airline crashes in a year, compared with 44,000 killed in car crashes.

We worry over the mad cow disease that might be (but almost certainly isn’t) in our hamburger, yet worry far less about the cholesterol that contributes to the heart disease that kills 700,000 of us every year. [PreachingToday.com, “Human Beings Are Poor at Risk Assessment” by Jeffrey Kluger, Time magazine (12-4-06), p.65-67].

What are you really worried about?

· the possibility of losing a job, being able to find a job;

· an illness, physical problem, no health insurance;

· elderly parents, teenagers, children, or your marriage;

· earthquakes, hurricanes, global warming;

· wars, oppressive governments;

· getting old, getting into college, getting a green card;

· the rising cost of food, gas, or housing;

· having enough money to pay this month’s bills;

· or how long this sermon is going to last?

What are you worried about right now?

My guess is that most of you here today are worried about money. And quite frankly, that is a valid concern.

However, we must put money worries, as well as all our other worries, in their proper perspective if we are to live effective and fruitful lives for God.

Don’t Worry

Jesus says in Matthew 6:25, “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 important than food, and the body more important than clothes?”

It took money in Jesus’ day to buy food and clothes, just as it does today. People may have been able to grow more of their own food and make their clothes. But some things still had to be purchased or bartered for. Taxes still had to be paid, offerings and sacrifices had to be brought to the temple, bills had to be paid. Would there be enough money for all those things? Money is necessary.

· When we have enough money, we have security. We don’t have to worry about bill collectors, tax collectors, or retirement.

· When we have money we have value – in our own eyes and the eyes of others who have less. We feel successful if we have money.

· When we have money we have power. Money gives us control over our own lives and sometimes control over the lives of others.

· When we have money we have independence. We don’t need to rely on others.

· When we have money we can be extravagant and spend our money on things that are fun, luxurious. [Michael J. Wilkins, The NIV Application Commentary, Matthew (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2004) 303].

Security, value, power, independence and luxury, are not wrong. Having money not only provides those things, but also frees us from worrying about money.

Yet most of us worry about money. Jesus said, “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?”

Jesus said, “don’t worry – God knows what you need. Yet birds don’t sit around waiting for God to drop food in their nests. God makes it available for them to find. Birds spend a good portion of each day looking for food. They’re not idle, but they don’t worry about finding food.

The United States Public Health Service issued a statement some years ago saying that worry can weaken and shorten life. It reads in part: “So far as is known, no bird ever tried to build more nests than its neighbor. No squirrel ever died of anxiety because it didn’t lay up enough for two winters instead of one, no dog ever lost any sleep over the fact that it didn’t have enough bones saved for its old age.” [INFOsearch, Illy, “No Animal Worries Except Man”].

But for us, getting food, shelter, or clothing is not quite so simple. We need money for these things, especially with rising costs. But worrying won’t make it happen.

Yet we worry.

· We worry about our lives.

· We worry about yesterday, and today and tomorrow.

· We worry about things that have already happened.

· We worry about things we can do nothing about.

· We worry about things that may happen, but probably won’t happen.

An elderly woman was worried about many things – both real and imaginary. Finally someone in her family told her, “Grandma, we’ve done all we can for you. You’ll just have to trust God for the rest.” A look of absolute despair spread over her face as she said, “Oh dear, has it come to that?” The reality is that it always comes to that, so we might as well begin with that! [INFOsearch, Illy, “It Always Comes to That”].

Jesus reminds us that worry is basically a lack of trust in God. In verse 30 he said, “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?”

Trust God

What are we worried about?

· God hasn’t stopped caring about his world or people.

· God hasn’t given up providing for our needs.

· God hasn’t forgotten us.

We only need to believe it and live it. We need to trust God, even when we don’t have what we want.

Madeleine L’Engle wrote, “It’s when things go wrong, when the good things do not happen, when our prayers seem to have been lost, that God is most present. We do not need the sheltering winds when things go smoothly. We are closest to God in the darkness, stumbling along blindly.” [Leonard Sweet, A Cup of Coffee At the Soul Café (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Pub., 1998) 150].

Trusting God doesn’t mean we don’t do anything. Trusting God simply means we look to God, not the world. When God’s priorities are our priorities, then we will have all we need. So, do not worry about the things of this life. Put God first in your life. Trust him with your life.

The bottom line really is that “no one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” [Mt.6:24].

Jesus said, “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” [Mt.6:33]. Seek God above all else.

Yet, I know some of you are thinking that it’s not going to help you put food on the table or gas in your car. God knows what you need. God also knows that you need to know God more than anything. You need to trust in God.

