Faith or Fear?

Text: Matthew 6:24-34

Focus: Living By Faith

Function: To help people see that the value system of “MORE” does not satisfy.
Our Master provides for us.

Form: Storytelling

Intro:

Let us start with the first few (four) words in verse 25. It starts with: Therefore. I am sure you have heard it before that anytime in the scripture you see the word therefore, one must look at the preceding verse or passage and see what the therefore is there for.

We read: “Therefore, do not worry...”

It is there because vs 24 reads: “...we cannot serve two masters... ...we will serve either God, or money....”

And because of this truth, Jesus assumes that we choose to serve God instead of money.

And that is a big choice.

The principle command in this passage is this: “Do not worry.”

Some people like to worry. Some people feel it is their job to worry because their spouse refuses to worry.

I imagine that in many of the couples here this morning, one wants to rib the other about right now.

No judgment from me.

But let us look at what it means, according to this passage to live by faith.

This passage does not promise deliverance from problems but says, each day has its own troubles.

Troubles should not be worries.

Instead. Trust God

Since we have chosen to belong to God, provision for us is God's problem, not ours.

This is where it is hard for me, and I assume, for us.

I want to trust God for everything, but at the same time, I do not want to lose control.

We don't want to surrender control. Most of the time, it is fear, or a lack of trust in God's provision that causes this.

So Jesus instructs us to look at nature.

The birds, flowers, etc have no real control. All the birds do is act out of their nature.

But they sure seem afraid. I love the finch feeder outside our kitchen window. Several finches can eat at one time and it always seems that one finch is sitting on a peg, or a branch on the tree it hangs from who is constantly looking around and is not eating. He appears nervous and it seems as if it is his job to call out any sudden movement that might be a threat to them.

But did I mention the nesting pair of Merlin Falcons in our back yard whose primary prey is smaller birds?

Maybe that nervous finch is just like the one half of a couple who feels it is their job to worry.

Or maybe, that finch lives in faith as well.

The implication in the passage is that the finches do not have the mental foresight to plan. They live each day trusting that God will provide for them.

Although they have a natural instinct to search out food every day for themselves, sometimes they die.

And yet, they live by faith. They have no control over their food source. They have little control over their own death. God is in control. They belong to God.

But, they are not lazy. As a matter of fact, they seem pretty industrious.

Flowers are not industrious. They just are. It appears to us that they have no sentience at all. And yet, no human has every surpassed a flower in its beauty.

Our finches are somewhat dependent on us. A good flower garden depends on the gardener.

But the point, the principle that Jesus wants us to understand is that we are dependent on Him.

The principle of a deity, or God, implies that we trust Him/it. One can trust money, and by so doing, trust themselves and their own ability.

Or, one can live by faith in God.

There is a lot of fear in our culture because of how easy it is to lose our money.

But this is a question of who or what we serve. What does it mean to serve God or Money?

Let me explain by telling you about someone who lived to serve God. His name is Roy. He died at 92 years of age in 2010. We were acquainted through a historical class we attended together. Our friendship just naturally budded. We liked each other.

I am interested in cars, especially old ones. What first impressed me about him was his ancient VW diesel car. It had several hundred thousand miles on it and it appeared to be held together with rust and duct tape. It rattled and boomed down the road. But it was the best he had. Roy was always dressed in second hand clothes. By the world's standards, he appeared poor.

He was a humble man. Even though we shared many moments together, I didn't know ho whe actually was. You may have heard of him. I mentioned my friendship with him to one of the members of my church and I heard the rest of the story. He was actually Dr. Roy Pfaltzgraff. He was considered one of the world's leading experts on Leprosy. His team discovered the cure for leprosy. The entire world is at his debt.

So why was he driving a beat up junker? Why was he dressed in second hand clothes? He served the Church of the Brethren Missions board for 38 years in Nigeria.

1. You see, first, he gave his life to Jesus. And then, because he gave his life to Jesus, he gave his life to others. God called him to serve others in the jungles of Africa. He placed his own life in danger by treating one of the world's most fearful and deadly diseases. He trusted that God provides.

Look at verses 31-32. (READ) ³¹So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³²For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.

Dr. Pfaltzgraff did not worry about his clothes or his car. Those are things that pagans -unbelievers, the people who do not live by faith in God, the people who have chosen to serve money instead of God- worry about.

Perhaps Roy could have worked out a cure for leprosy in a lab here in the safety of the United States. Perhaps he could have funded his research through the wealth that practicing medicine in the United States offers. Perhaps he could have sold his cure for millions of dollars.

But instead, he chose to raise support among people like you and me through the church. He chose to give away his success for the benefit of humanity. He gave himself to God.

By the way, the Church gets a lot of bad press these days. Some people question what value it has for them, or for humanity. But because his support came from us, we, the Church of the Brethren played a significant part in the cure of one of the world's most feared diseases.

But I digress. Look at verse 33. The context is that pagans worry about money, food and clothing. Believers have a different perspective on life: ³³But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

When we are God's... When we settle the question as to who is in control of our lives... When we settle the question as to who our personal God is... then the issue is settled for us. We are God's and He provides for us.

So let us go back for a moment to our salvation.

One day, I walked an aisle to the front of Church. On that day I prayed to God: “Lord Jesus, I believe that you died for me. Because you gave your life for me, I give my life to you.”

Then we were baptized. There is a great symbol in baptism. We, in the Church of the Brethren, when we practice baptism, we wait until an individual can make their own decision so that they can count well the cost of salvation.

The symbol of baptism is that we die to ourselves in order to experience the new, God Life, given to us through the Holy Spirit.

Death and resurrection. Some call it being born again. I am not comfortable with that term. Not because I disagree, Jesus Himself used it in John 3, but because it meaning has changed to imply a political instead of a spiritual position. And God's kingdom is not political. But more than that, we who use the term born again, have kind of made it into a “once and done experience.” Salvation, and the choice of living for God is an ongoing process.

That is why we baptize three times instead of once. The Greek verb tense baptizo means that it is a continual process of dying to oneself and being regenerated day by day.

When we are baptized, we have made the choice offered in this passage to serve God instead of anything else.

Now. All of this so far begs the question: Is God condemning wealth? Not at all!

Some of you have been clever, hard working, wise, industrious, and some just plain lucky. Because of this, you have been blessed materially. Should you be ashamed? No.

Did you do something wrong? Does every doctor have to serve in the jungle to be honored by God? I hope not, because we need doctors here as well.

But remember this. God is in control. And our lives belong to Him. We have made the choice to live in faith FOR HIM.

Bob Dylan said it well: “You have to serve somebody...”

Look at 1 Timothy 6:17-18 ¹⁷Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. ¹⁸Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share,

What does all this mean? Do not live in fear.

We belong to God. Our provision is in His hands. We live by faith. Who can overtake God's will?