WEBVTT 00:00:08.320 --> 00:00:18.160 Let me invite you now to open your Bibles to the Matthew chapter 6, the Gospel of Matthew, as we continue our study in the Lord's Prayer. 00:00:18.800 --> 00:00:24.239 Let me warn you that this is going to be a two-part sermon. 00:00:24.559 --> 00:00:26.800 If the Lord tarries, we'll finish it next week. 00:00:26.960 --> 00:00:29.519 I learned that lesson first hour this morning. 00:00:30.160 --> 00:00:33.600 So we'll go through half of it today and half of it next week. 00:00:34.000 --> 00:00:38.000 But that's the great thing about God's word is there's, you know, always another verse. 00:00:38.079 --> 00:00:40.320 You hit Revelation, you finish it, you can just start over. 00:00:40.479 --> 00:00:45.200 So Matthew chapter 6, we're gonna look at verses 25. 00:00:45.679 --> 00:00:52.320 And I'm gonna read in a short time the whole chapter, but we're gonna focus mostly on the first few verses there. 00:00:52.799 --> 00:01:01.920 And it includes what feathers have to say about worry, what flowers have to say about worry, and what fathers have to say about worry. 00:01:02.240 --> 00:01:03.679 Feathers, flowers, and fathers. 00:01:03.759 --> 00:01:04.719 That's a great outline. 00:01:05.040 --> 00:01:07.439 And we'll do only part of it this morning. 00:01:08.640 --> 00:01:12.959 Matthew chapter 6, verse 25. 00:01:13.200 --> 00:01:16.560 I preached this same passage at the very start of COVID. 00:01:16.640 --> 00:01:34.799 If you recall, the governor closed all churches, effective midnight on Sunday, and the elders at IBC determined there was enough ambiguity in midnight on Sunday to allow us to stay open one more Sunday, which we we did. 00:01:34.959 --> 00:01:39.760 And I set aside what I was preaching through Ephesians and preached on this passage. 00:01:39.840 --> 00:01:46.640 And I went back and re-listened to what I said back then, and let me just read my uh introduction. 00:01:46.799 --> 00:01:52.480 I said, quote, the biggest danger we face right now is highly contagious and it spreads easily. 00:01:52.719 --> 00:01:57.920 Most alarmingly, those that are most affected might not even be aware of the danger they pose to others. 00:01:58.159 --> 00:02:07.439 It afflicts the old and the young, and its symptoms include fatigue, a sense of being worn down, it causes shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, feelings of nausea and distress. 00:02:07.599 --> 00:02:09.439 Ultimately, it can be fatal. 00:02:09.680 --> 00:02:13.759 And of course, I'm not talking about the coronavirus, but rather worry. 00:02:14.719 --> 00:02:21.360 And I said, mark my words, the threat to your soul, more extreme than a virus, is anxiety. 00:02:21.840 --> 00:02:26.319 Don't be surprised if it kills more people than COVID will. 00:02:26.800 --> 00:02:29.840 I haven't looked at the actual death rates well enough. 00:02:29.919 --> 00:02:30.319 I tried. 00:02:30.400 --> 00:02:32.960 I spent 20 minutes on that last night and gave up. 00:02:33.039 --> 00:02:39.280 They're horribly complex and ambiguous, but I still stand by what I said back then. 00:02:39.439 --> 00:02:42.719 By the way, I do not recommend listening to yourself preach. 00:02:42.800 --> 00:02:46.080 What a terrible, terrible endeavor. 00:02:46.240 --> 00:02:50.719 And I feel sorry for all of you from the bottom of my heart. 00:02:52.400 --> 00:02:56.879 But it was interesting to think back in March of 2020. 00:02:57.120 --> 00:03:03.439 My concern as a pastor was for the prevalence of worry and anxiety in a congregation's life. 00:03:03.520 --> 00:03:12.879 You know, you're being bombarded with everybody in the news, from the president all the way down to the governor and every avenue of news telling you to be very, very, very afraid. 00:03:12.960 --> 00:03:17.439 Do you even remember like the COVID dashboard Fairfax County had back then, broken up by zip code? 00:03:17.599 --> 00:03:20.960 There's three people in 22312 that have COVID. 00:03:21.120 --> 00:03:24.800 Don't worry, they're between the ages of 50 and 62, so you might be okay. 00:03:24.960 --> 00:03:31.599 I mean, that was an insane time, entirely driven by fear, anxiety, and worry. 00:03:33.599 --> 00:03:35.759 Fear has a crippling effect. 00:03:36.000 --> 00:03:37.520 And it always has. 00:03:38.240 --> 00:03:40.719 Anxiety debilitates you. 00:03:41.280 --> 00:03:46.639 One medical book I looked at this week defined anxiety in a very helpful way, very briefly. 00:03:46.719 --> 00:03:51.840 It says, anxiety, quote, is an inappropriate response to circumstances. 00:03:52.479 --> 00:03:54.560 An inappropriate response to circumstances. 00:03:54.719 --> 00:03:56.080 I think that's a great definition. 