We're having Vacation Bible School this week at my church The Church of Divine Guidance and I'm teaching the adult class tonight. Since my Sunday morning bible study group is in the middle of a study about overcoming worry, stress and anxiety, and several of the folk in my class tonight are from that group I thought that our discussion tonight should be related to that study. I chose the time that Jesus told His disciples not to worry about the necessities of life in Luke 12:22-34 a very familiar passage of scripture and I titled it "Don't Worry Be Happy". These are my notes.
Introduction
Do you remember the song by Bobby McFerrin "Don't Worry Be Happy"? Well that's what Jesus told us to do and that's what we are going to talk about tonight.
For the past couple of months the adult Sunday School class has been talking about the challenges of being overwhelmed and how to win the war against worry. We will continue that study for another few weeks at least. So with that same theme in mind what I want us to talk about today is what Jesus said in Luke 12:22-34 where he actually said "Do Not Worry" So let's read it and for the sake of time I'll read. By the way the heading in the translation that I'm using ,the Holman Christian Standard Bible, is The Cure for Anxiety!
For the past couple of months the adult Sunday School class has been talking about the challenges of being overwhelmed and how to win the war against worry. We will continue that study for another few weeks at least. So with that same theme in mind what I want us to talk about today is what Jesus said in Luke 12:22-34 where he actually said "Do Not Worry" So let's read it and for the sake of time I'll read. By the way the heading in the translation that I'm using ,the Holman Christian Standard Bible, is The Cure for Anxiety!
22 Then He said to His disciples: “Therefore I tell you, don’t worry about your life, what you will eat; or about the body, what you will wear. 23 For life is more than food and the body more than clothing. 24 Consider the ravens: They don’t sow or reap; they don’t have a storeroom or a barn; yet God feeds them. Aren't you worth much more than the birds? 25 Can any of you add a •cubit to his height by worrying?v 26 If then you’re not able to do even a little thing, why worry about the rest? 27 “Consider how the wildflowers grow: They don’t labor or spin thread. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was adorned like one of these! 28 If that’s how God clothes the grass, which is in the field today and is thrown into the furnace tomorrow, how much more will He do for you—you of little faith? 29 Don’t keep striving for what you should eat and what you should drink, and don’t be anxious. 30 For the Gentile world eagerly seeks[4]y all these things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31 “But seek His kingdom,[4]a and these things will be provided for you. 32 Don’t be afraid, little flock, because your Father delights[4]e to give you the kingdom. 33 Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Make money-bags for yourselves that won’t grow old, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
OK now let's talk.
1. What do you or people you know tend to worry about?
Money, health, jobs, children, older relatives, relatives who are sick, etc.
2. What do most people want for their children?
Good education, good spouse, health, them to be better off than we are, etc.
3. Why did Jesus start talking about worry? 12:22
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| I'll tear down my barns and build bigger ones |
He starts by saying therefore so we have to know what he said before to know what is going to say is there for. He had just told the parable about the rich fool who built bigger barns to store up all that he had so that he could take it easy for the next several years perhaps for the rest of his life and oops that night he died. That parable is in Luke 12:16-20. His focus was on what he had for himself and no thought for the kingdom of God. So in essence He was saying don't worry about having to accumulate material things for yourself, although He never said that the material things were bad, in fact the Bible in many places tells us that we should save not only for ourselves but as pastor said in his sermon so that we can leave an inheritance. The problem is the accumulation of wealth for self first. In doing that we often create stress and anxiety in the accumulation of wealth or material things. The greedy person can never get enough to satisfy his own desires
4. So what is it we are not to worry about? 12:22
The necessities of life. God know that we need food and clothing.
5. What is more important than food or clothes?12:23
Life itself.
6. What are we to learn from birds? 12:24
Birds like ravens do not farm for their food. God has provided for the birds. People are of more valuable God than birds. He will take care of those people who trust him
7 What does worrying accomplish anyway? 12:25-26
Nothing at all People cannot extend their life. The rich farmer (in Luke 12:16-20) could not change the time of his death even by one hour. It shows that worry is of no use. These things are beyond the control of men. They are small things to God but they are impossible for men.
8. Now what do the flowers teach us in verses 27 -28
Now Jesus talks about the plants in the field. These flowers were probably windflowers which grew the fields of Galilee, coloring them brilliantly with reds and purples, the royal colors. If you've gone out to the desert, in the spring, when the hills and the landscape is covered with wild flowers you get the picture of the beauty that Jesus was talking about. Flowers do not have to work to be beautiful. They don't do anything yet they are beautiful. God clothes them with their beauty.
