Tomorrow

Why Worry?

Pastor John Talcott
Christ's Community Church

(10/29) Have you ever noticed that whenever somebody asks you, how are you doing, they don’t stop to wait for an answer? In other words, it’s almost become like a greeting, like saying, "Good morning" when you pass someone on the street or as you are going into a store. But what I realized was that if they were to stop, I’m not even sure how I would answer. In other words, I’m not sure where I would begin, because it’s really a big open-ended question which depends on which part of me they’re talking about.

In other words, are you asking about my health, my body, my finances, my studies, or maybe my family, or how I’m doing emotionally? And so, this could be a very long conversation, and if you don’t have an hour or two, maybe you just want to wave and keep walking.

I wonder how many of you find yourself struggling, worrying, unable to find rest today because of concern about tomorrow? It’s understandable with all of the chaos and confusion and conflict going on in the world. But maybe there are some of you who are not even aware of what’s happening in Israel, or how the Biden administration is preparing to engage with these terrorists who are trying to drive the Jews out of Israel.

And honestly, it’s hard to even articulate the wickedness of terrorists trying to purge the Jews from Israel, driving them out of the Promised Land. But the threat is so real that the Biden administration took the bait and began moving troops in that direction because there is so much history of the Jewish people in Israel. Israel it’s their legacy, it’s more than just the land, it’s the promise of God, it’s their heritage, its culture, its language, it’s their way of life. And so, it’s unthinkable that terrorists would even think that they have a chance to drive a wedge between the Jews and the promise of their God.

With that introduction, I want to go to the gospel of Matthew where Jesus answers the question, "Why worry?" And so, we’re going to go to Matthew chapter six, verse twenty-five through thirty-four. We are going to be reading out of the NIV and if you’re watching online, it will be up on the screen for you. Matthew chapter six, verse twenty-five begins,

"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).

"Look at 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? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?" (Matthew 6:26-27).

"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these" (Matthew 6:28-29).

"If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?" (Matthew 6:30).

"So 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. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness…" (Matthew 6:31-33).

He’s not preaching against things, he’s preaching about priorities, and so he says,

"All these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow" (Matthew 6:33-34).

Would you say that with me? Maybe we should say that over and over and over again because the Bible says,

"Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ" (Romans 10:17).

And so, your soul needs to hear you say, "Do not worry about tomorrow."

In other words, it’s one thing to hear me say it, but when you hear yourself say it, when you say it to yourself, you are planting a seed, it is a mustard seed of faith.

"Therefore," Jesus says, "Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own" (Matthew 6:34).

The title of today’s message is, "Why Worry?" Jesus says don’t worry because tomorrow will worry about itself. In other words, you could say tomorrow will take care of itself because tomorrow belongs to God. But the truth is that we’re living in the most uncertain times that we have ever seen. You can’t be quite sure of anything. You can’t trust anyone, because you can’t be sure of the values of your neighbors, your community, your government, or the place where you work.

For example, I don’t know if you heard or not, but the Biden administration just released a proposal for a new regulation that would undermine sex-segregated spaces and stifle free speech in the workplace on topics such as abortion and gender identity ideology. In other words, under this new regulation members of the workforce who are pro-life or who don’t hold to the views of gender identity ideology could be found guilty of harassment for simply expressing their views and living in accordance with their beliefs.

And so, you can’t be sure of anything, everything and everybody is shifting, everything’s on a sliding scale, everyone’s opinion is considered to have equal value or equal truth. And so, according to this regulation expressing one’s opinion or one’s religious belief would be a source of workplace harassment. In other words, they’re threatening to require you to use preferred pronouns, un-segregated bathrooms, changing rooms, and showers. No longer would they be separated on the basis of sex, but gender identity, and freedom of speech is no longer applicable if you happen to have a different opinion about abortion or sexual immorality.

And honestly, I believe that many of our nation’s leaders have lost their minds. Most of them don’t have a fear of God, but the Scripture says,

"Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the people of the world revere him. For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm" (Psalms 33:8-9).

And yet the majority of this nation’s leaders have no fear of God, they’ve forgotten their oath of office and the Constitution that they’re supposed to defend. They’ve dismissed the ideology of absolute truth and like the terrorists threatening the security of those in Israel, here at home our own leaders are threatening our religious freedom and the safety and privacy of our women and children with their own agenda.

And so, the question, "Why Worry?" has great significance when you are living in a climate, a culture that is hostile to Christianity. Dwelling in a world that has no peace and is increasingly experiencing patterns of social unrest. And being mindful of the promise of God that he won’t allow it to go beyond what you’re able to bear and that he will shorten that time for the sake of the elect doesn’t really help ease that feeling of uneasiness.

However, the Holy Spirit does give us some consolation, because the Bible tells us,

"The Lord foils the plans of the nations; he thwarts the purposes of the peoples. But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations" (Psalms 33:10-11).

