“THE SIN OF WORRY”
LUKE 12:22-34

I. Introduction
Does the name Alfred E. Neuman ring a bell? Alfred is a fictional character who was created in 1952 with the birth of Mad Magazine. It’s a humor magazine that specializes in satire and parody. It uses wit, sarcasm, irony, and outright foolishness to make light of everything from popular culture to politics to entertainment to sports to advertising.

Alfred E. Neuman is the magazine’s mascot and the focal point of each issue’s cover. He always has the same silly smile on his face. No matter what’s happening, no matter that the whole world may be collapsing around him, it doesn’t matter to Alfred. He’s living in a vacuum and he just doesn’t have a clue. All he can say is, “What, me worry?”

Does the name Bobby McFerrin sound familiar? Unlike Alfred, Bobby isn’t a fictional character at all. He’s a pop singer who recorded a hit song in 1988 called “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.” These are the some of the lyrics –
“Here’s a little song I wrote.
You might want to sing it note for note.
Don’t worry, be happy.
In every life we have some trouble.
But when you worry you make it double.
Don’t worry, be happy.”

“Ain’t got no place to lay your head.
Somebody came and took your bed.
Don’t worry, be happy.
The landlord say your rent is late.
He may have to litigate.
Don’t worry, be happy.”

So Bobby McFerrin’s advice is “Don’t worry.” And Alfred E. Neuman doesn’t even consider worrying – “What, me worry?” Pretty simple, huh? Now I’m not suggesting we turn to pop music or Mad Magazine for our daily dose of theological truth. And yet – in that simplistic hit song of 1988, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy,” and in that simple-minded fictional character, Alfred E Neuman – there can be found a nugget of spiritual truth. Hasn’t the Lord Jesus Himself told us not to worry?

While not worrying might be easy for Alfred E. Neuman and a simple enough theme for a pop song, you and I don’t always find it so easy, do we? As Bible-believing Christians we believe in God, we believe in His Son, and we believe in the Holy Spirit’s presence in our lives. But still, we worry. We know we shouldn’t, but that doesn’t stop us. We worry anyway. We know we don’t want to worry, but that doesn’t stop us either. Like any other sin, worrying becomes a habit and we do it in spite of ourselves.
I know that no two of us are exactly alike but each one of us struggles with worry to one degree or another. In extreme cases the sin of worry can completely incapacitate us. Someone may say, “All right, I do worry about different things, but isn’t it awfully harsh to call worrying a sin?” No, it isn’t. Here’s why.

In Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, He says much about worry and anxiety. Isaac read part of that sermon for us. Let me reread just a few excerpts from it.
Matthew 6:25, 27-28, 31, 34
25 “…do not be anxious for your life, as to what you shall eat, or what you shall drink; nor for your body, as to what you shall put on (wear)…”
27 “And which of you by being anxious can add a single cubit to his life’s span?
28 “And why are you anxious about clothing…?”
31 “Do not be anxious then, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘With what shall we clothe ourselves?’”
34 “Therefore do not be anxious for tomorrow…”

In these verses Jesus doesn’t suggest anything, does He? On the contrary, He commands us – “Do not worry, do not be anxious!” And He is quite specific. Three times He com-mands us not to worry about clothing. Twice He commands us not to worry about food. Twice more He commands us not to worry about this life that we now live. And finally, Jesus commands us not to worry about tomorrow.

But why does it matter if we worry? Why is it such a “big deal?” It’s a big deal because Jesus knows worry is a kind of fear, and fear is the polar opposite of faith. (repeat) And it is precisely because fear and faith are polar opposites that they cannot coexist. So Jesus commands us not to worry because He knows that worry has a negative impact, a stifling impact, on our faith and trust in Him.

As worry increases faith just naturally decreases. That’s because when we worry we look more at our circumstances and less at Him. And as a result, both our Christian testimony and our Christian walk suffer. Doesn’t 2 Corinthians 5:7 say, “…for we walk by faith, not by sight.”? And doesn’t Romans 14:23 say, “…whatever is not from faith is sin.”? And doesn’t Hebrews 11:6 say, “…without faith it is impossible to please (God).”? So is worry sin? Yes! And that is what Jesus zeroes in on in today’s passage in Luke’s gospel.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

