Words of Wisdom for Worry Worts

If you were here this morning and you have never worried about anything in the past, or if you're here today and you have no worries today, and if you are exceedingly confident that moving forward you will never have anything to worry about in the future, then I extend an invitation to just tune me out this morning.

The truth of the matter is, though we be saved and though we be Christians, from time to time we worry, don't we? We ought not worry, and yet we do. In fact, worry is an unusual — I'm going to call it a sin — because six times in this text that we're going to read, Jesus says, "Do not worry, do not worry, do not worry." He says, maybe in your translation, "Take no thought of." And He's not saying, "Be mindless or be thoughtless," but He's talking about anxiety. And He says, "Do not fear."

And yet, you know, we don't treat worry so much as a sin. Who would walk into the workplace on a Monday morning and say, "You know, I spent all night last night robbing liquor stores"? Who would come into church and say such a thing? And yet, we can walk into church and say, "I just couldn't sleep at all last night. Not a blink of sleep. I've just been so worried about this or about that." We can even elevate it to a virtue, if we're not careful, can't we? And yet, the Lord Jesus tells us, "Do not worry."

Now, I want to remind you that Jesus, in His incarnation, lived among the working class. In fact, in Luke chapter 2, when they took the Lord Jesus to the temple to dedicate Him, they took two pigeons. That was the prescribed offering for the poor. In His ministry, Jesus said, "The Son of Man has no place to lay His head." And so Jesus, in His humiliation, while He lived on earth in His incarnation, knew what it was like to struggle to make ends meet, to have food and clothing.

Many of the people He is speaking to here in the Sermon on the Mount might have had one tunic. And if the rains weren't heavy and the snow was not thick on Mount Hermon, the rivers would dry up, and scarcity of water and scarcity of food was a real thing. Most of us are well-fed and well-clothed and well-off by comparison. And yet, we do have a tendency to worry, don't we?

And so let's read these scriptures. We're going to go verse by verse. And I trust this is a blessing to you this morning as the Lord encourages us with all the reasons why we, who make Him Lord and make Him our Master, ought not to worry, even about the necessities of life. Let's begin in verse 25. We'll read through to the end of the chapter.

"For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life as to what you will eat or what you will drink, nor for your body as to what you will put on. Is life not more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the sky. They do not sow or reap nor gather crops into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more important than they? And which of you by worrying can add a single day to his lifespan? And why are you worried about clothing? Notice how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor, nor do they spin thread for cloth. Yet I say to you that not even Solomon, in all of his glory, clothed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith. Do not worry then, saying, 'What are we to eat?' or 'What are we to drink?' or 'What are we to wear for clothing?' For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided to you. So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

We begin in verse 25 with "for this reason," and we've covered that. He's talked about two masters. If the Lord is your master, then He can say to us, and we can heed the calling not to worry. He says, "Do not worry." The Greek word there for worry — if you do a study of the actual word, what do they call that, the etymology of the word — the word worry means to be pulled apart. It means your mind is just pulled apart in different directions and it's divided. When worry gets into the mind, it might start as just a thin little stream, and if it's fed, it just chokes out and channels out all constructive thoughts.

He says, "Do not be worried about your life." The word life there is life in its fullest sense — physical life, emotional life, spiritual life, life in its fullest sense. And why should I not worry? Because my Master owns everything, my Master controls everything, and my Master provides everything. He is Jehovah Jireh, the Lord will provide. And so He says, "Do not be worried." And He gets right there where the rubber meets the road. He's talking about everyday life — paying the bills, feeding the kids, getting the shoes because their feet seem to grow a size every six months. He says, "Do not worry about what you eat, what you drink, what you put on your body." He says, "Life is more than food and the body more than clothing." He's saying, "Don't obsess and become preoccupied with the material." Here He's talking about the body. Is it fair to say that in our society today, people are preoccupied with the body?

