Matthew 6:25-34

Matthew 6:25-34 NIV

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

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This passage, from Jesus' Sermon on The Mount, is the very passage I chose to preach my first sermon. I'm very familiar with worry, so I find this passage to be comforting. Jesus sets my eyes upon what's important, and builds up my trust in God to provide for my family's needs.

The people who followed Jesus in first century Palestine were of every economic class. The poor were the predominate class. Some scholars say that people living at a basic sustenance level were as high as 99%. I couldn't say if that's accurate, but if you look at America in its early history, a similar situation existed. most were just living off the land. Is worry primarily a problem with those eeking out a living? No. Worry is a common human experience that all of us experience. Some worry at a pathological level with various phobias. Most worry over things they cannot control. So why worry? And does worrying help at all?

Jesus first uses the word "Therefore" which implies he's being leading up to making his point. What precedes this passage is a discussion of money. Jesus said you cannot serve God and money, so invest yourself in heavenly matters and let the earthly matters be. Don't store up treasures for yourself that fade, but instead make regular deposits toward your heavenly assets. To follow this train of thought we might read Jesus' first point in this passage as follows.

"Therefore do not worry about earthly gain."

But Jesus uses examples, not of treasures or luxuries, but of basic necessities.like food, drink, and clothing. Life is more than food, drink and clothing, Jesus said. Agreed. Life is about Star Wars, rock music, and other recreational activities. (Sorry. I couldn't help myself.) Of course I'm joking. What is life if it's not about basic necessities? If I have food, water, air and shelter, don't I have enough?

According to experts in the field of human thriving, love and acceptance rate in the top right along with air and water. Without love, we fail to thrive. There can be disastrous health issues related to human estrangement and alienation. At the core of who we are is an innate need to belong to something greater than ourselves. We start with small things like our imagination as children, but childhood gives way to adolescence and our horizons stretch and are more grounded. We long for adulthood, independence, etc. When we reach early adulthood we realize adulting is hard and it's not what we hoped for. Marriage meets our need to belong. Friendship can too at some level, but human relationships are limited. The ultimate answer to your need is a right relationship with your creator, the very One who knit you together in the womb. Belonging to God answers the deepest of human needs. This is what Jesus is wanting His disciples to understand. Don't worry about things like where your next paycheck is coming from. Instead seek first God's Kingdom and righteousness. Everything else will fall into place.