WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.080 We hope that you enjoy this teaching from Christ Church. 00:00:05.719 --> 00:00:09.500 This material is copyrighted and no unauthorized duplication, 00:00:09.880 --> 00:00:15.280 redistribution, or any other use of any part is permitted without prior consent from Christ Church. 00:00:15.280 --> 00:00:22.640 Please consider donating to this work in the San Francisco Bay Area online at ChristChurchEastBay.org. 00:00:26.620 --> 00:00:29.780 Today's scripture reading is from the Gospel according to Matthew. 00:00:30.300 --> 00:00:34.439 Chapter 6, verses 24 through 34 is printed in the liturgy. 00:00:35.140 --> 00:00:37.560 This is a reading from the Gospel according to Matthew. 00:00:38.060 --> 00:00:39.859 No one can serve two masters. 00:00:40.019 --> 00:00:45.880 Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. 00:00:46.439 --> 00:00:48.620 You cannot serve both God and money. 00:00:49.120 --> 00:00:55.780 Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. 00:00:55.780 --> 00:01:00.120 Is not life more than food and the body more than clothes? 00:01:00.679 --> 00:01:02.079 Look at the birds of the air. 00:01:02.340 --> 00:01:08.320 They do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. 00:01:08.760 --> 00:01:11.879 Are you not much more valuable than they? 00:01:12.299 --> 00:01:16.460 Can any one of you, by worrying, add a single hour to your life? 00:01:16.879 --> 00:01:18.640 And why do you worry about clothes? 00:01:18.640 --> 00:01:21.219 See how the flowers of the field grow? 00:01:21.540 --> 00:01:23.079 They do not labor or spin. 00:01:23.599 --> 00:01:28.719 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 00:01:28.719 --> 00:01:35.920 So if that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, 00:01:36.379 --> 00:01:40.000 will he not much more clothe you, you of little faith? 00:01:40.400 --> 00:01:44.579 So do not worry, saying, what shall we eat or what shall we drink or what shall we wear? 00:01:45.039 --> 00:01:49.980 For the pagans run after all these things, and your Heavenly Father knows that you need them. 00:01:50.460 --> 00:01:56.420 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 00:01:56.420 --> 00:02:01.280 Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. 00:02:01.900 --> 00:02:04.320 Each day has enough trouble of its own. 00:02:04.799 --> 00:02:06.500 This is the gospel of the Lord. 00:02:07.260 --> 00:02:08.960 Praise to you, O Christ. 00:02:10.039 --> 00:02:12.379 Well, thank you, Tonya, for that scripture reading. 00:02:12.479 --> 00:02:13.120 Good morning, everyone. 00:02:13.360 --> 00:02:14.219 My name is Andrew. 00:02:14.719 --> 00:02:15.960 I'm one of the pastors here. 00:02:18.360 --> 00:02:21.099 And gung hai fachoi to those of you who celebrate. 00:02:22.000 --> 00:02:23.879 And also, go Niners, right? 00:02:24.319 --> 00:02:25.080 Go Niners. 00:02:25.080 --> 00:02:28.700 Will you pray with me as we open up God's word today? 00:02:31.820 --> 00:02:38.939 Oh, Lord, would you speak through me, through your word, to our hearts this morning. 00:02:39.100 --> 00:02:43.500 Free us from the dominion of worry and anxiety. 00:02:44.560 --> 00:02:50.660 And give us hearts that truly seek first your kingdom, your imperishable kingdom, 00:02:50.659 --> 00:02:55.299 your kingdom of peace and righteousness, we pray in the name of Jesus. 00:02:56.359 --> 00:02:56.639 Amen. 00:02:56.639 --> 00:03:02.419 So, you know, earlier this week, I was studying for this sermon, 00:03:02.579 --> 00:03:07.399 and I was reading one of the commentators I often consult for the book of Matthew. 00:03:07.839 --> 00:03:11.959 He's maybe a little bit more on the theologically liberal side of the spectrum. 00:03:12.519 --> 00:03:14.119 Sometimes I disagree with him. 00:03:14.419 --> 00:03:16.239 Other times, I think he hits it out of the park. 00:03:16.659 --> 00:03:19.639 But this week, he said something I definitely disagree with. 00:03:19.639 --> 00:03:24.319 This commentator, see, he was formerly a missionary in the Philippines, 00:03:24.459 --> 00:03:26.500 and he's seen extreme poverty. 00:03:27.419 --> 00:03:28.179 And what he said was, 00:03:28.919 --> 00:03:32.299 I would not preach this text to the poor. 00:03:33.399 --> 00:03:35.319 I would not preach this text to the poor. 00:03:35.419 --> 00:03:38.099 Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, 00:03:38.159 --> 00:03:39.699 or about your body, what you will wear. 00:03:39.699 --> 00:03:45.019 He was convinced that to preach this text to the poor would be just absolutely cruel. 00:03:46.179 --> 00:03:48.979 Now, while I certainly understand his reasoning, 00:03:49.199 --> 00:03:52.699 I have to respectfully disagree, because this is the word of God. 00:03:52.819 --> 00:03:55.359 Jesus' words are the words of life, 00:03:55.519 --> 00:04:00.000 and so they can and should be proclaimed to anybody and everybody, 00:04:00.339 --> 00:04:03.239 male and female, rich and poor, Christian or not. 00:04:04.319 --> 00:04:09.060 But I want to say that with extreme caution and sensitivity as well, 00:04:09.060 --> 00:04:11.420 because when we speak the words of Jesus, 00:04:12.099 --> 00:04:14.780 and how we speak the words of Jesus, it matters. 00:04:15.180 --> 00:04:16.959 It must be done with wisdom. 00:04:17.899 --> 00:04:21.300 Years ago, my brother-in-law, he's at this church in Fremont, 00:04:21.939 --> 00:04:25.399 and he told me about a pastoral situation that was going on. 00:04:25.500 --> 00:04:28.519 There was a young woman in their church struggling with anxiety. 00:04:29.300 --> 00:04:33.259 And she went to the wife of one of the pastors and said, 00:04:33.459 --> 00:04:35.220 you know, I'm struggling with anxiety. 00:04:35.420 --> 00:04:36.840 I'm just worrying about these things. 00:04:36.839 --> 00:04:42.379 And then the wife of the pastor, kind of unpastorally, 00:04:43.099 --> 00:04:45.779 pointed her to Paul's letter in Philippians chapter 4. 00:04:46.619 --> 00:04:50.000 And she said, hey, do not be anxious, right? 00:04:50.079 --> 00:04:51.439 Do not be anxious about anything, 00:04:51.599 --> 00:04:53.839 but in everything through prayer and supplication, 00:04:54.500 --> 00:04:56.919 with thanksgiving, present your request to God. 00:04:58.219 --> 00:05:00.959 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, 00:05:01.079 --> 00:05:03.339 will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus, right? 00:05:03.339 --> 00:05:05.560 You think the problem was solved right there? 