Some time ago a group of scientists conducted an experiment testing the energy level of little kids.  What they did was get Mel Ott, the centre fielder for the New York Giants at the time, and a group of children together in a playground.  The idea was for Mel Ott, this robust, fit athlete, to do everything that the kids did in the playground and see who could last the longest.  Well, I don't know how those scientists got to be scientists because I could have told them and you could have told them the outcome of the experiment even before they started.  Of course the children lasted longer than the athlete.

   But I was most interested in the reasons given for the childrens' stamina and energy - well one reason in particular - and it was this:  it was suggested that children can go, go, go, because they have no worries, no anxieties.  Energy which you and I would expend in worrying, they have in abundance because they have no worries.

   I wonder, at what age do we learn to worry?  Because certainly there are many adults in our world who are worried, who are anxious about this thing and that thing.  And when that thing does not come to pass, they worry about the next thing.  And they are crippled psychologically, crippled spiritually, crippled emotionally, because they worry, and worry, and worry.

   They are a bundle of worries.  If we go through a long period of rain they worry about the poor peach crop which make prices higher, which of course will drive consumer spending down, which of course will cause our dollar to plummet even lower, and we all knew that a weak dollar is a sure sign of a long hard winter.

   You know the type, people who are stretched tighter than a drum because they are a bundle of worries and anxious about everything that comes their way.

   Well, Scripture has a great deal to say about worry and how to overcome it.  And the primary passage about worry is found in Matthew 6:25-34.  This passage is addressed to believers, to Christ's disciples, to you and to me.  It begins with the word, "Therefore".  That's an important word because it connects it with what has gone on before, specifically verses 19 and on, where Jesus compares the worth of earthly treasure with heavenly treasure, the usefulness of two eye conditions, dark and light, and the comparative worth of two masters, God and money.

   When he says, "therefore", he is speaking to those who have made a conscious decision that heavenly treasure is of more worth than earthly treasure, that light is better than darkness, and that God is more worthy to serve than money.  "Therefore", if you have made this decision, Jesus says do not worry about your life.  And he gives us this admonition three times.  You thought it was only Baptist ministers who had three points to their sermons - three times he commands us not to worry - verse 25, then again in verse 31, then again in verse 34.

   Why?  Why shouldn't we worry, Jesus?  Why shouldn't we worry?  The dollar is at an all-time low, the middle-east peace talks aren't going well, violent youth crime is on the increase, morality is scoffed at, authority is mocked, nature seems to be way out of joint, with fires, quakes, droughts, and floods, death and disease are rampant - and on top of all this we have worries of our own - responsibilities at work, aging parents, cars that don't work, and numerous physical ailments that continue to assail us.

   And the king of kings, our Lord and Master, instructs us saying, "Don't worry."  Don't let these things capture your attention, or energy.  And we think he better have some good reasons, based on fact, because we don't need another little song to sing like Bobby McFerrin's, "Don't Worry be Happy".

   And he gives us three reasons why we should not worry.  First, do not worry because worry is unnecessary.  And he says consider three things, consider your physical life.  "Therefore 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 important than food, and the body more important than clothes?" (Matthew 6:25) (NIV)

   He is saying that God made your life, and therefore God is responsible for it - and is not life more important than food and clothes?  If he takes care of the greater, life, will he not also care for the lesser?

   Then he says to consider 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?" (Matthew 6:26) (NIV)

   So we have that little poem,

Said the Robin to the Sparro
I should really like to know
Why these anxious human beings
Rush about and worry so.

Said the sparrow to the robin;
Friend I think that it must be
That they have no heavenly father
Such as cares for you and me.

   Well that is partly right.  Jesus never said that the birds have a heavenly father; he says they have a creator who looks after them, and the point is, if that creator looks after them, how much more can we be sure that he will look after us who know him not only as creator but as Abba, Father.

   Then he calls our attention to the flowers of the field.  "Why do you worry about clothes?  See how the lilies of the field grow.  They do not labour or spin.  Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendour was dressed like one of these."  (Matthew 6:28-29) (NIV)

   This and the other verses I've quoted are very important for us to take in, and to teach to our children.  Tenderly, carefully and intentionally, we need to show them and tell them that things of the world are transitory, fleeting.  The truth, "we have only one life to live, 'twill soon be past, only what is done for Christ will last."

