Why There's No Need for Worry (Matthew 6:25-34, One)

Here’s my sermon from this past Sunday, January 15th in our Matthew series. You can download the audio here.

Three times in this passage, Jesus repeats these four words: “Do not be anxious.” And there’s no one here who doesn’t need to hear what He says.

Australian pastor and author Mark Sayers argues that we’re in a day of unprecedented, rapid cultural change. And, as a result, we live in the midst of what he calls ambient anxiety. It’s always in the background. It’s in the air we breathe. Ambient anxiety. We’re now in a globalized world, where we’re continuously connected through the internet. Decentralization has come as a result. Our foundations have been eroded. Power structures have radically changed. And tribalism has surged and divided. And it’s led to all of this uncertainty, to all of this fear.

And the last few years have been especially terrible, have they not? Watching over a million people die of COVID in America alone. Waking up seemingly once a week to hear of another mass shooting. Wars. Conspiracies. Wildfires. Politicians acting like kindergarten students. And we’ve seen it all play out on social media, right before our eyes. It’s no wonder that we’ve felt like such a mess.

And most of us have also wondered if our basic needs would still be met. The housing market has tanked. Inflation has skyrocketed. Unemployment has surged. That word “anxious” certainly has applied to most of us here.

But that makes Christ’s command here especially hard. “Do not be,” He says. “Do not be?” Really? Jesus, can you not understand - what it’s like down here on earth? And how can you command someone to feel something anyway? Lord, how do you expect us to will ourselves out of worry?

Well, Karis, Jesus is the only one who can tell us how to feel. He’s the only one who can guide us out of worry. And, most importantly, He’s the only One that can change the human heart. That’s why we’re going to soak in His words, that we see here in Matthew chapter 6, for quite some time together here today.

Author Scot McKnight summarizes verses 25 through 34 in this way:

“These are words for radicals about a radical lifestyle of trusting God for the ordinaries of life while devoting oneself unreservedly toward the kingdom mission.” (Scot McKnight)

We’ll spend two weeks on these words of Jesus. And this week, we’ll focus on the first part of his explanation - about this radical lifestyle of trusting God.

But before we jump into it, I want to start by speaking to two different groups, that may have difficulties, in hearing what Christ our Lord says here. First, to those who feel this hits too close to home. Now I have close friends, beloved relatives, who struggle with chronic, debilitating anxiety. And if that describes you, I have no doubt that what Jesus says here will still be relevant to you today. But I don’t want you to hear it condemning you - if that kind of anxiety is your constant struggle.

God has knitted us together as body and soul. But they’ve also been impacted by the fall. Our bodies can impact our souls. But it also works the other way around. Don’t feel shame if we sometime have to see a doctor. But also don’t tune out these words from the Great Physician. He wants to help you. And me.

Also, there are also believers that struggle in ways that are extreme. And we can’t deduce from those trials that our Lord’s promises here aren’t true. As we’ve seen already in Matthew, believers will suffer for their faith. And may at times be deprived of basic human needs. But that doesn’t mean that they didn’t have enough faith. And that Jesus didn’t somehow come through. Christ’s words are written to average, first century folks living in the middle east - who, like us, often worried when the next paycheck might come.

Second, to those who feel that this doesn’t apply to you. Maybe you’re not a person who generally struggles with much fear. File these words away. Because, you don’t know what lies ahead. But some of you might not worry, because you’re just not very responsible. Maybe you need to “worry” just a little bit more. You need to work and save and plan and really grow up. You can’t dismiss these words because of your temperament or because you’re privileged enough to slack off without suffering much in the way of consequences.

Or maybe you don’t worry - not because you’re careless - but because you have more than what you’ll ever need. Maybe you need to hear these words as a challenge: to hear the cries of those who do have something to worry about. To seek the kingdom, as verse 33 says, and entrust yourself to Him. If you hear these words, and you don’t feel anything at all, it should probably alarm you. And call you toward reality and responsibility and mercy.

Here in this passage, we see Jesus repeat this prohibition three different times, “Do not be anxious.” And along with those commands not to worry, He gives us three reasons why we need not be anxious. Words that can transform our hearts. That can guide us away from worry. Let’s jump in and hear them now.       

