Sermon Tone Analysis

Matthew 6:24-34

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Introduction

Well, I finally found something that I am good at.

I don’t enjoy it, but I seem to do it quite often.

I often do it at 4:00 in the morning.

I wake up and suddenly my mind is filled with things that I have to figure out right then.

Sometimes I even do it in my dreams.

I have sometimes had the strangest dreams, particularly before I preach.

In the dream, I stand up to preach and my notes are all mixed up and what I have to say makes no sense.

What am I talking about?

I am talking about worry and I am an expert.

This is a strange area of expertise for anyone who believes in God because I have no reason to worry, knowing that God is able and loves me, but that doesn’t stop me from worrying.

I suspect that I am not alone in this.

Having talked to you, I have come to the impression that at certain times, all of us worry.

I agree with Augsburger who says, “We find it easier to feel secure with things that we can control and, when something is beyond our control, we worry.”

This morning, I want to tell you what the Bible has to say about worry.

I can give you the whole message in two words - “Don’t Worry!”

Of course, just because I can give you the message in two words, that isn’t going to stop me from talking about it for the next 25 minutes or so.

We need to do more than hear the command, we need to meditate on why we shouldn’t worry and we need to think about strategies to combat worry.

Matthew 6:24-34 helps us do that, so let’s read the text and think about what it teaches.

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I.                   Why We Shouldn’t Worry

This text begins by commanding us not to worry, but it does more than that.

It also helps us understand why it is unnecessary.

!! A.                 Because We Are Worth More than Birds

Jesus begins by inviting us to look at the birds.

He is not just inviting us to enjoy their flight patterns, admire their colors or watch them interact at a feeding station.

Jesus is inviting us to pay close attention to their life.

How they live has a lesson for us about worry.

I have a bird feeder in my back yard, which I have set up so that when I sit in my favorite chair in the living room, I can see it.

I enjoy watching the birds, especially when three or four different kinds are all vying for a place to get a seed.

They work hard.

They take one seed, fly off to a nearby tree, eat it and then come back to get one more seed.

They work hard, but what they don’t do is make a pile of seeds in a tree somewhere so that they will have enough to eat for tomorrow.

They only eat enough for today and tomorrow they will do the same thing again.

Jesus says, “…they do not sow or reap or store way in barns.”

Every day they are dependent on the Father in heaven to provide for them and every day the Father in heaven feeds them.

Barclay says, “There is not to be found in them man’s straining to see a future which he cannot see, and man’s seeking to find security in things stored up and accumulated against the future.”

This cannot be said of every animal.

Squirrels, bees and ants all store food for later, but birds do not.

Matthew Henry says, “…they make no provision for the future themselves, and yet every day, as duly as the day comes, provision is made for them, and their eyes wait on God, that great and good Housekeeper, who provides food for all flesh.”

The Bible communicates God’s care of His creatures in many places.

Psalm 145:15, 16 says, "The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food at the proper time.

You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing."

But what is really wonderful is that among all the creatures which God provides for, human beings have a special place.

Jesus puts it this way, “Are you not much more valuable than they?”

Worry is totally unnecessary because when we look at the whole world we see that God looks after all His creatures.

At the top of the creatures which God has made is the human creature.

God has made us in His image and has initiated a relationship with us through Jesus.

When we consider all of that we understand why we are more valuable than the birds and why we can be assured that if God takes care of the birds, He will also take care of us.

It is not necessary to worry because of God’s care, so don’t worry!

!! B.                 Because It Is Useless

I would like to do an experiment this morning.

I would like to invite some children to come to the front for this experiment.

There is a magic method for growth called “think up.”

How it works is that you think really hard about getting taller and in a few moments you will be taller.

We will measure you before and after to see how much change there has been.

We all knew this was silly and that it wouldn’t work, but we do something very similar whenever we worry.

Jesus is very humorous when he says in Matthew 6:27, "Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?"

The actual word for “hour” in the Greek text is actually cubit which is a measure of distance whereas the word life is a measure of time.

This makes it a little difficult to translate.

If it was translated “cubit to his stature,” as it is in KJV, that would be a ridiculously large amount of height to grow.

Most have translated it “hour to his life” and that is probably the sense.

Kind of like when we talk about birthdays being mileposts along the path of life.

What it means is that worry isn’t going to allow you to take half a step more in life.

Not only does worry not help us extend our life, the opposite is actually the case.

Many studies have shown that worry actually contributes to a reduction of lifespan.

WebMD reports, “When worrying becomes excessive, it can lead to feelings of high anxiety and even cause you to be physically ill.”

Healthy.lifestyle

reports “Continuous worrying, emotional stress, too much of anxiety – all of these can have a heavy toll on your physical health...including muscle tension, premature coronary artery disease, short-term memory loss, digestive problems, suppression of the natural immune system and heart attack.”

So another reason that we should not worry is that it is at best useless and at worst harmful.

So don’t worry because it doesn’t help at all.

!! C.                 Because God Cares For Us

One of the most beautiful things in God’s creation is flowers.

I have often marveled as I have been on a hike or driven along the road at the sheer variety of shapes and colors of wild flowers.

It is incredible!

There are some gardens, even in our community, which are so beautiful that when they are at their height they are visited by people from all over who come and see their beauty.

My favorite flowers are tiger lilies which we have in abundance on the south side of our house and when they are blooming, I often go just to admire them.

Our text talks about their beauty as surpassing that of Solomon.

Solomon was the richest king mentioned in the Bible.

Even the Queen of Sheba was impressed when she went to visit him.

Yet Jesus says, that in comparison to the flowers Solomon’s great splendor was nothing.

For all that beauty which the flowers have, however, as we look around today, we do not see very many flowers out there.

Most of them have frozen, or dried up or been taken out of the garden.

In Biblical times, plants were used, when they dried up, to provide a quick burning fuel for their ovens.

Although flowers have incredible beauty they also have an extremely short lifespan.

Once again, Jesus used this lesson to point out that if God makes the flowers which have such a short lifespan that beautiful, won’t he also provide what we need?

Worry is not necessary because God is taking care of us!

*            *One thought which may arise in connection with this is that since the flowers don’t work and God provides for them, does that teach that we shouldn’t work?

Of course we know from other passages of the Bible that that would be an inaccurate interpretation.

We must work, but there is a difference between anxious toil and meaningful, joyful labor.

We are called to work for the joy of work, taking responsibility and being wise, but not to labor under stress and with worry.

If we do worry the conclusion which Jesus makes is that we are people of little faith.

When we worry, with the knowledge of God’s care for us the truth of the matter is that we don’t believe in God.

We don’t believe that God is powerful.

I was reading in Psalm 114 this week that God is able to bring forth water from the rock.

We know that God created the whole world, why won’t we believe that He is able to meet our needs.

His power is not a limiting factor.

We don’t believe that God cares.

Yet Romans 8:32 says, "He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?"

We have this powerful demonstration that God loves us very much and if we have this demonstration that God loves us that much, how can we doubt that He will care for us in every other way as well?