   Jesus says to look at your physical life, look at the fowl of the air, look at the flowers of the field and see that your worry is unnecessary.  You have a heavenly father who created you and cares for you and will provide for your every need.

   This passage does not say that we should not plan for the future, for we know that birds prepare for the season ahead.  It does not say that we should not work for a living, as some people think verse 28 suggests (the flowers of the field neither labour nor spin).  The rest of Scripture argues against that thought.  Nor does this passage says that trouble won't come our way.

   This passage doesn't promise that there will be no difficult times, trying times, hard times, but it does say that we can be sure of our heavenly Father's continued care and provision in the midst of such times.

   One of my favourite verses is Deuteronomy 33:27, "The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms." (NIV)

   The second thing that Jesus says is, "Your worry is unworthy."  Verses 31 and 32 read, "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." (Matthew 6:31-32) (NIV)

   For the Christian, who has a great and powerful God, a loving heavenly father, worry or anxiety is unworthy, it does not honour or glorify the God whom we worship.  Look to the pagans, Jesus said, when you worry, you behave just like them.  They worry about the things of this world; they worry about what they will wear, about having just the right shoes, about having just the right looks, about having just the right car - don't worry about such things.  They are transitory and fleeting.  You are called to seek after that which is eternal, the very kingdom of God.

   Listen carefully - many people consider worry a weakness.  The Bible tells us that it is rather wickedness.  It is out and out sin.  Because, as James Kennedy of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church points out, "Where worry starts, faith ends.  You cannot have faith in, and worry about, the same thing at the same time.  As water in a glass replaces the air, so worry replaces faith."  (from his sermon entitled, "I Refuse to Worry")

   Worry is unworthy of the Christian because it is sin.  And this gives us the second way to overcome worry.  We need to recognize worry for what it is, wickedness, the sin of unbelief.  Once you recognize that, you know how to deal with it.  If you are a Christian you deal with it in the same way you deal with any sin:  you simply cast it upon Jesus.  Peter tells us, in I Peter 5:7, "Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you." (NIV)

   So says Jesus, worry is unnecessary, unworthy, and thirdly he says it is unproductive, verse 27, "Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?" (Matthew 6:27) (NIV)

   Worry is unproductive.  It does not help our situation and it accomplishes nothing.  Does a farmer worrying about the drought make the storm clouds form?  Does a stock holder worrying about the markets, cause the TSE to rise 200 points?  Does a mother worrying about her child make the child come home earlier?  NO.

   Worry is unproductive.  It is a proven fact that it is harmful to your health.  Doctors have proven over and over again that many stomach disorders are not organic; they are functional.  Most are caused by worry and fear.

   Worry is unproductive.  Jesus reinforces this point in verse 34, "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own."  (Matthew 6:34) (NIV)

   Indeed, how many times have we worried about an event that never came to pass?  How many times have we fretted about something that never ended up happening?  All that energy wasted on something that never happened.

   Abraham Lincoln tells of the days when he was a circuit rider for the courts as a lawyer.  He would go to the many small towns where the courts were being held.  This meant that he had to cross a number of rivers, including the notorious Fox River, which had a reputation for being extremely dangerous.

   Once, after having crossed several rivers during the day, Lincoln's travelling companion said, "If these rivers are this bad, what in the world will it be like when we try to cross the Fox?"  That night it happened that they met a Methodist circuit rider at the inn where they were staying.  They asked if he knew about the Fox River and he said, "Oh, yes.  I know all about that.  I have been crossing it innumerable times for many, many years."  So they asked if he had any advice about how they might cross it safely.  He said, "Absolutely!  I have discovered that there is one secret about the Fox River which I never fail to keep in mind:  I never cross it until I reach it."

   How many times have you crossed a Fox River while you are yet miles away from it and by the time you arrived at the edge of the river you discovered that a drought had come along and dried the river up? (from Dr.  James Kennedy's sermon, "I refuse to worry")

   Jesus said, not to worry about tomorrow for this day has enough trouble of its own.

   So, worry is unnecessary; we have a heavenly father who provides.

   Worry is unworthy; we have a faith in the living God who invites us to cast our burdens on to him.

   Worry is unproductive; don't cross the river till you get to it.

   Again our Lord exhorts us not to worry about what we shall eat or what we shall drink, or what we shall wear, but rather to seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to us as well.

   May God find us faithful, and anxious about nothing, for our God is the eternal God and underneath are his everlasting arms.

Copyright MBC and Tom Cullen - July 2001