00:05:06.879 --> 00:05:07.179 No. 00:05:07.659 --> 00:05:09.859 Basically, she said, stop being anxious, 00:05:09.959 --> 00:05:12.399 because that's disobeying God's word. 00:05:12.500 --> 00:05:13.299 So just stop it. 00:05:14.799 --> 00:05:16.339 I'm trying not to do that today. 00:05:17.099 --> 00:05:20.459 And I don't think that's what Jesus is doing here in the Gospel of Matthew. 00:05:20.459 --> 00:05:23.699 The Scriptures teach that Jesus was what? 00:05:23.719 --> 00:05:24.579 He was bold and prophetic. 00:05:24.739 --> 00:05:26.639 Sure, he was definitely confrontational. 00:05:26.879 --> 00:05:28.419 But he was also, what? 00:05:28.599 --> 00:05:30.879 Gentle and kind and inviting. 00:05:31.319 --> 00:05:32.919 He's described in the Scriptures as what? 00:05:32.979 --> 00:05:34.759 Full of grace and truth. 00:05:35.560 --> 00:05:36.620 So coming to our text today, 00:05:36.699 --> 00:05:40.579 while I disagreed with this liberal New Testament scholar that I read, 00:05:40.659 --> 00:05:44.019 I believe that our passage today is for everyone. 00:05:44.019 --> 00:05:49.099 But I also want to acknowledge that there are people in this room who I know 00:05:49.099 --> 00:05:53.939 are very concerned about some very serious things in their lives at this moment. 00:05:55.319 --> 00:05:56.339 Worried about rent. 00:05:56.899 --> 00:05:59.019 Worried about how your children are going to turn out. 00:05:59.479 --> 00:06:01.500 Worried about family members, employment. 00:06:02.099 --> 00:06:06.599 Maybe you have new and unexpected cost of living increases. 00:06:07.159 --> 00:06:09.899 There are a hundred things, a thousand things I'm sure that are plaguing us, 00:06:10.659 --> 00:06:12.199 worrying us here today. 00:06:12.199 --> 00:06:14.800 And the first thing that I want to say before we get into the message is that 00:06:14.800 --> 00:06:16.860 we're here for you as a church. 00:06:16.959 --> 00:06:18.339 Christ Church is here for you. 00:06:18.379 --> 00:06:21.560 Jonathan, myself, our elders, our deacons, we're here. 00:06:21.659 --> 00:06:26.120 We'd love to sit down with you, to listen to you, to pray for you after the service. 00:06:27.039 --> 00:06:28.019 That's what we're here to do. 00:06:28.079 --> 00:06:32.339 We even have a deacon fund here to provide temporary relief for those in need. 00:06:32.740 --> 00:06:36.699 In the past year, this deacons fund has helped people with rents, with their mortgages. 00:06:36.939 --> 00:06:40.339 We've helped provide daytime care for family members. 00:06:40.339 --> 00:06:43.619 We've also helped cover the cost of counseling for people in our church. 00:06:43.739 --> 00:06:47.119 This is a church that is here for you, especially if you are members. 00:06:47.259 --> 00:06:51.599 Please don't hesitate to reach out because your burdens are our burdens. 00:06:53.019 --> 00:06:57.459 But now, as it relates to our scripture reading this morning, what I'm trying to say is that 00:06:57.459 --> 00:07:02.819 the burden for me as a preacher of this text is to boldly preach the words of Jesus, telling 00:07:02.819 --> 00:07:03.919 us not to worry. 00:07:03.920 --> 00:07:09.240 But at the same time, the last thing I want to do is bash you over the head, right, with 00:07:09.240 --> 00:07:09.860 the words of Jesus. 00:07:10.300 --> 00:07:12.560 Hey, Jesus just says, don't worry, so stop it. 00:07:12.879 --> 00:07:13.140 All right? 00:07:13.660 --> 00:07:16.220 So what we're going to try to do is we're going to try to thread the needle, okay? 00:07:16.439 --> 00:07:20.379 Try to thread the needle to understand the heart and the words of Jesus. 00:07:21.460 --> 00:07:25.720 Now again, Jesus' command is his command to not worry. 00:07:26.200 --> 00:07:28.240 It's pretty silly if you think about it, right? 00:07:28.240 --> 00:07:31.480 Because, like, nobody wants to worry. 00:07:31.980 --> 00:07:34.699 This is a command that we actually all want to obey. 00:07:34.920 --> 00:07:36.199 Sure, I'd love to obey you, Jesus. 00:07:36.420 --> 00:07:38.980 Sure, I would love to never worry. 00:07:40.160 --> 00:07:42.759 But at the end of the day, it's hard, isn't it? 00:07:43.439 --> 00:07:44.699 We just can't, right? 00:07:45.300 --> 00:07:45.600 Why? 00:07:46.420 --> 00:07:50.800 Well, because there are truly some worrisome things in all of our lives, right? 00:07:51.639 --> 00:07:56.280 You know, while some people might look at Jesus' words here and interpret Christianity 00:07:56.279 --> 00:08:01.899 or religion in general as a crutch or some opiate for the masses, helping people hide 00:08:01.899 --> 00:08:06.799 from reality and take comfort in the lie that they don't need to worry about anything, I 00:08:06.799 --> 00:08:11.579 want to assure you that Christianity isn't some kind of religion that just beckons you 00:08:11.579 --> 00:08:14.119 to live in a fake, alternative reality. 00:08:14.199 --> 00:08:19.539 I would argue that Christianity is the most realistic about our hardships, all the hardships 00:08:19.539 --> 00:08:24.739 that we face, and the real reasons humans have to worry. 00:08:24.740 --> 00:08:30.100 The scriptures themselves acknowledge that we have reasonable reasons to worry. 00:08:30.180 --> 00:08:36.120 The story of the Bible is that because humanity has broken our relationship with God, turned 00:08:36.120 --> 00:08:43.100 our own way instead of His, we've now got tons to worry about, like death and suffering 00:08:43.100 --> 00:08:48.500 and how we're going to be reconciled to this holy, almighty God that we've strayed from and 00:08:48.500 --> 00:08:49.899 offended and rebelled against. 00:08:49.899 --> 00:08:54.240 Because Christianity is utterly realistic about why we worry. 00:08:54.699 --> 00:09:00.620 And at the same time, Jesus still has the audacity to say, do not worry. 00:09:01.559 --> 00:09:04.919 And filled with Christ's spirit, the Apostle Paul, he says, do not be anxious. 00:09:05.439 --> 00:09:06.860 He does say that, do not be anxious. 00:09:07.059 --> 00:09:10.419 And I mean, probably the most repeated command in the scriptures is what? 00:09:11.259 --> 00:09:12.039 Fear not. 00:09:12.039 --> 00:09:14.620 Do not be afraid. 00:09:14.939 --> 00:09:19.639 So how do we hold these two truths that we feel are real and necessary? 00:09:19.759 --> 00:09:26.459 How do we keep it real about our genuine worries and about the uncertainty and the hardships 00:09:26.459 --> 00:09:27.179 of life? 00:09:27.639 --> 00:09:31.480 And yet, how do we also follow Jesus' exhortation to not worry? 00:09:32.819 --> 00:09:33.699 How do we do that? 00:09:33.759 --> 00:09:35.039 That's the question for us today. 