The scripture reading today comes from the Gospel of Luke, chapter 12.
Please follow along in your bulletin.
And he said to his disciples,
For this reason I say to you,
Do not worry about your life as to what you will eat,
nor for your body as to what you will put on.
For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing.
Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap.
They have no storeroom nor barn, and yet God feeds them.
How much more valuable you are than the birds.
And which of you, by worrying, can add a single hour to his lifespan?
If then you cannot do even a very little thing,
why do you worry about other matters?
Consider the lilies, how they grow.
They neither toil nor spin.
But I tell you, not even Solomon, in all his glory,
clothed himself like one of these.
But if God so clothes the grass of the field,
which is alive today, and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace,
how much more will he clothe you, you men of little faith?
And do not seek what you will eat and what you will drink,
and do not keep worrying.
For all these things the nations of the world eagerly seek.
But your Father knows that you need these things,
but seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you.
Do not be afraid, little flock,
for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom.
Sell your possessions and give to charity.
Make yourself money belts, which do not wear out.
An unfailing treasure in heaven,
where no thief comes nor moth destroys.
For where your treasure is, there your heart will also be.
This is the reading of God's word.
You may be seated.
How you guys doing today?
Let's try it one more time, please, please.
Is everybody okay?
Yeah.
Okay.
It's very quiet.
Wow, we have...
If you're here for the first time in this room,
we haven't been here for like two weeks,
so it's kind of weird being back in here to see everybody,
and it's just interesting to be here as opposed to the gymnasium.
I still don't know what I think about the gym,
but God keeps providing those places for us,
which is amazing.
So we are...
If this is your first time here,
and you haven't been here the last two weeks,
we're stuck in a landmine field.
I talked about two weeks ago about being in Cambodia and walking through a landmine in 1989 or so,
and walking through the minefield.
And we're in Luke 12,
and we're talking about the minefield that we walk through in our lives.
And we said that two weeks ago that one of the minds that Jesus points out,
one of the things that he doesn't want us to fall on or step in or enter into our life
was the leaven of the Pharisees,
which is hypocrisy.
We talked about hypocrisy being this idea of fearing man more than we fear God,
wearing a mask.
And we talked about how we all struggle with that in our lives,
in different places.
Maybe not at church, but maybe at home.
Maybe not at home, but maybe in the office.
Maybe someplace that we all struggle with those things.
Last week, we talked about a different minefield.
We talked about the idea of covetousness and greed
and how we view our stuff.
And we asked some questions.
If you weren't here last week, you missed it.
We gave out $100 bills, U.S., to everybody.
We gave out money, so you missed $100.
It was amazing.
But we wrote on those $100 bills.
On the back of it, we wrote the passage, John 12, 21.
We wrote, self or God?
And the question was, what are we living for?
What are we building up for?
What are we investing in?
Are we investing in ourself or in God?
And then I asked this question,
which people have been getting back to me a lot this week.
I said this.
I said, if God were a venture capitalist
and he were to look at your life
and everything that he invested in your life,
money, time, health, where you were born,
when you were born, connections,
if he looked at all those things that he invested in your life
and the only outcome that he was expecting
were things in the kingdom of God,
if he were to look at your life,
were you or are you a good investment?
Has God lost money on you?
Or have you been a good investment for the kingdom of God?
And this week, we're going to continue in this minefield
in an area I think is probably the biggest mine.
It is the biggest mine for me,
so I'll just be really honest with you.
And as I was thinking of this minefield,
this story came to mind,
and I want to read it for you.
One day, an American businessman
was at a pier of a small coastal Mexican village
when a small boat with just one fisherman docked inside.
Docked.
Inside the small boat were several large yellowfin tuna.
The American complimented the Mexican fisherman
on the quality of the fish,
and he asked how long it took for him to catch them.
The fisherman replied,
well, only a little while.
The American then asked him,
well, why didn't you stay out longer and catch more fish?
And the fisherman said that he had enough
to support his family's immediate needs.
And the businessman said,
well, what then do you do with the rest of your time?
And the fisherman said,
well, I sleep late.
I fish a little.
I play with my children.
I take siesta with my wife, Maria.
We walk around the village in the evenings
where I drink wine.
I play guitar with my amigos.
I have a full and busy life, senor.
I was going to do that in a Mexican accent,
but it probably sounded like an Indian accent.
So I just figured, forget it, okay?
The businessman scoffed at him,
and he said,
no wonder you guys are such a mess down here.
I was going to pick on the Harvard guys again,
but I changed it,
so I sent you to Stanford.
I'm a Stanford MBA,
and I can really help you.
First, you should spend more time fishing,
and with the proceeds,
you should buy a bigger boat.
Second, with the proceeds from the bigger boat,
you should go back and buy several boats.
Eventually, you'll have a fleet of fishing boats,
like on that TV show.