And so, that is encouraging, that helps, but still there is a feeling deep in the recesses of my mind of being threatened because of my faith. In other words, my religious freedom and the security of my friends and family are being threatened. And so, I’m trying to listen to Jesus, trying not to worry about tomorrow, but like Paul said,

"What I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do" (Romans 7:15).

And so, there’s this continual struggle with feelings of uneasiness, an awareness, being discerning of the schemes of the enemy, which can leave you wrestling in a world of uncertainty.

In fact, I stopped paying close attention to the news in general, rehearsing the same stories over and over, because I don’t need anybody to reinforce the uncertainty in my mind. Instead, I choose to pray about it, fixing my focus on the sovereign, unchangeable, nature and power of God, because as the prophet Isaiah said,

"You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you" (Isaiah 26:3).

That is an important decision because I would rather my home be a sanctuary, a place where I can rest, relax, and renew myself; intentionally fixing my eyes on Jesus and the truths of Scripture.

You see, when you set your hearts on things above, setting your minds on things above, the distance between heaven and earth is diminished. In other words, it’s in that place that it is easier to encounter God’s presence and to hear God’s voice more than any other place. And the truth is, if you’ve been a Christian for long you’ve found that place at church or maybe a prayer closet in your bedroom, but somewhere where you can experience God’s presence more than any other place. It’s somewhere where you can,

"Be still and know that I am God" (Psalms 46:10).

And the truth is, it’s in the Scriptures that God meets us in every season of life. That’s so important because we need to hear clearly from God whether in seasons of rest or seasons of warfare, seasons of peace or seasons of turmoil, seasons of plenty or seasons of want.

And God has always been about order and seasons. You may remember in the book of Exodus how God taught the Israelites:

"Three times a year you are to celebrate a festival to me. "Celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread… Celebrate the Feast of Harvest… and Celebrate the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year… Three times a year all the men are to appear before the Sovereign Lord" (Exodus 23:14-17).

And so, for centuries and centuries Jews from all over Israel would come from the North, South, East and West. Three times a year they would climb the hill to Jerusalem, ascending to the top of Mount Zion, to worship in the tabernacle 2,500 feet above sea level.

No matter where they came from, they had to climb this hill to get there, and so it was as they were walking that they sang Psalms. Now, there are many Psalms, Psalms of praise, Psalms of thanksgiving, Psalms of lament, and there are fifteen Psalms of Ascent. Psalm 122 is one of those, it was a Psalm that the people of God sang as they were walking, climbing, ascending the hill to Jerusalem. And so, they are ascending the hill, coming from every direction, walking and singing until finally they arrive, knowing that they’re about to experience the presence of the Lord.

In verse one, David expresses the emotions of that moment. He sings,

"I rejoiced with those who said to me, "Let us go to the house of the Lord" (Psalms 122:1).

In other words, he’s excited because he knows it’s not going to be long before he meets with God and he’s going to be inspired and encouraged together with God’s people. He knows this is the place where God dwells and just the thought of this get some excited. And so, once he arrives in Jerusalem, as he is standing within its gates he sings,

"Our feet are standing in your gates, O Jerusalem" (Psalms 122:2).

And as he is standing there, he looks around at the city and its walls and he sings.

"Jerusalem is built like a city that is closely compacted together" (Psalms 122:3).

In other words, he surveys its walls and buildings and praises God that it is not random or haphazard, but it is well-built. And then he turns his attention from the city to the crowds of people and he sings in verse four,

"That is where the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, to praise the name of the Lord according to the statute given to Israel. There the thrones for judgment stand, the thrones of the house of David" (Psalms 122:4-5).

And so, he looks from the city to the walls and the buildings, to the people and he says this is where my people, my family, the twelve tribes of Israel meet. He says, this is a place of thrones, a place of authority, and he knows that if this place prospers, the whole world can prosper. And so, he prays for shalom, he says in verse six,

"Pray for the peace of Jerusalem" (Psalms 122:6a).

It’s interesting how thousands of years later it always comes back to Jerusalem. And so, what should our response be to the turmoil, conflict, and warfare in the Middle East? The Bible says, "Pray."

In fact, Jesus said,

"Look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near" (Luke 21:28, NKJV).

And it’s not a reason to worry, because the Bible predicted that end time events would revolve around Jerusalem. Not Rome or Washington DC, not Moscow or Paris, but this tiny city in Israel.

And then David’s prayer becomes a blessing as he says,

"May those who love you be secure. May there be peace within your walls and security within your citadels" (Psalms 122:6b-7).

He prays for peace and security in and around you. Complete well-being inside of you, inside the hearts of the people, security in and around you, and peace inside you and around you. That’s what we should pray for, praying for a cease-fire, some sort of temporary peace, praying that this terrorism stops, praying for God’s hand of protection over Jerusalem and over the nation of Israel. Because these are our friends, those who have put their trust in the Messiah, they are our family, the children of God.

David concludes this Psalm singing:

"For the sake of my brothers and friends, I will say, "Peace be within you." For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek your prosperity" (Psalms 122:8-9).