00:03:56.240 --> 00:04:10.479 And that book goes on to give an illustration of a person who's in an interview in a windowless room with a humming light, a job interview, and the boss looks intimidating from behind the, and I'm picturing as I'm reading this, I'm filling out details in my mind. 00:04:10.560 --> 00:04:21.120 I'm picturing like one of those metal desks that scrapes on the floor and the humming incandescent light above it, and the intimidating boss with probably a pocket protector and a scowl. 00:04:21.759 --> 00:04:28.720 And it says, an illustration of anxiety is a person in the interview in a windowless room with the humming light, an intimidating situation. 00:04:28.959 --> 00:04:33.839 She begins to feel her throat close, and the hum grows louder and louder in her head. 00:04:34.079 --> 00:04:38.079 Her mind becomes consumed by the thought, I've got to get out of here. 00:04:39.279 --> 00:04:42.720 And as I read that, I thought, I can certainly relate to that. 00:04:42.879 --> 00:04:46.160 Those lights, I can imagine the sound of those lights growing in your head. 00:04:46.319 --> 00:04:55.519 I can imagine an awkward situation where the desire to flee becomes tad amount in your experience. 00:04:55.680 --> 00:04:56.720 That's anxiety. 00:04:56.800 --> 00:05:01.040 It's a physiological response disproportionate to the circumstances. 00:05:01.360 --> 00:05:11.199 The American Psychological Association, and this is the first time in my life I've ever quoted them, gives a helpful contrast between fear and anxiety. 00:05:11.680 --> 00:05:21.519 They say, anxiety is considered future-oriented, long-acting response, broadly focused on a diffuse threat. 00:05:22.000 --> 00:05:29.839 Whereas fear is appropriate, present-oriented, and short-lived response to a clearly identifiable and specific threat. 00:05:30.000 --> 00:05:34.079 I think that is such a helpful distinction. 00:05:34.399 --> 00:05:41.600 Because people will often try to excuse anxiety by saying something like, Oh, you're saying if a snake slithered on stage, I'm not supposed to be afraid. 00:05:41.839 --> 00:05:43.360 No, that's fear. 00:05:43.600 --> 00:05:48.959 The snake slither's on stage, it would be fearful for you to walk away in a good sense. 00:05:49.040 --> 00:05:52.639 It would be prudent for you to walk away from the snake. 00:05:52.800 --> 00:05:54.319 That's different than anxiety. 00:05:54.480 --> 00:05:58.399 That's different than saying I'm not going into that room because there might be snakes in there. 00:05:58.480 --> 00:06:00.399 And I'm sure you can understand the difference. 00:06:00.560 --> 00:06:05.279 The American Psychological Association goes on to define an anxiety disorder. 00:06:05.439 --> 00:06:15.360 And again, I think in a helpful way, it's a disorder when it is recurring, so you have the same fears over and over, or it produces a physiological response. 00:06:15.680 --> 00:06:20.560 Racing heart, sweating, clammy palms, etc. 00:06:21.920 --> 00:06:25.759 Disorder is a good word for that because fear cripples. 00:06:26.079 --> 00:06:32.079 Fear takes you out of circulation, it takes you out of usefulness, it limits what you can do. 00:06:32.720 --> 00:06:38.160 Proverbs 12, 25 says this anxiety in a man's heart weighs him down. 00:06:38.319 --> 00:06:40.639 Sorry for the typo there, it weighs him down. 00:06:40.959 --> 00:06:43.759 But a good word makes him glad. 00:06:44.000 --> 00:06:46.319 Notice the contrast Solomon gives here. 00:06:46.480 --> 00:06:48.879 Anxiety in a heart cripples you. 00:06:48.959 --> 00:06:51.199 It's like a weight on your shoulders. 00:06:51.439 --> 00:06:54.160 It makes it difficult to move or to operate. 00:06:54.240 --> 00:06:55.519 It's a weight on you. 00:06:55.759 --> 00:06:58.879 In contrast, a good word makes you glad. 00:06:58.959 --> 00:07:01.680 And familiar with the way Proverbs use these kinds of contrasts. 00:07:01.839 --> 00:07:03.680 A good word here speaks of Scripture. 00:07:03.920 --> 00:07:09.040 A good word here later on in Proverbs that says that Scripture is health for the bones. 00:07:09.519 --> 00:07:11.199 Anxiety decays you. 00:07:11.360 --> 00:07:15.680 David says that when he was in his sin, he felt wasted away. 00:07:15.920 --> 00:07:19.839 Anxiety decays, it erodes, it erases. 00:07:21.360 --> 00:07:30.319 Whereas good news, truth, builds up, gladdens the heart, strengthens you to send you out into the world. 00:07:30.480 --> 00:07:34.639 Fear and faith are not friends, they are foes. 00:07:34.800 --> 00:07:36.319 That's the point of this kind of passage. 00:07:36.480 --> 00:07:38.639 Fear and faith, they don't like each other. 00:07:38.959 --> 00:07:41.519 Faith drives out fear. 00:07:41.839 --> 00:07:44.079 Fear combats faith. 00:07:45.680 --> 00:07:53.360 This is why the scripture says that God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but a spirit of courage and boldness. 