II. Review
The last time we heard Jesus tell the parable of the rich fool. The man was so focused on this life that he had neither taken the time nor expended the effort to make any provision for the life to come. Jesus quotes him as saying to himself, “…[I] have so many goods laid up for many years to come; [So I’ll take my] ease, [I’ll] eat, drink, and be merry (Luke 12:19).” The result was that Jesus called him a fool. This man may have been rich in the things of this world, but he was virtually destitute in the things of the next.
He spent himself worrying about this life, and in the process, he completely wasted it. If that isn’t the definition of a fool, I don’t know what is.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

III. Text
That brings us to today’ text. Jesus has been addressing the multitudes, but now He turns His attention directly to His disciples, and by extension, to you and to me.
*Luke 12:22-34 (Please stand with me in honor of reading God’s Word.)
22 And (Jesus) said to His disciples, “For this reason I say to you, do not be anxious for your life, as to what you shall eat; nor for your body, as to what you shall put on.
23 “For life is more than food, and the body (is more) than clothing.
24 “Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap; and they have no storeroom nor barn; and yet God feeds them; how much more valuable you are than the birds!
25 “And which of you by being anxious can add a single cubit to his life’s span?
26 “If then you cannot do even a very little thing, why are you anxious about other matters?
27 “Consider the lilies, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin; but I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory did not clothe himself like one of these.
28 “But if God so arrays the grass in the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, how much more will He clothe you, O men of little faith!
29 “And do not seek what you shall eat, and what you shall drink, and do not keep worrying.
30 “For all these things the nations of the world eagerly seek; but your Father knows that you need these things.
31 “But seek for His kingdom, and these things shall be added to you.
32 “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom.
33 “Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves purses which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near, nor moth destroys.
34 “For where your treasure is, there will you heart be also.”

It’s been said that the number one health issue in America today is dealing with stress. The medical profession has long known that worry, anxiety, and fear are closely tied to hypertension, heart trouble, thyroid problems, migraine headaches, and a wide variety of stomach and intestinal ailments. And those are just some of the things that affect our bodies. What does stress do to our psyches and our personalities? What does it do to our families and our relationships with other people? Are we so busy trying to take care of all our “stuff” that we find ourselves slipping toward the mindset of the rich fool?
Worse still, are we so influenced by this world that we don’t even recognize the problem?

As Christians we need to remember that our lives and our needs – our needs, not our “wants” – are under God’s constant care and provision. We need to remember that He is the One who feeds us, clothes us, and provides us with shelter. Isn’t He is the One who gives us life itself?
*Luke 12:22-23
22 And (Jesus) said to His disciples, “For this reason I say to you, do not be anxious for your life, as to what you shall eat; nor for your body, as to what you shall put on.
23 “For life is more than food, and the body (is more) than clothing.”

Ask yourself: Why would a child of the King worry or be anxious about anything that the King knows His children need? We all know the Apostle Paul’s instruction to the church at Philippi, don’t we?
Philippians 4:6-7
6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

We believe that in our heads, that is, we acknowledge it and accept it as God’s truth, but do we then apply it to ourselves – and if we don’t, why don’t we? Is it because we let our fear overwhelm our faith?

When we succumb to worries and fears, we find ourselves fighting a battle we can’t win. We’re torn between what might happen in the future, or the real and the possible, or the immediate and the potential. And that can paralyze us in the present. So, as Paul has told us in Philippians 4:6, we are to “Be anxious for nothing.” We know that verse well, but do you know what Paul said immediately before v. 6? “The Lord is near (6:5b).”

He is near. When you call out to Him, He is near and He hears. When you pray to Him, He is near and He hears. When you thank Him, He is near and He hears. When you do any of those things, you are exercising your faith in Him. And it is that faith that drives out worries and fears. And the exercise of that faith serves to remind you of just how important and how valuable you are to Him. How important and how valuable?
*Luke 12:24
24 “Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap; and they have no storeroom nor barn; and yet God feeds them; how much more valuable you are than the birds!”

The birds Jesus describes are ravens (blackbirds, crows) that were considered unclean.
Jesus is telling the disciples that God even cares for and feeds creatures that the OT law designated as unclean.
When He says, “How much more valuable you are than birds,” He’s not asking a rhetor-ical question. Rather, He is making an emphatic statement. Birds are a small part of the work of His hands, but did He come to lay down His life for birds? He came to lay down His life for you.

The senselessness of worry becomes even more obvious as Jesus continues His teaching.
This time He does ask a rhetorical question.
*Luke 12:25-26
25 “And which of you by being anxious can add a single cubit to his life’s span?
26 “If then you cannot do even a very little thing, why are you anxious about other matters?”

