Luke 12:22-34 Reasons not to Worry

 

V. 22 Therefore - Rule of Bible Interpretation is therefore – what is it there for / always pointing back –2 brothers dispute over inheritance

  1. Which prompted Jesus to give some instruction on the Covetousness condition of peoples hearts –

    2. v.15 "Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses."

  2. That instruction was followed by an illustration /a parable on the need to be RICH TOWARD GOD.
  3. So Because we are to BEWARE OF COVETOUSNESS
  4. AND Because one's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses."
  5. And Because our Goal in life should not be to be RICH ON earth but to be RICH TOWARD GOD / RICH IN GOD .

For those reasons Jesus turns to His Disciples & says "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on.

 

Worry is something that affects most people. / We all have our bouts w/ worry & ANXIETY - Nations biggest problems

  1. 1˝% of the population of the U.S. suffers from anxiety attacks – that is Over four MILLION people nation wide .

    2. B) World wide the # is almost 89 million people – major problem.

    In This passage we are given 5 Reasons why we shouldn’t WORRY or be ANXIOUS if we know the Lord. 3 Neg. / 2 positive REASONS

    1ST - WORRY IS DESTRUCTIVE :

    A) The word translated worry in v. 22 means "to be torn apart,"

  2. It is the picture of a ship being tossed in a storm NO STABILITY –

torn apart by uncertainty & unrest .

  1. It is the opposite picture of the life that is ANCHORED IN the HARBOR of God’s WORD & FAITHFULNESS.
  1. No Peace / No Stability – just tossed to & fro by one fear after another –

    2. like a boat in the mist of a horrendous storm.

  2. The phrase "anxious mind" (Luke 12:29) means "to be held in

suspense."

    1. It describes the person always doing the what if scenario / what if this happens what if that happens .
  1. Movie where you are always on the edge of your seat – My wife – asks 100 questions – like I’ve already seen the movie.
  1. I don’t know what is more entertaining – watching her or the movie

 

To live your life in that way though is nerve racking – always stressed out & upset over something .

  1. Cause of ULCERS / STRESS HEART ATTACKS & many other medical problems
  2. A far cry from the life of peace & Joy the Lord wants us to experience in Him.

C) In fact Our English word worry comes from an old Anglo-Saxon word

that means "to strangle."

In Luke 8 Jesus spoke of the seed – ( representing the word of God being choked out by the worries of the world.)

  1. Worry is a powerful force that chokes off the word of God. Worry has a strangling affect upon the word of God & our ability to trust the Lord.

    2. Corrie Ten Boom "Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, "it empties today of its strength.

    Dr. Martin Lyold Jones – The result of worrying about the future is that you are crippling yourself in the Present"

  2. Jesus told his Disciples 8 different times not to worry – because it has a DESTRUCTIVE AFFECT ON OUR LIVES

 

2ND WORRY IS DECEPTIVE V.23 23 "Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing.

  1. Worry Deceives us into thinking that this is all that life is about – what am I going to eat – what am I going to wear/ where am I going to go
  2. It deceives us into thinking only about Provision - & into thinking that is all that life is about .

  1. Now it is important to REMEMBER the AUDIENCE that Jesus was speaking to here.

  1. although Jesus was talking to his disciples/ many of the people in the

crowd were FARMERS

  1. So When Jesus said: do not worry about your life, what you will eat;

  1. They thought about their gardens & their fields

D) When we think about what we are to eat, we think of the Supermarket..... Or the Restaurant...... or MacDonalds

E) Jesus isn't talking about the FINISHED product as much as what the farmer thinks about when he plants a crop

F) These were farmers who depended upon seasonal rainfall for a successful

crop in a land that was very arid

1) Would there be enough rain for a crop? / Will my crop be healthy?

We worry if we will have enough money to BUY the food....... They worried about the planting and reaping.