I want you to just imagine — I'm looking at Caleb Brown, so Caleb, you're the target. I want you to imagine that Caleb walks into Jared's and says, "I want the biggest diamond that you have in this store. Money is no object to give to my sweet wife." And so the person behind the counter says, "Are you sure about that?" He says, "Absolutely. I want the biggest and the best diamond that you have." And so they come and they bring out that diamond, and of course it's in a beautiful box, that felt-lined beautiful box. And then Caleb takes that diamond home to Rebecca, and at just the right time he presents that beautiful box containing that beautiful diamond to Rebecca — and she just becomes obsessed with that box. "What a beautiful box. I have never seen a container so plush." And Caleb's trying to get her to open the box, but she doesn't want to. She is obsessed with the box. Now you say, "That's really stupid."

But that's what we do. We become preoccupied with the box. Your body is a box. Now we ought to take care of it. God's given it to us to serve Him and we ought to take care of it. But we ought not be so preoccupied with the body that we don't give corresponding attention — and more attention — to what nourishes us in the spirit and to spiritual growth. We are obsessed with the body. It starts out when we're teenagers, right? When I was a teenager it was the complexion. We've got to have those pimple poppers, right? Then we get a little older, in high school, and now we're pumping up the body. Ladies, you're pampering the body, painting the body. Thankfully, sometimes, right? But we obsess with the body, and He says life is more than your body. When we obsess over material things and earthly things and external things, we have a wrong value and a wrong view of life. Life is so much more when Jesus is your Master.

All right? Do not worry about your body. And then He moves on to verse 26. In verse 26 He gives two little illustrations dealing with food and clothing, and it's almost as if He has said, "Have you forgotten who your heavenly Father is?" And so in verse 26 He takes us to bird school. He says, "Look at the birds of the sky. They do not sow or reap nor gather crops into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more important than they?"

In 1997, Melissa and I were able to go to the Holy Land. What an amazing experience. My older brother was on that trip as well, and he and I would slip out late at night or early in the morning to go places that the tour guide wouldn't take us. We were a little mischievous, but we wanted to go to the special areas if we could. Well, we got up around four in the morning and went out to the shore of the Sea of Galilee in what is now modern-day Tiberias. And as we were there, the number of birds was amazing. Birds were literally everywhere. It was a melody, a chorus of birds.

We were also able to go to the other side of the Sea of Galilee at the place where Jesus probably gave this sermon — the Sermon on the Mount. It's called the Mount of Beatitudes. It served like an amphitheater. Our tour guide went down to the shore of Galilee. We were hundreds of feet up on the slope, and he spoke in a normal tone of voice, and yet we could hear every word. It was the acoustics and the setting there in that particular area around the Sea of Galilee. And so Jesus might have been standing there — and guess what? A bird darts across, and He was a master teacher of the common people. And He says, "Look at the birds. Look at the birds of the sky. They don't sow nor reap nor gather crops into the barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them." He's telling us to learn from the birds. He's not saying be lazy like the birds. They're not lazy, are they? They're very industrious.

I used to think it was weird how older people like to watch birds, and now I'm starting to watch them. I don't know, it just happens. You slow down a little bit. You start to appreciate the small things. I start watching the birds and they're really industrious. They're workers. But here's the thing. Birds aren't gluttons. The only gluttonous birds are the ones we cage and then make like us, right? You know, the Blue Jays — I've got more than the cardinal.

Arthur Pink, a great preacher and author, said of this passage — this is a paraphrase — really exposing the fact that the birds, who were part of the fall because when man sinned against God and fell, it affected all of creation — he said, you know what? The birds in many respects come closer to their first estate in the created order than we as humans, because they're content with daily provision. Content with daily provision. You know what? We need a few more bird brains around here. We need to act more like the birds, learn from the birds. They're content with the Father's provision. The Father feeds them.

And then He makes the point: "Are you not more important than they?" A bird is one of God's creatures, but you and I, as believers in Christ, are children of God. He is our heavenly Father, and we ought to be content with what He has provided to us.

And then He goes to verse 27 and gives a very practical reason not to worry. It's senseless. It doesn't accomplish anything. It's useless. Look what He says in verse 27. "Which of you by worrying can add a single day to his lifespan?" That's another infatuation many people have — prolonging earthly life. For some people it creates anxiety on virtually a daily basis, the matter of death. He says, "Which of you by worrying can add a single day to his lifespan?"