And the same joy and rejoicing that David experienced going to the house of the Lord is what happens when we gather together as the church. Our eyes turn from ourselves, and instead of focusing on our worries, we focus on the presence of the Lord.

That’s what’s so important about location because some locations are better for encountering God than others. You can meet him in your home because he’s everywhere, but we were created to gather with other believers in places that have been set apart to worship God. And so, whether it’s a church, a chapel, or a sanctuary, wherever God’s people meet to worship him it is a holy place.

But when there is a struggle within, turmoil, conflict and uncertainty. When your life becomes an oxymoron, with two contrasting things coexisting in the same space, it doesn’t make sense. It’s confusing, it can’t be, because there is no unity, no fellowship, or harmony, because the Bible says,

"What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God" (2 Corinthians 6:15-16).

And so, when you’re left navigating life through the uncertainty, weaving through traffic, unsure as to whether to laugh or to cry. And you’re stuck in this oxymoron of having experienced the goodness of God and the agony of life all at the same time. It’s worrisome because nothing seems to make sense, everything is in conflict with the other, like that well-known list in Ecclesiastes. And yet, Solomon says, there is a time for everything,

"A time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build" (Ecclesiastes 3:3).

And so, you go home, you go to that place that should be a sanctuary, but your house is like a house of mirrors and your life resembles a carnival because you can’t see anything except your own reflection.

Some of you might not understand what I’m talking about unless you’ve been awakened in the middle of the night by a strange sound, and when looking out the window into the deep darkness you couldn’t see anything but your own reflection. And so, there is this lurking sense of danger, because we are living in a time of uncertainty, but as Solomon says there is…

"A time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace" (Ecclesiastes 3:8).

You say, why worry? Well, it’s like a job I hate, a bill I can’t pay, or a child that hasn’t been healed. On one hand I am the saddest I’ve ever been, but then on the other I am the most accomplished, because I know that there is…

"A time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance" (Ecclesiastes 3:4).

I don’t know if you’re getting this, if anyone’s understanding me, anyone here who can relate? You can hold on to your positive confession if you want, but I wonder if there are any real people in here?

You know, those of you who have real worries, who are struggling, like our brothers and sisters in Israel, just waiting for the next explosion. You are braced for it, waiting for the next bomb to drop, because you’ve got to deal with it, but you don’t know when it’s going to be. And it’s a burdensome thing, a worrisome thing, like the psalmist said,

"By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion" (Psalms 137:1).

It creates a spirit of anxiety and uneasiness as you’re living in the uncertainty of tomorrow. And yet there is something about singing that strengthens, that builds up, that heals and protects. Because when you sing God knows which one you need, he knows what you mean, whether to build up or to tear down.

The psalmist explained this challenge saying,

"Our captors asked us for songs, our tormentors demanded songs of joy; they said, "Sing us one of the songs of Zion!" (Psalms 137:3).

And when we sing the church is strengthened, we are edified, because when we sing, God will bring down whatever is standing in our way, keeping us from the promises of God.

And when the church prays, when you speak in tongues, when you give a word of knowledge, strongholds are demolished. Because the Bible says

"The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds" (2 Corinthians 10:4).

And so, as we close today, we’re going to worship, we’re going to pray, and you may be sitting there in turmoil with tears running down your face saying like the psalmist did,

"May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you, if I do not consider Jerusalem my highest joy" (Psalms 137:6).

And so, as the worship team comes up, I’m going to need you to open up your mouth, because you’re going to…

"Shout to God with the voice of triumph!" (Psalms 47:1, NKJV).

And when you open up your mouth, when you praise him, God is going to bring you out. It doesn’t matter if it takes three days. You may be nailed to a tree on Friday morning, in the grave before dark Friday night, but by Sunday morning he will raise you up out of everything that held you down.

And so, you’ve got to sing, you’ve got to pray, you’ve got to open your mouth, because there aren’t any walls that can keep him from getting to you. There isn’t a stone big enough that they can roll in front of the tomb that he won’t roll out of your way. Because there is something that God wants to leave in your spirit that will take you from weeping to laughing, mourning to dancing, scattering to gathering.

The challenge that Jesus is facing in chapter six of Matthew’s gospel, and we’re going to continue with this next week, but the challenge he is having is communicating to his disciples the importance of making prayer a lifestyle. In other words, coming to church, coming to a worship service once a week isn’t enough because,

"Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour" (1 Peter 5:8).

That’s why early on Sunday mornings while the worship team is practicing, the church is praying. And so, before you even get here on Sunday morning, when you’re still in the car yelling at the kids, before you even make it here the church was praying, battling, engaging in warfare, because we’ve got to make it from where we were to where we want to be in spite of the uncertainty of our culture.

"I have told you these things," Jesus reminds us, "so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world" (John 16:33).

As we come to a close, I don’t know who is wrestling, who is struggling with uncertainty, who is worrying on your own emotional roller coaster, but I want to pray with you.

Read Part 2

Read past sermons by Pastor John Talcott