Anxious for Nothing
Luke • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Introduction
Introduction
In Genesis 37, Joseph was sold by his brothers to a caravan of Ishmaelites and he was taken to Egypt and sold into slavery to Potiphar. After being accused of rape, Joseph was thrown into a dungeon where he eventually met two men who had been in service to the Pharaoh. One was a baker and the other a cupbearer. Both had dreams and Joseph by the power of God was able to interpret those dreams, and they both came true just as Joseph had said. The baker was executed, but the cupbearer was restored to service.
After a couple of years, Pharaoh had a dream and needed an interpretation. The cupbearer remembered Joseph’s abilities and so Pharaoh called for him. He warned the Pharaoh that he would have seven years of plenty and seven years of terrible famine. He ought to begin storing up the crops now so that Egypt would survive the famine that was to come.
Except the survival of Egypt was not God’s plan. Egypt’s survival was simply a by-product—a side effect—of God’s actual plan. Does anyone know what God’s plan was? It was the survival of his people.
And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors.
We see that God has the uncanny ability to sovereignly direct the lives and affairs of the people in the Old Testament, but fail to believe and live as though he has that same ability in our own lives.
But we’re in good company, because almost everyone has a hard time believing that. Even Joseph’s brothers couldn’t really wrap their minds around it. Certainly the Israelites in the wilderness couldn’t believe it. How many times do we see them grumbling about not having food or water or something else? How many times did they want to go back to Egypt where they living the high life of slavery?!
The young man that Matt preaching about last week, who asked Jesus to be an arbitrator between his brother and himself, seems to have had a hard time with this idea. The guy in Jesus’s parable who wanted to tear down his barns had a difficult time with this idea. And yes, Jesus’s disciples also seemed to have struggled with this. Because what we read today, is Jesus’s instruction to his disciples.
In this section of Luke, Jesus commands his disciples—those who desired to be like him in their thoughts, actions, and words—to stop being anxious and he gives three mindset shifts as to how to overcome worry and/or anxiety. And I say this understanding that not all anxiety is the same. There are some who deal with anxiety due to trauma of the past. And so there is a physiological aspect there that Jesus is not dealing with in this text. So, I get that there are caveats, but I do believe that what Jesus says can still be helpful. And I am cautious to even bring this up as the is often the pull of the heart and mind to hear a caveat and all of us put ourselves into it though most of us don’t belong there.
So there are three shifts in mindsets that Jesus gives to us.
The first mindset in need of a shift is our psycho-somatic mindset.
The second is our theological mindset.
Finally, the mindset that must shift is our cardiological mindset.
Three mindsets that we must shift to overcome worry and/or anxiety are:
Our psycho-somatic mindset
Our theological mindset
Our cardiological mindset
And he said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on.
For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing.
Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds!
And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?
If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest?
Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith!
And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried.
For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them.
Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you.
“Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys.
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
Our Psycho-Somatic Mindset Must Shift
Our Psycho-Somatic Mindset Must Shift
The first shift that Jesus tells us to make if we ever hope to overcome our worry and/or anxiety (and I am going to use those two terms as synonymous here on out, though I know that there are nuances of differences). That first mindset that must shift is our psycho-somatic mindset.
Some of us have probably never heard of that term before. That’s okay. It comes from two Greek words. The first is psyche which simply means soul or life. Psychology is the study of the soul or the inner being. The second word is soma which means body. So when we use the term psycho-somatic, we are really talking about the body and soul of a person. We are psycho-somatic beings. We have both soul and body.
You may have heard someone say (or maybe you said yourself), that when a person dies, that’s not so and so, it’s only his body or it’s only a shell of who she was, is completely unbiblical. It’s more gnostic than biblical. God created us both body and soul and will return our souls to our bodies upon Christ’s return. And if we’ve ever said or thought this about the body simply being a shell, it already shows that we need a shift in our psycho-somatic mindsets.
