#111 Lu. 12:22-30 LEARNING NOT TO WORRY ABOUT MATERIAL NEEDS

Introduction:

    In our previous text a man who was obsessed with gaining
material possessions came to Jesus and asked Jesus to help him get
his share of the family inheritance.  Instead, Jesus warned him to
beware of covetousness.  Jesus then gave the Parable of The Rich
Fool who was rich and obsessed with getting richer.  He intended
to build bigger barns and retire and live a life of luxury and
ease.  Instead God suddenly called him out of this world.  The
problem was that he was totally unprepared to meet God.
    In our text today Jesus speaks to His disciples about having
the proper attitude toward the material things of life.  Chiefly,
He warns them not to worry and fret that they are not going to
have sufficient to take care of their needs.  He teaches them that
they should learn to trust  God to take care of their needs.  God
sees their needs and God will take care of their needs.

I.  The command not to worry about our material needs

    V. 22, "And he said unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto
you, Take no thought for your life..." The Greek word that the
King James translators rendered "...take no thought..." literally
means "take no overly anxious thought."  In other words, "Don't
worry."  Jesus is saying to His disciples, "Don't worry."
Specifically He said, "Take no thought for your life, what ye
shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on."  "Don't
worry about what you are going to have to eat or what you are
going to wear."
    Brethren, it sounds at first as if Jesus is talking primarily
to the ladies.  Doesn't it?  The ladies are primarily the ones
whose responsibility it is to prepare the meals and they are
primarily the ones who worry about what to select and what to
prepare.  We menfolk seldom ever consider what we are going to eat
until we sit down to the table.  At least I don't.  About the only
time I think about it in advance is when Sis. Davis asks, "What do
you want for dinner?"  Even then, the usual answer is, "I don't
know."
    Likewise, brethren, it is primarily the ladies who have the
responsibility of laundering and ironing the clothes.  Therefore
they are the ones who worry the most about what they are going to
wear.  I never worry about what I am going to wear.  I never even
think about it until it is time to get dressed and I just pick out
something and put it one.  On the other hand Sis.  Davis not only
has all the laundering and ironing to do, but she has a lot more
problem selecting what she is going to wear than I do.  She will
sometimes change into two or three different dresses before
deciding just which one she will wear.
    So, men, it sounds at first as if Jesus is talking primarily
to the ladies in this passage.  However, in this passage of
Scripture it was not primarily women whom Jesus addressed.  I
think, perhaps, He was talking to both men and women, but
primarily He was talking to men.
    Even in our day, it is the man who is the primarily the bread
winner in the family and is the one most likely to worry and fret
about being able provide for his family's needs.  So, fellows,
Jesus is very definitely talking to us men fold, too, in this
passage.  Jesus is not saying to us that we should take no
forethought about how we are going to provide for the family.
Rather He is telling us not to have any overly anxious thoughts--
not to worry--about whether or not we are going to be able to
provide.
    People worry about food and clothes more than anything else.
They worry even when they are well provided for.  They can have
all the food they need seven days a week and have all the clothes
they need for every occasion and still they will worry about how
they are going to get by.  They can have a huge amount of money in
the bank and in investments and still they will worry about how in
this world they are going to make ends meet.  They can have a good
job with many extra benefits and with a good future, but still
they will worry about how they are going to manage to survive.
    There is fear involved.  There is a nagging fear in the back
of the mind that something unforeseen is going to happen that is
going to put us in dire circumstances and we are going to have a
terrible time just trying to survive.
    One of the problems is that this nagging fear can cause us to
become the kind of person that Jesus warned about.  Jesus said,
"Beware of covetousness."  We can get to the place that we are so
afraid that we are not going to be able to get by that we try to
hoard up every penny and every dollar that we get our hands on.
We can get to the place that we are afraid to be generous in our
giving to the Lord.  We are afraid we are going to need that money
for ourselves.  We can get to the place that we are afraid to give
to the poor and needy.  We are afraid we will need that for
ourselves.  We can get to the place what we are afraid to give to
missions.  We are afraid that we will need that for ourselves and
for our family.
    We can get so fearful that we are not going to be able to get
by that we worry and we worry and we worry!  We can actually worry
ourselves sick about finances even when we are getting by just
fine.  We can develop an ulcer.  We can develop hypertension or
high blood pressure.  We can work ourselves up into a nervous
breakdown just by worrying about things that it is unnecessary to
worry about.

