The Sin of Worry (Matthew 6:25-34)
The Sin of Worry
Matthew 6:25-34
As you know we are presently studying the Sermon on the Mount,
And we are knee deep into Jesus’ second point.
Chapter 5 was GOD’S RIGHTEOUSNESS EXAMINED
Chapter 6 is FALSE RIGHTEOUSNESS EXPOSED
Jesus is dealing with “good people,
And is revealing to them the problems with their “goodness”.
We have already seen that their religion was pointless,
For their giving, prayer, and fasting was all done for the wrong reasons.
That reason was for earthly glory and treasure,
Instead of for the glory of God and eternal reward.
And this hypocritical religion was only consistent with their greedy hearts
They loved the glory and praise of men because they loved the world,
And that is why Jesus moved from hypocritical religion to greed.
You see the sins are very similar.
Both seek to attain the world.
Both love the praise and reward of the world.
Both sacrifice the eternal to obtain it.
Greed and hypocritical religion come from the same root problem
And that is a heart that loves the world.
And so, we have seen the false righteousness of man exposed.
Jesus is revealing a heart problem.
Most recently we looked at greed from the perspective of the rich.
Those who save money, seek money, and serve money.
And this greed reveals a corrupt heart for, as Jesus said:
Matthew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”
Your heart cannot nourish two crops at once.
Love for God and Love for the World have never been able to coexist.
In fact they are enemies of one another.
That is why John said:
1 John 2:15 “Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”
That is why James said:
James 4:4 “You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”
And that is also why Jesus unequivocally said
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth”
You cannot love God and the world.
Your treasures will pull your heart away from God.
And so we saw the problems associated with wealth.
But as we said last week, when you talk about wealth, much of the time those who don’t have it tend to let themselves off the hook.
“Well, I don’t have to worry about it, because I don’t have the world.”
But that isn’t true.
In fact, the poor can suffer from the sin of greed
Even greater than those who are rich.
Their greed is not measured by their WEALTH.
Their greed is measured by their WORRY.
And obviously this is not biblical.
1 Timothy 6:8-11 “If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content. But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness.”
Scripture is clear that contentment is the intention of the Christian life,
Not a desire for more.
Now I will be the first to admit to you that this is a tall order.
• We live in a material world.
• We live in arguably the most “consumer friendly” nation ever conceived.
• We are flooded with temptations called advertisements.
• We live next to people who continually get more stuff.
Contentment is a tall order, only possible through the power of Christ.
In fact, would it surprise you that the most quoted passage on Christian empowerment in Scripture is actually a passage related to contentment?
Philippians 4:12-13 “I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”
When Paul wanted to give an example of Christ’s power in his life,
He didn’t speak of the time he raised the dead,
Or the miracles he worked,
Or the endurance he showed.
When Paul wanted to give an example of Christ’s power,
Paul cited his ability to live content in the world.
Because it is only by power of a transformed life
Can we learn to say no to the things of the world.
And that is what makes it an indicator of a redeemed heart.
Furthermore, that is what makes a lack of contentment
An indicator of a carnal heart.
And that is why Jesus uses it here in His famous Sermon.
And having already seen the problems of wealth,
This morning we look at the sin of worry.
And this morning Jesus gives us three truths about worry.
#1 WHAT WORRY REVEALS
Matthew 6:25-26, 28-30
When you read the passage you see that Jesus
Immediately links this concept to the previous one.
“For this reason”
Jesus has just said that you cannot serve God and wealth.
It is impossible.
“For this reason I say to you, do not be worried”
And so it is obvious that worrying about money
Is a type of service to wealth.
If you spend time fretting or worrying or dwelling
On what you do not have, it is obvious that wealth
Has become a sort of master that has consumed you.
Clearly put.
The presence of worry indicates
That you are serving the wrong master.
Now you will also notice that the passage we study today
Indicates worrying about three different things.
(25) “do not be worried about your life as to what you will eat or what you drink”
We could probably sum this up as concern for basic necessities.
We all know that the human body has to eat and has to drink.
