“Worry About Money” (Matthew 6:25-34)
Jesus teaching about preoccupation with money shifts from storing it up to worrying about it. “For this reason”- since one cannot serve God & mammon, worry is another way of focusing too much on it. What will keep us from worrying about money/our needs?
1. Realize life is more than basic needs (vs. 25): Many in His audience were acutely aware of their need for food, drink & clothing. A person’s life/existence is dependent on this supply, but their life is not equivalent to these, but greater. God has given the greater blessing of life, so what we need to survive is lesser. This keeps the rich from concentrating on their success & the poor from concentrating on their lowliness. Advertisements make much of the body & many in our culture are preoccupied with food, drink & clothing as though they are the essence of life, or what defines them.
2. Consider birds (vs. 26)
a) There were probably birds nearby they could fix their eyes on them and consider. They do not do the work of a farmer with sowing seed, reaping a harvest & storing it into barns. Yet our Heavenly Father feeds them. They do have to go find the food, but it is there.
b) Arguing from the lesser to the greater: people are of far greater value than birds. If He provides food for birds, certainly He will provide food for those whom He has given His image & sent His Son. We need to go find it (jobs/assistance), but He will provide. STOTT’S POEM
3. The inability of worry to accomplish anything (vs. 27)
a) “single cubit” (about 18 inches) is probably figurative for a short amount of time.
b) Worry cannot extent your life even a little bit. If anything, it shortens your life, at least the quality of it. Worry robs you of enjoying today & much of what we worry about will not happen.
4. Consider wild flowers (vs. 28-30)
a) Jesus shifted to our worry about clothing. He called His disciples to observe/consider carefully the lilies of the field, which there would have been an abundance on the mountain where He taught.
b) Wild flowers do not engage in the manufacturing process of toiling (in Galilee-men) & spinning (women) clothing. Yet, Solomon, who was proverbial for wealth and splendor could not cloth himself with their glory (only the wealthy could wear bright colored clothes because of the expensive dyes). They were just grass, whose glory would be short-lived and then fuel for a fire.
c) This is another argument from lesser to greater: if God extravagantly dressed wild flowers for such a short-lived occasion (showing His care for His creation), how much more will He care for His own. “You of little faith”- they should be much further along with trusting God & not giving way to worry.
5. Remember God knows everything (vs. 31-32)
a) “Do not begin to worry…” Gentiles/unbelievers are completely focused upon food, drink & clothing. Their theology does not include a God who knows and cares.
b) Jesus followers can rest in the fact that their Heavenly Father knows we need these things, and will not overlook us (6:8).
6. Focus on God’s priorities (vs. 33)
a) We are commanded to keep on seeking first His kingdom- the expansion of His rule with people on earth until He comes again & establishes His kingdom. Along with this goes His righteousness: conduct that is pleasing to Him. “first”- above all other priorities. Often it become “third” or “fourth.”
b) As we focus on these greater concerns, God will provide for our needs.
7. Take it one day at a time (vs. 34)
a) Do not begin to be worried/anxious about tomorrow, today. Tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own: we shouldn’t heap up two days of trouble into one.
b) This does not mean that we should not anticipate and prepare for the future. The concern is about the emotional & mental waste that goes into worrying about all that could go wrong.