00:07:53.519 --> 00:08:00.720 And when Paul tells Timothy that, he's not even speaking generically like God didn't make you timid, he made you courageous. 00:08:00.800 --> 00:08:01.519 That's not what he means. 00:08:01.600 --> 00:08:06.879 He means literally, God gave you a spirit of courage, not a spirit of fear. 00:08:06.959 --> 00:08:29.680 Because in your salvation, when you come to faith in Christ, the Holy Spirit regenerates your heart, gives you new life, indwells you, seals you, and now for the rest of your Christian life, the Holy Spirit is applying scripture to your mind, convicting your conscience of sin, compelling you, urging you to righteous living, causing you to walk in the good deeds that God appointed for you. 00:08:29.839 --> 00:08:32.080 The Spirit is living and active inside of you. 00:08:32.240 --> 00:08:38.159 Getting down, Paul says elsewhere, that it cuts between bone and marrow, between spirit and soul. 00:08:38.720 --> 00:08:49.440 The word of God, aided by the Spirit of God, gets into your heart, exposes your hidden motives, and compels you to walk upright and confident and courageous in a dark world. 00:08:49.600 --> 00:08:50.960 That's what the Spirit of God does. 00:08:51.039 --> 00:08:57.919 The Holy Spirit does not work in your conscience to make you timid and withdraw, but to push you forward. 00:08:58.720 --> 00:09:07.840 So it is very literally true that God did not give you a spirit of fear and timidity, but a spirit of courage and confidence and boldness. 00:09:08.639 --> 00:09:10.799 The Holy Spirit is not fearful. 00:09:11.279 --> 00:09:14.720 And because of that, the followers of Christ ought not be fearful either. 00:09:14.879 --> 00:09:18.480 And yet, we often are. 00:09:18.960 --> 00:09:25.679 We are often consumed by fear because there's a war in our field division between faith and circumstance. 00:09:25.840 --> 00:09:27.600 We know that we should see the unseen. 00:09:27.919 --> 00:09:39.039 We know we should have confidence in God's goodness in the world, and yet present circumstances jump up in front of our eyesight and wave their hands and say, Yeah, I know you believe in God, but what about me, me, me, me, me, me right now? 00:09:40.240 --> 00:09:41.600 That's fear. 00:09:42.480 --> 00:09:44.879 That causes a war in the heart. 00:09:45.840 --> 00:09:51.759 Our hearts are fickle, our nature is fallen, and our lives are short. 00:09:52.080 --> 00:09:54.399 And we don't like any of those truths. 00:09:54.639 --> 00:10:01.120 We want our hearts to be courageous, we want our nature to be noble, and we want our lives to be long. 00:10:01.759 --> 00:10:10.720 And that delta there, that difference between what we are and what we want to be, that is the fertile soil for worry. 00:10:11.840 --> 00:10:16.639 Our natures are fickle and we so want to be in control of things. 00:10:17.679 --> 00:10:19.840 But the seed of worry gets planted. 00:10:20.080 --> 00:10:23.759 Our lives are short and we so want to be in control of how long we live. 00:10:23.919 --> 00:10:26.399 We want to be in control of how long we live. 00:10:26.639 --> 00:10:27.679 And we're not. 00:10:28.399 --> 00:10:31.279 And so worry gets planted in our hearts. 00:10:31.519 --> 00:10:39.600 And it's a dangerous seed because when the seed of worry is planted in our hearts, it grows and becomes a tree. 00:10:39.679 --> 00:10:43.679 And when the tree of worry grows, it does not produce the fruit of the spirit. 00:10:44.080 --> 00:10:50.159 The tree of worry grows and produces despair, desperation, anxiety. 00:10:51.440 --> 00:10:57.039 And so with that in the background, Matthew 6, verse 25. 00:10:57.840 --> 00:11:07.360 Jesus says, Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, about what you eat or drink, about your body, what you'll put on. 00:11:07.519 --> 00:11:10.000 Is not life more than food, the body more than clothing? 00:11:10.159 --> 00:11:13.600 Look at the birds of the air, they neither sow nor reap, nor gather into barns. 00:11:13.759 --> 00:11:17.759 Yet your heavenly Father feeds them, are you not more valuable than they? 00:11:19.039 --> 00:11:23.200 Which of you, by being anxious, can add a single hour to his span of life? 00:11:23.440 --> 00:11:25.679 And why are you anxious about clothing? 00:11:25.840 --> 00:11:29.360 Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow, they don't toil or spin. 00:11:29.440 --> 00:11:33.440 Yet I tell you, even Solomon, in all his glory, was not arrayed like one of these. 00:11:33.679 --> 00:11:40.000 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive, tomorrow thrown in the oven, will he not much more clothe you? 00:11:40.159 --> 00:11:41.840 O you of little faith. 