Then instead of just selling your catch to a middleman,
you could sell directly to the processor.
Before you know it,
you'll eventually open up your own cannery down here.
Then you control the product,
the processing, and the distribution,
and then the money would start to roll into your bank
in ways you could never believe before.
You then probably need to leave this small coastal village
to someplace like Mexico City,
or then to L.A.,
and then eventually to New York,
and there you would run your expanding multinational company.
The fisherman asked,
but senor,
senor,
how long will all this improvement take?
The businessman replied,
well, if you're lucky,
probably 15 to 20 years,
but in the end,
it's all going to be worth it.
The fisherman asked,
but then what do I do, senor?
The businessman laughed,
well, this is the best part of all,
because when you've gotten your company
in this huge place,
then you offer a stock offering
for your amazing company,
and you're going to sell your company stock in public,
and you're going to become massively rich.
You're going to make a buttload of money.
You're going to be so rich,
you're not going to believe it.
Millions of dollars.
Millions of dollars, senor?
Wow.
Then what?
The businessman said,
well, then,
you can finally get to retire.
You can move to a small coastal village,
fishing,
where you would sleep late,
fish a little,
play with your kids,
take a siesta with your wife, Maria,
stroll to the village on the evenings
where you could sip wine
and play the guitar with your amigo,
the life you've always wanted.
Uh-huh.
Jesus talks a lot in this passage
about the things that we worry about
in the things of the world,
and he warns us to not go after
the things of the world
the way that the world does.
We're in chapter 12,
and we're looking at this scene in your bulletin,
and there are about 10,000 people
surrounding Jesus.
I mean, it is out of control.
And in the midst of these conversations,
because I'm seeing him talk about the Pharisees
and talk about life and meaning and truth,
all of a sudden, in verse 22,
he turns to his disciples,
and in a very gentle,
in Greek, it's very gentle,
very nurturing.
He's not peeping them at all.
He's not criticizing them.
He's very gently, fatherly,
coming to them,
and he's offering a warning to them,
a really personal warning,
which I think most of us need to hear.
In verse 22,
the text says this,
and he said to his disciples,
for this reason I say to you,
do not worry about your life
as to what you will eat,
nor for your body
as to what you shall put on it.
I talked last week about sometimes,
you know, you get to hear
30 minutes of the sermon,
and then you run away,
and you forget it at dim sum,
but God keeps hammering it into me
these weeks,
and usually Saturday night,
I lay out on my bed
the sermon sheets,
and I come back,
and I come back and forth,
and read it,
and think about it,
and pray about it.
Does this make sense?
What's a good illustration there?
What do I need to say here?
And so last night,
I was sitting in the bed,
looking through the notes,
praying through today,
and Rachel,
my 12-year-old,
came in,
and she said,
you know,
I had this present for you
for Father's Day,
but I forgot to give it to you.
No lie.
I said, okay, great.
I really appreciate that.
And so she brought this book to me,
and it's the Don't Sweat It Guide for Dads.
Stop stressing and worrying
from getting in the way
in what really matters in your life.
And I looked at her and said,
Rachel, do I worry a lot?
She said, come on, Dad.
You worry a ton.
Not just working on it,
but even from your kids, right?
And so you get that.
So in verse 23,
Jesus says to his disciples,
don't worry about your life,
about what you're going to eat
and what you're going to drink.
He goes on in verse 25,
and which of you,
by worrying,
again,
and this idea of worry
basically means
to torment yourself,
to be harsh.
It actually has this imagery
of you're running
and dogs are chasing you
and they're biting on you
and they're tearing pieces
away from you.
And he's saying,
don't worry.
Don't be anxious.
Don't worry about
what you're going to care for.
Don't be overly concerned
about these things.
Do not,
verse 29,
do not seek what you will eat
and what you will drink
and do not keep worrying.
Verse 33,
he says,
do not be afraid,
little flock.
This is one of my favorite verses.
For your father
has gladly chosen
to give you
the kingdom of God.
What I want to talk today
really briefly
in our time
is just talking about
worry
and fear
and anxiety
and what it does
to our lives
and what it comes
into our lives
and how it affects us.
And I realize
as we talk about it,
some of us don't even know
why we worry,
how to stop it,
what it looks like
in our life.
And I want to look
at this passage
in other scriptures
and see how God,
how Christ addressed it
in our life
because I think
it is a major thing for us.
It's something
that we need to
get a handle on.
So what I want to look at
is I want to look at worry.
What is it?
What does the Bible
say about it?
Where?
Where does worry
come from in our lives
and how?
How do we know
that we're walking
into the landmine field?
How do we know
that we're going
to start to worry?
How do we prevent
ourselves from worrying?
The first thing
just is worry.
What is it?