The God Who Provides

Here’s the first reason Jesus gives: God provides for His creation - and especially you and me. See that first prohibition again in verse 25.

Matt. 6:25 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?

Jesus says, “Don’t be anxious” - specifically about where we’ll get food or drink or clothes to wear. And then He asks the first of many questions in this passage: “Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?” Here seems to be the Lord’s point. God’s given you life. And you’re still alive right now. You have a body. Breath in your lungs. A heartbeat in your chest. He’s taking care of that. Don’t you think He can handle the smaller stuff? Like food for your stomach and clothes for your back? And then He launches into these two beautiful illustrations. Jesus says, “Look at the birds, the wild flowers, and learn. Let them be your teacher.”

Jesus says, first, in verse 26, “Check out the birds. They don’t stress. And yet our God cares for them. He gives them all the food they need.” And He asks, “Are you not of more value than they?” And He wants us to answer yes. We’re human beings, after all.

And Christ asks another question, in verse 27. “And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?” Worrying isn’t gonna make us live better. And it sure won’t make us live longer. And though we know that our days are numbered by the Lord, if anything, all this anxiety will shorten our lives, not prolong them. Anxiety doesn’t do anything. Except maybe bad things. Right?

Jesus then turns to His second illustration here, in verses 28 through 30. “Why are you worried about what you’ll wear?" “Consider the lilies” - the flowers of the field, He says. “They don’t fret. But don’t they look amazing? Better dressed than King Solomon ever was are those flowers! Just look. Such beauty! Don’t you think God an handle getting you regular, old clothes?”

And then, another question, in verse 30. “But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?” “Those lilies will soon wilt and brown and probably end up in your fireplace,” He says. “But you’re immortal. You’re meant for glory. Don’t you think our God will also take care of you?”

So here again is the first reason Jesus gives for why we don’t need to be anxious: God provides for His creation - and especially you and me. Now as Christians, we believe in a God who has created. The heavens, the earth. Everything we see. Mountains and oceans. Plants and animals. And us, human beings, as well. We’re not materialists, who think the matter we see is all there is. No. We believe in a God who made it, and therefore, owns it.

Now, we also believe in a God of providence. That God rules over that creation and holds that creation together. We’re not deists, thinking God made all this and then went out to lunch. We’re not pantheists that think He somehow is in the rivers and the trees. No. We believe God is separate from His creation. He is Creator. But He’s also involved in His creation.

And He provides for all that He has made. Now, sure, He uses means. He doesn’t feed those birds by hurling bread crumbs from the sky. And there’s no IV tube of chlorophyll flowing out of heaven. God’s put natural processes in place. But in His power, and for His glory, He cares for His creation, and that also, of course, includes us.

We also believe that God made humans to bear His image. To serve as His representatives on earth. Now it might be controversial today to say that my daughter is more valuable to God than our much beloved dog. But it sure shouldn’t be. We’re image-bearers, each one of us. And Jesus is saying here: if God cares for His creation, He’ll certainly care for the pinnacle of His creation, human beings. Right?

So there’s reason number one again, why we don’t need to worry: God provides for His creation - and especially you and me. Let’s go for a hike, and look around with wonder, and let what God has made teach us and convict us. And guard us from worry.

The God Who Is A Father

Let’s hear the second reason why Jesus says we don’t need to be anxious: our Creator is our Father - and He knows what we need. There’s that second prohibition in verse 31. Jesus is repeating Himself. He wants us to hear Him. “Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’” And then He makes these two statements that give us a second reason why we don’t need to worry

He talks about Gentiles, those outside the people of God, those who don’t believe. “For the Gentiles seek after all these things.” The story is told that Martin Luther’s wife Katherine was getting sick of Marty’s attitude. Maybe much like Amy with me yesterday. Apparently the pope trying to get him killed had put him in a pretty bad mood. Now some say she walked in the room decked out in black. But when she did, she pronounced to her husband, “God is dead.” And he was caught off guard. And he wasn’t happy at all. “God is not dead!,” Luther shouted back. To which Katherine replied, “It sure seems like God is dead by the way you’re acting.” And it woke the great Reformer up.