Charles Mayo of the Mayo Clinic said this: worrying affects the circulation, the heart, the glands, and the entire central nervous system. He said, "I haven't seen anyone overwork themselves to death, but I've seen many worry themselves to death." It can bring the ulcer. It can bring the heart attack. And so Jesus makes the very practical point that worry doesn't accomplish anything. It's senseless. It's useless. Most of what we worry about never happens, to be quite frank.

So He's taken us to bird school. They're standing there on the Sea of Galilee, and then He looks and He says, "Learn from the lilies." We've learned from the birds. Now He takes them to lily school — botany school, I guess. Learn from the lilies. Let's read that in verse 28. "Why are you worried about clothing? Notice how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor, nor do they spin thread for cloth." Of course, what He's talking about there is their agrarian employment — the spinning of thread for cloth and the laboring and toiling in the fields. He says, "Notice how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor nor do they spin thread for cloth. Yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all of his glory clothed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you?"

Another thing that Melissa and I observed there in Galilee, in northern Galilee, are the wildflowers that grow on the hillside. They're basically weeds, and yet they're beautiful wildflowers. Some of the prettiest colors are these weeds that you see growing even along the side of the highway. Do you know that if you took Solomon's raiment, Solomon's robes — or today you took an Armani suit — and put it under a microscope, its beauty would diminish? Because you immediately see all of the imperfections in the fabric, because man put that together, man wove that together. You take one of those wildflowers and you put it under a microscope, and its beauty is exponentially expanded. You see the intricacy and the detail of a God who created it and who ordered it. And Jesus says, if our Lord adorns the lilies of the field like this and gives such care to these flowers that are thrown into the furnace for fuel — here today and gone tomorrow — how much more is He going to care for His child? Learn from the lilies.

And in the next passage He says, "You of little faith." We ought not worry because worry is useless. We ought not worry because worry is faithless. He says, "You of little faith." He doesn't say, "You of no faith." It's an ironic thing that we will trust in God — we will trust in Jesus for the salvation of our souls. We will trust in Him that we're heirs of Christ. We will trust in Him for the resurrection and for glorification — but then we will not trust in Him as we ought for daily provision. In other words, we're not applying our faith to everyday circumstances, to our everyday needs. And so He says, "Oh, you of little faith."

A lack of faith is no trivial sin. It is saying we don't trust in the goodness and the love of God. We're doubting His provision. Martyn Lloyd-Jones said of this, that worry is practical atheism and an affront to God, because we're not trusting in Him and depending on what He says. When we don't trust in Him, "Oh, you of little faith."

And then He amplifies it. In verses 31 and 32, let's read. He says, "Do not worry then, saying, 'What are we to eat?' or 'What are we to drink?' or 'What are we to wear for clothing?' For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things, for your heavenly Father knows that you need these things."

When He says Gentiles there, He's not speaking merely in ethnic terms. He's talking about the lost. In other words, your translation might even say pagans. He's talking about the lost. Do you know that if a person is lost, if Jesus is not their master and money is their master, there's reason to worry? The Bible says that if you are lost, you are without God. And so materialism is a very reasonable philosophy for those who have no hope beyond this world. It makes complete sense. "Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow you die and it's all over."

And Jesus is saying that when you and I become preoccupied with materialism, we are acting like we're lost. You see, we have a hope. We have a hope in the resurrection. God has given us His very life. We're united to Christ. And so when we don't trust in Him, we are acting as if we're lost. That's what He means when He says the Gentiles eagerly seek after these things. That is a strong word, eagerly seek. It means they are doggedly pursuing it. And isn't that the way of the world? Step on who you need to step on to get ahead.

But we're called not to live as a natural man. We're called to live in the supernatural, to trust in our heavenly Father who owns all, who controls all, and who provides all. "For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things." And look what it says: "Your heavenly Father knows of your needs." He's omniscient. He knew your refrigerator was going to break before it broke. He knew the transmission was going to fail before it failed. He knows and He cares.