But that’s not where Jesus was going. Instead, he wants us to shift our mindsets away from thinking so lowly and basely about our souls and bodies. If you look in verse 22, you see that he said—specifically to his disciples—that they were not to be anxious about their lives. That is their psyche. They need not be anxious about their being. And then he says that they ought not worry about their bodies (soma).
Our beings are more than food and clothing. Which means that we are set apart from everything else in this world. And to point this out, Jesus gave two examples.
He tells his disciples to consider the ravens. They don’t sow and they don’t store up food. If we aren’t careful, we will separate this from the parable that he just gave. Look back at verse 22. Do you see the word, “Therefore”? Jesus literally said, “Because of this.” Therefore/Because of what happened in this parable, I am telling you not to be anxious.
The rich fool figured that life was just about food—having enough to eat. If that were true, then he need not build barns. He need not sow seed. He and me and you are no better than the ravens if life is just about food. In fact, we’re worse off than the ravens because we need to sow seed and build barns.
The second example is about the lilies. We are to consider the lilies. If life were just about clothing, then we are no better than the lilies. In fact, the lilies are better off than we are because they don’t have to work for a living to buy clothing. They don’t spend time spinning yarn or weaving or knitting or crocheting. We do!
The ravens don’t need to think about these things, let alone worry about these things! The lilies never think about clothing, let alone worry about it! We, however do have to think about these things. But! We don’t have to worry about them. Why?
Because our lives are much more important than the lives of birds or lilies or food or clothing. Did you notice as we were reading, how many times Jesus used comparative ideas?
Verse 23 - the life is more than food and the body more than clothing (technically, in the original, the more than is implied)
Verse 24 - how much more valuable are you than birds
Verse 28 - how much more will God clothe you
Jesus either directly or indirectly states that you and I are much more valuable than the things of this world. Our Father care more about you and more about me than he does the birds or the plants or anything else.
So how does the mindset need to shift? We need to see and know and believe that we are not just here to take up space. We’re not just here to eat and drink and buy stuff until we die. He has given us a mission (which I’ll talk about later on). He has given us a purpose.
Jesus says here that you are not a waste of space. You’re not just here to eat and drink for tomorrow you die. That’s the raven. That’s the grass of the field that grows one day and is thrown into the furnace the next. That’s not you.
If you’re out there with your nose to the grindstone and hustling and it is all about food and clothes and houses and consuming, then you’re living with the same mindset and standard as the world.
Luke 12:29–30 (ESV)
And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried.
For all the nations of the world seek after these things. . .
There are many people—including Christians—who have this kind of mindset. They grew up poor and they will never live that way again. They lost their job and there’s no way they will go through that again. So they grow anxious and worried about the temporal. After all, if they don’t focus on these things, who will?
Our Theological Mindset Must Shift
Our Theological Mindset Must Shift
And this takes us to the second mindset that needs to change. The first is that our psycho-somatic mindset needs to change. Our being—soul and body—is more than the temporary features this world is offering, no matter how important they may be to our survival. We must elevate our psycho-somatic mindset. But the second one is that we need to shift our theological mindset.
As I said, we often get into the habit of thinking that if I don’t focus on my needs, who will? And the answer is God will.
Let’s go back. Who is it that feeds the ravens even though they can’t sow or reap or build storehouses or barns? Who makes sure that these ravens get fed. On a scale of one to ten of importance, these ravens land much closer to a one. We’re up there around the 9 area. The only one who gets a 10 is the Triune God. But we’re up there in our importance to God.
That being said, I want us to change gears. This is not a man-centric sermon, though it might sound like it is up to this point. But in reality, this is very much God-centered. Because while we must realize our true value, we also must realize that we are weak. We are finite.
Notice what Jesus says in
And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?
If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest?
