What, Me Worry?

DMLJ: Worry, after all, is a definite entity; it is a force, a power, and we have not begun to understand it until we realize what a tremendous power it is. … It is a mighty power, an active force, and if we do not realize that, we are certain to be defeated by it.

Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, by D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Jesus Christ: His Life and Teaching, Vol.2 - The Sermon on the Mount, Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev

Matthew 6: 25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?

“Take no thought” does not mean we should not think about such things, plan for such things etc.  Elsewhere, we are told to sow; elsewhere we are told that those who do not work will not eat.  Jesus is not making a call to laziness.

MHA: The key word in the passage…is the verb merimnaō, which means “to worry,” “to be anxious,” “to fret.”  This verb is used six times in the text….

We are not to dwell on these, focus on these, be anxious or burdened about these.

DMLJ: There are many people who may not be guilty of laying up treasures upon earth, but who nevertheless can be very guilty of worldliness, because they are always thinking about these things, being anxious about them and dwelling upon them constantly.

God is the source of our life.  We believe this, so why do we not also believe that He will sustain that which He created?  God gave up His Son for us.  After this, will He deny us sustenance? 

Matthew 6: 26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?

The birds are provided food, yet even the birds will not eat if they do not gather their daily bread.  Again, this teaching of Jesus is not a call to laziness; it is a call to avoid anxiousness and worry about such things. 

Will God provide for His all of His creatures except for the creatures made in His image and of whom He is Father? 

Matthew 6: 27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?

Stature in the Greek can mean a measure of height or a measure of length or duration of life; it can be understood in these two ways.  Lloyd-Jones concludes here that it should be understood as the length of life, as it seems silly to believe that Jesus is describing one who could worry himself into growing eighteen inches taller.  In any case, the context of the immediately preceding verses would lead to this conclusion.

The duration of our life is known to God; our worry and anxiousness cannot add to this.

Matthew 6: 28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: 29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30(a) Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you…

Here, we see lilies that do not toil at all – less demand is placed on these than on the birds.  Yet, their splendor is obvious for all to see.  Even these, which are here today and gone tomorrow – cast into the oven – are nothing when compared to those created in the image of God, those who are the sons of God.

MHA: The reference to Solomon is not a coincidence.

Certainly, Solomon was wealthy and arrayed in splendor.  But there is more.  He also was the author of Ecclesiastes.  Metropolitan Hilarion sees this book as similar to that which Jesus is teaching in this passage: Vanity of vanities; all is vanity.

“What profit hath a man of all his labor which he taketh under the sun?” … I made me great works… Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought…and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun.

Of course, Solomon is not advocating laziness.  He also wrote the book of Proverbs – there are many lessons in this book, one of these most certainly is not the value of laziness.  In Ecclesiastes, Solomon is showing that every human labor has relative, not absolute, value.

This is as Jesus is teaching here: to not be anxious, to not be a slave to such things.  There are more important things, higher things.  Yet Jesus, unlike Solomon, offers the way out: God is our Father – we need not be anxious; there is the kingdom. 

Matthew 6: 30(b) … O ye of little faith?

Here is the ultimate cause of the trouble.  It must be kept in mind that this entire Sermon is given to Christians – to those who have come through the Beatitudes, to those for who God is their heavenly Father.  Jesus is not speaking to those of no faith; He is speaking to Christians who have faith, but little faith. 

DMLJ: Our Lord is speaking here about Christian people who have only saving faith and who tend to stop at that. … It is faith that is confined solely to the question of the salvation of our souls, and it does not go beyond that.

This is a bit of a mystery to me.  Lloyd-Jones explains:

DMLJ: A little faith is a faith which does not lay hold of all the promises of God. …the trouble with many of us Christians is that we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, but that we do not believe Him.

Because we do not believe Him, we are mastered by our circumstances instead of mastering them.  Circumstances get the better of us, consuming us.  Yet, to have faith is not just to sit around and wait for good things.  It is to think sensibly about our circumstances and take control of these, to not be controlled by these. 

DMLJ: This ‘little faith’ is ultimately due to a failure to apply what we know, and claim to believe, to the circumstances and details of life.

MHA: Faith in God, trust in him, and readiness to obey his will must dominate a person’s life.

To take control, instead of being anxious, is to remember that God is our Father: He has immutable purposes toward us; He has great love for us; He has concern for us.  And He has power and ability to do as He promised.

Matthew 6: 31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

Here we see the positive approach towards dealing with our little faith, toward increasing our faith. 

DMLJ: Does my Christian faith affect my view of life and control it in all matters?  [or] Do I face the things that happen to me in this world as the Gentiles do? 

This Sermon began with the Beatitudes.  We are wholly different people than the non-Christians.  We are to approach difficult relationships, food and clothing, war, illness and pestilence differently.  We are not left to ourselves; we have God as Father.  We are salt and light, not darkness and putrefaction. 

We seek God first – just as Jesus taught in the Lord’s Prayer.  We do not pray first for bread, we pray that God’s name be hallowed, that His kingdom comes and His will is done.  By seeking God’s kingdom first, all these things will be added unto us.

Matthew 6: 34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

Until this point, everything is spoken of in the current day – today.  We are taught that there is enough evil in one day to confront.  When tomorrow comes, it will be the new “today,” and these same promises will apply. 

DMLJ: But above all that, says our Lord, can you not see that, in a sense, you are mortgaging the future by worrying about it in the present?

There is a daily quota of problems, in our lives, in our communities, in this world.  No need to continue to live in yesterday or worry about tomorrow. 

To be clear, and as a reminder: “take no thought” does not mean to not think about such things.  It means to not be anxious about such things.  We have responsibilities to ourselves, our families, our communities.  These responsibilities stretch into the future.  We are not to ignore these, or not plan for these.  However, we do this thoughtfully, prayerfully; we are not to be anxious about these things.

Conclusion

Worry is a failure to grasp and apply our faith. 

DMLJ: The danger is that, while we believe in God in general, and for the whole of our life, we do not believe in Him for the particular sections of our life.

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.  He is with you (and me) today to deal with today, and He will be there with you (and me) tomorrow to deal with tomorrow.