Now often
when I think of worry
it's often easier
just to describe it
and point to somebody
and say they're worrying
instead of giving
a definition
because sometimes
definitions can be dry
or hard to understand
but in scripture
it's talked about
over and over
and over again
and pointed to
in illustrations
over and over
and over again.
In fact,
I don't think we
think of worry
the way that
Jesus thinks of worry
because the Bible
talks of worry
in the same way
that it talks
about stealing.
The Bible
talks about worry
in the same way
that it talks
about lying.
The Bible
talks about worry
in the same way
it talks about
fornication.
In fact,
the Bible
talks about worry
more than it talks
about any other
thing at all.
The passages
say things like
do not worry,
do not fear,
do not be anxious,
and we walk
through our life
and we hear
those things
and we just wonder
what exactly
does that mean?
The dictionaries
I read over and over
says that worry
is our response
to the unknown.
Whether it's real
or imagined,
whether it's tangible
or potential,
often we worry
about things
that are ever
coming true.
One statistic
I read
said that only
8% of the things
that we worry about
actually happen
in our lives.
8%.
50% of the things
never happen
because we're worried
in the future.
30% of the things
we worry about
are things that we did
in the future
and we're worried
about what's going
to happen with us
because we did
those things
and we can't
change them
at all.
The Mayo Clinic
said that 85%,
the Mayo Clinic
is a very famous
hospital in the States,
it says that 85%
of all of their
caseloads,
85% of the patients
they see on a daily
basis struggle
with worry
and anxiety.
I was in a hospital,
worked in a trauma
unit for two years
and for some reason
in the middle
of this massive
emergency,
the doctor turned
to me and I will
never forget this
because he wasn't
a Christ follower
and he said,
Tobin,
if people could
get rid of worry
and guilt
and shame
in their lives,
75% of the people
would never walk
into the ER.
They would never
be here.
I did a quick
Google search
on fears
and worries.
You know that
there are 850 fears
and worries
recognized by the
Journal of American
Medicine?
850.
I've put a couple
of them up here
for you to look at.
The first one
we have here
is Germanophobia.
You want to take
a guess at what
that is?
Mike, you want
to stand up?
Germanophobia,
it is the fear
of all things
German.
Anything German,
if you're afraid
of it,
you're a Germanophobiac.
Photophobia
is the fear
of developing
a phobia.
So if you're
afraid of being
afraid or becoming
worried,
you have photophobia.
Euphobia,
it is the fear
of hearing good
news because
you believe
that good news
is always
followed by bad
news and you
don't want to hear
the bad news
and so you
are a euphobiite,
if that's even
a word.
And my favorite
one of all
is homilophobia.
Anyone want to
take a guess
what that means?
The fear
of sermons.
Nate,
you are right
on, dude.
It's the fear
of sermons.
If you are
afraid of coming
in and listening,
if you are
afraid of doing
sermons,
you are homilophobia.
Okay,
so that's just
for fun.
But the AMA
says that the
worry and stress
is the largest
health issue
today in the West.
The Greek word
for worry
is actually
a picture
of a person's
mind and the
mind is torn
between the real
and the possible,
between the potential
and the immediate.
That's what the
picture says.
It's a mind
and the mind
is getting
torn apart
between what's
really happening
and what could
happen.
Worry is always
about things
we cannot
control.
Worry and stress
are our attempt
to control
the uncontrollable.
When we worry
and stress
in our life,
a lot of things
happen in us.
Physiologically,
our blood pressure
rises.
We develop this
fight or flight
syndrome.
Our muscles
get tense.
Our breathing
gets rapid.
We're ready to fight
or we're ready
to run away.
And what we realize
in medicine
is that this
is not good.
That your body
should only stay
like this
for a very
short period
of time
because if you
live in stress
for a long
period of time,
you're going
to destroy
your body.
Look at Hong Kong.
We're told
that in Hong Kong,
one-third of the
people have
high blood pressure
and need to
take meds.
We're told
that the rates
of hypertension
are going off
the chart.
One-third of the
people have ulcers
and they're taking
meds.
Strokes
and heart
attacks
are out
of control
and what
we see
in our
culture
is that
fear is
killing us.
Worry
is killing
us.
It's hitting
these huge
burdens
on the
healthcare
system.
There's
psychological
fears of
mental illness.
There's
spiritual fears
of what
happens.
Often when
people are
worried,
they're anxious,
they describe
it as being
lost
or in
darkness
or hollow
or thin.
And all of
these things
point to the
fact that
worry and
fear and
anxiety is
destroying our
lives.
And the
Bible says
over and
over again,
don't fear.
Don't be
anxious.
But if
we're honest,
all of us
fear in
some ways.
I wrote
out three
ways that
I fear.
I fear
of not
getting what
I want
or thinking
what I
need.
I need a
job.
I need a
new job.
We need a
new boss.