Earlier this week, I read an article about a billionaire named Bryan Johnson. This guy spends more than $2 million a year on his health. He not only eats healthily and goes to bed every night at 8:30. He takes 111 pills every day and monitors everything about himself to make sure he is in optimum health. And that means being as healthy, if not more, than an average 18 year old. He’s 47. In fact, up until recently, he was injecting himself with his teenage son’s plasma. Why? Because he already saw his own health was not great and he saw loved ones go through degenerative cognitive illnesses.
He is anxious about his life and he hopes that his anxiety will lengthen it. But it won’t.
Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.
It is God who has written the number of our days. We can’t do one thing to change it. All the actions that our worrying causes us to do amount to nothing. Why? Because we are not the sovereign God of the universe. We can’t lengthen our time on this earth at all.
Stop for a moment and think about how freeing that can be! Your worrying, my worrying, will not keep us alive a moment longer than God has already ordained. Your worrying, my worrying, will not keep our families alive one moment longer than God has already ordained. What is Jesus saying here?
He’s saying, take that weight off your mind. Take the burden off of your shoulders. You don’t have to carry the world around on your shoulders. You weren’t meant to. You’re not God. You don’t have to be. You’ve got a God who loves you and care about you. The little kids song got it right!
“He’s got you and me, brother, in his hands.
He’s got you and me, sister, in his hands.
He’s got you and me, brother, in his hands.
He’s got the whole world in his hands.”
If I can’t add a single measurement of time to my life, and you’d think that would be pretty easy. Eat right. Don’t drink too much. Get enough sleep. Take 111 pills a day. Inject some young man’s plasma into my veins. If my anxiety can’t bring about an extra hour in my lifespan, then my anxiety is too weak and powerless to do me any good whatsoever.
But! God is not too weak. He is not too powerless. He is God Almighty! He is sovereign God. Again, the kid’s song got it right.
“My God is so big, so strong, and so mighty.
There’s nothing my God cannot do.”
That’s what Jesus is getting at. This is the theological mindset that needs to shift. We must see that God is capable and will come through.
Who is it that feeds the ravens? God. What’s the implication? You’re much more valuable to God than these ravens. If he feeds them. He’ll feed you.
Who is it that clothes the lilies and grass in such fine array? God is. What’s the direct statement Jesus makes (it’s not even an implication; he says it!): God will clothe you!
No need to have the mindset of the world. Why? Because God already has it on his radar. You and I don’t know what we need or when we need or how much we need. But God does.
For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them.
I want us to see something here. The word “your” in “your Father,” is the emphatic word here. It’s kind of bizarre. It’s the first word in the clause. We might expect Father to be the first word. But it’s “your.” Your Father. He’s personal. He’s loving. He cares. He’s your Father. He’s got your back.
You don’t need to worry about anything because your Father is way ahead of you and know what you need.
Some of you here may need to shift your mindset on who God is and/or what he is willing to do for his children. And it is not just that he is begrudgingly obligated to do it. He delights in doing it.
“Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
King Ahasuerus told Esther that he’d give her up to half his kingdom. Herod did the same to Salome. These were expressions of delight. Jesus isn’t just giving an expression. He’s giving the truth. He will give you the kingdom. He will give us, his children the kingdom. And it would please him to do so.
These are the same words that the Father used when referring to Jesus at his baptism: this is my beloved Son in whom I am well-pleased. In this case, “good pleasure” is the emphatic word here! He is well pleased to give you the kingdom.
God delights in “worrying” about us. He delights in caring for us. He delights in doing and giving us what we cannot do and give ourselves.
Do you know that? Have you taken it to heart?
Our Cardiological Mindset Must Shift
Our Cardiological Mindset Must Shift
Which takes us to our last shift. We must shift our psycho-somatic mindset as well as our theological mindset. But we must also sift our cardiological mindset.
So long as our hearts are focused on our the temporary matters of this world, we cannot focus them fully on Kingdom matters. This is one reason why Paul didn’t want people to get married.
I want you to be free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord.