When we worry, that’s how we’re acting. Like God is dead. Or doesn’t exist at all. We’re living as practical atheists. Like people who don’t believe God is real.

Jesus then makes another point in verse 32. “Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.” Imagine your son was visibly anxious. And couldn’t relax and fall asleep. And you asked him, “What’s up, buddy? What’s gotten you all worried?” And he said, “I’m afraid that tomorrow there won’t be anything to eat.”

You’d be confused, right? And a little bit offended. “I’m your dad, bud. Have you ever gone without a meal? Don’t you trust me? Don’t you think I’m good?”

Here’s the other problem when we worry as believers. We’re acting like orphans. That we don’t have a dad. And that we have to fend for ourselves. Jesus is saying here: God is your Father. He knows Your needs. So why are you freaking out, child? There’s no need.

Now Jesus here remind us of some more important truths. First, of our identity and life as believers. When we come to faith in Christ, we’re brought into the family of God. We’re made sons, and daughters. We’re adopted. We’re no longer orphans. God isn’t just our Creator. He’s our Father. And in His care, we’re secure.

But the Bible also calls us not just sons, but saints. This is a common greeting from Paul in his New Testament letters. It may be implicit right here. We’re saints. Not the super Christians. But all of us who believe. We’re set-apart from the world. So that we could be devoted to Him. And we’re meant to be different. And one way that we should be different is that we’re not running around freaking out. We act different from those who don’t know Christ. From the pagans. More on that in a bit.

Second, think about the identity and work of God. Yes, God is in a sense the Father of all, but the Bible says He’s especially the Father of those who believe. And maybe you had an unloving father, and abusive dad. But He’s a good, good Father.

And as we’ll see just on the next page, in Matthew 7, He’s a Father who gives good gifts when we ask Him (Matthew 7:9-11).

But He’s also our Savior. He’s worked on our behalf through the gospel. One day, He’ll rid this world of sin. And He’s rescued us from our sin. That’s the good news. It’s what He’s done for us. And that truth should ward off our worries. I love the way Romans 8:32 puts it: “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?”

If He did the greatest thing, the hardest thing, He can do the ordinary stuff, the easy stuff - like make sure we have food to eat and clothes on our back. That’s just who He is. It’s what He does. I love the way that Jen Oshman puts it: “The same hands that hold your future are the same hands that were pierced for you. You can loosen your grip.” What’s our second point again - why we don’t need to worry? Our Creator is our Father - and He knows what we need.

What Our Anxiety Really Says

But before I move on to the third reason Jesus gives, I want us to ask, based on those first two reasons - why we don’t need to worry - what exactly our anxiety really says? And I’m saying this as a chronic worrier from a long line of worry warts. What’s it’s saying?

How about, “God, I don’t know if you’re really in control. I’m not sure that you’re good”? Yes, something like that. And we communicate to ourselves - and to those who are around - that we have some measure of control - which we clearly don’t have. Or have some need to find control - though that’s a hopeless cause. It’s not just that we’re acting like He doesn’t exist. It’s even worse. We’re acting like we’re God ourselves.

As Tim Keller has put it,

“Worry is looking out at the world and being afraid that God isn’t going to get it right…You’re filled with anxiety because you think life is up to you. You’re trying to take the place of God, but you are unqualified for the job. And anyone who is in a job they are unqualified for, feels really weird.” (Tim Keller)

Anybody else feel weird? I sure do. We need to hear what Christ says to us today.

The Grace For Us Today

Let’s move on to the third reason why we don’t need to be anxious: our King wants us to live in the grace He gives for today. We see the third prohibition in verse 34. “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow…” And then gets to the reason right away. “For tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”

One novel I enjoyed at the end of this past year was Claire Keegan’s Small Things Like These. The book follows this main character, Bill Furlong, an Irish coal merchant, who ends up confronting and addressing abuse he finds in the church. But in this scene, he’s getting ready for Christmas with his family. And Keegan lets us see into his heart.