Will I ever
get one?
Will I ever
get married?
Will I ever
have a spouse?
Will I ever
have kids?
What will my
kids turn out
to be like?
I need a
better home.
I need a
new car.
I want to
serve God.
Will I ever
be able to
serve God?
Will I be
significant?
I don't know
if I'll
ever be
successful.
I don't know
if I'll
ever be
successful.
But I
need this.
And if I
don't get
it, my
life is
terrible.
Sometimes, if
we're honest,
we fear not
getting things
or we fear
getting what
we don't
want is
probably the
better way
to say it.
I'm afraid
I'm going
to get
fired.
I'm afraid
I'm going
to be made
redundant.
I'm afraid
I might get
another ticket
and I can't
afford to get
another ticket.
I'm afraid
I'll have
another bill
come in
unexpectedly
and I can't
afford to
get another
bill.
I'm afraid
that I'll
get cancer
or a heart
attack.
And I
don't want
that whatsoever.
So we fear
about what
we don't
get.
We fear
about getting
something that
we don't
want.
And sometimes,
and this is the
one that freaks
me out the
most, if we're
honest, sometimes
we fear about
getting something
and then we
lose it.
Have you ever
had that?
I mean,
sometimes we
fear things
like, okay,
I got a job
but what if
I get fired?
I mean, I got
kids but what if
my kids don't
turn out good?
I finally got
kids but what if
I can't take
care of them?
What if I can't
provide for them?
What if I can't
go to the right
schools?
I've got all
these things but
what if it
doesn't work
out right?
I got married,
I finally got
married but what
if they don't
like me?
What if they
divorce me?
I finally got
this flat but I
wonder how long
I'm going to get
to keep it?
Am I going to
keep it for one
year or two
years or how
long am I going
to get it?
The fear of
getting something
you want and
then losing it and
all these fears,
the scripture says,
they point to our
desires, our
cores, our love,
the very center of
our heart.
What you fear,
what you worry
about, the
scripture says that
is your idol,
your God.
the thing that
controls you,
that's what is at
the center of who
you are and you
need to be careful
of that because our
culture in the world
screams out all the
time we walk into
it, you need to have
this, you need to do
this, you shouldn't do
this, you should have
this, if you don't have
this, you're not the
right person, you need
to get these things in
your life and sometimes
I walk out of the
door and I understand
and I turn the TV on
and I realize I'm not
fearing about the
right things.
Sometimes I watch a TV
show and I realize I
should have been
fearing that I was
going to get this,
I didn't even know
I could get that.
And our culture is
set up in a way that
anxieties and fears
and stress are pressed
on us by school, by
work, by our homes, by
our families, and
sometimes even by our
churches.
And this passage says
over and over and
over again not to
fear, not to worry,
not to be anxious.
So we know what fear
is, we know what
worry is, it's the
ability not to control
our future, it's
actually the ability not
to be God.
The next question we
want to ask is where
does it come from?
Where does fear come
from in our life?
And the Bible says
really clearly that fear
comes from us wanting
to control our lives.
Fear, worry comes from
us not being God in our
lives, not being in
control.
In the beginning we
see really clearly in
the garden that you and
I were made in the
image of God.
But that fractured when
we wanted to be God.
We wanted to be like
Him.
And that stamp of
eternity that was on
our heart, it's still
there.
And we're walking
through life and we
have these fears and we
have these wonders and
we wonder why can't we
be in control?
Why aren't we in
control?
What's happening in our
world?
Why won't God allow me to
do the things that I want
to do?
Why can't I do those
things?
And one of the things you
see in Scripture is that
you and I were given
responsibility.
We're given responsibility
to go out into the world
and subdue the world.
We're given responsibility
to work and keep the
garden.
We're given responsibility
to name the animals.
We're given responsibility
to order our world.
But when sin came in and
it fractured all those
things, we lost control.
But for most of us, we
still want that control.
And so what we try to do
in our lives is we try to
accumulate stuff.
We try to accumulate
titles.
We try to accumulate
power.
We try to accumulate
things that we feel like
are going to give us
control.
And we get anxious and we
worry when we don't get
those things.
And the Bible says to you
and me today, and I'm
speaking to myself, that
control is an illusion.
Being in control is an
illusion.
The passage says that you,
by your worrying, can't even
add a couple inches onto your
height.
You, by worrying, verse 25,
can't even add a couple hours
to your life.
And so all the things we
worry about, all the things
we try to control, Scripture
says that all of these
things are for naught.
It will never work.
In fact, worry and fear is
basically us saying we don't
trust God.
And we don't trust Him to be
God in our lives.
This Wednesday, I got this
call.
I wasn't expecting this call.
And a guy had died, and they
asked me to do the funeral.
I didn't know them.
I walked into the family.
