The Kingdom Movement

A Literary & Pastoral Study Guide to the Gospel of Matthew

The Inspiration of Matthew,

by Caravaggio

 

On the King's Errand

Devotional Reflections on Matthew's Gospel

 

From Anxiety to Freedom:  Mt.6:25 – 34

 

6:25 For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? 27 And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? 28 And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, 29 yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! 31 Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ 32 For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 34 So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

 

In the early 1990’s, Robert Sapolski, biologist at Stanford University, set out to study stress and anxiety.  He observed zebras being chased by lions – a life and death situation.  The zebra goes into panic mode.  During the chase, a zebra doesn’t need its digestive system, so it shuts down.  It doesn’t need its immune system either, so that diminishes.  All its energy goes into its legs and eyes, its muscles and nervous system.  Now when a zebra escapes a lion, its stress level goes back to normal.  That’s why Sapolski titled his 1994 book Why Zebras Don’t Have Ulcers.  But what about us?  When does our stress level ever go down?  Why do we get ulcers?  Because we live in a society where we’re being chased by lions constantly.  In fact, we often deliberately place ourselves in front of the lions.

What are the sources of worry and stress in your life?  Some of it (though maybe not all) is probably driven by finances.  Often we complain about how stressed out we are.  We play a conversational game where the most stressed out person ‘wins’ some implicit competition.  We get on a fast moving treadmill so that we have no time for meaningful friendship, or even a meaningful book.  We try to boost our resumes so much that we double major and get hyper-involved in extracurricular activities and look for the ‘best’ internships.  And for what?  So we can buy products no one needs? 

How can we be free from this lion?  Let’s look at what Jesus says.  He begins in 6:25:  ‘For this reason.’  That is a connector to what he said before.  In 6:19 – 24, Jesus called for the death of materialism with three sharp commands:  store up treasure in heaven, not on earth; focus our eye on Jesus, not money; serve God, not Mammon.  In each of those three cases, there is no middle ground.  Don’t be materialistic, because materialism is one of the biggest sources of anxiety!

‘For this reason,’ Jesus says, ‘do not worry for your life.’  Jesus says that three times:  once in 6:25, then in 6:31, and a third time in 6:34.  He is rebuking a very specific attitude and a very specific kind of worry:  the desire to control our financial future.  Then Jesus gives seven responses to this type of anxiety: 

 

(1) Worry does not add to quality of life (6:25);

(2) God will feed you (6:26);

(3) Worry does not add to length of life (6:27);

(4) God will clothe you (6:28 – 30);

(5) Worry is characteristic of the unbelievers – don’t be like them (6:31 – 32);

(6) Seek the kingdom of God and not your own survival (6:33);

(7) Get used to uncertainty (6:34).

 

There is a loss to the kingdom of God and to us when we live by materialistic ambitions or, as is more often the case, materialistic fears.  People need to be befriended and loved in the love of Christ.  Can we make more space for them?  Perhaps we will not take the promotion in order to guard our discretionary time.  Perhaps we will not max ourselves out with activities in order to care for, share our faith with, and disciple more people.

After my freshman year in college, I had to make a major decision.  I had just gone away to college, and my younger sister had just started high school.  I had been praying that she would come to know Jesus.  So one day she told me on the phone that she had been going to a Christian club that met every day at lunch.  It was put on by a history teacher.  On Mondays, this teacher would have a worship time.  On Tuesdays, there would be a Bible study.  On Wednesdays, he would invite a student from a nearby Bible college to come and teach a passage of the Scriptures.  On Thursdays, there would be a time for discussion.  And on Fridays, there’d be a movie or games or something.  My sister came to know about Jesus and eventually accepted Christ that year because this teacher was so psyched about Christ and spreading God’s kingdom, even at a public school!  I went to meet this man, and to me, he was funny looking.  He had gray hair, he wore a red plaid shirt and bright red tie.  But joy was written all over his face, and I said to myself, ‘I can see myself doing this.  This is important work.’  I said to him, ‘Thank you.’  He said, ‘God bless you.’  I took all of my sophomore year to think about the kingdom of God.  The next summer, I told my parents that I MIGHT want to be a high school teacher, and I wanted to take a step in that direction to see if it fit me.  They were furious.  They demanded, ‘Why are we sending you to Stanford, then?!’  Shocked, I said, ‘I don’t know.’  The summer of 1992 was filled with tension.  My parents threatened to yank me out of school.  I wanted to hold on to Stanford.  The question for me at that point was, ‘What would I seek first?  Being completely available to follow Christ?  Or following my own agenda and having a nice backup plan called a Stanford degree?’  By the end of that summer, in my heart, I let go of Stanford, I let go of a cushy lifestyle, I let go of however making big money made me an ‘eligible bachelor.’  As best I knew how, I asked Jesus Christ to be the only King for me.  I said to my parents, ‘I’m not saying that I KNOW I want to teach high school.  I’m just saying that I’d like the freedom to explore it.  But if sending me to Stanford makes you feel like you have control over my choices, I’ll leave Stanford.  I’ll put myself through school somewhere else.  It may take longer, but it’ll be okay.’  I meant it.  Later, they said they would keep sending me to Stanford, and that I could choose.  But the significant part of that episode is that Jesus used it to change something deep in my heart.

          It was a strange, powerful freedom.