“Always it was the same, Furlong thought; always they carried mechanically on without pause, to the next job at hand. What would life be like, he wondered, if they were given time to think and reflect over things? Might their lives be different or much the same - or would they just lose the run of themselves?

Even while he'd been creaming the butter and sugar, his mind was not so much upon the here and now and on this Sunday nearing Christmas with his wife and daughters so much as on tomorrow and who owed what, and how and when he'd deliver what was ordered and what man he'd leave to which task, and how and where he'd collect what was owed - and before tomorrow was coming to an end, he knew his mind would already be working in much the same way, yet again, over the day that was to follow.” (Claire Keegan)

Anybody relate? So much concern about tomorrow, that we’re missing out on today? Over and over and over again. That’s why Jesus says we shouldn’t worry. He wants us to enjoy the grace He has for us today.

Maybe you’ve heard the story of how God provides for His people in the wilderness, back in Exodus 16. The Lord gives them quail, along with this magical bread, manna, that comes down from the sky. Well, God through Moses tells them, “Grab all you need. Eat up. Enjoy. But don’t leave any left over for the next day - except before the Sabbath.”

Well, of course, they don’t listen. And they wake up to a smelly, rotten mess. What was happening? They were worried about tomorrow. They didn’t enjoy God’s grace He’d given for that day.

Jesus says again: “For tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” Tomorrow is gonna come. There’ll be troubles then, for sure. Today has more than enough things you could worry about. And He’s implying, don’t you think, “Let’s take one day at a time, and watch my Father do His thing”?

The great Corrie Ten Boom once put it like this: “Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow. It empties today of its strength.” We’re squandering God’s grace He’s given us for today on things we fear might happen tomorrow. And as Mark Twain once famously said, “I’ve had a lot of worries in my life, most of which never happened.” Worry gets us nowhere. It takes us backward. And it makes us miss out on today. We’re weighed down by burdens we’re not even meant to carry!

1 Peter 5:7 tells us what to do with our fear. We’re to cast all our anxieties on Him, because He cares for us. Now those words are preceded by verse 6. “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God.” We’re not God. We should stop acting like it. It doesn’t just blaspheme Him. It really hurts us. It saps our days of joy.

Remember the Lord’s Prayer, where Jesus said, “Give us tomorrow the bread that we will need.” No! He didn’t say that all. He taught us to pray this way: “Give us this day our daily bread.” Take one day at a time, Jesus says. Today will keep you quite busy enough. Thinking about tomorrow will only mess things up. He tells us third: our King wants us to live in the grace He gives for today.

Gospel Community Mission and Christ’s Word

I want to talk more about how we apply this passage. Here in Karis, we call ourselves a gospel community on mission. Let’s think about how Christ’s words here apply to each of those aspects of who we are.

First, we are a people of the gospel. And Christ teaches us here that the main way to battle anxiety is through believing His good news.

How do I get to that? The gospel of Jesus is that through faith in His life, death, and resurrection, we’re forgiven. And we’re brought into a family. And how God our Creator is also our Father. Did you catch what Jesus calls those who fear and fret over food and clothing in verse 30? He addresses those people - us - as “O you of little faith.”

The root of this is worry is unbelief. In who God is. In what He has done for us. We battle against anxiety with faith. We preach the gospel to ourselves and to one another. We’re not “Gentiles.” We’re believers. We have a Father, as Jesus says, who knows what we need. And promises to provide.

You might notice some wording I’ve repeated. And it’s not at all insignificant. These are reasons why we don’t need to worry. Hear me. It’s not just that we should not worry. It’s that we need not worry. Yes, Jesus tells us not to. But more than that, He says that we don’t have to. Because we are children of the Father. We’re His kids through the gospel.

Second, let’s take our community around the gospel. Now, as we should trust Him and not fret about the needs of our families, we also shouldn’t be anxious about our needs as this family, here, together.

The pandemic was rough on us, Karis. And we’ve been struggling financially since. Now, as I began, the fact that we shouldn’t worry doesn’t mean that we don’t work, that we’re not wise, that we don’t have a plan. And it’s the same way here as a church. How’s God going to provide for us here? Mainly through you - through me - and through others that come and hear the gospel.