00:11:42.399 --> 00:11:46.799 Therefore don't be anxious, saying, What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or what shall we wear? 00:11:46.960 --> 00:11:48.720 For the Gentiles seek after these things. 00:11:48.960 --> 00:11:51.360 Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 00:11:51.600 --> 00:11:54.399 Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. 00:11:54.559 --> 00:11:56.240 All these things will be added to you. 00:11:56.320 --> 00:12:00.639 Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. 00:12:01.759 --> 00:12:05.840 Sufficient is the day for its own trouble. 00:12:07.360 --> 00:12:12.960 The main point of this passage, which is obvious, it's repeated three times. 00:12:13.279 --> 00:12:15.600 You don't even need to go to seminary for this. 00:12:16.320 --> 00:12:21.840 Verse 25, verse 31, verse 34, three times Jesus says the same thing. 00:12:22.159 --> 00:12:24.799 Do not be anxious. 00:12:25.840 --> 00:12:26.879 Don't be anxious. 00:12:27.840 --> 00:12:35.519 Jesus is commanding you, pleading with you, begging you, imploring you, asking you. 00:12:35.919 --> 00:12:37.279 Don't be anxious. 00:12:37.840 --> 00:12:39.360 Please don't be anxious. 00:12:40.480 --> 00:12:46.080 And when Jesus asks you not to do something, it's a good idea not to do it. 00:12:47.600 --> 00:12:59.200 Now I want to stand here this morning and repeat Jesus' question to you, repeat his plea to you, and beg you not to be anxious about things in your life. 00:12:59.679 --> 00:13:01.120 Don't worry about them. 00:13:01.200 --> 00:13:04.879 And I don't mean that in a Bob Marley way, I mean that in a Jesus Christ way. 00:13:05.759 --> 00:13:14.480 Don't worry about what you will eat or drink or where or live or how long you'll live. 00:13:14.720 --> 00:13:17.440 Don't worry about those things. 00:13:18.159 --> 00:13:20.720 Because Jesus asks you not to. 00:13:22.159 --> 00:13:26.159 And so I'm begging you not to lead a life of worry. 00:13:27.039 --> 00:13:38.159 And I am convinced that when Jesus asks you not to do something, and I'm asking you not to do something in his behalf, that there's only a small category of things I can ask you not to do. 00:13:38.240 --> 00:13:41.600 And that category can be titled with one word, sin. 00:13:42.480 --> 00:13:47.919 I don't want to venture beyond steering you away in wisdom choices about your life. 00:13:48.320 --> 00:13:50.720 Jesus isn't micromanaging even your finances. 00:13:50.799 --> 00:13:52.159 He's big picture with your finances. 00:13:52.240 --> 00:13:52.960 Don't hoard. 00:13:53.039 --> 00:13:53.679 That's sin. 00:13:53.840 --> 00:13:55.440 We talked about that last week. 00:13:56.399 --> 00:13:59.360 He's talking to you now about something that is sinful. 00:13:59.519 --> 00:14:02.240 It's sinful because he says, don't do it. 00:14:03.279 --> 00:14:05.120 And I think it's so important. 00:14:05.440 --> 00:14:07.600 That's why I got it in big words on your screen. 00:14:07.840 --> 00:14:15.279 I got it so, I think it's so important for you to understand that anxiety and worry, as it takes over the heart and moves into the heart, is sin. 00:14:15.440 --> 00:14:16.559 Because that's how you fight it. 00:14:16.639 --> 00:14:21.840 You can't fight a spiritual danger unless you identify it and categorize it in the right way. 00:14:24.080 --> 00:14:26.080 And people often counter. 00:14:26.320 --> 00:14:37.120 In fact, in that March 2020, last time I preached this passage, people countered to me afterwards with all kinds of things like, oh, you don't understand worry can't be sin because worry is good. 00:14:38.960 --> 00:14:45.440 Somebody even steered me towards a video from a counseling organization that talked about how worry is good. 00:14:45.519 --> 00:14:53.279 And the person said, you know, if you don't, worry is good, of course, because if you don't worry about your teeth getting yellow, you wouldn't brush your teeth. 00:14:53.600 --> 00:14:56.960 If you don't worry about your stuff getting stolen, you wouldn't lock the deadbolt. 00:14:57.120 --> 00:15:00.639 If you don't worry about your kids going to college, you wouldn't make them do algebra. 00:15:01.039 --> 00:15:03.200 And I'm like, oh, I've I've been there. 00:15:06.480 --> 00:15:09.519 But that confuses worry and prudence. 00:15:10.000 --> 00:15:12.480 Prudence and worry are not the same thing. 00:15:13.679 --> 00:15:16.000 Fear is not a good motivator. 00:15:16.240 --> 00:15:18.480 Anxiety is not a good motivator. 00:15:18.720 --> 00:15:20.480 Worry is not a good motivator. 00:15:20.639 --> 00:15:25.519 You should brush your teeth because it's prudence, and I I can't believe I'm having to say that. 00:15:28.720 --> 00:15:30.320 You should lock your deadbolt. 00:15:30.399 --> 00:15:32.960 It's prudent to be a good steward of your stuff. 00:15:34.559 --> 00:15:36.720 You should have your kids do algebra. 