Would you join me at Matthew 6 - starting at verse 25.  Last Sunday we began a new section of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.  If you were unable to be with us last Sunday I strongly urge you to go online and listen or read last Sunday’s sermon.

As you’re coming to Matthew 6:25 - let’s be reminded of where these verses fit in the big picture of what Jesus is teaching.

Jesus taught that wherever we may be living our lives and in whatever role we may be living our lives each of us is hugely blessed by God.  We may think of ourselves as being hopelessly separated from God - as being spiritually messed up.  But God has reached to us - brought the reality of a God forgiving our sins - God restored - God with us in the day to day drama of our lives relationship - God has brought Himself and His kingdom to us.

Jesus taught that wherever we may be living our lives and in whatever role we may be living our lives each of us is hugely blessed by God and created and called by God to live lives of great significance and purpose.

The question then is… How?  In the day to day drama of our lives - how do we live this blessed life of God given purpose that we’ve been created for and called to?

Jesus’ answer:  That life must come from our hearts - from the core of who we are totally surrendered to God - living totally abandoned to God.

Meaning that we may be living righteous outwardly but at the heart level we’re falling short of the life that God has created us and called us to live - stumbling around and missing what God desires to bless us with.

Jesus has been helping us to examine our hearts.  Giving us examples like murder and adultery and then tweaking those examples by talking about anger and lust - what goes on inside us - in our hearts - as we do life.

Jesus asks the penetrating question:  Why do you do what you do in your relationship with God?  At the heart level - is our motivation for why we do what we do about us or God?  Are we really surrendered - have we totally abandoned ourselves to God - or are we just talking a good talk.

In what we began to look at last Sunday - Jesus has been helping us to see that surrendering ourselves to God means that we make choices - at the heart level - as we go through life.  Those choices tell us with brutal honesty who we really have abandoned ourselves to.

Jesus taught that we have a choice of who to serve.  Either we’re serving God or we’re not.  Either our lives are about God or they’re not.  In last Sunday’s teaching Jesus challenged us:  Who really is the master of your life?  You or God?  Who are we really surrendered to?

Coming to Matthew 6 - starting at verse 25 - Jesus gives us another choice we make in the day to day drama of our lives - that is a choice of who we trust with our lives.  Is our faith in ourselves or God?  Who we are trusting says volumes about who we really have abandoned ourselves to.  Either we’re trusting God with our lives or we’re not.

Verses 25 to 34 are pretty familiar.  Let’s read them together - refresh our minds - and then we’ll unpack what Jesus is teaching here.

Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on.  Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?  Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not of more value than they?

And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?  And why are you anxious about clothing?  Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow:  they neither toll nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.  But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

Therefore do not be anxious, saying ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’  For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.  But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself.  Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Let’s go back and unpack what Jesus is teaching here.

Verse 25 - Jesus begins with a “therefore.”  “Therefore” meaning - if at the heart level we really are living totally and uncompromisingly abandoned to God - surrendered to God - therefore we have no reason to be anxious about anything in life.

But the reality is that we are.  Let’s be honest.

There’s drama in life - that even as followers of Jesus - our knee jerk reaction - way too often - is to get anxious about it.  Right?  Loose sleep.  Get irritable.  My favorites.  Which - in the day to day issues of life that get thrown at us - that anxiousness says volumes about who we really are trusting with our lives.

Jesus asks a series of questions tied to the issues we get worked up over to help us to think through if we really are trusting ourselves or God - and ginormously important - what can be done about it.  How we can make better choices.

Question number one comes in verse 25.  Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 

Doesn’t it seem like our society places an overly significant emphasis on taking care of our bodies?  Just looking at what gets advertised.  How much of that is about what to eat or drink or wear - dealing with some kind of physical issue.

John Stott summarized all that this way:  “Worry betrays a false view of human beings.  It is as if we were merely bodies that needed to be fed, watered, clothed and housed.  It is as if human life were merely a physiological mechanism needing to be protected, lubricated and fueled.  An exclusive preoccupation with food, drink, and clothing could be justified only if physical survival were the be-all and end-all of existence.  Then sustaining the body would be our proper first concern.” (1)

Jesus asks, “Isn’t there more to life than food and clothing?”

Answer:  Sure.  Who we are as a person.  What our relationship with God is.  Hugely important.  So, question: Is our physical well being worth the time and energy and mental devotion that we give to it?

Question number two expands that teaching - verse 26 - Are you not more valuable than the birds of the air?

How much is each us worth?

If we were to add up all the chemicals and minerals in our bodies - like copper and zinc and silicon and so on - add all that up - some have estimated the value of all that at about $4.50.  Skin has an estimated worth of about 25 cents per square foot.  The average adult has about 18 square feet of skin.  Meaning that skin and elements together puts our value at about $9.  Some of us are obviously worth more than others.

