MATTHEW
6:25-34
Are
You Anxious about Daily Provisions? This anxiety can rob you of
contentment. Jesus addressed these
anxieties:
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 not life more
than food, and the body more than clothing?
Look at the birds of the
air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your
Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? And who of
you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? And why are you worried
about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor
do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all 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 shall we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we 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 added to you. But do not worry
about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble
of its own (Matt. 6:25-34 NASB).
I.
WORRY IS INCOMPATIBLE WITH THE CHRISTIAN LIFE (vv. 25-30)
A
modern day parable involves a conversation between a robin and a sparrow. One
day a dialogue ensued between a Robin and a Sparrow. The Robin said to the
Sparrow: “There is one thing I would really like to know, why these anxious
human beings rush about and worry so much.”
The Sparrow said to the Robin: “Friend, I think that it must be that
they have no heavenly Father such as cares for you and me.”[2]
The
fictitious dialogue above is similar to the message that Jesus wanted to get
across to His disciples and the multitude who had gathered around Him to hear
the Sermon on the Mount. In this Sermon, Jesus repeats the prohibition, “Do not be anxious” three times (Matt.
6:25, 31, 34). The truth is that Jesus neither denies nor despises the needs of
the body. Jesus taught us to pray, “Give
us this day our daily bread.” What Jesus is teaching is that to become
fixated on material comforts is a false preoccupation. For one thing, it is
unproductive (except perhaps ulcers, headaches, neck pains, and yet more worry); for another it is unnecessary because “Your Father knows what you need.” An
exclusive preoccupation with food, drink, and clothing could be justified if
physical survival were the only thing in human existence. If you weigh
carefully all the commercials on TV and Newspapers, they always appeal to
physical needs and comfort. But Jesus is saying that there is more to life than
the preoccupation with physical needs. Thomas Gillespie, president of Princeton
Theological Seminary says,
We live in a carnival
atmosphere where sideshow barkers are continually beckoning us. Step right up.
Here’s the security you’ve been looking for. Buy this car and you’ll feel free.
Purchase these toys and your kids will stop complaining. Use this perfume and
you’ll be lovable, adorable, and worthy of being touched. Gargle with this
mouthwash and people will enjoy being in your presence.[3]
Our experience, however,
indicates no end to the commercials and the craving for things cannot be
satisfied.
Jesus is not forbidding us from
thinking. On the contrary, He is encouraging it; He goes on to bid us look at
the birds and flowers and consider how God looks after them. Jesus is not
forbidding forethought. The Bible calls our attention to the ant. So Jesus is
not saying that you are not to make provisions for the future. There is nothing
in this text to stop us from making plans for the future or taking sensible
steps for our own security. Why is worry about physical provision wrong?
Jesus
answers this question by saying that obsessive worry of this kind is
incompatible both with Christian faith (Matt. 6:25-30) and with common sense
(Matt. 6:34). Our human experience is that God created and sustains our life.
This is a fact of everyday experience. You did not make or create yourself.
Neither do you keep yourself alive. God who created and saved you by His grace
through His Son Jesus Christ knows how to take care of you.
If,
therefore, you are anxious about daily provision, this fear presents you with a
dual temptation to distrust God and to substitute fear for practical action.
Worry means paying attention to what you cannot change instead of putting your
energies to work in effective ways. Jesus is saying that worry takes away life
rather than adding anything to it. You counteract worry by doing what you can
and trusting where you cannot. When you work for God and wait on His timing,
you will not have time to worry. When you seek first to honor God as King and
conform your life to His righteousness, worry will always find you otherwise
occupied.[4]
Victor Hugo said, “Have courage for the great sorrows of life and patience for
the small ones. And when you have finished your daily task, go to sleep in
peace. God is awake!”
The logic to Jesus’ prohibition of worry or
anxiety is inescapable as He enforces the teachings in verse 27 with the
question: “And who of you by being
worried can add a single hour to your life?” It is uncertain whether the
last word in verse 27 should be translated “span
of life” or ‘stature.’ It can
mean either. To add one meter to your height would be a remarkable feat, but
you and I cannot do that. To add a period of time to your lifespan would be a
great achievement in life, but all these are beyond our control. They are
outside our competence. No human being can achieve this by himself/herself.
Only God can do this for us (example, what God did for Hezekiah). Indeed far
from lengthening your life, worry may very well shorten it. Therefore, just as
we leave these matters to God, would it not be wise to trust Him for lesser
things like food and clothes?
To
drive His point home to us, Jesus uses birds as an illustration of God’s supply
of food (Matt. 6:26) and flowers to illustrate the supply of clothing (Matt.
6:28-30). It is good to take delight in nature because it can teach us so many
lessons in life. Jesus is making the birds our schoolmasters and teachers.