00:15:37.600 --> 00:15:42.720 Because it's prudent for them to be a steward of the opportunities in the educational world you're giving them. 00:15:43.360 --> 00:15:45.200 That's very different than anxiety. 00:15:45.279 --> 00:15:49.279 And we know we know how anxiety can take over, don't we? 00:15:49.600 --> 00:15:57.600 I I mean, I know as a dad, I'm looking at the kid who closes the algebra book with only half of the problems done and puts it away, and then the mind just goes, doesn't it? 00:15:57.840 --> 00:16:16.399 If you don't finish algebra, you're not gonna get a good grade in class, which means you're not gonna get a you know a good GPA, you're not gonna get in the right college, you're not gonna get the right degree, you're not gonna marry the right guy, you're not gonna have a good provision in your life, you're not gonna be able to provide for your kids, you're probably gonna end up homeless under the overpass because you only did the odd numbers. 00:16:17.360 --> 00:16:18.639 Like our hearts go there. 00:16:18.720 --> 00:16:23.039 And I like that you're laughing, but believe me, in the moment when I'm thinking this, I'm not laughing. 00:16:28.159 --> 00:16:31.279 Anxiety is not a good motivator at that moment. 00:16:33.200 --> 00:16:34.559 But prudence is. 00:16:34.879 --> 00:16:42.240 Remember, as we define anxiety earlier, it's a it's disproportionate to the danger in front of it. 00:16:42.639 --> 00:16:43.519 That's worry. 00:16:43.919 --> 00:16:46.240 And that's what Jesus says not to do. 00:16:47.600 --> 00:16:55.519 And he says in a very clear and repeated way, and that's important, because under good circumstances we do, we do worry, don't we? 00:16:55.679 --> 00:16:57.279 On the best of days we worry. 00:16:57.440 --> 00:17:06.160 When the sun is shining, we have a stable job, the paycheck every two weeks, our mortgage we can afford, our cars are running, our kids are well behaved. 00:17:06.319 --> 00:17:08.559 On those days, we still worry. 00:17:10.079 --> 00:17:13.839 Tinker with any one of those things, and the worry just exponentially increases. 00:17:14.079 --> 00:17:16.319 Our hearts are prone to worry. 00:17:17.200 --> 00:17:18.400 That's who we are. 00:17:18.720 --> 00:17:21.279 God gave us dominion on the earth as human beings. 00:17:21.440 --> 00:17:27.279 We're supposed to cultivate the land and take control of what's around us and produce something fruitful out of it. 00:17:27.839 --> 00:17:31.519 And yet there's a limit to what we can control because we're not God. 00:17:31.680 --> 00:17:36.079 You can cultivate your garden in the best way possible, and then a hurricane wipes it out. 00:17:36.319 --> 00:17:38.400 It's not up to you where the hurricane goes. 00:17:38.480 --> 00:17:39.839 You can't control that kind of stuff. 00:17:40.000 --> 00:17:41.119 It just happened. 00:17:41.359 --> 00:17:45.680 You did everything right, and something out of your control took it all away. 00:17:45.839 --> 00:17:48.480 That's the reality of living in a fallen world. 00:17:51.119 --> 00:17:54.720 You can worry about things, and it makes no difference. 00:17:56.640 --> 00:17:58.319 We want to be in control. 00:17:58.880 --> 00:18:00.400 And you recognize you're not. 00:18:00.640 --> 00:18:02.400 And so you worry about those things. 00:18:02.720 --> 00:18:10.559 That's why people often have fear of flying, because that's the most like fundamental place where you're not in control. 00:18:11.200 --> 00:18:14.160 You're not in the cockpit, and it's bolted shut. 00:18:14.319 --> 00:18:16.880 And if you try to get in, you'll probably get tased. 00:18:17.599 --> 00:18:18.720 You don't have control. 00:18:20.240 --> 00:18:23.200 That extrapolates out to our whole life. 00:18:23.920 --> 00:18:26.640 But the reality is that we're not God. 00:18:26.880 --> 00:18:28.799 We don't control how long we live. 00:18:29.680 --> 00:18:32.799 We don't control, to an extent, how much money we make. 00:18:33.359 --> 00:18:36.720 We don't control the basic things of life. 00:18:36.880 --> 00:18:40.799 You were not in control of what country you were born in, what your your mother tongue was. 00:18:40.880 --> 00:18:42.799 You're not in control of that kind of thing. 00:18:43.119 --> 00:18:46.000 And yet that just those basics determine so much about you. 00:18:46.160 --> 00:18:47.519 That goes all the way to the end. 00:18:47.599 --> 00:18:50.480 You are not in control of the length of your life. 00:18:51.119 --> 00:18:53.359 And yet we want to be, and so we worry. 00:18:53.519 --> 00:18:55.440 Well, in the context, what are people worried about? 00:18:55.599 --> 00:19:05.519 And Jesus hits, you know, three of them in verse 25: what you will eat, uh, what you will wear, how long you'll live, he gets to in verse 27. 