Luke 12:22-28

Luke chapter 12 verses 22 through 28. And he said unto his disciples, therefore I will say unto you take no thought for your life, what you shall eat, neither for the body what you shall put on. The life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment. Consider the ravens. for they neither sow nor reap, which neither have storehouse nor barn, and God feedeth them. How much more are ye better than the fowls? In which of you, taking thought can add to his stature one cubit? If ye then be not able to do that thing which is least, why take ye thought for the rest? Consider the lilies how they grow, they toil not, they spin not, and yet I say unto you that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If then God so clothe the grass which is today in the field, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, how much more will he? cloth you, O ye of little faith. May God bless to us is sacred and holy word this morning. Life is often stressful. If you could hire somebody to do all your worrying for you, wouldn’t that be great? You have a worry manager. This person could handle all the pressures of life, and you could relax and avoid all the stress. Wouldn’t that be wonderful? What a load that would take off your troubled mind. Worry can harm you physically. It can create ill health. It can cause ulcers in your stomach. It can sap vitality out of you so that you’re weak and listless. It can lead to heart problems and have a heart attack. It can do you. drive you to an early grave, we often talk about a person worrying themselves to death. So worry is certainly a very common problem. Few people are exempt from worry, all plagued by it to some degree, I think, as we go through this life. Now the Bible frequently command you not to work. Here in our text. Take no thought for your life. Do not be distressingly anxious. Philippians 4.6 says, Be careful for nothing. Which means do not be full of care or worry about anything. Now, this means that worrying is being disobedient. the God’s command. And therefore, it is sinful. Jesus Christ in our text begins to address the common sin of worry. We’re going to look at the first two verses here of this section, verses 22 and 23 this morning. And he’s talking about worry in connection with living life in this world. Christ previously spoke to the whole multitude. about covetousness and he gave us the parable of the rich fool who was not rich toward God. Now however you notice that he narrows his focus to his disciples. Verse 22 a, the believer of all people has every reason not to worry. So I want to talk about worry and God’s control. this morning. Let me begin by saying this. You’re not to worry about the things of this life. Take no thought for your life. What is worry? What does this take no thought imply here? People often have misunderstood or stumbled over these words. In the group, these words come from the negative form of Merrimnao. This word actually describes the effects of worry. To divide, to rip, or tear apart. And thus it has come to mean being anxious or worried so that you are divided or ripped or torn apart. Christ is saying, do not worry about your life. Don’t be torn apart. Do not be full of concern about it. In 1929, J.C. Penny’s business was highly unstable. He began to worry. He became sleepless. It was the beginning of the Great Depression. He worried to the extreme and contracted shingles, which is a very painful disease. He ended up having to go to the hospital, where he was given medication to tranquilize him. but it was of no help. He was just consumed with worry about his business. In fact, he felt so bad that he expected to die before morning. So he started writing farewell letters to his wife, his son, and his friends. Penny eventually recovered, but worried tore him apart. Worry involves fear of the future. You worry about what might happen to you. What if you don’t have anything to eat? What if you don’t have anything to drink? What if you don’t have anything to wear? You look off into the future, and yet you have no control over these events. You assume. You guess. You estimate. Something bad is going to happen to you. I read a story once in Time magazine. in August 14, 1989, there was the sad story of a man from East Detroit. This man died as a result of his overwhelming fear of the future. He had taken a number of fur-trapping expeditions over the years and was bitten, often by ticks. Then he heard about Lyme disease, which is carried by deer ticks. He became obsessed with worry. He was worried he had contracted the disease. He had passed it on to his wife. The doctors tested him and assured him he didn’t have Lyme disease. And if he did, it was virtually impossible to transmit it that way to his wife. But he didn’t believe the doctors. He became paranoid and ended up killing himself, and his wife. The police found the man’s mailbox jammed with material describing Lyme disease. In a brief note, confirming a doctor’s appointment for another Lyme disease test. Worry overwhelmed the man. He was consumed with the fear of the future suffering that he expected because of contracting a disease which he actually did. didn’t have. Friends, no one but God knows the true shape of the future. Still, you think about all the possibilities, all the probabilities. You try to weigh at all and discern what is likely to happen to you. And yet because you can’t be sure and you can’t control the future, it begins to tear you apart inwardly. There is fretting. There is the nail biting. A churning stomach. Alcers and so forth. And you have perpetual uneasiness