00:09:35.319 --> 00:09:38.599 That's a question all of us, like all of us, have to grapple with. 00:09:38.600 --> 00:09:42.159 Not just those of us who claim to follow Jesus, because I mean, even if you don't know what 00:09:42.159 --> 00:09:43.200 you think about Jesus, right? 00:09:43.940 --> 00:09:45.259 This is something you have to grapple with. 00:09:45.320 --> 00:09:46.779 You know that worry is real. 00:09:46.860 --> 00:09:47.879 It's a universal struggle. 00:09:48.080 --> 00:09:51.940 And yet, you also yearn for a day when you won't worry any longer. 00:09:52.000 --> 00:09:53.279 We all have to figure this out. 00:09:53.779 --> 00:09:55.840 So again, how do we hold these two things? 00:09:56.879 --> 00:10:01.340 Well, what I want to argue is that while God himself acknowledges that we truly have good 00:10:01.340 --> 00:10:08.600 reasons to worry, Jesus reminds us that we have even better reasons not to worry. 00:10:09.379 --> 00:10:11.519 So I want to spend some time talking about this. 00:10:11.580 --> 00:10:15.840 I want to talk about, you know, number one, the truly good reasons we do have to worry. 00:10:16.200 --> 00:10:20.060 And then number two, the even better reasons we have to not worry. 00:10:20.139 --> 00:10:22.340 So first, the truly good reasons we have to worry. 00:10:22.399 --> 00:10:26.000 Now again, God doesn't call us to ignore the things that worry us. 00:10:26.000 --> 00:10:29.919 Christianity isn't a pie in the sky, make-believe, pipe dream faith. 00:10:30.000 --> 00:10:34.460 It isn't some hakuna matata, positive psychology kind of hack, all right? 00:10:35.080 --> 00:10:39.840 Again, I would argue that Christianity acknowledges the things that worry us with more clarity than 00:10:39.840 --> 00:10:43.820 any other faith and even accounts for the things that worry us. 00:10:44.559 --> 00:10:51.360 I mean, in this story in which Jesus Christ is at the center, no other story better accounts 00:10:51.360 --> 00:10:53.019 for why we worry in the first place. 00:10:53.559 --> 00:10:55.440 Let's consider the history of worry, all right? 00:10:56.000 --> 00:11:01.000 See, according to the Christian tradition, we were made in the image of God, right? 00:11:01.759 --> 00:11:06.759 To be royal children of our Father in heaven, we were meant never to worry. 00:11:07.500 --> 00:11:13.759 In the beginning, humanity went on daily walks with God, calm and secure and intimate in the 00:11:13.759 --> 00:11:17.679 loving embrace of the Father in His luscious garden. 00:11:18.399 --> 00:11:22.720 And remember, we were just going for walks, not runs, not trying to maximize, get that high 00:11:22.720 --> 00:11:24.379 intensity workout in. 00:11:24.379 --> 00:11:28.120 No, we were just walking, strolling with our Father. 00:11:29.340 --> 00:11:35.679 Yesterday, before I, you know, got to my sermon, which was very much not finished, and also 00:11:35.679 --> 00:11:41.240 before I went into a five and a half hour meeting for work, I went for a walk with my youngest 00:11:41.240 --> 00:11:41.879 daughter, Leah. 00:11:41.879 --> 00:11:46.759 And we just held each other's hands, and we were just present with each other, and we 00:11:46.759 --> 00:11:49.500 stopped at a tree, and we looked at a squirrel. 00:11:50.779 --> 00:11:55.939 And we were just there and present to each other and to the tree and to the squirrel, unhurried 00:11:55.939 --> 00:11:57.139 and unworried. 00:11:58.279 --> 00:12:02.200 And there was just something right and good and pure about that moment, and I think that 00:12:02.200 --> 00:12:03.860 was a glimpse of the garden. 00:12:03.860 --> 00:12:10.560 But not only did we once walk with God, unhurried and unworried, but we also had a measure of 00:12:10.560 --> 00:12:10.840 control. 00:12:10.940 --> 00:12:12.519 We hadn't yet rebelled against God. 00:12:12.600 --> 00:12:17.440 The only command He'd given us was to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth with 00:12:17.440 --> 00:12:17.860 His glory. 00:12:17.960 --> 00:12:19.580 Basically, He said, flourish. 00:12:19.940 --> 00:12:21.080 Just flourish, guys. 00:12:21.080 --> 00:12:35.540 But see, worry and anxiety entered into creation as soon as we doubted the goodness of God. 00:12:36.240 --> 00:12:40.120 As soon as we doubted that God knew what was going to happen tomorrow, when He said, if 00:12:40.120 --> 00:12:41.900 you eat of that fruit, you will surely die. 00:12:42.139 --> 00:12:46.320 As soon as we doubted our tomorrows, doubted what was to come next, doubted whether God's 00:12:46.320 --> 00:12:51.440 way was the best way, as soon as we entertained this idea that God might be withholding something 00:12:51.440 --> 00:12:58.360 from us, keeping us from an even higher God-like status, that's when thorns and thistles and 00:12:58.360 --> 00:13:01.160 sweat and toil entered into our reality. 00:13:01.780 --> 00:13:08.740 That's when worry entered into our psyches, this anxiety-inducing threat of returning to 00:13:08.740 --> 00:13:09.600 the dust one day. 00:13:10.640 --> 00:13:14.420 And out of that worry, you have Adam and Eve's murderous son, Cain, right? 00:13:14.680 --> 00:13:15.140 And what does he do? 00:13:15.139 --> 00:13:20.100 He goes and he builds this city, not for the sake of cultivating creation or arriving at 00:13:20.100 --> 00:13:22.600 the new Jerusalem city, but for the sake of, what? 00:13:22.899 --> 00:13:23.580 Self-protection. 00:13:23.639 --> 00:13:26.199 As soon as he murders Abel, he's like, God, what am I going to do? 00:13:26.220 --> 00:13:28.279 People are going to come after me, right? 00:13:28.480 --> 00:13:29.799 How are you going to help me out, God? 00:13:30.559 --> 00:13:32.100 It's all about self-protection for him. 00:13:32.340 --> 00:13:37.659 So he builds this city to defend himself against other human beings whom he now perceives as 00:13:37.659 --> 00:13:39.139 threats to his existence. 00:13:39.139 --> 00:13:45.559 And this was the beginning of the whole story of people serving money over God, as it says 00:13:45.559 --> 00:13:46.519 here in verse 24. 00:13:47.580 --> 00:13:53.600 Now, honestly, I don't prefer the NIV's translation here of the Greek word mamona, or just translate 00:13:53.600 --> 00:13:54.720 it as money. 00:13:54.720 --> 00:13:58.399 I'm sure you've heard the phrase, you can't serve God and mammon. 00:13:58.460 --> 00:14:00.420 I much prefer that just more literal translation. 00:14:00.560 --> 00:14:03.600 You can't serve God and mammon because what mammon is isn't simply money. 00:14:03.980 --> 00:14:06.080 It's not simply wealth or affluence. 00:14:07.220 --> 00:14:09.340 Mammon is simply property. 