They were a very nice
looking family, and you could
tell there was a small funeral
in North Point.
And I walked in on Wednesday,
11 o'clock, and you saw the
20 people, and you saw
sadness.
You saw worry.
You saw fear.
You saw anxiety.
And I looked at these people,
and I realized that this is
what this passage is talking
about.
The death of funeral is our
great object lesson.
That when we walk into a
funeral, we realize really
quickly that our lives are not
in our control.
And no matter what we do,
no matter how we act, no
matter what we accumulate, no
matter who we know, we can't
stop that moment.
And the scripture says you
cannot, and you cannot do that
by worrying or fear or anxiety.
It just won't go away.
So the next question I have to
ask ourself is how?
How do we get rid of the fear?
How do we get rid of the worry?
How do I know when I'm walking
down that path, and I'm going to
end into that worry?
What does it look like in my life
when I start to worry, and how do
I move and deviate myself from
those worries?
And Jesus loves us so much in his
word.
He doesn't just say, do this.
But he gives us his word pictures
of his goodness and his grace in
our life.
As Jesus says in verse 24, if you
look at your bulletin, this is what
he says for us.
Consider the ravens, for they neither
sow nor reap.
They have no storeroom or barn, and
yet God feeds them.
How much more valuable are you than
the birds?
Which of you, by worrying, could add
a single cubit to his lifespan?
If then you cannot do even a very
little thing, why do you worry
about other matters?
Consider the lilies.
Jesus' lesson for us, Jesus' message
for us today on how we know and what
we need to do begins with that word
consider.
That word consider in Greek is a very,
very interesting word.
It's packed really deeply with
theological meaning.
It means to understand fully.
It means to consider.
It means to ponder.
It means to think about.
It means to understand and internalize
in our life.
And what Jesus is saying here is that
the battle for worry, the battle for
fear, the battle for anxiety happens
in our minds.
When we stop thinking about what God's
doing in our life, when we stop
considering who he is and what Christ
has done with us, when we stop wrestling
about God's goodness, when we stop doing
all these things, fear and worry come
into our world and change us,
we know we're heading down the wrong path
when we start thinking improper or wrongly
about God and who he is.
This passage talks about that in two ways.
The first way is with the raven.
Now when Jesus' hearers heard this,
they would have been disgusted because
the raven was the most, it was the lowest
animal in the food chain.
It was a scavenger.
It ate off of dead animals.
It didn't take care of itself.
And what they read and what they hear here
is that God is in control
of even the raven's lives.
That God is in control.
Don't allow your mind to change.
Don't begin to doubt whether he is there.
He is in control of even the raven's minds.
He goes on in verse 28 and he continues
to talk about the birds and the flowers
and he's saying, guys, as you're walking
through life, as you're entering
into the minefield, when you start
to have thoughts that aren't of God,
when you start to question God's character,
when you start to question who he is
and his goodness, remember that he's there
and that he's done everything for you.
Remember the gospel.
Remember what Christ did on the cross.
Remember that he's taken you there.
Let me give you an illustration.
If you were to walk in this Sunday
and you looked at my kids
and my kids had a really sad,
frowning face on them.
They were really worried, like uber worried.
You're like, okay, something's going on
in another household.
I need to ask them what's going on.
And you pulled them aside
and you said to my kids,
hey guys, what's going on?
What's happening in your life?
And my kids said to you,
you know, we don't know
if our dad's going to feed us dinner tonight.
We don't know if our dad's going to feed us tonight.
What would you think?
Well, the first thing you would do
is you'd look at them and you'd go,
you know guys,
you can afford to miss a couple meals.
None of my kids are here, okay.
But the second thing you would say to them
is come on guys,
I know your dad.
I know that he's good.
I know that he's fed you up until this point.
You haven't missed any meals.
It looks like you're really well fed.
Why are you worrying about these things?
Come on guys.
I know your dad.
I know that he provides for you things
even beyond your wildest imagination.
Your mom's always complaining about the chocolate
and all these other things that he's giving you.
You would look at my kids and go,
guys, what you fear
and what you worry
isn't true
because your dad is so much better than that
and he's giving you all these things.
And when we start to worry,
we look at what is happening in front of us
and we forget God's faithfulness in our life.
And the hard thing I think about this
is that our culture in the world around us
stresses and obsesses
on food, clothing, housing,
what you wear, what you eat,
who you are, where you live.
And Jesus looks at this passage
and he says,
don't worry about these things
because God has brought in you to this place
and surely he's not going to leave you by yourself alone.
The passage continues on
and he talks about just basically the lilies of the field.
And when he talks about the lilies of the field,
what he's saying to a Hebrew listener is
that God is good.
Look at how God provides for these lilies.
Look at how he takes care of them.
You're worried that God's not in control, the ravens.
You're worried that God is not good, the lilies.