about what might happen to you. Worry is actually fear then of the future. Let me say that worry distracts you from your main purpose in life, which is to honor God. You can become so absorbed. with the bad things which may happen to you in the future, that you fail to do your present duty. In other words, worry paralyzes you in a way. Martha had a large feast at her home for Jesus and his disciples. She wanted to be the perfect hostess. Everything had to be just right. She worked herself up into a frenzy about this dinner. She worried about everything. You can imagine what it would be like to have a large feast at your home. You know, maybe she’s worried about the roast lamb and the place settings and the table being large enough and the food being hot enough when it’s served. And is there enough to drink? Did I make enough dessert? Is there plenty for all the guests to eat and everything else? Now, all the while, she was rushing about, preparing dinner Jesus was teaching at the table. Martha became upset because her sister, Mary, sat there listening to Jesus, teach, and wasn’t helping her. She openly condemned Mary. But Christ gently rebuked Martha and said, Martha, Martha, Martha, thou art careful. You’re full of care. You see, you’re worried and troubled about many things. Poor Martha was distracted. Her worrying caused her to lose sight of what was truly important, as Jesus said, but one thing is needful, and Mary hath chosen that good part which shall not be taken away from her. There’s a danger, then, of being distracted from your main purpose in life by anxiety over earthly things. So you must be careful. You don’t want to be like Martha. So what is worry? We talked about the meaning of take no thought, that worrying is actually fear of the future, and worrying distracts you from your main purpose in life. But let me say also this morning that Christ is not teaching you to totally disregard your needs. many misguided people have taken the words, take no thought, very literally, and decided to simply live by faith, or at least that’s what they call it, which to them means, take no pains to provide for any future needs. You expect God’s Providence to provide everything. Let me just give you an example. Suppose you were going to travel through the desert. Wow, you. You don’t need to take any extra water with you. You can expect God to lead you to an oasis, and then you’ll have water. There are people who have gone out on the mission field with no preparation, no extra money with them, no extra things with them. They just gone there and believed that somehow God was going to take care of them. Well, a careful study of Scripture shows how wrong this position actually is. In Proverbs 6, verse 6 and 8, we read about the ant. Go to the ant thou sluggard, consider her ways, and be wise. She provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest. Why does the ant have food during the winter? Because it prepares. It works during the summer and the harvest time. And God is commending that action. Look at parents in 2 Corinthians 1214. Paul writes, For children ought not to lay up for their parents, but the parents for the children. Parents will often set money aside or set things aside to provide for their children in the future. We read about the husband in 1 Timothy 5.8. If any provide not, for his own and especially for those of his own house, he had denied the faith and is worse than an infidel. And so the husband needs to provide for the family and think about what is necessary for the family. But just looking at the context this morning, the very illustration that Christ uses proves that these people must be wrong who interpret this as not to care about anything. Jesus argues his point by the example of the birds of the air in verse 24. He says this. He says, consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which neither have storehouse nor barn, but God feedeth them. How much more are ye better than the fowls? Do the birds merely perch themselves in a tree and wait for God to drop food into their mouths? Do ravens just have blind faith that somehow they will be miraculously fed? No, they’re busy. Searching for food. Birds are actively involved in finding something to eat. They’re energetic. They’re concerned. They don’t farm the land, but they certainly are busy hunting food. So the very argument used by our Savior precludes the possibility of take no thought to mean just passively wait for God to do something. And there’s nothing for you to do. The Apostle Paul says, if any should not work, neither should he eat. In 2nd Thessalonians 3.10. And he says in 2nd Thessalonians 3.10. one work and eat your own bread. So the Christian must be concerned about providing his way through life. So Christ is not teaching you to totally disregard your needs. Now my third point is this. Are you not often guilty of this sin of worry? The moment you stop and think about it, I’m going to find you have succumbed to worry. Nothing seems to be more. more prevalent in this world than to become anxious and burdened and worried. If you’re a businessman, you fret about the profit and loss margins. If you’re a farmer, you’re worried about bad weather. Disease. Market price. If you’re a stock broker, you sweat over bad news, market volatility, crashes, government regulations. If you’re a stock broker, you sweat over bad news, market volatility, if you’re a market volatility, if you’re husband, you worry about providing food and shelter and security for your wife and family. If your wife, you’re anxious about the cares of the home and the raising