II.  Things more important than food or clothing

    In verse 23 Jesus said,  "The life is more than meat, and the
body is more than raiment..."  Man usually worries about the wrong
things.  If a man wants something to worry about, there are a lot
of things more important to worry about than the material things
of life.  Don't worry about what you are going to have to eat.
Don't worry about what you are going to have to wear.  If you must
get concerned about something, then get concerned about where you
are going to spend eternity.  Get concerned about your children,
your grand children, your nieces and nephews, your friends and
neighbors.  Get concerned about the people over on the other side
of town and the people over on the other side of the world.  Get
worked up about where these people are going to spend eternity.
    Are you saved?  If so, get concerned about whether or not God
is pleased with the way you are living your life.  Are you doing
things that you know is not pleasing to God?  Are you doing things
that is going to cause God to chastise you severely?  Are you
about to bring the anger of God down on you and cause Him to just
about beat the daylights out of you?  These are things that you
need to get concerned about.  Get concerned about whether or not
the members of your family are living a way that pleases God?  If
not, then they are headed for trouble and you know it.  Perhaps
you can help them to get on the right track.  There a lot of
things that you need to be more concerned about than to worrying
about than not being able to get by.

III.  Learning to trust God to supply our needs

    Jesus gave those disciples a good reason not to worry.  V.
24, "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?"  Why is it that Christians
should not worry about the material provisions of life?  Well, for
one reason, we should not worry because Jesus told us not to
worry.  But in this verse He said that we should not worry because
God is going to take care of us.  God will provide.  Look at the
ravens.  Look at all the many other birds in the world.  They do
not have a job.  They do not bring in a paycheck.  They do not
plow the fields nor raise a crop.  They do not have barns.  They
do not worry about tearing down the old barns or building bigger
ones.  They do not worry about how they are going make both ends
meet.  Yet they have plenty because God takes care of them.  God
takes care of them!
    So it is with Christians.  God will take care of you.  God
will provide.  It seems so amazing to me that we were able to
trust the Lord to save us from all our sins which were so numerous
and so terribly bad.  We were able to trust the Lord to save us
from the awful fires of hell and to keep us from ever going into
hell.  But we find it almost impossible to trust the Lord to put
food on our table and clothes on our back.  God takes care of the
ravens, the sparrows and all the other birds.  He is going to take
care of those who are saved by the blood of His Son Jesus Christ.

IV.  The foolishness of worry

    In verse 25 Jesus gives us another reason not to worry.  V.
25-26,  "And which of you with 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?"  Again in this verse,
the expression "taking thought" means "taking overly anxious
thought" or worry.  Jesus asked, "Who is able by worry to add a
cubit to his stature?" A cubit is a measure of about eighteen
inches--a foot and a half.  Who can by worry add a foot and a half
to his stature?  The answer is, of course, "Nobody."  Nobody can
add a foot and a half to his stature.  Nobody can add even an inch
to his stature.  He may worry about his height and say, "I'm just
too short.  I'm not as tall as I'd like to be."  But He cannot do
anything about it.  He can worry all he pleases, but his worry is
not going to help.
    Worry never did help anybody.  Worry can only hurt.  It never
helps.  So why worry?  Since worry never helps, why worry?