But that's not true
because God is good
and he's provided everything for you
and he's faithful and he's true
and he's there.
Just look at the past
and you can determine the future.
Okay, so I'm in minibus eight on Tuesday
going to the community center
and I'm praying about this sermon.
I'm figuring out,
okay, how the heck can I illustrate this
and what can I do here
and what should I say?
And I'm listening in the minibus
and there's this program on in the minibus
and they're speaking in Cantonese.
I have no idea what the program is about
but in the middle of the program,
a guy blurts out in English,
the best and only predictor of future outcome
is past performance.
The best and only predictor of future outcome
is past performance.
And I wanted to jump up and say,
amen!
Because that's the message of the Bible.
If you're worried about God taking care of you tomorrow,
what has he done in the past?
If you're worried about your next step
and where you're going to move
and where you're going to live,
he's already moved you to heaven.
That's a pretty good house.
Why are you going to worry?
Don't worry about the things today
but look towards what Christ and God
has done for us in the past.
The passage says basically
that the path to worry and fear
starts by thinking poorly about God.
That we forget God's goodness.
We forget God's faithfulness.
We forget that he's there for us.
We forget that he's brought us all this way.
And we worry about things
that if we grab onto them,
they actually enslave us.
They bring us into chains and darkness.
When we worry or are anxious,
basically what we're saying
is that we don't believe
that God is totally in control.
And we don't believe God is good.
Worried about next year and your contract?
Some of you shook your heads.
The passage says that God is in control.
That God is good.
Worried about how you're going to retire
at a certain time,
which I don't even know
if retirement is biblical.
But the passage says
that God is in control
and that God is good.
Worried about your kids
and you've tried to do all these things
and they're still not turning out
the way that you want them to do
but you're walking with God
and you're sharing with them the gospel
and they're making these bad choices.
The passage says
that God is in control
and God is good.
Jesus is telling you and me,
don't be anxious.
Don't worry about things
that aren't important
because God will take care
of all these things
he has from the very beginning of time
and he will until this point.
The second thing I realize in my life
as I'm walking down this journey
is found in verse 31.
And it's basically,
I realize for myself
when I start walking
into the field of worry
and anxiety and fear
that I'm living
for the wrong kingdom.
Verse 31 goes on,
but seek first his kingdom
and these things
will be added to you.
We begin to worry,
we begin to fear
when our priorities are wrong
and we're serving the wrong kingdom.
Jesus always taught of two worlds.
This world that we live in right now
and the world to come.
He always says
that the world to come
is more real
and more tangible
than the world
that we live in right now.
And the question
that he always asked us was,
are we going to live
for this world right now
or are we going to live
for the world to come?
Are we going to live
for the temporary
or are we going to live
for the eternal?
How are we going to live our lives?
Where are we going to focus?
And the passage says here
that when we start to focus
on the wrong kingdom,
we start to worry
we start to fear
and we start to get anxious.
Let me ask you
a really quick question.
How long
is what you're working on
right now in your business
going to last?
You're doing a new project,
which is great.
You're setting up a new company,
which is great.
You're setting up a new school,
which is great.
But how long
is it going to last?
Is it going to last forever?
Now, the passage isn't saying
everybody quit their jobs
and go be in missionaries
or in ministry.
That's not what the passage
is saying at all.
But the passage is saying this,
whatever you do,
do it for the kingdom of God.
Focus on Christ.
Focus your life on God.
Put God at the center
of your life.
Put God in the center
of your world,
making sure that you
think about Him.
Everything that we do
is centered on Christ
and what He does
in our life.
When He says,
seek His kingdom first,
what He's saying
is understand God.
Understand the gospel.
Put Jesus in your life.
Let Him be Lord,
not just on Sunday,
but on Monday
and Tuesday
and Wednesday
and Thursday.
Let Him be Lord
in the boardroom.
Let Him be Lord
in your family.
Let Him be the center
of everything that you do.
Trust Him because He's good.
Trust Him because He's brought you there.
Trust Him because He's in control.
Seek first His kingdom
and if you seek first His kingdom,
everything else will be okay.
And the reason we get anxious,
the reason we get worried,
the reason that we become fearful
is because we're seeking
the wrong kingdom.
Let me ask you another question.
I'm trying really hard
on a business standpoint
to relate to everybody.
what if you knew
that the country
that you had all your wealth
and all your assets
and everything that you were,
what if you knew
that that country
was going to fall apart
and was no longer
going to exist
and the new world power
in the world
was going to be Australia?
Now, I know,
I know that's very scary
and it's hard to think about,
but what if you knew
that was going to happen?
What if you knew
that country
that you had everything
invested in was going
to fall apart
and everything was going
to fall away
and that the new world power
was going to be Australia?
What would you do?
You'd take everything
that you had,
hopefully if you're smart,
and you'd put it in Australia.