00:14:10.100 --> 00:14:12.940 Simply material possessions, no matter how few. 00:14:12.940 --> 00:14:19.040 When Cain built his city east of Eden, this was the beginning of what we understand today 00:14:19.040 --> 00:14:20.240 as like property. 00:14:21.100 --> 00:14:25.100 Like before the fall, I'm not sure there was a sense of property as we understand it today. 00:14:25.140 --> 00:14:29.480 I think for Adam and Eve, it all just belonged to God. 00:14:30.800 --> 00:14:37.080 Like God didn't say, be capitalist and multiply and lay claim upon as much earth as you can and 00:14:37.080 --> 00:14:40.180 subdue it and exercise selfish dominion over it. 00:14:40.179 --> 00:14:46.379 No, he said, be fruitful and multiply and fill my earth with my glory. 00:14:46.519 --> 00:14:50.699 Subdue it and exercise my perfect kingdom dominion over it. 00:14:51.439 --> 00:14:52.879 And I'm not trying to be political here. 00:14:52.939 --> 00:14:58.219 I'm not trying to be, you know, anti-capitalism or about socialism or anything like that. 00:14:58.239 --> 00:14:59.239 I'm going to leave that to the politicians. 00:14:59.399 --> 00:15:05.759 But I do want us to see that from the beginning, we were never meant to be owners in an absolute 00:15:05.759 --> 00:15:10.519 sense over anything in creation, even our own bodies. 00:15:10.639 --> 00:15:16.559 We were always meant to be stewards of creation, cultivators of creation, vice regents, children 00:15:16.559 --> 00:15:17.519 of the king. 00:15:17.899 --> 00:15:21.980 Not asking the question, how much of this creation can I acquire for myself? 00:15:22.039 --> 00:15:27.120 But recognizing that everything we have, everything that we see, even our own bodies, 00:15:27.679 --> 00:15:28.419 belongs to God. 00:15:28.419 --> 00:15:36.539 And asking, how can I best cultivate all of creation for my creator's glory and for every 00:15:36.539 --> 00:15:39.599 other creature's good forever and ever? 00:15:40.719 --> 00:15:46.299 So basically, what I'm trying to say is that we worry because when sin and therefore scarcity 00:15:46.299 --> 00:15:52.199 entered into this world, when we strayed from God, we suddenly had a lot to worry about, 00:15:52.279 --> 00:15:52.699 didn't we? 00:15:53.540 --> 00:15:55.700 A lot to worry about, a lot to be anxious about. 00:15:55.780 --> 00:15:58.460 We broke our relationship with the one who gave us life. 00:15:58.540 --> 00:16:01.700 All of a sudden, we became those who had to hide, right? 00:16:01.700 --> 00:16:03.900 We had to hide from our maker and our sustainer. 00:16:04.500 --> 00:16:10.060 No more calm walks in the garden, but now running away from God and away and against all the rest 00:16:10.060 --> 00:16:11.680 of creation, just trying to survive. 00:16:12.400 --> 00:16:16.200 Thorns and thistles, sweat and toil, hustle and hurry and worry. 00:16:16.500 --> 00:16:17.480 This is why we worry. 00:16:18.160 --> 00:16:18.879 This is why we worry. 00:16:18.960 --> 00:16:21.280 This is why we're scared about tomorrow, right? 00:16:21.279 --> 00:16:27.439 Like in the past, before the fall, before sin entered into the world, we knew that tomorrow 00:16:27.439 --> 00:16:32.240 would just be another walk with our loving Father in the cool of the day, in the calm 00:16:32.240 --> 00:16:32.860 of the morning. 00:16:33.759 --> 00:16:38.699 But ever since the fall, we have no idea what tomorrow is going to bring. 00:16:39.480 --> 00:16:45.579 All we know are the troubles of today and our exhaustion from running and sweating, running 00:16:45.580 --> 00:16:52.500 away from our predators, running to outdo our competitors, sweating to make our bread. 00:16:53.660 --> 00:16:58.460 Whereas once we lived in a creation where we could always count on fruit from this tree 00:16:58.460 --> 00:17:00.920 or that tree to sustain us, now we don't know. 00:17:01.460 --> 00:17:02.960 I don't know if I'm going to have a job tomorrow. 00:17:03.060 --> 00:17:04.240 Let's see how this sermon goes. 00:17:06.019 --> 00:17:09.180 We don't know how our relationships are going to turn out. 00:17:09.360 --> 00:17:11.420 We don't know how our health is going to turn out. 00:17:11.420 --> 00:17:13.860 Whether our kids are going to be okay. 00:17:14.460 --> 00:17:18.060 Whether our retirement accounts are going to increase or shrink. 00:17:18.680 --> 00:17:22.779 We have tons of good and reasonable reasons to worry. 00:17:23.680 --> 00:17:29.220 Namely because we are frail, finite, independent creatures who've made ourselves at odds with 00:17:29.220 --> 00:17:30.480 God, the giver of life. 00:17:30.580 --> 00:17:36.660 And we are at the mercy of so many factors far, far, far beyond our reach and our agency. 00:17:36.660 --> 00:17:43.400 But the good news of Jesus, the good news of Jesus is that for every good reason we have 00:17:43.400 --> 00:17:47.720 to worry, he offers us better reasons not to worry. 00:17:48.160 --> 00:17:48.940 Point number two. 00:17:49.900 --> 00:17:52.120 Now the first reason that Jesus gives is this. 00:17:52.200 --> 00:17:52.779 Verse 25. 00:17:53.620 --> 00:17:58.920 He says, do not worry because your life is more than food and your body is more than clothes. 00:17:59.200 --> 00:18:04.560 Jesus reminds us that life and the integrity of our bodies is about far more than what we 00:18:04.560 --> 00:18:05.960 have or do not have. 00:18:05.960 --> 00:18:11.000 He's saying, who you are is about so much more than what you possess or what you don't 00:18:11.000 --> 00:18:11.220 possess. 00:18:11.380 --> 00:18:13.579 And I know that's hard for some of us to believe. 00:18:14.079 --> 00:18:17.819 It reminded me of this book that I consulted when I was doing my PhD on Chinese American 00:18:17.819 --> 00:18:17.960 evangelicals. 00:18:18.680 --> 00:18:21.559 There's this sociologist out of UC San Diego. 00:18:22.019 --> 00:18:23.500 Her name's Lisa Soon-hee Park. 00:18:23.579 --> 00:18:26.360 She wrote this book called Consuming Citizenship. 00:18:26.940 --> 00:18:32.960 And basically she argued that for many Korean and Chinese American immigrants, they sought to 00:18:32.960 --> 00:18:35.920 belong as Americans through consumption. 00:18:36.579 --> 00:18:40.600 Believing that their consumption habits could signal their status in this country. 00:18:41.140 --> 00:18:44.059 Because that's how they saw the system working in this country. 00:18:44.120 --> 00:18:47.460 If I can buy what you buy, if I can eat what you eat, if I can travel where you travel, if 00:18:47.460 --> 00:18:51.440 I can shop where you shop, if I can drive what you drive, wear what you wear, consume what 00:18:51.440 --> 00:18:53.460 you consume, then I can prove that I belong. 