of the children and so forth. All of us are weighed down and torn apart by the cares of this life. Life’s cares tend to master you and then control you. You’re probably worried as you sit here this morning about something in your life. as I speak. But you must deal with worry. Christ tells you here, take no thought. Stop worrying. So you’re not to worry about the things of this life. Now my second main point is this. You’re not to worry because God is in control of your life. Notice verse 23, where Christ says, the life is more than meat and the body more than Raymond. Your life is a gift from God. Lord’s point here, I think it’s very profound and powerful one, which many forget. Let me just sort of rephrase Christ’s statement in this way. Take this life of yours about which you are so worried. How did you get it? Where did it come from? Your life is more valuable than meat, and your body more valuable than clothing. Remember, you are God’s creation. Your life is a gift from God. Man doesn’t create life. You didn’t bring yourself into existence. You are worried about your continued existence. Whether I’m going to have food, whatever I’m not I’m clothing. But keep in mind, God gave you the existence in the first place. Now, if God has given you the gift of life, do you think he’s going to suddenly deny you the necessities which will sustain that life that he gave you? God doesn’t abandon any of his creatures. When you think about all the animals, as well as all the human beings on this earth, he provides food for us. Doesn’t he? He provides you with the necessities of life and keeps you alive until you fulfill the purpose for which you were created. You will live as long as God sees fit, and then your life on earth will end. You can’t change that. In the meantime, he will sustain the gift of life, which he has provided you. Of course you have responsibilities. Yes, you need to work. Yes, you need to provide for your family. And in Christ’s day, you had to plow the field and sow and reap and gather into your barn and so forth. But you’re not to worry that suddenly the bottom will drop out of everything, and you’re not going to be able to keep your life going. As a believer, read over Romans 832 carefully. He that spared not his own son, but delivered him. up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Now the major focus of this text is really on the spiritual things that God provides. But he is the giver of the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ, and he will see that the sustenance and support for your earthly life will be provided. Because the one who is, does the greatest thing for you will do the least. The birds have to find their food, but God always provides them something to eat. So when you start worrying, start meditating upon the fact that God controls the events of your life. Now, let me also say, not only is your life a gift from God, that God is concerned about you personally. Christ is not just making a general statement here about life. He talks about your life in verse 22, and he uses this Greek word suke. Suke is usually translated soul. Sukai means the human person as an individual. It’s sort of personalized. In Romans 131, it’s every soul. If Christ wanted you to discuss life in general, he probably would have used the word Zoe here. But our Lord seems to be stressing the fact that God gave each individual the gift of life and so that he takes a personal interest in you. You’re not an assembly line product. You’re in a sense handmade. No one else is just like you. And that’s specialized concern doesn’t cease now that you’re struggling through the journey of life. God cares for you. Yes, he knows you by name. He understands your special needs as a unique person. So Christ is not just making a general statement about life. He’s speaking here to you as an individual. Let me say also that the right of life, or the right view of life leads to peace about your own existence. How did Daniel handle the lions den so calmly? How did Moses the loss of Egyptian riches and the good life? How did Joseph handle the mistreatment of his brothers? Well, they had confidence that God, who gave them life, had a purpose for them to accomplish, and he would not leave them. them nor forsake them. He would surely sustain them all through the journey of life. And that kind of thinking produces peace. Worry gets its strongest grip upon you. When you leave God out of the picture, start with the premise that God is in control and God cares for me. See what happens. That’ll keep you for being torn apart by worry. Let me close by saying, worry is a common problem, but God commands you not to worry. So Christ speaks to his disciples about overcoming worry in this life. He lays down a general principle about worry, take no thought, and then he gives you reasons and arguments to help you obey it. And we’re just beginning, and the preliminary argument here is that your life is a gift from God, and he cares about you personally. And Lord willing, in the weeks to come, we’ll look at the rest of this passage. Let us close with prayer. Heavenly Father, bless us as your people. Help us not to worry, even though it seems like it’s a very natural thing to do. Help us to trust in you. in our darkness and difficulty, and believe that you will help and sustain us, and that you are with us, even in darkest times, and that you care about our soul. Bless us as your people this morning, comfort us in the things of Christ. Let me ask you to stand, and we’ll have this in this time. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you all. Amen.