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111211 nt vistas 06 seeking his kingdom
- 2. Principle: God Promises the Basics Matthew 6:25 âTherefore 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?
- 3. Illustration 1: Life and Food Matthew 6:26-27 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?
- 4. Illustration 2: Body and Clothes Matthew 6:28-30 âAnd 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 youâyou of little faith?
- 5. What do you see?
- 6. We must learn to see God at work
- 7. Distinctive Living Matthew 6:31-32 NIV 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.
- 8. The Heart of the Matter Matthew 6:33 NIV But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
- 9. Abolishing Worry Matthew 6:34 NIV Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
- 10. Letâs not be practicing atheists
Editor's Notes
- 6 Seeking His KingdomNo end to our creativity in finding things to worry aboutWe can worry about anything and everythingGetting married, even though we havenât figured out how to date yetPaying bills, even when there is money in the bankWorry carries illusion it can actually accomplish somethingMore dangerously, worry carries the illusion that I am in controlSermon on Mount is counter-cultural in what it teaches about worryNutshell: The kind of person who recognizes his spiritual poverty and trusts in Godâs righteousness, is the kind of person who will replace worry with faith as he seeks Godâs kingdom and righteousness.
- Prosperity preachers err urging Christians to seek prosperity; many of us err by doubting Godâs power to provide. Matthew 6:19-24 NIV "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. (20) But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. (21) For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. ⊠(24) "No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.Here, while Jesus emphasizes Godâs power, he also stresses that God only promises the basics.Matthew 6:25 âTherefore 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?Most people in antiquity had little beyond basic necessities- food, clothing and shelter. Because necessities often depended on seasonal rains, they had plenty of cause for stress even re food & clothing.
- Two illustrations: 1. Life and food (6:26-27) 26 The point is not that disciples need not work-- birds do not simply wait for God to drop food into their beaks-- but that they need not fret. 27 Worry is no good, except to get that ulcer youâve always wanted. Worry is more likely to shorten life than prolong it, and ultimately such matters are in God's hands. To trust him is enough. Anxiety does no good. Anxiety will not add even the smallest unit of time to oneâs life. Not only is it true that we cannot extend our life by worrying, but daily experience in our comparatively fast- paced culture confirms the wisdom of an earlier Jewish sage, who observed that worry and a troubled heart actually shorten life (Ben Sira 30:24 âanxiety brings on premature old ageâ).
- Illustration 2: Body and clothes (6:28-30)Different from the first illustration, where birds work but do not worry. The flowers do neither. Flowers may be crown anemones, (purple & red envisioned for Solomon's robes). Grow wild all over Israel & Jordan. Yet flowers were fuel for the oven. The perishing of grass & flowers was a natural image for human mortality.Psalms 103:15-16 The life of mortals is like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more.Isaiah 40:6-8 A voice says, âCry out.â And I said, âWhat shall I cry?â âAll people are like grass, and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field. The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the LORD blows on them. Surely the people are grass. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.â Jesus gently chastises his disciples as oligopistoi ("people of little faithâ). The root of anxiety is unbelief.
- God does in fact feed the birds and clothe the flowersWhat do you see âŠwhen you see a robin feeding its chick a worm,or the desert wildflowersor pictures of distant galaxies,or the infinite variety throughout creation?Do you see impersonal forces of nature and evolution just doing what they do?Majestic / powerful God declaring his glory in the infinitude of all creation?Creator and Sustainer of all life?
- As we look at creation we must learn to see God, and God at workSometimes we see God working in âsupernaturalâ waysgives life to a newborn baby that should have diedor stretches out his hand to stop planes from colliding.Also see God working through âlaws of natureâThe laws that God established and still superintends â supernaturalGravity not work because mass attracts â gravityâs God says mass attractsIt is God, not mother nature, who oversees the cycle of life that produces worms for the robins and photosynthesis for the plantsWe must learn to see God at work supernaturally in both mundane & unusual
- 3) Distinctive living (6: 31- 32) The pagan world did indeed seek after such necessities, but Jesus reminds his hearers that they could trust their Father (v. 32) and should seek the kingdom (v. 33). In the light of God's bountiful care ("So"), the questions posed in v. 31 are unanswerable; and the underlying attitudes are thoughtless and an affront to God who knows the needs of his people.Matthew 6:8 NIV Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.Worse, they are essentially pagan, for pagans "run after" (epizetousin, a strengthened form of "seek") these things, not God's kingdom and righteousness (v. 33). Jesus 'disciples must live lives qualitatively different from those of people who have no trust in God's fatherly care and no fundamental goals beyond material things.
- 4) The heart of the matter (6: 33)Jesusâ disciples are not simply to refrain from the pursuit of temporal only to differentiate themselves from pagans. We are to replace such pursuits with goals of far greater significance. To seek first the kingdom is to pursue the things already prayed for in the first three petitions of the Lord's Prayer â name, kingdom & will. Godâs children should seek instead Godâs agendas, assured that God will also care for them in the process (v. 33). Even in Jesusâ model prayer, disciples seek Godâs kingdom first. Faith is not an intricate ritual to get what we want for ourselves; faith is obeying Godâs will with the assurance that he will ultimately fulfill for us what is in our best interests. Some people today associate faith with being able to obtain possessions from God, but Jesus did not even associate it with seeking basic needs from God."In the end, just as there are only two kinds of piety, the self-centered and the God-centered, so there are only two kinds of ambition: one can be ambitious either for oneself or for God. There is no third alternative".
- 5) Abolishing worry (6: 34) Jesus paints his point in graphic word pictures. Like a typical sage, he finally notes that one has enough to worry about for the day without adding tomorrowâs worriesCompare: Proverbs 27:1 NIV Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.Jesus admonishes his hearers to let tomorrow worry about itself. Today has enough kakia ("trouble," NIV; what is evil from man's point of view; once applied to crop damage caused by hail [MM]; and frequently translates Heb. raah ["evil," "misfortune," "trouble"] in LXX of its own. Yet when Jesus forbids us to worry about tomorrow, this does not mean that concerns will never press upon us. It means instead that we should express dependence on God in each of these concerns. At the same time, he is implicitly teaching that even for his disciples today's grace is sufficient only for today and should not be wasted on tomorrow. If tomorrow does bring new trouble, there will be new grace to meet it.
- Letâs not be practicing atheistsLetâs not act like there is no God, or that he doesnât care, or isnât powerful enough to sustain his creationRather, letâs assert our own impoverishment and Godâs richesFree ourselves from the illusion of control that comes with worryLetâs see God at work everywhere, in every way, and learn from his creationReplace worry with trust in Godâs provision and care* Try this for a motto: Today I will be happier than a bird with a french fryDoesnât happen overnightProcess begins with a correct understanding of myself â poor, mournAs we hunger/thirst, we will fill our hearts and minds with JesusWe will find that he satisfies our hunger, refreshes our thirst, clothes our bodies