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| Consider how the wildflowers grow Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve |
The skill of people made magnificent clothes for King Solomon and at the time of his life it is believed that he was the wealthiest man in the world, or at least that part of the world. So he would have had the best designers and tailors but they could not make anything as beautiful as a flower.
Wood for fuel is almost unobtainable in Palestine; consequently, dry grass and weeds are used for cooking. Even so with all their beauty which is provided by God.flowers do not last long. They are in the grass. People cut the grass and they burn it. These flowers are so temporary. They are alive one day and they are in the fire the next day. God does so much for the flowers that last for such a short time. So if God provides the beauty of something that lasts a very short time won't He provide clothing for you who are much more valuable than a beautiful flower?
9. What does worry about clothes indicate about us? 12-28
That our faith is weak. The flower has a short life; but if God is willing to clothe it with gorgeous colors, how much more care will he take of us, whose spirit lives forever! He will give clothes to His children and if we are believers we are His children. We are worth much more to Him than the flowers. So we don't need to worry about what we have to wear.
10. On what basis are we not to worry? 12:30
God is our Father. And he knows what we need. He will take care of us and provide food shelter and clothing.
11. Rather than worry about and seek material things what does God want us to seek? 12:31
We should give our attention to the kingdom of God. God knows what we need.
13. What are we to do with our possessions? Was Jesus really saying sell all of our stuff and give it away?12:33
I don't think so. We do need some possessions. Jesus does not say that we should have no possessions. He was talking about our attitude to material possessions. They are not the most important things in life. It is better to sell our possessions than allow them to take control of our lives. Trust in material wealth prevents trust in God.
14. Where can treasure be found?12:33
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| For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. |
What we have on earth cannot last. We cannot have the benefit of these things permanently. They can be stolen, they can get old and fall apart or stop working, we can lose them through speculation. We can't take them with us when we die. Our true wealth is what we have with Jesus and that we will have forever. Nobody can take that from us and it can't stolen, won't get old and fall apart or stop working, we can't lose it through speculation. and since we have eternal life we will always have that treasure. When our wealth or material things are the most important things in our lives that's what influences our desires and thoughts.
Here are some other questions that I want to leave you with. Think about them tonight when you go home.
15. What situations bring out the worrier in you?
16. What has worrying done for you?
17. When have you seen the truth that God knows your needs and meets them?
18. How big is your treasure in heaven?
When situations come, and trust me they will come, being a Christian doesn't exempt you from, situations that cause stress, anxiety, and yes worry, I want you to change your focus from the situation to God. Remember who God is and that He is bigger than that current situation or any situation. Remember these thing about God:
GOD IS
• SOVEREIGN — He reigns over everyone and everything and has never been stressed out.
• UNSTOPPABLE — and so are those who follow Him.
• HOLY— God is perfect, which means everything He wants/desires for my life is far greater than anything I could have thought of.
• CONSISTENT — I don’t have to worry about Him being in a bad mood.
• GREATER — than any temptation the enemy throws my way.
• BETTER — than anything the world has to offer.
• BIGGER — than any sin or failure in my life.
• GRACIOUS — He knows every stupid, foolish, sinful thing I've ever done (or will do), and yet He loves me anyway!
• ALWAYS — here with me — God has NEVER walked away from me. He doesn't always deliver me from the fire, but He has ALWAYS walked with me through it!
• FAITHFUL — If I fail to see His faithfulness in my past, I will probably not recognize the fruitfulness of my future.
• THE ONE WHO PURSUES ME — He pursues me even on the days I tend to walk away from Him.
• RELENTLESS — He has NEVER given up on me!
• PASSIONATE — His passion and zeal that the scriptures reveal cause me to be in AWE.
Let's end with this:
We don't have to live in a state of stress or anxiety. We can trust God for for our physical needs and everything else. Because we need not be worried about these things, when we make decisions we're free to choose God's will, even if it may mean the loss of all we have (Luke 12:33).
What we do with our material resources reflect our commitment to God. Jesus said, "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (Luke 12:34). If we treasure things, then our hearts will be drawn away from God. Like the rich fool, we will seek meaning in things. And with our vision clouded, we'll lose our way.
Let's pray and then go to the Fellowship Hall and eat.
God bless you and I hope to see all of you on Sunday in our adult bible study group when we will continue our study Overwhelmed: Winning the War Against Worry.
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