You'd invest in Australia
stocks and bonds
and all these things.
And this passage
is saying just that to us.
Jesus is coming into our life
and He's asking us
the question,
which currency
are you investing in?
Are you investing
in the currency of heaven
or are you investing
in the currency of man?
Where is your money going to?
He's not saying, again,
don't have fun.
I think the scripture
is all about having fun
and enjoying and relaxing
and walking with God.
And I think that if I were you,
I would say,
you stay in your job
and make a ton of money
and enjoy it
and give it to God
and allow God
to use it for His kingdom
and just be the best
business person
or best teacher
or whatever God has you do,
you do it to the glory of God.
Don't leave
what you're doing now
because you're saying,
well, this passage says
I've got to invest
in God's kingdom.
You do invest in God's kingdom
wherever you're at.
But what if you knew
that everything
that you were investing in
was going to fall apart
and that kingdom
would no longer be there?
How would you handle your stuff?
The story goes
that Queen Elizabeth I
went to a man
and she said to him,
I need you to go
on a journey for me.
True story.
I need you to go
on a journey for me.
I need you to explore
uncharted territories,
a new world,
and I believe that
you're the person
for this job.
I need you to do this for me.
The man looked at her
and he said,
you can't mean me.
I'm a small businessman.
My business is doing terrible.
And if I do
what you want me to do,
if I go on this journey
to explore these new lands,
if I do all these things,
my business will fail
and I'll be a wreck.
And history tells us
that Queen Elizabeth,
I wish I could have met her,
she probably was
a really tough girl,
she looked at him
and she said this,
if you mind my business,
I'll mind your business.
If you mind my business,
I'll mind your business.
And we're told
that the man looked at her
and he said,
okay.
Because he realized
that if the Queen of England
was looking after his stuff,
then his stuff
was going to be okay.
Jesus in this passage says,
seek first his kingdom.
what he's saying to you
and to me especially,
is that if we mind his business,
he's going to take care
of our business.
If we mind his stuff,
he's going to take care
of our stuff.
Because he's good.
And we can trust him.
And the minute we start to worry,
the minute we start to doubt,
the minute we start to fear,
the scripture says
that what we've done
is we've taken our mind
off of his business.
And we've put it
onto our business.
Three thoughts
I want to share with you
and we're done.
The first thought is this.
This is what's been
going through my head.
Often we feel like
we need to get security
in our lives
or certain areas of our life
before we can be free
to serve and trust God
as he wishes
and as he wants us to.
But this passage says
that control
and having enough
and choosing ourselves
is a myth
and it will never happen.
It will never happen.
Because God is in control.
Not you.
And so my thought for us is
would we trust him
to be in his business
and to trust him
for ours?
I run into guys
all the time
and they're doing ministry
and they're doing things
and they go,
you know,
I wish I could just save up
about five million dollars
and if I saved up
about five million dollars
then I could really,
I could run an NGO.
I could do what I feel
like God really wants me to do.
But I can't really do that
until I get this done.
I mean,
I can't really go
and do these things
until I finish this one career
because if I finish this one career
then I'll have security
and I can rest
because my retirement's assured
and then I can go be
a missionary
or a pastor
or do whatever I want to do.
And this passage says
that's a lie
because God is in control
and we can trust him
to take care of us
and to be good
and because he's good
we can be generous
with the stuff
that he's given us.
The second thing
that's been hitting me
is that Jesus teaches
two worlds.
There's a temporal world,
a temporary world,
here and now
and an eternal world.
And the question
we have to ask ourselves
is where are we
investing our currency?
Where are we investing
our energies?
Where are we investing
our life?
Where are we investing
the best part of who we are?
Are we investing it
in this world
or in the heavenly world?
Again, I'm not saying
quit your job
but what I'm saying is
do your job
to the glory of God.
Trust God to be
at the center of your job.
Trust God to be
at the center of your family.
Do these things
for his glory.
Trust him.
Do his stuff
and trust him
with your stuff.
Where are we investing it?
The question maybe
I would ask in that sense
would be this.
If you had a client
and you knew
that his job
or his business
had an eternal lifespan
or his life
had an eternal lifespan
and you went to him
to look about
how he was investing
his money
and he was only
investing his money
for the next 80 years
what would you tell him?
I mean he has
an eternal outlook.
He has an eternal lifespan
on his company
or whoever he is.
He has an eternal lifespan
but when you look
at his finances
he's only investing them
in the next 70 to 80 years.
What would you say
to that guy
or girl?
The Bible would say
they're a fool.
They're a fool.
And finally
the last thought
that's been hitting me
in the head is
what do you worry about today?
If you could write down
on a 3x5 card
what do you worry about?
What do you worry about?
What do you fear?
What are you anxious about?