We can’t go long without them.
And because they are necessary for life to continue,
We tend to focus on them more than we should.
(25) “do not be worried…for your body, as to what you will put on.”
And we could also throw this into a basic need category
Since we do require covering to survive as well.
But also in this mix is a concept of vanity,
In which we tend to want more and better clothing.
(25) “do not worry about tomorrow”
This is really the combination of the two,
Only here the problem has really escalated.
This indicates a person who has food and covering for today,
But doesn’t know where it is coming from tomorrow.
All three of which Jesus tells us not to do.
For if we are worried about any of these things
It indicates that we are serving the wrong master.
But let’s get more specific about what it reveals.
1) A LOVE OF SELF (25)
After telling us what not to worry about, notice His subtle rebuke.
“Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?”
In other words, what do you think the purpose of life is?
What do you think the purpose of your body is?
Do you think your only objective for this life is to preserve it?
Do you think your only objective for this body is to cover it?
That is an animal mentality.
A wild beast will live with those passions and desires.
They live to eat, and they live to find shelter from the weather.
What is the purpose of your life?
What is the purpose of your body?
We can look at what Scripture says about our life.
Colossians 3:3-4 “For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.”
Remember this passage?
Philippians 1:21 “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.”
How about this one?
Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”
And you understand, that this life is about far more
Than just self-preservation.
We are not here just to figure out how to stay alive.
Does it not strike you that this life is for a greater purpose?
Romans 14:7-9 “For not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself; for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.”
This life is not about us, it is about Him.
This life is but a small opportunity to please Him, and to glorify Him,
And to lead others to Him.
If all we do in this life is prolong it,
Then we have drastically missed the point.
HOW ABOUT THE BODY?
What is the purpose of the body?
Is it just to cover it?
Is it to keep it from pain?
Is it to exercise it and sculpt it into something beautiful?
What does Scripture say?
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.”
Scripture says that the purpose of this body is for us to glorify God.
Remember this passage?
Romans 12:1 “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.”
That is why Paul said:
1 Corinthians 9:27 “but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.”
This body is the means by which we live this life for the glory of God.
2 Corinthians 5:8-9 “we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him.”
And so we know why God gave us life.
We know why God gave us a body.
But the person who lives only for the preservation of that life
Or the comfort of that body indicates a backward attitude.
That person is not serving God, that person is serving self
And they reveal that because instead of worrying about the things of God,
They are worried about how they will preserve life and comfort the body.
Worry reveals a love for self.
2) A LACK OF FAITH (26, 28-30)
Now notice the two examples Jesus gives.
(26) “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.”
And again Jesus is not condemning work, work is of God.
Jesus is condemning worry.
And birds are not worried, for God feeds them.
Then notice the question.
“Are you not worth much more than they?”
I mean, let’s just see things logically for a moment.
Birds don’t share the gospel,
Birds don’t feed the poor,
Birds don’t comfort the bereaved.
In the grand scheme of things birds are expendable,
But humans aren’t.
God has chosen to use humans in His great work of redemption.
We are more valuable than birds.
Yet, if God feeds the birds, don’t you think God will feed us?
Look at the next example.
(28) “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.”
And then here comes the logic.
(30) “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?”
And what logic!
Now I’m guessing that everyone in here buys paper towels.
They are certainly useful, we like them.
But how many of you wash your paper towels in order to reuse them?
None, because they are a dime a dozen, and they won’t last.
But not so with your real towels. We wash them until there is barely any towel left. There were times growing up that I had to put 3 towels together just to keep them from being see through.
The point is that we don’t put much energy into what won’t last,
But we put much greater energy into the things that will.
And God does the same.
He puts far more greater energy into the things that last
Versus the things that won’t.
And if God would clothe grass which is here today and gone tomorrow,
Then how much more would God take care of an eternal human being?
And so to worry about it, reveals what you think about God.
• Either you think God has His priorities all mixed up.
• Or you think God doesn’t know any better.
• Or you think God just doesn’t care about you.