  1. And when we worry about what we are going to where we hope there is something clean in the closet / we think in terms of Malls & Stores

  1. They were a people that took wool and made their garments

  1. They were thinking of THE PROCESS whereby their clothes & food came into existence

  1. The planting and harvesting/ The cooking/ The sewing of clothes

  1. So In a real sense Jesus was saying – Don’t worry about how you are going to take care of yourself.

 

Worry convinces us that life is made up of what we eat and what we wear & what we eat

  1. We get so concerned about the means that we totally forget about the

    2. end, which is to glorify God / Rich in God.

    Wiersbe "There is a great difference between making a living and making a life."

  2. Don’t let the need for those things begin to toss you around like a ship in a storm or to strangle you from – trusting God & His word.

 

Another way that worry is DECEPTIVE is it blinds us to the way that God cares for His CREATION .

  1. "Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn; and God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds? 27 "Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 28 "If then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith?

  1. worry blinds us to the world around us and the way God cares for His creation.

  2. God makes the flowers beautiful, and He even feeds the ravens who have no ability to sow or reap. / NO BARNS

  3. If He is that concerned w/ the birds &THE FLOWERS DON’T YOU KNOW THAT YOU ARE OF more value are you than the birds?

  4. Notice that Jesus argued from the lesser to the greater. If God feeds the birds, He will surely feed His children.

E) And If He beautifies the plants that grow up one day and are cut down the

next, surely He will clothe His own people.

  1. The problem is not His little power, for He can do anything; the

problem is our little faith.
  1. So worry deceives us by blinding us to the ways that God cares for His creation.

Another way that Worry is Deceptive is worry even blinds us to itself.

A)We can get to the place where we actually think that worry is

accomplishing something in our lives.

 

B) A couple was having problems w/ their teenage Son – started getting into

trouble – mother spoke to father – You’ve got to do something

  1. His response was I am doing something – I am worrying about how I am going to pay for it when he really does something stupid.

C) E. Stanley Jones Worry is the interest we pay on tomorrow's troubles.

1) Worrying doesn’t do anything of any profit.

D)Jesus illustrated this idea in v. 25, when He pointed out that our worries do not add one extra minute to our lives or one extra inch to our height.

  1. Instead of adding to our lives, our worries take away from our lives.

People can worry themselves into the hospital or into the grave!

  1. Worry is a lot like a Rocking Chair always moving – but never getting anywhere.

3rd Worry is DEFORMATIVE

  1. It keeps us from growing and it makes us like the unsaved in the world
  1. nd do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. V.30 "For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things.
  1. Rom. 12:2 Don’t be conformed to this world ! - Not supposed to think like the world.

C) The world around you is concerned with these things/ They are concerned

with the body.... With this present life

The world has NOTHING better to do than to get caught up in FOOD and FASHION / THAT is the world

A) BUT - Those are NOT to be the things that you are to be SEEKING after..... CAUGHT UP with

B)They have their place/ But they should NOT have a place of

pre-eminence

  1. Note V. 3 Again - and your Father knows that you need these things.

  1. Worry stunts our growth – no longer trusting in the Lord – building

spiritual Muscles –

But as Christians we are to be growing in our faith & trust in the Lord & our ability to lean on His FAITHFULNESS.

  1. But worry stunts our growth - & worry is a sin / because it is the opposite of trust / opposite of FAITH !!!!!!
  2. So don’t be like the world – always worrying about provision – but be transformed by the renewing or your mind .
  3. HOW IS OUR MIND RENEWED ? by the WORD which leads us to our 4th REASON why we shouldn’t worry & our first positive reason

REMEMBER GOD’S WORD . V.31 31 "But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you.

  1. Jesus told us several times that this was to be our focus – the Kingdom –

B) NOTE: Jesus is teaching His followers to develop priorities He tells them what the PRIMARY CONCERN of their life should be:

1) PRIORITY = Seek first the kingdom!

C) Seek literally means: "They that seek earnestly, they that are continually seeking things, they that really live for them."

 

 

What does it mean though to seek first the Kingdom?

  1. Mindful of Heaven -

    2.  

  2. God’s Kingdom – comprises – His plan / His way / His holiness / His Righteousness / that which pleases the Father.

    3.  