V.  Still another illustration of God's provisions

    Then Jesus used another illustration from nature to show how
the Lord provides.  V. 27, "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."  In the
illustration concerning the ravens God was showing how the Lord
can provide food.  In this illustration the Lord is showing how
God can provide clothing.  He clothes the lilies of the field with
unmatched beauty.  Even the glory of Solomon did not match the
beauty and glory of the lily.
    Thus we see that God is well able to provide for us.  V. 28,
"If then God so clothe the grass, which is to day in the field,
and to morrow is cast into the oven; how much more will he clothe
you, O ye of little faith?"
    The Christian is not to be worried about food and clothing.
He is to learn to trust the Lord to provide.  If he would only
trust the Lord for these things, he could save himself a great
deal of unnecessary worry.  V. 29-30, "And seek not ye what ye
shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind.
For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and
your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things."
    The Christian, of course, is not expected to just sit down and
wait for God to drop his food and clothing down from heaven.  He
is to work.  But he is to learn not to depend on his ability to
work.  He is to learn to depend on God to supply his needs.

VI.  Some Biblical principles that can help the Christian to cope
     materially

    Let me say that one of the most vital truths for the Christian
concerning the supply of his physical and material needs is taught
in this passage.  The Christian is to learn that he cannot depend
on himself to supply his own needs here on earth.  He is to learn
to depend on the God who made him and saved his soul.
    I might add, however, that not all that the Bible teaches on
this subject is taught in this one passage.  Let me quickly set
forth a few additional principles that are taught elsewhere in the
Bible on the subject of learning to get by materially in this
world.
    First, let me restate the principle that Jesus taught in this
passage.  The Christian is to learn not to worry and fret
concerning the provision of material needs for his life.  Rather
he is to learn to trust God for his provision. rather than to
worry.
    Second, let me say that the Christian is not to be like the
rich fool in the parable.  He is to learn not to set his
affections on the material things of this life and set out to see
how much he can accumulate for himself.  He is to learn to be
satisfied with what God provides for him whether it much or
whether it be small.
    Third, he is to learn to work.  In the very beginning of the
human race, God Himself set a pattern for mankind.  God worked six
days and then rested one day.  Man is to work six days and then
rest and worship on the seventh.  If man would learn to follow
this pattern in life he would be far better off.  This is a good
pattern even for the Christian in these modern times.  Work to
provide for your needs.  Do not expect others to hand out to you.
Do not expect the government to provide for you.  You word to
provide for yourself and your family.  And you teach your family
members to work.  But understand that for all your efforts to work
and provide, you still must depend of God to provide.
    Fourth, learn to be conservative.  Do not think that you have
to have the very best and most expensive of everything.  Be
grateful to God for what He enables you to have, but do not seek
to live a life of luxury.  And don't be wasteful.  The average
American family wastes enough for many foreign families to live
on.  Do not be wasteful and you will fare a lot better in this
life.
    Fifth, provide at least something for a rainy day.  In the
book of Proverbs God advises that we go to the ant and learn.  The
ant provides in the summer what he will need in the winter.  We
are not to become gluttonous and seek to hoard up everything we
get our hands on, but we are to be saving and put something up for
future need.

Conclusion:

    In closing let me remind you that God has put these
instructions in the Bible for out good.  He put them there to
teach us.  But it is not enough that we merely learn what the
Bible says.  We must put these principles into practice if we
would benefit by them.
    Let me also remind you that God is not only concerned about
the material provisions for us in this life.  He is most concerned
about our need in the next life.  In order for us to fare well in
both this life and the next, God has sent His Son, Jesus Christ,
to the cross to die for us.  He sent Jesus to the cross that we
might stay out of the fires of hell and that we might go to heaven
instead.  But it is not enough that we merely know that Jesus died
for us.  We must trust Him as our Savior if we would benefit by
His death.
    I am calling upon every man, woman, boy and girl in this
service who is unsaved to get right with God today.  I am calling
on you to trust the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior.  It is a lot
more important that you have a Savior to save your soul than it is
for you to have food on the table and clothes on your back.
    I am calling on every saved person to let God have His way
with your life.