All three indicate a lack of faith in God,
And that is why Jesus says, “You of little faith!”
And I don’t know if you’ve ever realized this or not,
But worry is a slap in the face to God.
Worry is an extreme lack of faith.
How many of you with kids, when you get in the car, do your kids grill you about having enough gas, or about knowing where you are going?
No, they climb in go to sleep, wake up and ask if we are there yet.
They trust you.
But we often don’t afford such trust to God.
Remember the children of Israel?
Exodus 15:24 “So the people grumbled at Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?”
Exodus 16:3 “The sons of Israel said to them, ” Would that we had died by the LORD’S hand in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat, when we ate bread to the full; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”
Numbers 21:5 “The people spoke against God and Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this miserable food.”
Folks, when we worry about those things,
It sends a message to God that either we don’t think He can
Or we don’t think He will.
One insults His power, the other insults His love.
And so we see what worry reveals about us.
It reveals a love of self
It reveals a lack of faith
That is what worry reveals.
#2 WHAT WORRY ACCOMPLISHES
Matthew 6:27
Stuck in the middle of the passage we just studied,
Jesus throws in a little more logic.
(27) “And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?”
In other words, even if you are consumed with preserving this life,
Do you suppose that worry will help you do that?
What doctor has ever said “We have found that a healthy diet, daily exercise, and ample amounts of time spent in worry have been found effective to add years to the average person’s life”?
On the contrary, doctors will tell you that stress is not good for you.
When is the last time you ever visited someone ill in the hospital and said, “I think the only thing that will save you is if you would start worrying.”
I mean you get the point.
Worry accomplishes nothing.
Remember Martha?
Luke 10:41 “But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things;”
Martha was worried, but the meal wasn’t going any faster as a result.
That is why Paul said:
Philippians 4:6 “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”
Worry accomplishes nothing, so you might as well not do it.
What Worry Reveals
What Worry Accomplishes
#3 WHAT WORRY CAUSES
Matthew 6:31-34
Here again Jesus states the command not to worry.
“Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’”
“For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things”
There is another one of those indicator statements again.
A godless world seeks the things of the world.
Again Jesus reminds that worry reveals a love of self.
And again worry reveals a lack of faith.
“for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.”
Jesus has just reiterated His point.
Worry indicates a love of self and a lack of faith.
It accomplishes nothing, so trust God.
(33) “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
Here is the passion of a child of God.
Here is the heart of Jesus.
If you want to be worried about something,
• Then worry about the millions of souls headed to hell.
• Be worried about righteousness.
• Be worried about growing God’s kingdom.
WE CALL IT PRIORITY
A natural man seeks natural things,
But a spiritual man is more concerned with spiritual things.
“Seek first”
“His kingdom and His righteousness”
And God will take care of all those other things.
Remember the passage Jesus quoted during His temptation?
Deuteronomy 8:2-6 “You shall remember all the way which the LORD your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. “He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD. “Your clothing did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years. “Thus you are to know in your heart that the LORD your God was disciplining you just as a man disciplines his son. “Therefore, you shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him.”
God wants you to know that He provides,
Because God doesn’t want you spending your short time
In the body worrying about food.
He wants you to spend your short time in the body on mission for Him.
And yet how many of us forsake or neglect our spiritual mission on a daily basis because we are too worried about meeting our own physical needs.
We got so consumed with worldly needs that we forget why we are here.
Oh, we could take off and go…
Oh, we could take off and serve…
Oh, we could give more of what I have…
But if I do that, “I’m worried that I might not have enough when I need it.”
(34) “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will take care of itself. Each day has enough troubles of its own.”
The point is God has put you here to serve Him today,
But you can’t serve Him today
If you are constantly worried about tomorrow.
And that is the danger of worry.
It causes us to miss our mission.
It causes us to fail to store treasure in heaven.
And that is why Jesus calls worry a sin.
• Worry REVEALS a love of self and a lack of faith.
• Worry ACCOMPLISHES nothing.
• Worry CAUSES us to miss what really matters.
“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?”
