DEFEATING ANXIETY!
Luke 12:22-32,
Introduction:
Summer
is a beautiful season of rest, recuperation and good times with family and
friends. Most of us may have taken a week or two time off and got away from the
routine and the tyranny of busyness. Unfortunately, Summer won’t last forever,
we have to get back to work, kids have to go back to school and life is as
usual with its stresses, strains and anxieties.
A great missionary
of faith, George
Muller said, “The
beginning of anxiety is the end of faith, and the beginning of true faith is
the end of anxiety.” Here is an interesting observation. An average person's
anxiety is focused on: 40% -- things that will never happen 30% -- things about
the past that can't be changed, 12% -- things about criticism by others, mostly
untrue 10% -- about health, which gets worse with stress 8% -- about real
problems that will be faced.
If
I were to ask you, what is one thing that most people in the world are anxious about?
Most would agree and say, it is, “Money”! Why money? We tend to think that
money is the answer to all our problems. The more money we have the more
secured and happier we are? The late evangelist Billy Graham answered this
question can money buy happiness so poignantly. "The Bible warns that money cannot buy happiness. Money
cannot buy true pleasure. Money cannot buy peace of heart. And money cannot buy
entrance into the Kingdom of God.” If that is the case I wonder why so many
people are obsessed to have more money and are willing to do anything or to go
any extent even if it means sacrificing their families and marriages? What
should be our attitude as followers of Christ towards money and acquiring
wealth? How can we defeat anxiety which is so pervasive? To find answers let’s
turn to Luke 12:22-34
The
Context: Jesus was having a powerful teaching ministry.
Thousands have gathered to hear him speak, to an extent Luke records, “they
were stepping on one another.”
However,
Jesus’ focus was not on the crowds but on His disciples. He wanted to impart
some eternal truths to them. But the crowd wanted to divert his attention to
some mundane matters, someone in the crowd tried to drag Jesus into a family
inheritance dispute. Jesus shifted the topic towards a heavenly inheritance.
In
order to warn his disciples about the futility of riches, to convey the reality
that life doesn't consist in the abundance of possessions and to encourage them
to guard against all kinds of greed, Jesus told a parable, you can read about
it from Vs 13-21: There was a rich man who had a bumper crop that year. He said
to himself "I will demolish the old barns and build bigger ones and there
I will store up all my grain and my goods. He said to himself, "You have
plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat; drink and be
merry."
But
God said to him, "You fool! This very night your life will be demanded
from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself? Jesus noted
the importance of how not to store up things for oneself instead to become rich
towards God. Then he gives them a strategy to defeat anxiety by commanding them
to consider the two most common outdoor subjects: the ravens and the lilies and
learn important principles to defeat their own anxiety for food and clothing. It
can do a whole lot of good to us if we pay close attention to his commands
today.
I
CONSIDER THE RAVENS: (Vs22-24)
Vs
22-24 “Then Jesus
said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry (do not be anxious) about your life,
what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more
than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They
do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds
them. And how much more valuable you are than birds!” These two verses
address one of the most basic need of all humans which is food.
Let’s
pay attention to the word “Consider” it is just more than to look or to see.
The Greek word used here means, “to “examine closely,” as though the observer
had to bend down for this purpose, or to “observe well” “look up toward.” In
this highly digitalized, world we often miss out so much of what nature can
teach us because we are so glued to our gadgets, and seldom care to go out and look
up. This morning I want us to pay close attention to what the birds have to
teach us in regards to God’s provision.
The
Raven comes from a large family of the smaller birds of prey. It is known from
Iceland to Japan, all over Asia, Europe, Africa and the USA. Ravens were more
numerous in Palestine. So, Jesus used Ravens as an object lesson. Raven was the
first bird to be sent out by Noah after the flood. (Gen 8:6-8). Elijah was fed
by Ravens for about three years. They brought bread and meat to Elijah (1 Kings
17:6). This is another story of God’s provision for his people.
