Matthew 6:25-34
The Rev. Dr. Robert S. Langworthy, preaching
September 15, 2024
Because Jesus loves us, He wants us to live a life free of anxiety. In both the initial verse and the concluding verse of this section of the Sermon on the Mount, He urges His followers to “not worry”.
Because Jesus is wise as well as loving, He reveals the key for growing serene in spirit and free of anxiety.
Deep and enduring inner peace results, not from a release from striving, but from a resolve to strive for the right things. Freedom from anxiety becomes ours just to the extent that we “strive first for the kingdom of God and His righteousness” – that is, just to the extent that we make God’s rule and the realization of His good and just will our foremost concern.
Jesus starts out this section with a command: “Therefore, do not worry!” Now, what is that word “therefore” there for? To refer us to what He’s just been teaching us to do in the previous section! If we make God the dearest treasure of our heart, the central focus of our eye, and the chief allegiance of our life, we’re ready to enjoy an anxiety-free existence.
This means that inner peace comes to us, not by our pursuing directly, but by our pursuing something else ahead of it: namely, glorifying and obeying. Inner peace arrives as a by-product of our making serving God our foremost goal in life.
Jesus’ prioritizing this spiritual orientation does not keep Him from making some common sense points about worry. First, worrying is not helpful. “Can any of you,” He asks, “by worrying add a single hour to your span of life?” Second, worrying is illogical. If you believe God lovingly gave you your life and your body in the first place, wouldn’t you trust God to lovingly provide for them their necessities: food, drink and clothing? After all, God faithfully takes care of the birds of the air and the lilies of the field; and, according to Matthew 10, each of us is to God of “more value than many sparrows”. Third, worrying gets us off track. For to be anxious is to “worry about tomorrow”, and that concentration on future possibilities distracts us from present responsibilities. Jesus reminds us that handling today’s challenges is just about all we can handle, saying, “Today’s trouble is enough for today.”
Yet, beyond all His common sense points, Jesus stresses His primary spiritual point: we need to make serving God our everything that we might lack nothing. All things will be given to those who keep God their main thing and strive first for His kingdom and righteousness. By contrast, anxiety feeds on misplaced priorities, and worries breed with our being engrossed with things that, while important, are not as important as God. When we don’t let the Supreme Being have the supreme place in our life, we end up majoring in the minors of life, getting caught up in the thick of thin things, and becoming discombobulated by trying to “have it all”. To make things worse, we thereby devote to less reliable and satisfying things time, energy and attention they don’t deserve; and as a result steal from God the time, energy and attention He deserves.
If we’re preoccupied with food and clothing when our physical survival is not at risk (say, in a famine), we’re giving in to the illusion that bodily well-being matters most, when we’re meant for higher purposes that do in fact merit our prime focus and top effort.
Yes, it’s appropriate stewardship of the body God has given us to take care of our physical needs. For, just as the birds of the air whom God “feeds” must do their part and hunt seeds and insects, and the lilies of the field whom God “clothes” with glory must do their part and send out roots through the soil, we too must do our part and collaborate with God to obtain our necessities. For God refuses to do it all for us, and wants us to use the abilities He’s given us to fulfill His good intentions for us – and for any who are under-nourished or ill-clad.
Here is the truth: In this sin-sick world, sometimes even very faithful followers of Jesus, such as Christians today in the south Sudan, want for adequate food and clothing. Just as some lilies of the field wither in a draught and some birds of the air freeze in a cold snap, so some of God’s people lack basic necessities for thriving and even just surviving. Though Jesus urges us to be free of anxiety, He never promises immunity from deprivation. But this we must bear in mind: When He lets us be deprived, it is a disguised means by which He loves us well and take care of us faithfully.
The wise followers of Jesus accept deprivation with faith-based serenity, because they’re aware that God’s loving ways are often mysterious to us and that often deprivation can accelerate our sanctification. For example, when we are deprived of good, it is a good opportunity to develop a more tender, compassionate and generous heart – which, in turn, enables us to be of more help to others in need. Wise Christians make peace with their own deprivation and difficulties because they strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and appreciate how enduring the pain of doing without can precipitate their knowing God better and their better approximating the character and conduct of Jesus.
Joni Eareckson Tada, who has for decades suffered paralysis from the neck down and excruciating chronic pain in her hips and back, is wise like that. She no longer prays to be healed, but to meet the Healer in her pain. She no longer seeks deliverance from suffering but interaction with the Deliverer who suffers with her in it.
Noting that “fear only makes everything worse”, Joni accepts without anxiety her hellish circumstances as something that a loving God has allowed to happen, for her blessing and the blessing of others through her. When the worst pain comes upon her, she receives it bravely in trust of God’s keeping it from utterly crushing her and using it to press her close to His heart, where she experiences intimate fellowship with God in His sweet, if sometimes severe, grace.
Though Joni, with deliberate irony, describes her pain as so searing and harrowing as to make her paralysis feel “like a walk in the park”, she gratefully embraces her pain for how it catalyzes for her a more vibrant, empowering connection with God that expands her empathy and effectiveness in lifting up others who suffer, whether they do so in hip, head or heart. She has made peace with her difficulty and deprivation.
Like Joni, and like David in the 23rd Psalm, we can come to “fear no evil” eventually. We can more and more live free of anxiety, however dire our circumstances may become. For, if we strive first for God’s kingdom and righteousness – that is, if we keep God and our friendship with Him what we most want – we will in a real sense know no want.
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