Wired magazine analyzed the value of fluids, tissues, germ fighting chemicals, and organs and came out with a figure closer to $45 million.  Feel better?

According to Leviticus 27:3-7 - converting shekels to dollars - a 60 year old male is worth about $260.  A 60 year old female about $155.  A 20 year old male about $104.  And a 20 year old female about $52.  Hey, I’m just the messenger.

Jesus question:  To God - aren’t you worth more than a bunch of birds?

Answer:  Sure. Jesus died for you.  Jesus didn’t die for a bunch of birds.  How much are you worth?  To God… priceless.

Jesus’ point:  If God so highly values you - then if God takes care of the birds - don’t you think He’ll take care of you - the one He so highly values?  Of course.

Let’s be careful.  Just because God takes care of the birds - the birds don’t stop doing bird things and just wait around for God to drop twigs and seeds and things into their nests.  The point is that they don’t need to be anxious about how they’re getting provided for.

We get anxious about things like retirement and paying the bills and the basic issues of providing for our lives - sowing and reaping and gathering into barns.  We still need to do those things.  But - Jesus’ point - given how valuable we are to God why are we stressing out over those things?  Are we processing that the ultimate source of all that is God - not us?

Question number three - verse 27 - And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 

Old story.  Maybe you’ve heard about the 85 year old couple - married for almost 60 years - that died together in a car accident?  They’d been in good health for the last 10 years mostly because of the wife’s preoccupation with healthy food and exercise.

When they got to heaven they’re taken to their mansion - which is just amazingly decked out.  As they’re oohing and aahing the husband asks, “How much does all this cost?”  Answer:  “Its free.  This is heaven.”

They’re taken out back to the championship golf course that their mansion backs up to.  They’ve got golfing privileges.  All free of course.  Pun intended.

They get taken to the club house.  There’s an endless buffet with all the best foods of the world laid out.  All free because... this is heaven.

The man asks, “Where are all the low fat and low cholesterol foods?” 

Answer:  “That’s the best part.  You can eat as much as you want and you’ll never gain weight.  Because… this is heaven!”

At which point the husband looks at his wife and says, “You and your bran muffins!  I could have been here 10 years ago.”

Jesus isn’t saying that we shouldn’t eat wisely - responsibly.  A truth that you should remember as you head to the potluck after the service.  We need to take care of the body that God has entrusted to us.

But all the tummy tucks and exercise and diets and hair dying and worrying over our mortality isn’t going to buy us one extra nanosecond of life beyond what God has established as our lifespan.

Point being:  Live responsibly.  But remember - life is God given.  God provided for.

Question four - verse 28 -  Why are you anxious about clothing? 

One of the best times of the year around here is spring - green with all the flowers and trees and buds popping - pollen pollinating.  People come from around the world just to look at our trees.  Gorgeous.  Who makes that happen?  God.

Look at the lilies of the field.  Impressive for their beauty.  The grass that Jesus is talking about - as impressive as it was - when it got dry enough it got used as fuel in ovens.  Think hornitos.  Same idea.  Here today - gone tomorrow.  And yet, in its season - amazingly beautiful.

Even more glorious than Solomon.  Solomon was revered - admired for his wealth - his possessions.  Solomon made the best dressed list in Israel every year he was king.  Solomon had everything a person could want.  Wealth provided by God

Grab the point - question number five:  If even Solomon - wealth provide by God - is not as glorious as the grass of the field - beauty created by God - don’t you think that just maybe God - who so highly values you - might also provide for your needs - maybe even go just a tad over the top in doing so?

Verse 30 - at the end - Jesus bringing us face to face with the bottom line issue - “O you of little faith?”

Question:  How much faith in God do you really have?  The point of the questions - all the teaching about birds and life spans and grass in the field - it all comes down to a question of faith.  Do we really believe that God will take care of us?  When you’re being anxious who are you really trusting with your life?

Therefore - verse 31 - therefore - because God is trust worthy - therefore do not be anxious - stressing out over questions like:  “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?”  or “What shall we wear?”  The bottom line physical needs of life.

Jesus says - verse 32 - The Gentiles - and in the context here we need to think “pagans” - those who don’t know God - who are not trusting God - who ultimately are trusting themselves - their own whit - wisdom - and where with all - to meet their needs - the Gentiles seek after these things.

“Seek” translates a Greek word that has the idea of searching - pursuing - desiring - the focus of their lives is physically - mentally - with all they’ve got and are -  seeking after the meeting of these needs for food, drink, and clothing.

Let’s be careful.  Seeking after these things isn’t a bad thing.  Living responsibly - productively.  That’s all good.