But the married man is anxious about worldly things, how to please his wife,
and his interests are divided. And the unmarried or betrothed woman is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit. But the married woman is anxious about worldly things, how to please her husband.
Now, Paul wrote that it was not a sin to get married. But it does divide the interests. The same is true for anything that our hearts become fixated on—anything that our hearts become anxious about.
One cannot focus on the kingdom and food at the same time. One cannot focus on the kingdom and drink at the same time. One cannot focus on the kingdom and clothing at the same time. One cannot focus on the kingdom and whatever causes them anxiety at the same time. The anxiety is the squeaky wheel that gets the grease. It gets the attention.
Jesus tells us, do not set your hearts on these temporal matters.
Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you.
Too many people are worried about being so heavenly minded that they are of no earthly good. That’s not how it works. Those who give such an impression are still focusing their hearts on temporal matters and not eternal, heavenly ones. They may be focused on the knowledge of the heavenly or perhaps some other metaphysical study, but that’s not the same thing.
A heavenly-minded, kingdom minded, person is one who does the most earthly good! Look what a person is willing to do, when they aren’t worried about food or drink or clothing.
Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys.
Remember the promise Jesus made? The Father is pleased to give us the kingdom. If we were to look at Matthew 25, we would find Jesus on his throne and welcoming his people into the kingdom. Why? Because they were faithful to the kingdom and its mission. In what way? The fed Jesus when he was hungry. They gave him to drink when he was thirsty. They welcomed him when he was a stranger. They clothed him when he was naked. They visited him when he was sick. They went to him when he was in prison.
Do you remember what Jesus said would be asked after he welcomes them in such a way? They will ask, “When did we do all of that.”
And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’
You may think that our mission is not to do all of that. You may think that the mission is the gospel. But that’s only part of the mission. The mission is the kingdom!
It is the gospel that propels us to kingdom work. It is the gospel that reorients our hearts towards God’s heart. Our cardiological mindset must shift away from our kingdoms and onto Christ’s kingdom. It must shift from us and onto heaven and its rewards.
How? By ceasing to be concerned about your stuff in this life. That’s it. Like it or not. When you and I shift our focus away from the food and drink and clothes and stuff that thieves can steal and moth destroy, and shift it onto that which can never fail, we will find our worries melt away.
Our worries/anxieties reveal something about us. They reveal where our hearts are focused. They reveal what we treasure the most.
Are we worried about food? Then we treasure eating. Are we worried about what we will wear? Then it shows that we treasure being fashionable or what others may think. Are we worried about our children? Then it shows that we treasure our children.
And you may be saying, “Chris! They are our children! Of course, we treasure them!” And my response would be, I get that. I have five of my own. But we cannot add to their lives one moment of time longer than what Almighty God has ordained. So let us love our children, but let us not treasure the things of this world. Let us store up treasures in heaven. Let us trust God’s holy and sovereign providence in every area of life that brings our anxiety by shifting our hearts away from the treasures of this world and onto the treasures of heaven.
Conclusion
Conclusion
As we finish up this section of Luke, I know I’ve said some hard things. Jesus said some hard things. I would encourage you to go home and think on what kind of mindsets you have.
How do you see yourself as a psycho-somatic (soul and body) being? Do you feel like a waste of space or do you feel valued and loved by your Father?
Does your theological mindset need to shift? Do you see God as your Father who is more than happy to give to you the kingdom if you would but seek it first? Do you see him as then one who is the only one who not only will focus on what concerns you, but also the only one who really has the power to do anything about it?
Where does your heart focus? It’s been said that one needs only pick up a person’s checkbook to see the answer. But in reality, it can easily be done by pointing out what worries you. That’s where your heart is. That’s your treasure.
If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit can and will shift every ungodly mindset that you have. He can and will remind you when you worry that God is already aware of that concern and is already at work. There is no need to worry. Treasure him. Treasure the kingdom. That’s why, beloved, it is so important not to quench or grieve the Spirit. Let him lead you into all righteousness.