Do you realize
as you do those things
that God is in control
and that he's good
and he's brought you this far
and he can trust you?
What is it that you fear?
What is it that you worry about?
What is it that you're anxious about?
Scripture says
that there are only
two game plans
for living our life.
Either we are totally competent
to run our life
and we put ourselves
at the center of our life
or we put God
at the center of our life.
Those are the only two
game plans in Scripture.
Two worlds,
two kingdoms,
two people running.
Either you're so competent
in who you are
and you know how
to live your life
and you can know
everything you've done
and you can do it perfectly
and you don't even
doubt yourself
and you put yourself
at the center of your world
or you trust in God.
You put him
at the center of the world.
Where are you today?
When I ask these questions
to myself,
I have some really hard
answers sometimes
because sometimes
I say this
but often I live
like I don't believe it.
And I think the power
of the gospel,
the power of this passage
is what Jesus is saying
to us is,
guys,
you need to come
alongside each other.
You need to come alongside
in being in community.
You need to realize
that when someone's down
and they're frustrated
and they're worried
and they're anxious
and you see it on their face,
you need to come
into the world
and you need to gospel them.
You need to speak
God's word to them.
You need to say,
hey, God brought you this far.
He's not going to leave you hanging.
Hey, God did all these things
up until this point.
He gave his son
for your life.
There's no way
that he's not going
to provide for you.
His word says
he will provide for you.
You have to trust him.
He will provide for you
and he's good.
The power of the gospel
changes all of these things
and it basically says
we can trust God
because he's given
everything for us.
He's withheld nothing.
He's good
and he wants
an amazing life for us
and the question is
will we trust him for that
or will we live our life
for our own?
My prayer for each of us
in here today
is that we would surrender
our lives to Christ,
that we'd ask him
to be Lord of our life,
that we'd ask him
to be the center
of our world,
that we would trust him
to be in control,
that we would trust him
to be good
and that we'd rest
in his faithfulness
and we wouldn't worry
about so many things.
We wouldn't be so fearful
about so many things.
We wouldn't be so anxious
about so many things
because we have a God
who loves us so much
and wants the best for us
and he's done everything
to bring us to this point
and we can trust him.
Consider,
think about,
understand,
understand fully,
grab onto,
cling to,
don't let it escape you.
Consider the ravens
for they neither sow nor reap
for they have no storeroom
nor barn
and yet God feeds them.
how much more valuable
are you than these birds?
Consider,
think about,
ponder,
bring into your heart,
don't allow it to escape,
talk to other people,
encourage them,
tell them this is the truth,
this is who God is,
this is what God wants for you.
Consider the lilies,
how they grow,
they neither toil
nor they spin,
but I tell you,
even Solomon
in all his glory
clothed himself
like none of these things.
God is good
and you can trust him.
Consider him.
Father,
I thank you for this day,
I thank you for your word.
We thank you
that it is 2,000 years old
and it still changes our lives.
It moves us,
it convicts us,
it points us to your son.
Lord,
I know that there are many of us
in here right now
who refuse to doubt in ourselves.
We refuse to surrender
our lives to you.
We think that we can run
our life on our own.
We think that we know
the best way of doing things.
But if we're totally honest,
if we looked at our lives,
if we looked at our relationships,
if we looked at our communities,
we'd realize that things
aren't that good.
Father,
I pray for those people
who've never come
into a relationship with you
that they would consider
your faithfulness,
they would consider
your goodness,
they would consider
this passage
and who you are
and they would know
that they can trust you.
And I pray that they would
just say something simple like,
dear Jesus,
I just,
forgive me.
Forgive me for doubting
your goodness.
Forgive me for doubting
that you're in control.
I surrender my life to you
and I repent of these things
that have held me away from you.
And Father,
I know that there are
some of us in here
like me
who we trust you
for eternity.
But we have a hard time
trusting you for Monday.
Yeah,
you've given us
eternal life
and we have a place
in heaven
and we benefit
of all your mercy
and your grace
and the gospel changes us.
But when we step
into the boardroom
or we step into the office
or when we step
into our family,
we jump back
into the center
of our lives.
And Father,
I just pray for me
and for us.
We repent.
We confess our sin.
We confess just
trying to live life
on our own.
And we come to you
as your children
and just ask you
to heal us
and to change us.
And Father,
for all of us
as we come before you,
we just are marveling
at how good you are
and how gracious you are.
And we come before you
as a church
and I pray, Lord,
as a church
that we would consider you often.
That we would trust you
and we would walk with you.
So Lord,
we just,
I just pray
in these next couple moments
as we think of this passage,
no matter where we're at,
that you would speak to us.
That you would change us.
That you would heal us.
And we would walk
in the newness
of a relationship with you
and we would feel
your mercy and grace.
We pray these things
in your Son,
Jesus Christ,
holy name.
Amen.