But Jesus reminds us that - your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.  The point is heart level trust.  Do we really have faith that our heavenly Father will provide what we need?

Jesus’ application comes in verse 33 - hugely familiar verse - rather than making yourself anxious - pouring yourself - with your own whit - wisdom - and where with all - abandoning yourself to seeking these things - instead first - make your priority the dogged pursuit of God’s kingdom and His righteousness - and then trust - have faith that God will add these things.  What things?  The physical things we need.

“Added” means in addition to.  In addition to what?  First:  God’s kingdom.  What it means to know God - His coming to us.  To know God’s forgiving of our sins - God’s restoring of our relationship with Him.  To live in that God blessed - God with us in the day to day stuff our lives now and forever.  And second - His righteousness - meaning living life as God has created us and called us to live life - in surrender and abandonment to Him - living according to His purposes and for His honor and glory.

Jesus’ bottom line point being:  First - seek God’s kingdom and His righteousness - what is the more to life than food, drink, and clothing part - and then trust that God will add to your life everything else that you need - the food, drink, and clothing part.

Are together?  On what Jesus is getting at?  The Gentiles - those who trust themselves - seek to meet their physical needs and end up missing out on what God offers them.  God’s people - trusting God - seek God - experience knowing God and real life with God - and God takes care of everything they need.

Verse 34:  Therefore - because God has it all covered.  Because God is worthy of our trust - therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself.  Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Meaning - don’t be anxious about what’s coming tomorrow.  Today has enough drama in it to make us anxious all by itself.  Amen?  Deal with the today drama and let tomorrow deal with tomorrow.

Which means each of us has a choice - as we head out into the drama of the days of our lives - out there.  Who will we trust with our lives?  To provide what we need?  Ourselves or God?

Let’s be honest.  Isn’t it true that we can know all of what Jesus is saying here - and for most of us this isn’t the first time we’ve heard this passage - we can know and even agree with what Jesus is teaching here and still be anxious even about the drama of today.  Forget about tomorrow - although thinking about what’s coming may be part of what we’re anxious about.  But bottom line:  Hearing what Jesus teaches and living by it - way too often are two different realities.  Are we together?

Thinking about what’s keeping us awake at night and adding stimulation to our lives and what to do about it - in Jesus’ teaching are two underlying realities that can be hugely helpful for us.

The first is this - A significant part of faith is the search for truth.

Faith involves seeking the most reasonable proposition to believe.  Having faith involves the search for the most logical, most reasonable, explanation to believe in - to commit our lives to following - to living by. 

Pilate asked the question, “What is truth?”  Is there a truth we can believe?  An absolute truth we can base our lives on?  Pilate - like our society today - working away at meeting our needs by our own efforts - our society says “No.  There is no absolute truth worthy of surrendering our lives to.”  (John 18:38)

Scripture answers:  Yes!

The Bible declares that the universe points to the truth of God’s existence.  Which is why Christians should never hide from unbiased scientific exploration and debate and reasoning and study and honestly presented evidence.  It is reasonable to believe in the existence of God.  (Psalm 19:1-6; Romans 1:18-20)

Scripture tells us:  “God’s word is truth.”  What God discloses to us about Himself in Scripture and about what it means to know Him and live life in relationship with Him - what God discloses to us in Scripture is worthy of our trust.  There is no more reasonable truth to place our trust in - to believe - to place our lives under the authority of.  (Psalm 119:160; John 17:17)

Jesus said, “I am the truth.”  Jesus demonstrates the reality of God’s truth in the tangible reality of the world.  What Jesus tells us of Himself and how to know God and live in relationship with God - there is no more reasonable truth to place our trust in - to believe - to surrender our lives before.  (John 1:1-18; 14:6)

When Jesus - in verse 30 - prods us at the heart level by questioning the degree of our faith in God - “O you of little faith” - His prodding is part of His challenging us to seek God.  To earnestly and passionately and with everything we are - to make it the priority of our lives - to pursue God - to commit ourselves to the discovery of Who God is - to search out the full experience of a relationship with Him - to desire Him above all else.

If life were a game of hide and seek God would always loose.  Why?  Because in the game of hide and seek God wants to be found.  Desires for us to search for Him - to find Him - to know the truth of Who He is and to trust Him with our lives.  To discover the truth that God does value us more than birds and grass and that knowing Him is worth infinitely more than eating and drinking and clothing.  That God can - will - and does provide for us everything we need.

God speaks through the prophet Jeremiah:  “When you come looking for Me, you’ll find Me.  Yes, when you get serious about finding Me and want it more than anything else, I’ll make sure you won’t be disappointed.”  (Jeremiah 29:13,14a - The Message)

In seeking God we will know the truth worthy of our faith - the reality of who God is - His sovereignty - His goodness - His love for each one of us - that He is worthy of our trust - our confidence - the surrender and abandonment of our lives.