00:18:54.259 --> 00:18:56.220 These are my symbols of equality. 00:18:56.380 --> 00:19:00.640 Signs that I have adapted to the social and economic hierarchy here. 00:19:00.640 --> 00:19:04.000 And so many of us believe similarly, right? 00:19:04.580 --> 00:19:08.340 That what we have defines who we are. 00:19:08.680 --> 00:19:11.400 That what we have defines our life and our identity. 00:19:12.660 --> 00:19:13.800 But Jesus says, no. 00:19:14.820 --> 00:19:16.480 Your life is more, he says. 00:19:16.540 --> 00:19:20.340 Your identity is more than what you have or what you don't have. 00:19:20.860 --> 00:19:22.400 And Lisa Soon-hee Park says the same. 00:19:22.480 --> 00:19:27.780 She questions the social and economic hierarchy that Americans have erected in the very first 00:19:27.780 --> 00:19:28.240 place. 00:19:29.280 --> 00:19:30.280 What does Jesus say? 00:19:30.279 --> 00:19:32.180 Jesus says, my kingdom is different. 00:19:33.039 --> 00:19:35.819 And whoever desires to save their life will lose it. 00:19:35.899 --> 00:19:39.779 But whoever loses their life for my sake will find it. 00:19:40.779 --> 00:19:42.059 And what shall it profit a man? 00:19:42.420 --> 00:19:43.859 To gain the whole world, right? 00:19:44.339 --> 00:19:46.160 But to forfeit their soul. 00:19:47.700 --> 00:19:49.339 Now Jesus gives another reason. 00:19:49.420 --> 00:19:52.879 Let's look at his second reason to not worry in verses 26 through 30. 00:19:53.299 --> 00:19:55.799 And this second reason is, look at the birds. 00:19:56.440 --> 00:19:57.639 Look at the flowers, he says. 00:19:57.640 --> 00:19:58.380 Do not worry. 00:19:58.700 --> 00:19:59.300 Look at the birds. 00:19:59.540 --> 00:20:00.100 Look at the flowers. 00:20:00.440 --> 00:20:04.840 You know, I remember in my darkest days of my PhD in Scotland, when I felt like I was 00:20:04.840 --> 00:20:06.920 never going to make it, never going to get my thesis done. 00:20:06.940 --> 00:20:07.800 I would look out the window. 00:20:08.560 --> 00:20:12.840 And there'd be these disgusting pigeons outside the window, just chilling. 00:20:12.839 --> 00:20:14.699 Not a care in the world. 00:20:14.699 --> 00:20:14.720 Not a care in the world. 00:20:14.720 --> 00:20:18.839 Swooping down to grab a crumb of bread every once in a while, then getting back up by the 00:20:18.839 --> 00:20:21.099 window, pooping whenever they felt like, just chilling. 00:20:21.539 --> 00:20:23.720 And I'd be jealous of the dirty pigeons. 00:20:24.439 --> 00:20:25.159 I'd be jealous. 00:20:26.059 --> 00:20:31.159 The pigeon that wasn't trying, that wasn't sweating for their bread, wasn't sowing or reaping or 00:20:31.159 --> 00:20:34.980 figuring out, huh, how am I going to buy a barn to store all my breadcrumbs in? 00:20:34.980 --> 00:20:38.480 It wasn't like the pigeon was wearing a fanny pack for those extra breadcrumbs, right? 00:20:40.000 --> 00:20:43.420 Yet my father in heaven fed that pigeon. 00:20:44.759 --> 00:20:45.940 Or let's talk about flowers. 00:20:46.160 --> 00:20:48.539 Or we're in California, let's talk about the redwoods, all right? 00:20:49.240 --> 00:20:53.259 Last weekend, I wasn't here because we took our high schoolers to winter youth retreat 00:20:53.259 --> 00:20:55.599 out in Occidental at one of our elders' houses. 00:20:55.740 --> 00:20:57.819 Matt Branagh, thank you so much, Branagh family. 00:20:58.740 --> 00:21:01.220 And I was just thinking about this tree that they have on their property. 00:21:01.319 --> 00:21:02.120 There's this tree there. 00:21:02.119 --> 00:21:04.239 It's like, you can get like a dozen people around it. 00:21:04.419 --> 00:21:07.139 And Matt said it's like a thousand years old. 00:21:08.119 --> 00:21:15.739 And I was thinking about this tree and I was like, man, has this tree ever worried for the 00:21:15.739 --> 00:21:16.879 past thousand years? 00:21:17.619 --> 00:21:20.279 Has it ascended into the heavens in all its glory? 00:21:20.339 --> 00:21:26.419 Has this tree ever toiled and sweat to grow and become this thing of beauty that it is? 00:21:26.959 --> 00:21:30.179 And does it not have more beauty and majesty and splendor? 00:21:30.180 --> 00:21:35.539 Or far out doing, you know, the artificial cosmetic stuff we might see, you know, adorning our 00:21:35.539 --> 00:21:36.860 shopping malls around Christmas? 00:21:39.180 --> 00:21:42.279 Don't miss Jesus' line here in verse 26. 00:21:43.680 --> 00:21:47.039 Are you not much more valuable than they? 00:21:47.039 --> 00:21:50.420 To your heavenly father? 00:21:50.420 --> 00:21:52.680 To those trees? 00:21:52.680 --> 00:21:53.680 To the flowers? 00:21:54.559 --> 00:21:57.819 Then the birds, are we not much more valuable than they? 00:21:57.920 --> 00:21:59.399 To our heavenly father? 00:22:00.519 --> 00:22:04.279 There's this little poem coming out of the 19th century by this poet, Elizabeth Chaney. 00:22:04.819 --> 00:22:05.319 She wrote, 00:22:05.319 --> 00:22:30.200 Friends, all of creation testifies against us when we worry. 00:22:30.200 --> 00:22:33.400 The birds, the trees, the flowers. 00:22:34.279 --> 00:22:38.840 We are the only creatures of God that worry. 00:22:40.279 --> 00:22:44.240 But, you know, actually for the birds and the flowers and the redwoods, you know, God is just 00:22:44.240 --> 00:22:45.120 their creator, right? 00:22:46.120 --> 00:22:46.960 But what is he to us? 00:22:46.980 --> 00:22:47.900 He's not just our creator. 00:22:47.980 --> 00:22:48.960 He met us in his image. 00:22:50.200 --> 00:22:51.860 He's our heavenly father. 00:22:52.660 --> 00:22:55.080 He's a heavenly father to us and to us alone. 00:22:55.079 --> 00:23:01.399 And will he not much more clothe us and feed us, oh, we of little faith? 00:23:02.500 --> 00:23:05.720 For which of us, if we ask our father for bread, will give us a stone? 00:23:06.439 --> 00:23:08.679 Or if we ask for a fish, will give us a serpent? 00:23:08.779 --> 00:23:11.000 Does he not delight in giving us good things? 00:23:11.059 --> 00:23:16.139 Is he not the father of lights who gives us every good and perfect gift? 00:23:16.939 --> 00:23:20.319 The father of the prodigal son, is he not that father? 00:23:21.619 --> 00:23:23.240 Now, you might be sitting here and you'll be like, 00:23:23.240 --> 00:23:25.299 but hey, I've seen a bird get injured before. 00:23:25.920 --> 00:23:27.680 I've seen a flower get mown over. 00:23:27.839 --> 00:23:31.599 I've seen a redwood tree fall, get burned down, get chopped down. 00:23:31.680 --> 00:23:38.259 Isn't that proof that God either isn't that good or that he isn't exactly in control? 00:23:39.240 --> 00:23:42.599 That brings me to our third better reason to not worry. 