Sermon (Do not worry) for Sunday June 26th 2022:
(Please read Psalm 62; Proverbs 16: 1-9; Matthew 6: 19-34; Philippians 4: 4-9)
Some years ago a friend gave me good some advice: “make time for God; read the Bible for the sheer enjoyment of being with God rather than as a professional exercise.”
“Balancing work and reflection is a tricky business!” Most people in western society (us) are forced into a harried lifestyle. Often our diaries are packed with good things; even work that has real merit. One of the demands is to prioritize: where should things come on our list? “How are you?” “How have you been?” “Busy!” And mostly this is true. Beneath the reply is a subtle complaint; maybe a boast (or both).
What matters most? In Matthew 6: 19-24 Jesus spoke about values, perspective and choice; how he calls us to see with spiritual eyes, to gaze beyond our earth-borne treasures to see spiritual realities – to value and choose what is eternal because it lasts. It was a matter of the heart. In the next verses He addresses worrying…
Anxiety does no good! Worries can choke us. Worry can stop us hearing and growing…Worry is an epidemic in many cultures. In this room there are chronic worriers. There are a great many books on how to defeat worry and anxiety, because we live in an age of anxiety. They suggest cures and strategies, usually at a price.
But Jesus spoke these words to first century Palestinians so they too must have spent a lot of time worrying. The advice Jesus gave was completely free! Several times he commands us not to worry; do not worry, stop worrying about all the paraphernalia!
What’s on the worry list? 1. Health: ours or someone else’s; 2. Money:
3. Failure: the fear of failing; 4. Reputation: what other people might think of us; 5: Consequences: we are worried about some hidden sin (unconfessed) being revealed; 6. The future: it may be job, family, retirement, education, death. This morning we are going to bring our list to the Lord.
The chances are that we walked in this morning with our own personal list of worries – things that have occupied much of our thinking time; things that have kept us awake; things that we need medication to help us deal with. We come to church to avoid our worries, to find a brief respite from those worries. We pick our worries up when we leave the building! Anxiety may drive our busy lives. We may miss the realities that matter the most; many a beautiful walk has been ruined by the question, “What time will we get there; what will happen when we get there? Sometimes we worry so much about the destination or the outcome that we miss the lovely things along the way; and some people live their whole lives missing the journey they are on.
Read verses 25-26: God is in control (x2). He’s in control of the birds of the air and we are more important to God than the birds are, according to Jesus. Verses 26-30: we are loved by God and because our lives are in God’s care, we do not have to lead anxiety-fuelled lives. We can rest instead in the certainty of God’s care and provision for us…
Verse 27: Worry, stress and anxiety do not help. Many of our worries are borne of the realization that we are not in control. We are not in control of events. But the irony is that much (if not most) of what happens in our lives is beyond our control. Our Heavenly Father is in control and he knows best and we forget this; and when we should trust, but frequently we will choose not to!
God is in control, but do we believe this? Or, does the way we typically live our lives betray a lack of faith. Could it be that we have trusted Jesus Christ for our salvation (we are saved), but somehow the rest of it – all the details of life – is up to us to deal with? Many of us continue to live our lives as if the onus were on us, as if we’re in control.
Proverbs 14:30 says, “A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.” Envy rots the bones – here’s a graphic picture of the harm that lack of peace (anxiety/worry/stress) can bring about in our lives. When we are crippled by hate or unforgiveness there is a heavy price to pay – these things hurt us and these things will harm us & shorten our lives (medically proven facts).
Read verses 31-32: Jesus says to us, “Don’t worry” because God knows. How often we labour under the misapprehension that we are all alone with our concerns. No! God knows. God sees. The God who knows the heart of a man; who knows the number of the days ordained for you to live (the God who knows the number of hairs on your head); the God who sees your pain and hurt - this God commands us not to worry. “You can ask anything of me Lord! But don’t worry?”
Read verses 33: Jesus tells us, “Don’t worry!” Put God first! It is not your job to worry about all the minute details and the worst of pathological worriers do just that. If you get your priorities right.” If you seek first HIS kingdom and HIS righteousness then these things which worry you and consume your waking (and sleeping) hours will be taken care of.
“Don’t worry, be Holy”, he says. Not holier than thou, but don’t waste your time trying to build your own kingdom. Please don’t try and control everything. Let me take care of all the details: you do your bit; you separate yourself off from the cares of the world at large… trust me to take care of the details. I have never let you down before! Put me first and I will take care of your needs.
Read verse 34: Don’t worry about tomorrow! Live life - in the here and now. If you are peeling a carrot (like Brother Lawrence), you can do that in the presence of God! Do what you need to do today, for we know there is quite enough in the day… today has worries enough of its own. When Jesus taught the disciple to pray, he asked them to petition God for “daily bread”, not for weekly bread. We ask Our Father to provide for today’s needs. He wants us to depend on him for today – to look to him, to call on him, to cry to him today!