00:19:07.039 --> 00:19:10.400 This is basically Maslow's hierarchy of needs upside down. 00:19:10.799 --> 00:19:13.200 You remember that back in Psychology 101? 00:19:13.359 --> 00:19:25.359 The most important thing is life, followed by food and shelter and clothing, and I don't know the exact order those things are, but things like friendships and your sports team winning were at the very tippity top of that pyramid. 00:19:25.599 --> 00:19:27.119 Jesus doesn't go after those things. 00:19:27.200 --> 00:19:32.000 He doesn't say don't worry about your friends, he doesn't say don't worry about your kids, he doesn't say don't worry about your car. 00:19:32.160 --> 00:19:39.759 He goes to the very base level of the hierarchy of needs and says, Don't worry about how long you're going to live. 00:19:40.000 --> 00:19:43.359 Don't worry about what food you're going to eat. 00:19:43.519 --> 00:19:46.160 Don't worry about where you're going to get water. 00:19:46.319 --> 00:19:49.119 Don't worry about the clothes you're going to wrap your body in. 00:19:49.200 --> 00:19:51.279 That's what he says, don't worry about. 00:19:51.920 --> 00:20:02.400 And context here is key because he had just said, in the paragraph before, in the in his sermon, he's preaching this, remember, he had just said, store up for yourself treasure in heaven, not on earth. 00:20:02.640 --> 00:20:09.200 Be a generous giver towards God, advance the kingdom of God in this world with your sacrificial giving. 00:20:09.359 --> 00:20:10.400 That's what he just said. 00:20:10.640 --> 00:20:15.119 And if you're like me, you hear Jesus say that, and right away you counter with excuses. 00:20:15.200 --> 00:20:16.960 Right away you say, Oh, I want to be a generous giver. 00:20:17.200 --> 00:20:19.920 Of course I believe what Jesus says in verse 19 through 24. 00:20:20.160 --> 00:20:21.039 Sign me up. 00:20:21.279 --> 00:20:25.759 It's just that I gotta pay rent. 00:20:26.400 --> 00:20:29.279 It's just that I gotta have a college fund for the kids. 00:20:29.359 --> 00:20:31.839 It's just that, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. 00:20:32.240 --> 00:20:33.839 That's how we always respond. 00:20:33.920 --> 00:20:35.599 It's just at those things. 00:20:36.960 --> 00:20:40.799 And so this is not a disconnected statement where Jesus goes next. 00:20:41.039 --> 00:20:43.039 He says, store it for yourself treasure in heaven. 00:20:43.279 --> 00:20:50.240 Incidentally, my friends, don't worry about your food, your clothes, and how long you'll live. 00:20:52.000 --> 00:20:59.359 The Roman Empire, the people Jesus is talking to at this point, had an average life expectancy of 25 years old. 00:20:59.599 --> 00:21:01.039 That includes infant mortality. 00:21:01.119 --> 00:21:08.880 If you tease infant mortality out of that number, the life expectancy in the Roman Empire during the time of Jesus was 50 years. 00:21:09.119 --> 00:21:15.279 So, in other words, if you survived the first two years of life, your average life expectancy was going to be 50 years old. 00:21:16.000 --> 00:21:19.519 So Jesus is talking to people who are familiar with death. 00:21:20.400 --> 00:21:23.279 There were plagues all the time in the Roman Empire. 00:21:23.599 --> 00:21:30.319 One, the plague of Antonin in 160, so after this, killed about a third of the Roman Empire. 00:21:31.359 --> 00:21:38.960 At the height of the plague, about which is about five million people killed, at the height of the plague, about 2,000 people a day were dying in Rome. 00:21:40.880 --> 00:21:45.039 Jesus is talking to people who were familiar with fearing for their life. 00:21:45.839 --> 00:21:48.799 Moreover, he's on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. 00:21:49.680 --> 00:21:52.240 Probably on the Mediterranean side of the sea. 00:21:52.480 --> 00:21:54.319 But he's looking over the hill. 00:21:54.640 --> 00:22:03.119 And I've been in this area many, many times, and you know, you don't know which exact little valley he's in or which exact It's the Sermon on the Mount, but it's also called the Sermon on the Plains in Luke. 00:22:03.200 --> 00:22:06.160 And there's lots of little areas that are on top of little hills that are flat there. 00:22:06.319 --> 00:22:09.680 But if you're looking over the Sea of Galilee, you know what's right over the side there, right? 00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:10.640 Desert. 00:22:11.119 --> 00:22:12.160 Forever. 00:22:13.680 --> 00:22:16.960 One wrong breeze comes in from the desert, you lose all your crops. 00:22:17.200 --> 00:22:20.240 The locusts come in from Egypt, you lose all your crops. 00:22:20.640 --> 00:22:26.160 I mean, he's dealing with people that are on the very edge of civilization in a sense. 