00:23:42.680 --> 00:23:43.339 Verse 27. 00:23:44.680 --> 00:23:48.279 Can any one of you, by worrying, add a single hour to your life? 00:23:48.279 --> 00:23:55.019 Now, if you're here and your big hang-up with God is that you see flowers get mown down, 00:23:55.299 --> 00:23:59.899 and you see redwoods fall, and you see bird nests destroyed, and human beings suffer, 00:24:00.160 --> 00:24:04.460 and you have trouble believing in a God who could allow this within creation history, 00:24:04.539 --> 00:24:08.899 my question for you is, well, without God, what's the problem anyway? 00:24:08.900 --> 00:24:15.980 What even is death but, you know, just some neutral cessation of various cells functioning 00:24:15.980 --> 00:24:17.780 as they previously had before? 00:24:19.160 --> 00:24:21.759 Now, I imagine that very few of us actually think this way. 00:24:22.580 --> 00:24:25.680 Even if we don't believe in God, I'm sure most of us believe there is goodness 00:24:25.680 --> 00:24:27.519 and there is wrongness, right? 00:24:27.640 --> 00:24:31.300 And if that's you, my question to you, though, is similar to Jesus' in verse 27. 00:24:31.299 --> 00:24:36.960 I was talking with one of our youth mentors, one of our deacons, Megan Kelly, earlier this week, 00:24:37.139 --> 00:24:40.480 and she's reflected a lot on this text and in her own life, 00:24:40.500 --> 00:24:45.279 and she had this excellent, excellent insight, which was the question, like, 00:24:45.819 --> 00:24:54.339 without God, without hope, with nothing but the reality of sometimes good in this world, 00:24:54.440 --> 00:24:58.019 but a whole lot of not good, a whole lot of pain, a whole lot of suffering, 00:24:58.019 --> 00:25:04.900 and possibly more to come, why would you even want to add a single hour to your life? 00:25:07.039 --> 00:25:11.819 And Megan was like, I think a lot of us live for a long life 00:25:11.819 --> 00:25:15.660 when really we should be pursuing a full life. 00:25:16.519 --> 00:25:17.500 Wow, right? 00:25:17.900 --> 00:25:19.720 I said, you should come and preach this Sunday. 00:25:21.379 --> 00:25:26.559 See, I think a lot of us see verse 27 about not being able to add an hour to our life 00:25:26.559 --> 00:25:30.440 as a defeating yet logical reality that Jesus is just using to make a point. 00:25:30.539 --> 00:25:31.819 And it definitely is that. 00:25:31.940 --> 00:25:34.299 Worry and anxiety are not going to give us more life. 00:25:34.359 --> 00:25:36.139 It actually may shorten our lives. 00:25:36.559 --> 00:25:40.019 That's why it says in verse 34, don't worry about tomorrow today. 00:25:40.319 --> 00:25:41.659 Because, right, it's simple math. 00:25:41.879 --> 00:25:46.960 If you worry about tomorrow today and your fears don't materialize, 00:25:47.039 --> 00:25:48.220 you just wasted your time, right? 00:25:48.639 --> 00:25:51.759 And if you worry about tomorrow today and they do materialize, 00:25:52.159 --> 00:25:54.799 well, you worried twice, but still for no gain. 00:25:54.799 --> 00:25:55.899 Like, it's math, right? 00:25:57.359 --> 00:26:00.000 But, like, what if verse 27 is not just bad news 00:26:00.000 --> 00:26:03.639 that we can't prolong our own lives through worry, 00:26:03.700 --> 00:26:08.099 but also good news that we aren't in control of our own lives 00:26:08.099 --> 00:26:13.000 and that, yes, we may die, but that that's okay. 00:26:14.599 --> 00:26:17.599 And I want to say that with extreme caution because death is serious. 00:26:18.220 --> 00:26:19.019 It's painful. 00:26:19.220 --> 00:26:19.740 It hurts. 00:26:19.740 --> 00:26:24.740 And I don't want to take that away from anyone who's experienced that in this room. 00:26:26.140 --> 00:26:30.440 But the beauty of the gospel of Jesus, the resurrected Christ, 00:26:31.440 --> 00:26:33.980 is that death is not the ultimate defeater. 00:26:35.420 --> 00:26:36.700 That is the gospel. 00:26:37.859 --> 00:26:40.480 Jesus himself said yes to death. 00:26:40.480 --> 00:26:40.960 Death. 00:26:40.960 --> 00:26:43.180 And if he had not been humiliated in death, 00:26:43.319 --> 00:26:46.519 he also would not have been exalted in resurrection. 00:26:47.839 --> 00:26:50.220 Death didn't thwart the plan of God, 00:26:50.299 --> 00:26:52.059 but God made it work within his plan. 00:26:53.039 --> 00:26:54.860 And that's how amazing our God is. 00:26:54.880 --> 00:26:57.019 That's how amazing the gospel is. 00:26:57.759 --> 00:27:01.920 Again, think about that redwood tree that did not worry for a thousand years, 00:27:02.360 --> 00:27:06.420 but for a thousand years simply grew under God's care, right? 00:27:06.420 --> 00:27:11.980 And yet if God one day said to that tree in Matt Branagh's backyard, 00:27:12.519 --> 00:27:15.840 fall, the tree would say, yes, Lord. 00:27:16.840 --> 00:27:21.240 And God's perfect plan for history and for that tree and for new creation 00:27:21.240 --> 00:27:27.920 would continue unaltered for the glory of God and for the good of all of us. 00:27:28.019 --> 00:27:33.080 The beautiful truth of Christianity is that death need not be our ultimate fear. 00:27:33.079 --> 00:27:39.220 Death can even be a noble and an act of obedience unto the plans and purposes of God. 00:27:41.039 --> 00:27:43.179 So Christ Church, let us ask ourselves, 00:27:44.279 --> 00:27:46.859 do we just live to live longer? 00:27:48.059 --> 00:27:51.139 Is the chief end of man to not die? 00:27:52.379 --> 00:27:56.079 Or is it to glorify God and enjoy him forever, 00:27:56.379 --> 00:27:59.000 as it says in the doctrinal standards of our church? 00:27:59.099 --> 00:28:02.099 What if to live is Christ and to die is gain? 00:28:02.099 --> 00:28:04.439 Are we merely pursuing a long life? 00:28:04.500 --> 00:28:08.099 Or are we actually pursuing a full life, glorifying God, 00:28:08.199 --> 00:28:12.879 enjoying God in the way of our crucified and risen Lord? 00:28:14.219 --> 00:28:17.939 Don't we want something worth living for and dying for, 00:28:18.059 --> 00:28:20.419 truly worth living for and dying for? 00:28:21.539 --> 00:28:24.240 I want to suggest that only Jesus, 00:28:24.799 --> 00:28:28.240 the one who lived and died and lived again, 00:28:28.240 --> 00:28:33.160 is that one thing that is both worth living for and dying for. 00:28:34.140 --> 00:28:38.140 And this brings me to our final better reason not to worry, verses 31 to 33. 00:28:38.240 --> 00:28:42.039 So the question isn't ultimately, what do we have or not have? 00:28:42.039 --> 00:28:45.759 That's going to make the difference in whether or not we are worrying people. 