God
used Ravens to test Job’s understanding, “Who provides food for the ravens when
their young cry out to God and wander about in hunger?” Job 38:41. Ravens were
also considered unclean in the Bible. By saying consider the Ravens Jesus was
establishing a fact of God’s provision for the lowly, the week, the poor and
the needy as there were many in the audience at the time of this teaching. He
wanted them to look to God for His provision.
Jesus
by no means negates the human responsibility to work, neither in any way he
suggests that we should sit around idly and let God feed us. It won’t work for
the birds either, they had to work hard and dig worms or find grain to stay alive.
Rather, He encourages us to trust Him and cooperate with Him and put our God
given abilities to work. What is the BIG idea? “If God could provide food for
the birds, he can certainly provide food to his people.”
II
CONSIDER THE LILIES (Vs 27-28) “Consider how the wild flowers grow. They
do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was
dressed like one of these. If that is how
God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown
into the fire, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith!” Let’s see
what Lilies can tell us about clothing and fashion. The garden lilies come in various colors—lilac, white, and red,
but most generally a brilliant scarlet. Lilly is the most gorgeously painted, of
all the floral treasures of the Holy Land. Jesus compared the lilies probably
the red ones to the robes of the King Solomon, “yet Solomon in all his glory
was not dressed as beautifully as they are.”
What
can we learn from both these natural observations? If God feeds the birds, He
will surely feed His children. If He beautifies the plants that grow up one day
and are cut down the next, surely, He will clothe His own people. Then what is
the problem? It is not that God has little power, for He can do any and every thing;
the problem is our little faith. Have you ever seen an anxious bird? No! Then
why are you a nervous wreck, being anxious about your life?
III.
DEFEATING ANXIETY
While anxiety is common and we all go through
it more than we care to admit, we don’t necessarily have to let it take control
of our lives. We can learn to manage it and even defeat it by applying God
given strategies. Jesus, showed his disciples how to defeat anxiety. Vs 30-32, “For the pagan world runs after all
such things, and your Father knows that you need them. But seek his kingdom,
and these things will be given to you as well. “Do not be afraid, little flock,
for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.” Let’s break this
passage:
Who
runs after the things of this world? The pagans or the nations of the world,
who do not believe in God. In other words, those who believe in God, do not run
after the things of this world. But it doesn’t mean that they do not need them.
The only difference here is that, our heavenly father knows that we need them
and he is ready to give them what they need. Here is the strategy to defeat
anxiety: First of all, we must stop being anxious. That is the beginning.
Unless
we stop being anxious, we can not go forward with the rest of the strategy. Secondly,
we need to learn to seek God’s Kingdom. C.S Lewis, so brilliantly articulated
this concept: “Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth you
get neither.”
In this entire message Jesus offers up the most
assuring words to his disciples, “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your
Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.”
My
brothers and sisters, Jesus wants to assure you this morning with these same
words. Don’t be afraid of what might happen or might not happen. Your heavenly
father is delighted to give you the kingdom. What more do you need? The
scriptures tell us that we are his sheep and Jesus is our good shepherd. With King
David we can say, “The Lord is my shepherd and I lack nothing.” As David entrusted
his life in to the hands of the Lord, we too will entrust our lives.
Here
are a few practical suggestions for defeating anxiety: The apostle Peter, who was one of the
recipients of this message, “not to be anxious but seeking God’s kingdom,” this
is what he has to say later in life. I Peter 5:7, Cast all your anxiety on him
because he cares for you.” When he says all anxiety it means, all that you
franticly attend to during the day, and all that is keeping you up during the
night. You are to bundle it up and cast upon Jesus, now you can rest assured
that Jesus our king will get to work on your behalf and take care of all your concerns
Next time when you are afraid, and
anxious about how to take care of your needs and you family’s, remember to look
up to the sky, consider the birds, or take a walk into your garden, consider
the lilies (or any other flowers). Here
is excellent advice from Hudson Taylor, a missionary to China: "Let us
give up our work, our plans, ourselves, our lives, our loved ones, our
influence, our all, right into [God's] hand; and then, when we have given all
over to Him, there will be nothing left for us to be troubled about." May
the Holy Spirit help us to entrust our lives to Jesus our good shepherd, who
gives us strength to defeat our anxieties, Amen!