Whether you try to add inches to your height or days to your life, the futility of either is obvious. You cannot do it. There is an amazing passage in the Psalms that speaks to this very issue as well as to the rich fool’s focus on worldly goods.
*Psalm 39:4-7
4 “LORD, make me to know my end, and what is the extent of my days, let me know how transient I am.
5 “Behold, You have made my days as handbreadths (four fingers), and my lifetime as nothing in Your sight, surely every man at his best is a mere breath.
6 “Surely every man walks about as a phantom; surely they make an uproar for nothing; he amasses riches, and does not know who will gather them.
7 “And now, LORD, for what do I wait? My hope is in You.”

David understood that life is short and there’s nothing that he or anyone else can do to change that. Therefore, he knew that a life spent in pursuit of material gain was the height of vanity and foolishness.

So for us, worrying about food, clothing, and shelter is a waste of time because God has already promised us those things. And worrying about acquiring the things of this world is a waste of time and effort because we will soon be leaving it all behind anyway. “And now, LORD, for what do I wait? My hope is in You (Psalm 39:7).” (back to Luke)

Jesus knows that neither we nor the disciples to whom He is speaking are fully convinced of these truths. After all, doesn’t the sum total of our human knowledge, existence, and personal experience teach us that we need to grab all that we can get and do it as quickly as possible? That is our natural bent, isn’t it? So the Lord directs our attention to the nat-ural world for an example of God’s care for us.
*Luke 12:27-28
27 “Consider the lilies, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin; but I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory did not clothe himself like one of these.
28 “But if God so arrays the grass in the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, how much more will He clothe you, O men of little faith!”

In v. 27 Jesus points out that the flowers of the field do not feed themselves. God does. The flowers of the field do not clothe themselves. God does. Furthermore, God does those things in a way that man, using all of his resources and abilities, cannot begin to do. Think of it. King Solomon’s riches, wisdom, and power were unprecedented among men, but even Solomon could not do for himself what God does for the flowers of the field.

But Jesus takes it a step further. The flowers, which God beautifully arrays in regal splendor, only live a short time. Then they wither, die, and are thrown away. Ask your-self: How long do the most beautiful roses live? You might choose to press one between the pages of a book, but what does it look like then?

Jesus follows this with another rhetorical question in v. 28. If God gives life to flowers, flowers that will soon fade and die; if He feeds and clothes them, flowers that will soon rot and be discarded – “…how much more will He clothe you, O men of little faith!”

You do understand that we are being scolded here, don’t you? Listen, Christian, you know Jesus Christ. But more to the point, Jesus Christ knows you. The God of creation has spoken and promised to care for us in this life and then reveal eternal life to us when we leave this world.

If we believe that we will stand in His presence eternally safe and secure, with every pos-sible need met and exceeded, how can we question Him now when He tells us not to worry or be anxious for anything in this life, least of all the things He knows we need? How little our faith really is!

There are few passages in the NT that convict me as much as the one where a man’s son was possessed by a demon. The father approaches Jesus and asks Him if He can help.
*Mark 9:21-24
21 And (Jesus) asked (the boy’s) father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood.
22 “And it has often thrown him both into the fire and into the water to de-stroy him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us!”
23 And Jesus said to him, “‘If You can!’ All things are possible to him who believes.”
24 Immediately the boy’s father cried out and began saying, “I do believe; help my unbelief.”

I freely admit to you that I live there – “I do believe; help my unbelief.” The fact is that to one degree or another, we all live there. It is not that you and I have no faith. It is not that at all. It is that you and I have such little faith.
That’s what Jesus is talking about in v. 28. And that takes us to the next verse in Luke.
*Luke 12:29
29 “And do not seek what you shall eat, and what you shall drink, and do not keep worrying.”

Do we find ourselves tempted to say, “Wait a minute, Lord. You already told us that in v. 22”? But shouldn’t our response be more like this: “I wonder how many more times Jesus will need to say this to us before we truly embrace it and start living it out in our daily lives.”

The lost world seeks after temporal needs to such a degree that it has no serious interest in eternal things at all. Most of the lost world doesn’t even recognize the reality of eterni-ty let alone engage in any kind of preparation for it. Wasn’t that the problem of the rich fool back in vv. 16-21? So Jesus says to us…
*Luke 12:30-31
30 “For all these things (food, drink, clothing, shelter, etc.) the nations of the world eagerly seek; but your Father knows that you need these things.
31 “But seek for His kingdom, and these things shall be added to you.”

