So what kinds of things do you worry about? Jesus mentions many of these things in our text this morning; things like food and clothing, or health and well being - we all worry about these sorts of things all the time. But what do you worry about? Perhaps you worry about whether or not you will be able to pay your bills. Whether your job will pay you enough to enable you to maintain your current standard of living. Maybe you are worried about taxes, about the rising price of gasoline.
Perhaps you worry about the weather, whether or not it will rain, how much it will rain, whether or not the rain will be enough to help your crops to grow.
Perhaps you are worried about the new school year that is coming up – maybe your a teacher beginning a new year with new students. Maybe you are a student going into a new class with new classmates, maybe to a new school, maybe going away to college for the first time. Maybe you are a parent worried about sending your son or daughter to a new school with new challenges and new temptations.
Perhaps you are someone who is very conscientious and at times conscious of what others think. Maybe you are worried about what others think, about their perception of you, whether or not they like you, whether or not they approve of you, your personality, the way you look, the way you act.
Perhaps you are worried about your health and well being, or that of those who you love. Maybe you are worried about sicknesses, pandemics, the upcoming cold and flu season, cancer.
Maybe you are worried about accidental disasters that occur. Maybe your worried about causing some sort of calamity or being the victim of one. Maybe you are worried about war and terrorism. Maybe you are worried about national or even global politics and the upcoming election and the effect that it will have on our culture and society.
This is a long list of things to worry about. We could go on. Maybe we have covered a few of the things that you worry about. We could probably list off lots more. There are lots of things that people become anxious about.
To all of us who are worriers about anything at any time, Jesus says the same thing to all of us. Jesus says “Do not worry.” Do not worry! Stop worrying. Don't do it. And what's more, Jesus is not just encouraging us not to worry. He is not just saying, “Listen everything is going to be fine you really don't need to stress out so much.” Jesus, the Christ, the Son of the Living God, the Lord of the Church is commanding us not to worry! Just like when you send your kids off to school and tell them to do their homework, listen to their teacher, get along with the other students; Jesus is giving instructions that he expects us to obey. Not options, not soft words of encouragement – commands. Don't worry!
That presents us with a problem – doesn't it? After all, how often are we guilty of that very thing. How often are we guilty of disobeying this command, breaking his command and committing this very sin. We do it all the time. We seem to be doing it more and more. We are constantly and continually finding something to worry about, something to be anxious about. We are continually disobeying Jesus and allowing our anxiety to distract us from the one thing that is needful (as Jesus defines it here) that is, seeking first His Kingdom and His righteousness.
As Jesus gives the command that we are not to be anxious, he does so in full knowledge of the problem that worry presents for us. Jesus knows us. He sees our hearts and he knows the thoughts in our minds and in our hearts and he sees the damage and the danger that anxiety presents for us.
Now, when we talk about worry or anxiety, it is important to acknowledge that there are two different kinds of anxiety that the bible identifies. Not all worry is the same and not all worry is sin. There is a righteous anxiety and there is a sinful anxiety. The Greek word that is used here can have two different senses to it, depending on how it is used. In 2 Corinthians, Paul says that he is burdened with anxiety for the spiritual well being of his children in Christ. He is moved to anxiety because he knows of the trying times, the testing and temptations, that they are enduring. He is anxious for them that they stand up under the strain of the temptation and not be lead away into sin and apostasy. This righteous anxiety is anxiety and concern for the well being of others, especially (and this is important) as it relates to their place in the Kingdom of Christ. We are called upon to be looking out for the spiritual care of our Christian brothers and sisters, and of our own children. We should be praying for their faith and salvation. We should be praying for them fervently and ceaselessly. This is godly and righteous.
So, for example, when Paul became aware that the Christians in Corinth were suffering, when he heard about their temptations and their sin he became anxious for them. He was burdened with his concern for them. If you know that a friend is going through a difficult time, if you were worried and concerned and anxious for them as they went through their struggle, if you were worried because you want them to be okay, if you were afraid that their struggle might lead them away from the kingdom of God, then your anxiety is righteous. You need to pray to God for this person.
This godly anxiety is not the kind of anxiety that Jesus is talking about, however. What Jesus is talking about is a selfish anxiety. He is talking about an anxiety that is focused on me, on my own health, my own happiness. My own level of comfort, my reputation, my career, what I eat, what I wear. My house and transportation, my life. This kind of anxiety is sin. Jesus tells us that the pagans run after these things. Jesus tells us that our heavenly father who loves us and cares for us knows that we need them he will provide them for us beyond even what we need. Jesus gives evidence. He says, “Consider the wildflowers that grow out in the fields. Consider their delicate beauty and rich color. Even King Solomon, the wealthiest king in the history of the Nation of Israel was not dressed as richly as the grass that is here today and gone tomorrow,” God takes care of his creation. If this is how God takes care of things that are as insignificant and unimportant as grass, how more will he care for you!