God proved he could be trusted throughout history. In Exodus 3 God appeared to Moses in a burning bush and told him to go to Egypt and set his people free from slavery. Moses didn’t think he could do this. God said, “I will be with you; and this shall be the sign for you that it is I who sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God on this mountain.” And God kept his promise to Moses.

God then chose Joshua to take his people into the Promised Land. To follow Moses and earn the respect of all these people was a huge challenge. God told Joshua, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” [Joshua 1:9]. And God was with Joshua.

David was the youngest of Jesse’ eight sons. Yet, God chose him to be the King of Israel. David learned to trust God fully. It was David who wrote these familiar words:

The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff—they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD my whole life long. [Ps.23].

David’s son, Solomon, who became King of Israel after David wrote, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” [Prov.3:5-6].

In Isaiah 49:8 and 16 we read, “In the time of my favor I will answer you, and in the day of salvation I will help you. … See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.”

· We have a God who can be trusted.

· We have a God who will give us the wisdom and the strength we need to serve him.

· We have a God who will be with us in the darkest of our days and nights.

· We have a God who will lead us on the right path.

· We have a God who not only will save us, but who has engraved us on the palms of his hands.

He will not forget us, or leave us, or reject us.

A man was watching a father play with his little boy, repeatedly throwing him in the air and catching him just before he hit the ground. The child was relaxed and having a great time. He kept saying, “Do it again! Do it again!” The man thought, if that was him, he’d be stiff as a board. So he asked the father why his little son was so relaxed, even when he was out of control.” The father said, “It’s very simple. We have a history together. We’ve played this game before, and I’ve never dropped him.” [PreachingToday.com, “A Child’s Trust” by Rod Cooper, “Worship or Worry?” Preaching Today, Tape No. 108].

We have a history with God. He’s never dropped us. God’s in control, so we don’t have to worry. Let your worries go and trust God. Turn your worry into worship.

Turn Worry Into Worship

That’s what Jeremiah did, even in the face of great persecution.

· Jeremiah 17:7 says, “Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord.”

· David praised God saying, “When I am afraid, I will trust in you,” [Ps. 56:3], and “Taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the one that trusts in God.” [Ps.34:8].

· Isaiah too, in Isaiah 26:3 trusted God, “You will keep in perfect peace whose mind is steadfast, because they trust in you.”

· And in 1 Peter 5:7, we hear, “Cast all your anxiety on God because God cares for you.”

All of them had problems, worries. Yet all of them trusted God and went to God in worship.

Charles Swindoll tells of visiting a missionary friend over-seas who was under great stress and pressure. His ministry was to the thousands of soldiers, who happened to be on the island of Okinawa. He went to the missionary’s home one evening to visit with him and his wife said he was down at the office. The office was downtown in a little alley area off of the streets of Naha. It was a rainy night. So he took the bus to go be with his friend. Since his wife had mentioned his stress, he expected to find him folded up in discouragement and depression.

He got off the bus and walked down the alley about a block and a half and turned right, down a little smaller alley, to a little hut with a tatami mat inside. As he got away from the street noise, he head singing, “Come, Thou fount of every blessing, Tune my heart to sing Thy grace.” Then the next verse, “Prone to wander—Lord, I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love.”

Quietly he listened in on his private praise service. As he stood in the rain and looked through the walls of the little hut, he saw a man on his knees with his hands toward heaven giving God praise, with his Bible on one side, and a hymnal on the other, his little spiral notebook, worn from use. The missionary would turn from page to page, where he would read it to God, then he would find a hymn and he would sing it to God. The pressure and stress he was under didn’t leave for another 2 weeks, but the praise service alone before God absolutely changed his life. [Charles Swindoll, Tales of the Tardy Oxcart (Nashville, TN: Word Pub., 1998) 627-628].

Worry can’t change our problems, but worshipping God can change the way we see them. “Worship and worry cannot live in the same heart; they are mutually exclusive,” wrote Ruth Bell Graham. [PreachingToday.com, “Worship and Worry Don’t Mingle].

We all have problems. We all worry at times. But God is bigger than our problems or our worries.

“Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” [Mt.6:33].

Worrying about temporary things robs us of the joy of worshipping our Eternal God.

So, don’t worry. Trade your worry in for worship of God. Seek what is most important and leave the rest to God. Amen.

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This sermon is copyright ©2008 by Rev. Dr. Linnea E. Carnes, Immanuel Evangelical Covenant Church, Chicago, Illinois.