  3. Over & over again – Jesus exhorts us to make Heaven our pursuit .

Ro 14:17 For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; (rules and regulations) but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.

 

Though the following story comes from the distant past, it speaks forcefully to the present: King Henry IV of France once asked the Duke of Alva if he had observed the great eclipse of the sun that had recently occurred. "No," said the duke, "I have so much to do on the earth that I have no leisure to look up into heaven."

Commenting on this, Thomas Brooks said, "It is sad to think how the heart and time are so taken up with earthly things that we have no leisure to look to Christ and the things that belong to everlasting peace."

Yes, how foolish is the person who caters entirely to this temporal world! It gives only momentary pleasure, and cannot bring the eternal rewards of Heaven.

RESULT of such a PURSUIT = and all these things shall be added unto you.

Hebrews 11:6. "He that comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him."

A) Many Christians miss so much in life because they do not "seek

Him" diligently.

Ps 34:4 I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.

 

5th Reason Remember the Fathers Heart v.32 32 "Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

  1. This is a very amazing verse – It is the Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom. It pleases Him / blesses Him – to Bless You.

  2. Love that - Jesus is NOT saying they are NOT necessary

    3. Jesus KNOWS that they are necessary

    B) Jesus is saying that YOUR FATHER knows they are necessary

  3. My kids I love to see them open a gift or react to a surprise / kick out of it

    4.  

  4. God is the same – Enjoyed the look on their faces – past through the Red sea

  1. walls of Jericho fell - / the day Goliath was killed

  1. Day that Lazarus. Rose or the day that / Jesus touched the Leper & his leprosy left - smiling .

Your reaction of Praise – when a bill gets paid – when sermon touches your heart – His master pieces for us .

  1. First time I read this verse it floored me – I spent so many yrs – trying to do the right things to earn God’s Favor – hopes that He would bless

B) Came to realize that if I am in Christ – if I am one of His kids – I have His favor. PtL

Note one more thing in VERSE 32 Jesus mixes metaphors here

A) The first: fear not little flock

B) Sheep are such vulnerable, defenseless animals.

C) They need the shepherd's constant care and attention.

D) Jesus in John 10 described Himself as the Good Shepherd and us as His

sheep.

John 10:7. "Most assuredly I say unto you I am the door of the sheep. He who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way is a thief and a robber."

D) The sheepfold was an enclosed area with walls for proper protection for the sheep especially at night.

1) It's high walls would protect the defenseless sheep.

E) Often predators would circle it looking for an opening, but there was only one way. The door where the Shepherd would stay.

F) The sheepfold was not roofed, therefore, open to the careful scrutiny of the shepherd.

God knows everything about you! Your hopes, fears, dreams, thoughts, sins, strengths, weaknesses. And still loves you!

Jesus also mentioned in John 10:27, "My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me...."

  1. The sheep soon learn when the shepherd calls it's worth coming!

  2. It's always for a specific purpose with their best interests in mind!

    1. Sometimes for fresh food, to lead them to a new stream, a new pasture.

C) YOU are the flock of God / Jesus is the good shepherd

David said: The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want

 

The second: It is your father's good pleasure

A) The next metaphor is that of father and child

  1. The loving heavenly father looking at his child and realizing that a child gets hungry and needs to be fed.....

  1. They grow and need to have new clothes

D) Your heavenly Father is NOT going to quibble over taking care of your

needs

E) He lovingly takes care of His children

The third metaphor: to give you the kingdom

A) The metaphor of King and Subject

B) He is my SHEPHERD... My FATHER..... My KING

 

C) Jesus was NOT a grammatical failure/ These were CAREFULLY selected metaphors

D) They were chosen to show you the perfect BLENDING of the heart of God towards YOU and your relationship to Him

E) God wants to be to you that good shepherd...... That loving father ....... That merciful and powerful king

 

APPLICATION: Since we know Him as shepherd, father and king, the result is we do not have to be afraid worry filled w/ ANXIETY

("Fear not little flock").