Martin Luther said,
It is a great and abiding
disgrace to us that in the Gospel a helpless sparrow should become a theologian
and a preacher to the wisest of men. Whenever you listen to a nightingale,
therefore, you are listening to an excellent preacher. It is as if he were
saying I prefer to be in the Lord’s kitchen. He has made heaven and earth, and
He Himself is the cook and the host. Everyday He feeds and nourishes
innumerable little birds out of His hand.”[5]
What
Jesus is teaching in this text does not promote indolence. The fact that you
are a Christian does not exempt you from earning your own living. You cannot
sit back in an armchair, twiddle your thumbs, mutter, “My heavenly Father will
provide” and do nothing. You have to work. As Paul put it, “If anyone would not work, let him not eat” (2 Thess. 3:10). Luther
writes again, “God wants nothing to do with the lazy, gluttonous bellies that
are neither concerned nor busy; they act as if they just had to sit and wait
for Him to drop a roasted goose into their mouth.”[i]
Jesus
uses birds and flowers as evidences of God’s ability to feed and clothe us. But
how does God feed the birds? God does not go out and pick food and throw them
at the birds to feed on. Rather God provides in nature what and where the birds
can feed themselves. The same thing can be said about the plants. Flowers do
perform neither men’s work in the field; nor women’s work at home, yet God
clothes them. God does not do this through any supernatural means, but through
a complex process He has arranged in which they draw their sustenance from the
sun and the soil. It is the same with human beings.
God
provides, but we have to cooperate with Him. This teaching does not exempt
Christians from responsibility to others. The fact that God is our provider
does not relieve us of our responsibility to the poor or under-privileged. In
addition believers are not exempt from experiencing trouble. It is true that
Jesus forbids believers to worry, but to be free from anxiety and to be free
from trouble are not the same thing. Jesus commands us not to be anxious, but
does not promise that we shall be immune to all misfortune. On the contrary,
there are many indications in His teaching that He knew all about calamity.
II. WORRYING ABOUT THE FUTURE IS INSENSIBLE (v. 34)
Planning
for tomorrow is time well spent; worrying about tomorrow is time wasted.
Sometimes it is difficult to tell the difference. All worry is about tomorrow,
whether about food or clothing or anything else; but all worry is experienced
today. Jesus explains that what you worry about happening tomorrow may not
happen, so why waste time and energy worrying. Psychologists tell us that about
85 percent of the things people worry about do not even happen. Therefore,
reserve the energy you use to worry about tomorrow for today because each day has enough trouble.
You
only add to today’s burdens when you worry about the future. All the anxieties
you have about tomorrow will not change the outcome, and it will have enough
anxieties of its own. The burdens of today are enough so let God take care of
them. You must trust God for today without worrying about tomorrow. When you
execute proper planning it can help to alleviate anxiety. Worry by contrast is
consumed by fear and makes it difficult to trust God. Those who worry let their
plans interfere with their relationship with God. Therefore, do not let worries
about tomorrow affect your relationship with God today.
What
Jesus is teaching us is a question of priority. To be a real follower of Jesus,
you must settle the question of priorities. Your priorities as a believer and a
disciple of Christ must be different from unbelievers whose priorities are
comfort, security, money, fashion, and other material things. What Jesus is
teaching is that the ambition of the secular humanistic world around us focuses
exclusively on material things. Jesus is saying that our primary concern as His
followers is about His kingdom. To seek
first this kingdom is to desire as of paramount importance the spread of
the reign of Jesus Christ.
The
Kingdom of God exists only where Jesus Christ is consciously acknowledged. To
seek it first is to spread the good news of salvation in Christ. In order to
seek God’s kingdom you and I must evangelize because the kingdom spread only as
the Gospel of Christ is preached, heard, believed, and obeyed. There are
several reasons why you are not to worry:
·
The same God who created life in you can be trusted with the
details of your life (Matt. 6:25).
·
Worrying about the future hampers your efforts for today
(Matt. 6:26).
·
Worrying is more harmful than helpful (Matt. 6:27).
·
God does not ignore those who depend on Him (Matt. 6:28-30).
·
Worry shows a lack of faith in and understanding of God
(Matt. 6:31-32).
·
There are real challenges God wants us to pursue, and
worrying keeps us from them (Matt. 6:33).
·
Living one day at a time keeps us from being consumed with
worry (Matt. 6:34).
Instead
of worrying about something that lies in the future, which is beyond your
control, take time to praise and thank God for what He has already done for you
yesterday and today. When you develop an attitude of gratitude, you begin to
see things from God’s perspective and that is what matters most in life.
“Gratitude unleashes the freedom to live content in the moment, rather than
being anxious about the future or regretting the past.”[6]
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