Practically speaking - when we come up against those moments when we’re tempted to trust ourselves - which is just about every moment of our lives - Jesus challenges us to choose to seek God.  And to discover as we seek Him that He really is worthy of our trust.

The second underlying reality is that prayer is essential.  It almost seems too obvious - how essential prayer is to seeking God - to dealing with our anxious moments.  But isn’t it amazing how often we skip the step of prayer and just go on to being anxious about stuff?

The word “anxious” in Greek .  But it is “merimnao.”  Let’s try that together:  “merimnao”  “merimnao” has the idea of division.  The Greeks used a word related to “merimnao” to describe dividing up land into lots - into provinces. 

“merimnao” is a lot like pizza.  Have you ever gone out with a group of people and in trying to decide on what one pizza to order - you end up ordering one pizza with a lot of different toppings.  1/4 the pizza is the meat lovers deluxe.  1/4 is the vegetarian tofu surprise.  1/4 is just plain cheese.  1/4 has got pepperoni, pineapple, and anchovies. 

“merimnao” - being anxious - is like trying to come to an agreement in our minds and yet ending up with division.  All those choices and possibilities and potentials just keep subdividing our thoughts.  There’s no agreement.  So we wrestle with that division all night long trying to bring resolution - unity - single mindedness.

That’s what happens when we skip the step of prayer - deciding to trust ourselves - trying to reason out the unreasonable on our own.

Paul - writing to the Philippians - another familiar passage - in Philippians 4, Paul writes, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made know to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”  (Philippians 4:6,7)

Isn’t that a great invitation to prayer?  Think about what Paul is inviting us to. 

First:  “in everything by prayer”  Conversation with God - pouring our hearts out to God.

There’s a account of a woman who came to Dr. George Campbell Morgan and asked, “Dr. Morgan, do you think we should pray about the little things in our lives?”  Dr. Morgan replied, “Madam, can you mention anything in your life that is big to God?” (2)

Sometimes we think that God is impressed with scholarly - religious sounding - prayers - lots of Thee’s and Thou’s - and shalt this and wilt that.  “Oh Almighty Wondrous God of Creation - Thou who art enthroned above the firmament” - and so on.   As if somehow if we don’t talk in King James English we aren’t good enough to speak to God.  But God listens to our hearts.  He invites us to pour out our hearts and our situation to Him.

In everything - prayer.

Second:  “supplication”  Petition.  Asking.

Paul - in every one of his prayers recorded in the Bible - is asking God for something.  In the midst of drama God invites us to ask Him for help.

Third:  “thanksgiving”

Praying with gratitude - trusting God because He hears us and is already working - in a very real sense - has already dealt with the drama. 

Paul writes if you’re anxious - pray - verse 7 - And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

“Guard” was a military term that described a Roman soldier holding his weapon - walking back and forth in front of an open gate so that no one could enter.

Isn’t that just slightly reassuring - a peace that comes to our hearts and minds - knowing that God is guarding the perimeter of our lives?  Dealing with what we fear.  Providing for us what we lack.

It's the promise King David writes about, “Cast your burden on the Lord, and He will sustain you; He will never permit the righteous to be moved.”  (Psalm 55:22)

Jesus repeatedly withdrew to be alone with God - our Father - in prayer.  It didn’t matter when - early morning - all night - up on a mountain - out in the desert.  When He was under great strain.  When He had important decisions to make.  In the face of His coming crucifixion.

That’s a depth of anxiousness that we can’t even begin to process.  Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane - knowing what’s coming - the betrayal - the trial - the mocking and humiliation - the torture - a horrendous death - being forsaken even by the Father.

Jesus in the garden - sweating blood - seeking alignment with the will of God - in prayer - and being given all that He needed - even to endure the cross.  (Luke 22:39-46)

Grab this: Prayer - when our lives are poured out before God - seeking Him with all that we are - seeking first His kingdom and His righteousness - God uses prayer to bring our divided mind to a place of trust in Him - unity within His will.

In verse 25 - Jesus began, “Do not be anxious about your life.”  Jesus  teaching us about the crucial importance of surrendering - abandoning - ourselves to God - Who is worthy of our trust.

Jesus asking us the heart level examination question:  Who are you really trusting with your life?  You or God?  What does your stress level tell you about the answer to that question?  

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1. John Stott quoted by Gary Vanderet in his sermon on Matthew 6:25-34:   “A Prescription For Anxiety,” Discovery Publishing #1097

2. Dr. J. Vernon McGee, Thru The Bible Commentary on Philippians