00:22:26.319 --> 00:22:30.720 You can't grow, you know, five miles that way, you can't grow anything anymore. 00:22:30.960 --> 00:22:32.799 That's who he's talking to. 00:22:34.400 --> 00:22:37.440 They're familiar with being afraid of losing food. 00:22:38.559 --> 00:22:39.839 They understand that. 00:22:40.160 --> 00:22:42.559 And yet that's what Jesus goes after. 00:22:43.440 --> 00:22:50.880 Now, in addressing this, he says, verse 26, look at the birds of the air. 00:22:51.519 --> 00:22:58.559 They neither sow nor reap, nor gather into your barns, and yet your heavenly father feeds them. 00:23:01.039 --> 00:23:06.000 Jesus uses the analogy of the feather first, the birds of the air. 00:23:06.319 --> 00:23:08.480 He's not extolling passivity. 00:23:08.720 --> 00:23:10.319 He's not saying, don't worry. 00:23:10.480 --> 00:23:14.799 In fact, just sit back, open your mouth, and God will reign food. 00:23:15.200 --> 00:23:17.119 Does God reign worms? 00:23:18.000 --> 00:23:18.319 No. 00:23:18.960 --> 00:23:21.119 See, the analogy from the bird is very important. 00:23:21.279 --> 00:23:22.960 The bird is a perfect analogy for this. 00:23:23.039 --> 00:23:24.240 Of course, our Lord used it. 00:23:24.640 --> 00:23:26.079 The birds, they go out and work. 00:23:26.240 --> 00:23:27.599 The birds go to work. 00:23:28.400 --> 00:23:31.119 They don't worry about their work, but they go to work. 00:23:31.279 --> 00:23:34.240 We even have the expression in English: the early bird gets the work. 00:23:34.640 --> 00:23:35.920 See, you know all this. 00:23:37.359 --> 00:23:42.000 It doesn't say, hey, if you don't get up early, just open up your mouth and wait for the Lord to drop a worm in it. 00:23:42.160 --> 00:23:44.640 That works for baby birds, but not bigger words. 00:23:45.200 --> 00:23:46.559 You gotta go hunting. 00:23:46.720 --> 00:23:49.200 You gotta go working in order to eat. 00:23:49.440 --> 00:23:53.039 This is exactly how God made us. 00:23:54.559 --> 00:23:57.359 The bird doesn't have to sow and reap, God provides for it. 00:23:57.920 --> 00:24:01.519 And the point here is that God provides from the growth of the ground, but the bird has to go hunt. 00:24:01.759 --> 00:24:07.119 Human beings, God provides us ways to eat, namely work. 00:24:08.240 --> 00:24:09.200 Namely, work. 00:24:09.279 --> 00:24:11.359 It's Labor Day weekend, for goodness sake. 00:24:11.440 --> 00:24:12.400 So you know this. 00:24:13.440 --> 00:24:18.160 God made the world in such a way that you go work, that means you get food. 00:24:20.079 --> 00:24:21.599 It doesn't rain worms. 00:24:21.759 --> 00:24:26.319 You can't go into old navy and take clothes off the shelf and on your way out say, hey, the lilies of the field. 00:24:28.160 --> 00:24:31.920 You work for money to spend on food. 00:24:33.920 --> 00:24:35.759 Food comes from work, though, not worry. 00:24:35.920 --> 00:24:37.680 Proverbs 18.9 says that. 00:24:37.920 --> 00:24:40.000 Proverbs 18.24 says that as well. 00:24:40.160 --> 00:24:42.480 Food comes from work, not from worry. 00:24:42.880 --> 00:24:49.039 The overall teaching of this section is clear that worry about the length of life and the abundance of food are foolish. 00:24:49.200 --> 00:24:50.400 Just ask the birds. 00:24:50.559 --> 00:24:53.039 My favorite bird, by the way, is the purple marten. 00:24:53.759 --> 00:24:59.599 And if you're friends with me, you might be rolling your eyes right now because you've heard my purple marten speech many, many times. 00:24:59.759 --> 00:25:00.720 It's an amazing bird. 00:25:00.799 --> 00:25:02.480 It's roughly this big. 00:25:02.720 --> 00:25:04.319 It's a tiny little bird. 00:25:04.640 --> 00:25:10.640 It's possibly the only bird in the world that lives entirely in man-made housing. 00:25:10.799 --> 00:25:14.400 It spends our winters in South America in factories. 00:25:14.799 --> 00:25:21.119 They nest in factories of thousands, tens of thousands of these birds in the roofs of factories in Argentina and Brazil. 00:25:21.200 --> 00:25:25.039 They're running 24-7, bright lights, loud machines. 00:25:25.119 --> 00:25:26.799 That's where they live half of the year. 00:25:26.960 --> 00:25:32.559 And they fly their little bird bodies over the Gulf of Mexico, which they somehow do. 00:25:32.640 --> 00:25:35.599 They can time the wind right to carry them over the Gulf of Mexico. 00:25:35.759 --> 00:25:42.559 And they fly up into the United States and they come in those little houses on poles around Lake Anna and Lake of the Woods and spend the rest of the year there. 00:25:42.799 --> 00:25:45.359 They're kind of like some of us in that regard. 00:25:46.960 --> 00:25:50.480 How do they get across the Gulf of Mexico, these little tiny birds? 