Now we get to the climax of this text. Six times He has said, "Do not worry. Do not worry. Do not worry." In verses 33 and 34 He gives us the cure. What is the cure to worry? It's one thing to say, "Do not worry." But what is the cure? Of course the cure begins with making Jesus Lord of your life. That solves a lot of problems. Let's read verses 33 and 34. He says, "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided to you." Make Jesus first. The cause for worry is seeking things. The cause for contentment is seeking His kingdom and His righteousness. If I put Jesus first, that's going to solve a lot of problems, isn't it? That's going to answer a lot of questions ahead of time. I'm in a situation, I'm not sure what I'm going to do — if Jesus is first, that's going to answer a lot of those questions.

Now there are two components here. First it says, "Seek His kingdom." What does that mean? It's not speaking of a geographical plot of soil. To seek His kingdom is to seek His rule, to seek His reign, to seek His will, to seek His authority. Pastor Casey has been preaching on Hebrews: "He's the King." He has a kingdom, and to seek first His kingdom is putting kingdom things first, putting the things that the Lord cares about first. In other words, if you just have to worry, if you just can't help yourself, He says, "Worry about this — worry about putting Jesus first, and if you get Him first, everything else will take care of itself." It's kind of like buttoning up your shirt. Guys, I start at the top. I don't know if you start at the bottom or the top, but if you get that first button wrong, it's all messed up. You may not figure it out until you get to the last button, but when you do, you're all messed up. Get Jesus first, and these other things are going to be in the right order. Seek His kingdom. Seek first His kingdom.

And then secondly, give Him your future. Give Him your future. Look at verse 34. It says, "Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." He's saying there to give the Lord your future. Do not worry about tomorrow. There are some people with such a tremendous commitment to worry that if they can't find something to worry about today, they'll look into the future to find something. Jesus says here, "Live in day-tight compartments." His mercies are new every morning. I think that's one of Colton's favorite verses, isn't it? His mercies are new every morning. He gives grace in the time of need. He will give you grace for tomorrow, but He gives grace daily, in the time of need. So He's saying, "Live one day at a time. Don't borrow tomorrow's troubles." When He says, "Each day has enough trouble of its own," He's not saying, "Just worry about what's going on today." He's saying, "Trust in Him today for today's temptations, for today's needs, for today's concerns. Trust in the truth."

Have you heard the fable of the old clock? There was a clock that ticks three times every second. You've heard those kinds of clocks? Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick — for some it puts you to sleep, for others it annoys you. Well, that old clock was just cheerfully ticking away. And then it began to think, "You know what? At three ticks every second, that means in a single hour I'm going to tick 10,800 times." And then it began to worry about the hours to come. It said, "You know, that means in a single day I'm going to have to tick over 259,000 times." And then it began to think about the months and weeks ahead and said, "You know what? In a year's time I'm going to have to tick over 94 million times." And it began to tick slower and it got heavier. And then it had an idea. It said, "You know what? All I have to do is tick one tick at a time." And it cheerfully ticked away, one tick at a time.

Now I know that illustration is beneath this sophisticated congregation, right? But the point is clear, isn't it? Live in day-tight compartments. Trust in Jesus — one day at a time. "Sweet Jesus" is a song that we've sung, isn't it?

I want to close with the words from Isaiah the prophet, Isaiah 26. You can turn with me there. It's actually only one verse, so maybe you just want to listen. In Isaiah 26:3, I learned this morning that our last song is "Only Trust Him." And so I thought this verse is very fitting, not only with the words of Jesus that He shared with us today, but also with our closing song. It says, "The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace, because he trusts in You." He will keep in perfect peace he whose mind is stayed upon the Lord.

And so, friends, do not worry. Put Jesus first, give Jesus your future, and trust in Him.

Let's pray. Heavenly Father, I thank You for the words of Jesus. Grant to us, Lord, the faith — and when we come up short in our faith, remind us from the words of Jesus to trust in You, Lord, to know that You are our heavenly Father, that You know our needs, and that You care for us. And give us the wisdom to be about seeking Your kingdom and Your righteousness first, knowing that You will take care of us, Lord, here and in the eternal. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.