Epiphany 8, Year A, 2-27-11
Isaiah 49:8-16a
Psalm 131
1 Corinthians 4:1-5
Matthew 6:24-34
Overcoming Worry
In Jesus teaching this morning we hear him speak to us about overcoming anxiety
in our lives. The context of his teaching comes within dealing with material possessions.
Whether one is wealthy or poor – or somewhere in between – their attitude toward
material possessions is one of the most reliable marks of their spiritual condition. Man as
an earthly creature is naturally concerned about earthly things. In Christ we are recreated
as heavenly beings and, as children of our heavenly Father, our concerns should now
focus primarily on heavenly things- even while we still live on earth. Christ sends us into
the world to do his work, just as the Father sent him into the world to do the Father’s
work. But we are not of the world even as Jesus himself, while on earth, was not of the
world. One of the supreme tests of our spiritual lives, then, is how we now related to
those two worlds. Sixteen of the thirty-eight parables of Jesus deal with money. One
out of ten verses in the New Testament deals with that subject. Scripture offers about
five hundred verses in the New Testament on prayer, fewer than five hundred on faith,
and over two thousand on money. The believer’s attitude toward money and possessions
is an important part of God’s revelation in Scripture.
We live in an age of unabashed materialism, an age guided by greed, ambition,
success, prestige, self-indulgence, and conspicuous consumption. In his book ‘The
Emerging Order: God in the Age of Scarcity’, Jeremy Rifkin says, “Emphasis on
continuous economic growth is a black hole that has already sucked up a majority of the
world’s critical, nonrenewable resources.” Rifkin, who is not a Christian, makes the
closing observation that “the only solution to our approach to life is the reemergence of
the evangelical Christian ethic, which is an ethic of unselfishness and low consumption.”
This book was written in the early eighties. There is little evidence that most Christians
are committed to this ethic. We give much more evidence of following the worldly
trends of our day than of setting, confronting or modifying them. In light of that fact, it is
difficult for most of us to identify with Jesus’ warning not to worry about basic
necessities. We are well fed, well clothed, and well fixed in all other necessary things,
and in many things that are totally unnecessary. Yet we are an anxious filled society.
The heart of Jesus message is: Do not be anxious. Jesus said: “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?” (Mt. 6:25). In the Greek, the command ‘do not be anxious’ includes the idea of
stopping what is already being done. In other words, we are to stop worrying and never
start again. The word ‘life’ is a comprehensive term that encompasses all of a person’s
being – physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. Jesus is referring to life in its fullest
possible sense. Absolutely nothing in any aspect of our lives justifies our being anxious
when we have a relationship with God. Worry is the sin of distrusting the promise and
providence of God. Worry is nearly always small compared to the size it forms in our
minds. Worry is the opposite of contentment which should be a Christian’s normal state
of mind. Every believer should identify with the apostle Paul when he wrote: “For 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” (Phil.
4:11-12).
A Christian’s contentment is found in God – in his provision of everything we
possess and will ever need. There are three aspects of God’s character that help us find
contentment in our lives. The first is, God owns everything. David wrote in Psalm 24:
“The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it” (Ps. 24:1).
Everything we now have belongs to the Lord, and everything we will ever have belongs
to him. Second, we should be content because God controls everything. David said:
“Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are
strength and power to exalt and give strength to all” (1 Chron. 29:12). Daniel declared:
“Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever; wisdom and power are his. He changes
times and seasons; he sets up kings and deposes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and
knowledge to the discerning. He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in
darkness, and light dwells with him” (Dan. 2:20-21). When Daniel was thrown into the
lions den, it was king Nebuchadnezzar who couldn’t sleep that night. Daniel was at
complete peace. Third, we are to be content because the Lord provides everything. One
of the early names for God in the Bible is Jehovah-Jireh, which means ‘the Lord will
provide’. That is the name Abraham ascribed to God when he provide a lamb to be
sacrificed in the place of Isaac (Gen. 22:14). If Abraham, with his limited knowledge of
God, could be so trusting and content, how much more should we who know Christ and
who have his whole written Word?
Jesus reminds us of the care that God the Father gives to his creation: “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? Who of you by worrying
can add a single hour to his life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the
lilies 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, O 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” (vv. 26-32). God is able to take care of
the birds that do not have the ability to plant and grow their food. The flowers of the
earth are more glorious than the splendor of Solomon. Instead of worrying we should
spend time in prayer before the Lord.
Jesus did teach about how to set our priorities: “But seek first his kingdom and his
righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (v. 33). To ‘seek God’s
kingdom’ means to submit to God’s sovereignty here and now and to work for the future
coming of his kingdom. It means lining up our priorities to the values of God’s kingdom.
To ‘seek his righteousness’ means to seek to live as God requires. It means to turn to
God first for help, to fill our thought with his desires, to take his character for our pattern,
and to serve and obey him in everything. When we seek his kingdom first, God takes
care of our needs. We all have to work, dress, drive, pay taxes, and earn a living.
Seeking God’s kingdom will help put those priorities in their proper perspective.