00:28:46.460 --> 00:28:49.099 The question is ultimately, what do we seek? 00:28:49.099 --> 00:28:51.939 What are our hearts after? 00:28:53.159 --> 00:28:56.699 In verses 31 and 32, Jesus says that those who worship other gods, 00:28:56.980 --> 00:29:02.059 they're the ones worrying about food and drink and clothing and what they have and don't have. 00:29:02.899 --> 00:29:05.579 But Jesus is like, how is that working out for them? 00:29:06.519 --> 00:29:07.899 Do you really want what they have? 00:29:07.939 --> 00:29:09.839 Do you really want to join that rat race? 00:29:09.879 --> 00:29:12.679 Have you ever seen anyone win at that game? 00:29:13.680 --> 00:29:17.320 And do those people even know what they need? 00:29:18.200 --> 00:29:20.380 Like what if they're seeking the wrong things? 00:29:21.320 --> 00:29:22.560 That's why I love verse 32. 00:29:23.000 --> 00:29:27.000 Jesus says, your heavenly father knows that you need these things. 00:29:27.100 --> 00:29:31.640 Jesus is saying, we can either run frantically after what we think we need, 00:29:32.360 --> 00:29:36.720 or we can run after him and his father who knows exactly what we need. 00:29:37.640 --> 00:29:39.620 And like he knows, he knows that we need to eat, 00:29:39.700 --> 00:29:40.700 he knows that we need to drink, 00:29:40.700 --> 00:29:42.140 he knows that we need clothing. 00:29:42.740 --> 00:29:44.460 Jesus is the very one who taught us to pray, 00:29:44.819 --> 00:29:46.720 give us this day our daily bread. 00:29:47.299 --> 00:29:52.519 And who of us here truly has not gotten our daily bread ever a single day of our lives? 00:29:53.700 --> 00:29:54.460 Like honestly. 00:29:55.660 --> 00:29:58.980 I would love to share with you the story of how I came to Christ Church. 00:29:59.380 --> 00:30:00.940 I was thinking about it just the other day. 00:30:01.480 --> 00:30:04.960 There are like six other churches that I was considering being at, 00:30:05.080 --> 00:30:10.080 and I think about five of them just like have really just disastrous things have happened. 00:30:10.079 --> 00:30:13.399 And I would have really got caught holding the bag on all of them. 00:30:14.019 --> 00:30:16.299 But I decided to stay here, even if it meant fundraising, 00:30:16.500 --> 00:30:19.480 because I just believe that this was what God wanted me to do. 00:30:19.939 --> 00:30:20.679 And I'm so thankful. 00:30:20.779 --> 00:30:21.819 God has provided for me. 00:30:21.879 --> 00:30:22.839 He's provided for my family. 00:30:22.939 --> 00:30:23.740 That's my testimony. 00:30:24.159 --> 00:30:25.359 I've experienced it. 00:30:25.359 --> 00:30:28.939 So Jesus' commendation here, 00:30:29.379 --> 00:30:32.799 Jesus' solution to all our worries is not to get more stuff. 00:30:32.919 --> 00:30:34.179 It's to check our hearts. 00:30:34.779 --> 00:30:36.859 To examine what it is that we are truly seeking. 00:30:36.939 --> 00:30:37.279 He says, 00:30:37.279 --> 00:30:38.639 Our Father knows what we need. 00:30:38.680 --> 00:30:39.519 We're going to be fine. 00:30:39.920 --> 00:30:41.139 So, verse 33. 00:30:42.059 --> 00:30:45.099 Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, 00:30:46.019 --> 00:30:48.960 and all these things will be given to you as well. 00:30:49.819 --> 00:30:52.240 And if you know the song, teach it to your children. 00:30:52.779 --> 00:30:54.559 And if you don't, come to me. 00:30:54.599 --> 00:30:55.379 I'll teach it to you. 00:30:56.059 --> 00:30:58.799 Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, 00:30:59.059 --> 00:31:01.779 and all these things will be given unto you. 00:31:02.779 --> 00:31:04.660 Jesus is saying that our fears, 00:31:05.119 --> 00:31:06.639 and our worries, and our anxieties 00:31:06.639 --> 00:31:07.899 won't actually be resolved 00:31:07.899 --> 00:31:10.200 if we get what we think will quell them. 00:31:10.619 --> 00:31:12.039 Because we could always lose them again. 00:31:12.119 --> 00:31:13.960 Our jobs, our relationships, our health. 00:31:14.039 --> 00:31:17.180 So He implores us to seek first the imperishable. 00:31:18.000 --> 00:31:18.579 His kingdom. 00:31:19.579 --> 00:31:21.039 A kingdom that could not be defeated 00:31:21.039 --> 00:31:24.099 even when its king was crucified on a cross. 00:31:24.619 --> 00:31:27.420 A kingdom that transcends every would-be kingdom, 00:31:27.579 --> 00:31:29.579 every city and empire that rises up 00:31:29.579 --> 00:31:31.240 to rid itself of all its worries. 00:31:31.240 --> 00:31:32.440 Jesus' kingdom alone, 00:31:32.519 --> 00:31:34.480 His resurrection, new creation, 00:31:34.779 --> 00:31:37.839 kingdom alone can truly rid us of all our worries. 00:31:39.460 --> 00:31:41.420 You know, I watched some TED Talks this week 00:31:41.420 --> 00:31:44.079 about worry and fear and anxiety. 00:31:45.140 --> 00:31:46.539 And one TED Talker was like, 00:31:46.599 --> 00:31:48.079 hey, look, look on the bright side. 00:31:48.599 --> 00:31:51.380 40% of the things we worry about will never happen. 00:31:51.519 --> 00:31:52.960 And I was like, that's not even that good. 00:31:53.160 --> 00:31:54.079 40%? Come on. 00:31:55.299 --> 00:31:56.160 So she said, 00:31:56.480 --> 00:31:58.819 40% of the things we worry about will never happen. 00:31:59.240 --> 00:32:00.779 30% of the things, 00:32:00.839 --> 00:32:01.759 and I didn't fact check this, 00:32:01.799 --> 00:32:02.579 so I'm just taking her word. 00:32:02.879 --> 00:32:05.799 30% are things in the past that can't be helped. 00:32:06.500 --> 00:32:09.339 12% involve things that aren't our business anyway. 00:32:10.240 --> 00:32:13.539 And 10% relate to sickness, real or imagined. 00:32:13.639 --> 00:32:15.019 So that leaves us with 8%. 00:32:15.659 --> 00:32:17.839 8% of the things that we worry about 00:32:17.839 --> 00:32:18.740 actually happen to us. 00:32:18.799 --> 00:32:20.000 And she's like, hey, that's not that bad. 00:32:20.039 --> 00:32:21.399 But I'm like, that's pretty bad. 00:32:21.400 --> 00:32:25.680 Steph Curry shot 92% a couple years ago. 00:32:25.880 --> 00:32:27.820 I remember a lot of the free throws that he missed. 00:32:27.900 --> 00:32:29.040 They're crucial free throws. 00:32:29.460 --> 00:32:29.740 All right? 00:32:30.040 --> 00:32:31.200 8% is a lot. 00:32:31.880 --> 00:32:33.519 We didn't win the championship that year. 00:32:35.900 --> 00:32:37.759 So I was like, yo, you are crazy. 00:32:38.440 --> 00:32:40.040 Those stats are terrible. 00:32:41.000 --> 00:32:42.800 You're betting your life on 8%. 00:32:42.799 --> 00:32:46.200 But she was like, well, you know, 00:32:46.259 --> 00:32:49.039 what we have to do is we have to take on fear projects 00:32:49.039 --> 00:32:51.740 and embrace our fear, expose ourselves to our fear, 00:32:51.879 --> 00:32:53.960 face our fears, and become warriors. 