00:25:50.720 --> 00:25:52.240 They just know how to do it. 00:25:52.480 --> 00:26:06.319 People used to think like their mommy birds taught them, and no, they did experiments where they took these birds out on boats from babies, tagged them, let them go in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico, out even out towards Cuba, and they've made it to where they're going. 00:26:06.559 --> 00:26:08.400 They just know where to fly. 00:26:08.880 --> 00:26:11.599 They don't have Google Maps or anything. 00:26:13.519 --> 00:26:16.240 How did God make them know how to do that? 00:26:16.559 --> 00:26:21.519 And by the way, as I said, they're the only bird that lives entirely in man-made housing. 00:26:22.000 --> 00:26:23.440 Checkmate evolutionists. 00:26:23.599 --> 00:26:25.119 That's all I gotta say about that. 00:26:26.720 --> 00:26:32.480 God gave them an instinct and a knowledge that provides food for them. 00:26:33.759 --> 00:26:35.359 That's how we are. 00:26:36.240 --> 00:26:36.880 We work. 00:26:37.359 --> 00:26:38.880 He made us to work. 00:26:40.240 --> 00:26:42.319 He didn't make us to worry. 00:26:43.440 --> 00:26:49.119 In Luke's gospel, this is followed by the contrast of the hoarder, the one who builds bigger barns for himself. 00:26:49.519 --> 00:26:54.480 It's a good thing Jesus used birds as an analogy and not squirrels, because it would break down with the squirrels. 00:26:54.720 --> 00:26:57.039 Squirrels do hoard, those squirrels. 00:26:57.359 --> 00:26:58.319 But birds don't. 00:26:58.480 --> 00:27:01.440 You've never seen a fat bird, unless it's in a cage. 00:27:01.599 --> 00:27:04.400 You have to put it in a cage and make it a pet and feed it to get it fat. 00:27:04.640 --> 00:27:07.680 Birds in the wild, they don't hoard, they don't worry. 00:27:07.920 --> 00:27:09.839 They just work and eat. 00:27:12.319 --> 00:27:14.480 This is what Jesus is teaching you. 00:27:15.039 --> 00:27:16.160 Don't worry. 00:27:16.480 --> 00:27:17.599 Worry is your enemy. 00:27:17.680 --> 00:27:19.839 I'm going to give you two reasons why in the time that remains. 00:27:20.000 --> 00:27:22.319 First, your real enemy is worry. 00:27:22.400 --> 00:27:24.240 Because worry doesn't work. 00:27:24.960 --> 00:27:26.640 Worry is the anti-bird. 00:27:26.799 --> 00:27:29.119 The bird works, worry doesn't. 00:27:29.440 --> 00:27:31.440 Worry is not effective. 00:27:31.599 --> 00:27:34.160 So I'm appealing to you, and Jesus is appealing to you. 00:27:34.240 --> 00:27:35.759 I'm trying to borrow his argument here. 00:27:36.000 --> 00:27:39.119 Jesus is appealing to you just based on the practical level. 00:27:39.279 --> 00:27:41.920 We'll get to the spiritual stuff next week. 00:27:42.559 --> 00:27:45.200 But for now, just a practical level. 00:27:45.440 --> 00:27:47.359 Fine, you buy into the argument. 00:27:47.519 --> 00:27:49.039 Okay, you buy into the argument. 00:27:49.200 --> 00:27:50.960 You don't want to get bit by a snake. 00:27:51.200 --> 00:27:52.000 Got it. 00:27:52.960 --> 00:28:01.519 Worrying about there being a den of snakes in your basement doesn't increase the odds or decrease the odds of there actually being a said snake there. 00:28:01.680 --> 00:28:05.599 Worry is totally disconnected from the reality that you're around. 00:28:05.759 --> 00:28:08.880 It does not change the reality in front of you at all. 00:28:09.920 --> 00:28:11.519 It doesn't do anything. 00:28:11.839 --> 00:28:13.680 And Jesus says this in verse 27. 00:28:13.839 --> 00:28:17.759 Which of you, by being anxious, can add a single hour to a span of life? 00:28:17.920 --> 00:28:22.480 And that phrase span of life, some of the old translations of King James says, cubit to your height. 00:28:23.759 --> 00:28:26.319 Literally, who can add a single qubit to themselves? 00:28:26.480 --> 00:28:29.440 A cubit is the length from the elbow to the fingertips. 00:28:29.599 --> 00:28:31.359 So roughly 18 inches. 00:28:31.599 --> 00:28:36.240 It probably doesn't mean add a qubit to your height because that would be ridiculous. 00:28:36.400 --> 00:28:39.200 I'd be seven foot tall with a qubit on top of me. 00:28:40.240 --> 00:28:50.319 It means more likely an idiom for your fingertip, you can't add a single, single smidgen to the span of your life through worry. 00:28:50.880 --> 00:28:55.119 Worry all you want, it's not going to do anything for you. 00:28:55.359 --> 00:28:57.200 It's not going to keep you out of danger. 00:28:57.359 --> 00:28:59.359 It's not going to give your kids a better future. 00:28:59.599 --> 00:29:01.440 It's not going to make you live longer. 00:29:01.680 --> 00:29:03.359 It just doesn't help. 00:29:04.240 --> 00:29:08.559 That's the lie that people believe of I don't worry about this, then other bad things will happen. 00:29:08.640 --> 00:29:12.640 And Jesus' point here is worrying about it doesn't keep those things from happening. 00:29:12.720 --> 00:29:15.759