Now we might find out that our wants aren’t really our needs. We may have to make some adjustments, for sure. But God wants us to trust Him to provide everything we need to go about the mission He’s called us to together. So let’s not be anxious. Let’s keep on seeking His kingdom as a community together. He’s faithful. He’ll provide.

I’ll never forget walking around distraught downtown. It was 2006, and we were worshipping in the Tiger Hotel downtown, and things seemed to be gathering momentum. And one of the owners decided that he no longer wanted us there. But God made a way, and we got to stay.

Years later, back in probably 2011, a new owner bought the hotel, and this time we were definitely going to have to move out. And a pastor friend found a way for us to meet right here in this space. Calvary Baptist had their gathering. Then following we had ours. And we did that for a couple of years until God gave us a building just down the street. And then a few years later, He brought us back to this home here. That’s two buildings for free. From the hand of God. And my worrying didn’t make a difference at all. Karis, He’s provided for us - every step of the way. And He’ll continue to do so. Let’s trust Him together as a community.

Third, let’s talk about our mission together as a people. I started out this message talking about Mark Sayers. About this ambient anxiety that we all swim in these days. And that comes from a book called A Non-Anxious Presence. And what he argues there is that what the world needs - with all of this anxiety - is a non-anxious presence - to see people in a tumultuous world who don’t freak out. But to get there, we need the presence of God. We need His peace. A life “trusting God for the ordinaries of life” will stand out against an anxious world. It may be the most powerful witness we can give to the gospel.

Now there’s a grand verse here, in this section, that I maybe seemed to ignore. But don’t worry. It’ll be my focus next week. Jesus tells us something not to do - three times again - “do not be anxious.” But He gives something for us to do instead - a counter-action - in verse 33. “But seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” What’s the Lord saying? Instead of worrying, we should be seeking. And as we run after His kingdom, and His righteousness, He’ll make sure we have all we need.

Now if you’ve been around this fall and winter, you’ve seen the parade of missionary partners that have come across this stage. They’ve shared what God’s been doing in and through them. We’ve gotten to pray for them. And they’ve talked about how God has and will provide. It’s been so encouraging.

The more we seek after His kingdom, the more we’ll need Him to provide.  And the more we’ll see it come about. Right? Maybe you can’t relate with this passage at all. And anxiety feels a million miles away. Maybe you’re in a place where your faith is really strong. But maybe even more likely, you’re not in a place where your faith is being stretched.

Are you seeking His Kingdom? Are you giving Him your life? If we’re on mission with Him, we’ll get to see Him come through. As we pour ourselves out for Him. We’ll hit on that more next week.

What Worry Is And What To Do About It

Now as I began, it’s weird to think about being commanded how to feel. But Jesus is the one who can change our hearts. And if there’s anyone who can tell us to trust, it’s Him.

But I want to briefly wrap up with how we go about building that trust. Yes, we need to hear HIs words. But there’s something else. Think with me about what worry really is. You’re washing dishes and you wonder how you’ll pay for that repair on the car. Maybe you’re stewing about the credit card bills from the last time it broke down on the road.

It’s rolling through your mind. Over and over. “What can I do? How’s this going to work?” What’s essentially happening there? You’re praying to yourself. Right? We’re talking to ourselves about our problems. And here’s the problem. We can’t do anything about them. Craig Cabaniss says, “Worry inventories my resources and frets. Faith inventories God’s resources and rests.”

Jesus says here, instead of worrying, go seek the kingdom of God. But elsewhere He tells us to pray. To humble ourselves. To cast our anxieties to Him. And as He says through Paul over in Philippians 4,

Phil. 4:6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

Phil. 4:7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

What can we do to battle this anxiety? Remember His providence. And the fact that He’s our Dad. And that He’ll graciously care for us one day at a time. We can run after His kingdom. And go to Him with our needs. In this fallen world, we’ll always have troubles, and we’ll always be tempted to fear. But we can see growth as His gospel takes grip on our souls. And we can point to His glory as we stand out in an anxious world.

Karis, we don’t need to worry, for our Creator is our Father, and He will provide for our needs today. Let’s help each other remember that. Let’s pray.