00:32:55.299 --> 00:32:57.039 But I was like, but that's precisely the problem. 00:32:57.639 --> 00:32:58.659 That's precisely the problem. 00:32:58.740 --> 00:32:59.960 What if we can't become warriors? 00:33:01.119 --> 00:33:02.000 What if we're not enough? 00:33:02.079 --> 00:33:03.680 What if we aren't up for the fight? 00:33:04.339 --> 00:33:05.740 What if it's a fight we can't win? 00:33:06.440 --> 00:33:07.839 Like this game of life. 00:33:08.839 --> 00:33:11.380 And I was like, man, if this is the best the world can offer, 00:33:12.380 --> 00:33:13.900 how could we not all turn to Jesus? 00:33:15.039 --> 00:33:16.559 How could we not all turn to Jesus? 00:33:17.440 --> 00:33:20.240 See, the beauty of the gospel is that Jesus calls us 00:33:20.240 --> 00:33:24.259 not to be our own warriors conquering our own fears and worries. 00:33:24.339 --> 00:33:25.559 He doesn't call us to be warriors, 00:33:25.559 --> 00:33:27.539 but he calls us to be worshipers. 00:33:28.500 --> 00:33:29.539 And this is the difference. 00:33:29.640 --> 00:33:31.240 A warrior trusts in themselves, 00:33:31.359 --> 00:33:33.519 in their own competencies and capabilities 00:33:33.519 --> 00:33:35.480 to rid themselves of all worry. 00:33:36.559 --> 00:33:39.019 But a worshiper trusts in God, 00:33:39.620 --> 00:33:43.000 the only one who can truly add an hour to our life, 00:33:43.700 --> 00:33:44.700 even after we die. 00:33:46.180 --> 00:33:49.720 This is a God who adds eternity to our lives, 00:33:49.940 --> 00:33:50.880 though we die. 00:33:51.559 --> 00:33:54.759 He promises to raise us up again with his son, 00:33:54.759 --> 00:33:55.960 if we would just trust him, 00:33:56.380 --> 00:33:58.460 unite ourselves to him by faith. 00:33:59.640 --> 00:34:01.519 This is the one who calls us not to worry. 00:34:02.259 --> 00:34:04.319 This is the one who knows what we need, 00:34:04.319 --> 00:34:08.340 the one whose son is the resurrection and the life. 00:34:08.440 --> 00:34:10.860 Christ Church, what if we believed in this kind of a God? 00:34:12.039 --> 00:34:13.460 What if we believed in this kind of God? 00:34:13.519 --> 00:34:17.079 The world tells us that we cannot care without worrying, 00:34:18.019 --> 00:34:19.079 but Jesus says otherwise. 00:34:19.079 --> 00:34:21.699 Like, what if instead of worrying, 00:34:21.860 --> 00:34:24.840 instead of sprinting through our consumeristic lives, 00:34:25.119 --> 00:34:27.460 operating by the world religion of acquisitions, 00:34:27.460 --> 00:34:29.759 what if we were a counterculture? 00:34:31.299 --> 00:34:33.500 Like, if we didn't worry about what we ate, 00:34:33.880 --> 00:34:34.840 drank, and wore, 00:34:34.960 --> 00:34:38.219 how much more might we feed and clothe 00:34:38.219 --> 00:34:39.599 our neighbors around us? 00:34:39.599 --> 00:34:43.319 What if do not worry doesn't just mean 00:34:43.319 --> 00:34:44.719 do not worry for your own sakes, 00:34:44.839 --> 00:34:47.579 but do not worry for others' sakes? 00:34:48.480 --> 00:34:50.860 The other side of the coin of do not worry 00:34:50.860 --> 00:34:54.759 is to give generously, graciously, 00:34:55.319 --> 00:34:56.579 sacrificially to others. 00:34:56.819 --> 00:34:58.579 What if do not worry means do not cheat, 00:34:58.679 --> 00:35:00.139 do not hoard, do not overwork, 00:35:00.219 --> 00:35:02.259 do not overfunction, do not be overbearing, 00:35:02.339 --> 00:35:04.119 do not just look out for your own interest 00:35:04.119 --> 00:35:06.319 to try to win a game we were never meant to win 00:35:06.320 --> 00:35:09.000 in a counterfeit kingdom that will surely perish. 00:35:10.059 --> 00:35:13.200 Do not worry means seek first the kingdom of God 00:35:13.200 --> 00:35:14.480 and his righteousness. 00:35:15.440 --> 00:35:18.880 And all these things he promises will be added unto you, 00:35:19.480 --> 00:35:22.039 if not before your death, then surely after. 00:35:22.500 --> 00:35:25.500 And this is the gospel of the risen Christ. 00:35:26.220 --> 00:35:27.280 This is the good news. 00:35:27.420 --> 00:35:30.480 Christ, our hope in life and death. 00:35:31.120 --> 00:35:31.780 Let's pray. 00:35:31.780 --> 00:35:38.540 Lord, would you open our eyes to the futility of worry 00:35:38.540 --> 00:35:41.720 and the great fulfillment of worship. 00:35:43.019 --> 00:35:44.880 Convince us to seek first your kingdom 00:35:44.880 --> 00:35:47.060 and your righteousness and help us to trust you 00:35:47.060 --> 00:35:50.120 for our daily bread that we might pour ourselves out 00:35:50.120 --> 00:35:52.560 for others just as Christ did for us, oh God, 00:35:52.620 --> 00:35:55.760 when he did not worry about what he ate or drank or wore, 00:35:55.900 --> 00:35:59.620 but hungered and thirsted naked upon a cross. 00:35:59.619 --> 00:36:03.460 Help us to believe in the abundance that we have in him, 00:36:04.000 --> 00:36:06.099 that we have in you, our good, good father. 00:36:06.219 --> 00:36:07.779 You who did not spare your son, 00:36:07.859 --> 00:36:10.380 but gave us up as a ransom for us all. 00:36:10.759 --> 00:36:12.819 How will you not also along with him 00:36:12.819 --> 00:36:16.380 graciously give us all things? 00:36:16.579 --> 00:36:18.179 You are a good, good father. 00:36:19.039 --> 00:36:20.579 We trust that, we believe that. 00:36:20.880 --> 00:36:23.359 And when we don't, oh God, help our unbelief. 00:36:24.400 --> 00:36:26.420 Be honored in us, oh God, we pray. 00:36:26.420 --> 00:36:28.519 In the name of Jesus, amen. 00:36:30.500 --> 00:36:30.920 Batavia 00:36:30.920 --> 00:36:32.719 A 00:36:33.199 --> 00:36:35.960 In the name of Jesus, amen. 00:36:36.500 --> 00:36:38.480 We pray for exhausted we have good Oh God, 00:36:38.480 --> 00:36:39.179 And they will not be able to understand 00:36:39.179 --> 00:36:41.179 inUM of a picture. 00:36:42.259 --> 00:36:44.339 I come up to you, 00:36:44.480 --> 00:36:46.119 and we will not live before it shall be 00:36:46.119 --> 00:36:47.059 in a will of Jewish Delos. 00:36:47.519 --> 00:36:49.059 We'll pray for at least two or three 00:36:49.059 --> 00:36:49.659 which allows you to build with your didn't 00:36:49.659 --> 00:36:50.299 to celebrate your немножечко 00:36:50.599 --> 00:36:51.539 of your son is finally up to both nets 00:36:51.839 --> 00:36:52.799 for the entire empire, 00:36:52.799 --> 00:36:54.159 or leave you or an apple to eat. 00:36:55.619 --> 00:36:56.460 task 34 00:36:56.460 --> 00:36:57.359 Yes, 00:36:57.359 --> 00:36:58.159 we do not live before that right.