In Matthew’s account of the Sermon on the Mount He cautions believers not behave as the pagans do in their relationships with other people, in their prayer lives, or in their view of material possessions. Luke 12:30 essentially repeats what has already been said in Matthew 6:32. One of the practical reasons that we should not dwell on those things is that we will have more time for seeking after the kingdom, that is, more time to dwell on eternal things.

Another reason is less practical and more spiritual. By not dwelling on the concerns we have been talking about it proves to us, to others, and to the Lord Himself, that we not only believe what He says, but that we trust Him above all else.

I don’t think you can overstate the importance of these truths to our personal testimony before the world. Listen to this quote from William Hendriksen.
“What Jesus is saying is that believers must differ in their inner yearnings, must set their hearts on different things, must be controlled by different ideals, and must be motivated by a different love. When church members hardly differ at all from ‘outsiders’ in the ambitions they cherish, in the goals they try to achieve, in the manner in which they react to their disappointments and adversities of life, in the way they conduct their social events and parties, in the kind of literature they prefer to read, in the songs they prefer to sing, in their choice of friends with whom they feel at home, there is something very wrong.”

Up until now Jesus has been speaking in negative terms. “Do not be anxious, do not seek what God knows you need, do not worry, etc.” But in v. 31 He shifts to the positive – “…(do) seek God’s kingdom!”
If you and I do that, if that is truly our first priority, then He promises that everything else will take care of itself. If you and I do that God promises (and God cannot lie) that we will lack nothing we need in this life on this earth.

Take a moment and let that marvelous truth sink in and percolate. Then isn’t what Jesus says next precisely what you would expect?
*Luke 12:32
32 “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom.”

While “Do not be afraid” is a literal command, it actually functions as a comforting assurance. For one thing, “…little flock” identifies Jesus’ hearers as God’s sheep, the true people of God. Even when we’re sent out as lambs among wolves, He says there’s no need to fear. For another thing God has already given us eternal life in His eternal kingdom. So there is no reason to fear anything. You belong to Him.

You cannot lose the salvation He has given you because it is not yours to lose. It is His, and He cannot lose it. This is what is known as the “perseverance of the saints,” more commonly called eternal security.
*John 10:27-30
27 “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me;
28 and I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish; and no one shall snatch them out of My hand.
29 “My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.
30 “I and the Father are one.” (back to Luke 12)

What should be the response of the heart to this magnificent and humbling truth?
*Luke 12:33-34
33 “Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves purses which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near, nor moth destroys.
34 “For where your treasure is, there will you heart be also.”

“Sell your possessions…”? Is that a command that we are all called to literally obey? Well, if you take it out of context, I guess we all should start selling everything we own this afternoon. But like all Scripture, we can only understand what it really means when we interpret it based on the context in which it is found. If we don’t, we can make the Bible say almost anything. (And there are countless people out there who do just that.)

We dare not make v. 33 say more than it says. It does not say, “Sell all your possessions and give all the proceeds to the poor.” If that were the case the Church of Jesus Christ would be a burden to the world. The church would need welfare and food stamps.
Jesus’ statement, “Sell your possessions…” speaks to a condition of the heart. Think of the rich fool in Jesus’ parable, and think of the rich young ruler in Luke 18. The first was focused solely on himself and his possessions, and gave no thought to the things of God. The second said he wanted to follow Jesus, but he didn’t really.

He didn’t really want Jesus because he was unwilling to walk away from his riches and his possessions. Listen, the issue is never that God will take all material things from you. The issue is always and only that we should love and trust Him enough so that if He did take everything from us, we would not turn our backs on Him. We would still love Him.
Isn’t that the great lesson from the Book of Job?
Job 1:21; 13:15a
21 And (Job) said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I shall return there. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD.”

15a “Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him…(KJV)”

So “Sell your possessions and give to charity…” is less about your wallet and more about your heart. And in the end it is about humble selflessness and supreme confidence that God will provide for all your needs according to His riches in Christ.

So take this with you. Our safety, our security, and our salvation will never be found in our material wealth or in the things of this world. Therefore, we are admonished that our treasure, our eternal wealth, is to be laid up in heaven. V. 34 says it all – “For where your treasure is, there will you heart be also.”
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

IV. Conclusion
If your treasure is under your mattress, your heart has something to worry about. If your treasure is on Wall Street, your heart has something to worry about. But if your treasure is in heaven, your heart has nothing to worry about at all.

Jesus has told us plainly. He will take care of us. He will supply all our needs. There-fore, He tells us: “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom.”

~ Pray ~