We have mentioned so far that some anxiety is godly and some is sinful. You might be wondering how do you tell the difference. How do you know if your anxiety is godly anxiety or if it is worldly, pagan anxiety, Here is the test: Jesus commands us in conjunction with the command not to worry to, “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness.” Our first and foremost, our primary goal and concern should be the kingdom of God. It should be the salvation of our souls, of our own and that of our family members, our neighbors, even the entire world. It should be faithful worship of God. It should be right and true understanding of the Bible. We might ask ourselves if our worry is related to Christ and his kingdom. Paul's anxiety was. He was worried for his spiritual sons and daughters. He was worried that they remain faithful in their times of testing. He was worried that they be preserved from those things that would pull them away from faith and salvation.
The blessing of our text is that Jesus knows our hearts and he knows our worries. He knows that we are tempted to ungodly and sinful worry. He knows that we struggle with the worry, whether godly or ungodly, and it is his desire to comfort us in all our worry. And so he does.
If your anxiety is godly and righteous anxiety – if you are anxious for your own salvation as you are tempted and tested or if your are worried for the spiritual health of a friend or neighbor as they undergo some kind of difficulty, then Jesus offers to us wonderful words of comfort.
I had a conversation over the week with someone who was remarking about all of the evil that exists in the world today. Between the trash that is on the television, in the movie theaters, in the lyrics of the songs on popular radio, and floating around on the Internet what chance do kids have to grow up to live godly lives? Indeed we are seeing the effects of these sins in the rate of addiction to drugs and alcohol, to pornography, in the rate of divorce and children born to single parents, in the acceptance of the gay lifestyle, in the number of sexual predators. Raising a child to adulthood and sending them off to make their way in the world is a scary proposition.
But who is holding our children in His hands? As we worry about our children or our friends and neighbors for that matter, and as we worry about the testing and temptations that they are sure to undergo, as we pray fervently for them, for their health and for their faith, they are entrusted to the care of the God who as Jesus says here, wants to give to them the kingdom. It is God's “good pleasure” to give them His kingdom. He desires that they be faithful. He desires that they remain in the faith. He desires that they receive salvation. He desires that they inherit the kingdom of heaven.
Our bible class has been talking about the doctrine of election or predestination. This biblical teaching is given to us to comfort us in these very circumstances. God wants us to be sure of our salvation so he reveals to us that our salvation is God's choice – it is his electing, He makes it his job to bring us to faith and then to preserve us in that faith. He does it wholly and completely. Therefore we don't have to worry – about ourselves or about our children or grandchildren. No matter what horror we have to endure in this world, no matter how faithless our hearts might be – The God who has elected us will bring us into the inheritance that he has prepared for us. What a blessing! In spite of our worry, we can be sure that the God who baptized our children will go with them off to school, off to high school, off to college, off to their first job, or out on their first drive or worse on their first date!
But that has only covered the righteous anxiety. What about the unrighteous anxiety? What about those sins that we have committed as we have in a fit of idolatry put our own comfort or happiness or well being, our own selfishness above God's call to be servants to him and to our neighbors? What about the horrible and idolatrous sin of worry?
Know this: when you worry, when you sin against God in your self worship – seeking first the cares and concerns of this world, when you sin against your neighbor by denying to him the service that he so desperately needs from you by keeping for yourself your time and your treasures because you are worried that there isn't enough of you and your possessions to go around that God forgives that sin. Confess that sin. Repent of that sin. Do not let it tear you away from the kingdom of heaven, do not let it distract you from seeking first that kingdom and the righteousness that God has called you to. And know that your sins have been forgiven. More than that, when you worry, when you are anxious, know that Jesus himself is worried for you. Know that he has felt for you a deeper worry than you have ever felt or have ever known. Know that He has gotten down on his knees to pray for you with groans that words cannot express. Know that he has felt this anxiety and worry for you so deeply. Know that he was not just worried sick, Jesus was worried to death – literally. In his worry for you, in his anxiety for you, he died – it cost him his life. He worried until there was nothing left for him to do than to pay for your sin of worry with his own flesh and blood. Jesus worried himself all the way to the cross so that your sin of worry would never be able to keep you from enjoying the kingdom that he has prepared for you.
Jesus has called us to a life that is free from worry. He has called us to throw our worry and anxiety on him because he cares for us. But even when we have failed, even when we feel that have been overcome with worry, we will not be. Because Jesus was overcome for us.
Amen.
Now may the peace that passes all understanding keep your hearts and mind in Christ Jesus.
Amen.
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