He says, “Trust me!” Trust the one who created the universe from nothing; trust the one who parted the Red Sea and vanquished Israel’s feared pursuer… trust the one who is able to speak to a shepherd in the wilderness through a burning bush… trust the one who raised his Son Jesus Christ from death itself!
Leave your worries at the Cross, where they belong! When it comes to your stress and anxieties and worries the wisdom of the world will tell you differently: look here, or look there; do this, now try that!
But Jesus Christ says I am sufficient; I am enough to save you and I am also sufficient to help you overcome through the trials of life. “He who is within you is greater than he who is in the world!” (1 John 4: 4) He has not promised uninterrupted health or wealth, but he has promised you a cross and, as long as you are prepared to take up your cross, he has promised that his grace will be sufficient to see you through.
The Serenity Prayer has figured in my life for a long time and so has the fellowship of AA. In every room of AA across the globe there is this prayer on the table or wall, along with other slogans, such as One Day at a Time, Keep It Simple, Let Go and Let God – all very sound advice where the not inconsiderable worries of alcoholics are concerned!
We learned that worrying about whether we might be drunk or sober tomorrow would not help us today. In fact worrying would probably lead to another bender! There are some things we can do nothing about – and what will happen tomorrow is very definitely one of them!
There are some things we have the courage to change ourselves, but some things are too hard to cope with and the advice then – Let Go and Let God! Good advice indeed. The kind of advice that Jesus Christ gives us. Give it to the Lord.
Read Philippians 4:4: (Paul’s advice on worry): there is no disconnecting between Paul’s advice on worry and that of Jesus. Rejoice in the Lord always, he says; do not be anxious (same word as worry) about anything! Rejoice here is a command, and so worry and anxiety is sinful – often worry is a sign that we are too concerned about ourselves, too focused on our personal circumstances – as if God somehow were not in control, as if God somehow didn’t already know what worried you; as if God somehow didn’t care.
What does Paul have to say? (Phil 4) He says do not be anxious about ANYTHING! That word, anxious, is exactly the same word, Jesus uses in this discourse. Here Paul underlines what Jesus is saying – that God is faithful; that we concentrate too much on our circumstances and not enough on God; that, if we did things differently, we would know that peace that passes all understanding. There is nothing to say that the circumstances will change, but what will change is the heart!
And I suppose that’s why Jesus says to those who are worried, “O you of little faith!” It seems a bit unkind, but it is true and he confronts us with this truth: that our circumstances are not the problem, our heart is where the problem is. Our hearts, filled with worry, are in the wrong place. It’s not your circumstances that are the trouble – ‘the trouble is you don’t believe me; you haven’t taken me seriously enough to trust me with any and every worry that you have’. When we worry about these things we are being what one writer called “Practical Atheists!” So, worrying is tantamount to not believing in God; or (even worse) to believing in a God who does not care…
God is in control… God knows… God will take care of the details…
You trust in God; then trust in me; come to me all you who are heavy laden and I will give you rest…
“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference”. (The Serenity Prayer)
Mark F-R
Here are some questions...
Why do I keep putting my foot in it? O Lord!
Do you know that feeling? Have you ever ended up thinking...?
... I BLEW IT, BODGED, BLUNDERED, BOTCHED IT UP AGAIN, & BOMBED...completely; yes...BOOBED Big time...???
Have you ever - DROPPED THE BALL or a CLANGER; made a right-royal COCK-UP of things?
Ever ERRED? Suffered from a chronic case of THE DISEASE OF FOOT IN MOUTH? Or, FOULED UP... GOOFED... LOUSED IT UP... or simply LOST THE PLOT?
MISJUDGED the situation? MUFFED IT completely... & said I MADE SHIPWRECK of that didn’t I...?
I’m sure you have. I have.
Have you ever asked, “Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth? Keep watch over the door of (these) my lips...?” (Ps. 141:3)
A woman on mums net said... ‘No matter who I talk to... what comes out... well, it just seems to come out all wrong. I didn’t mean the hurt I caused. It is not what I planned or intended – this car-crash of a conversation... I worry that I’ve upset someone. Keep going over stuff in my head. In the end all I seem to do is second-guess myself. What did I say... actually?! In the end I can’t remember. We can’t remember who started the war or what it was all about in the first place... but the truths in there somewhere...’
In the end we all have to deal with the fall-out... the consequences we never intended...
Our words will judge us in the end. That’s what the LORD said.
The Scotsman Robbie Burns wrote a poem to a mouse. He said sorry to the ‘wee timorous beastie’ for accidentally wrecking its house. He didn’t mean it: “The best-laid plans of mice an’ men; Gang aft agley and leave us nought but grief an’ pain. For promised joy...”
We all make MISTAKES... it wasn’t meant to come out that way! We wish we’d kept our mouths shut. God gave us TWO EARS AND ONE MOUTH. Strange how we get that back-to-front!
So, when you BOOB BIG STYLE, when you find yourself eating your size 11 shoes – if you have to move your lips... move them to eat humble pie instead or, better still, say sorry and remember what another poet once said, “To err is human... to forgive is divine!”