“Bible promises: And all these things will be added to you”
Matthew 6:33
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus.
Born in Manhattan, New York in March of 1950, Bobby McFerrin is a famous American singer and songwriter. And after attending schools in Illinois and California, he began to develop his own musical style, a blend between singing and vocal percussion. Then just as soon as he found his own particular style by the age of thirty-one, that’s when his career in music took off.
You’ve probably heard him sometime before. Not only has he both written and performed a wide-variety of songs, he’s served as a guest conductor for symphony orchestras all around the world.
But not quite forty years ago, back in 1988, he happened to see a poster hanging on the wall of a friend’s apartment, a fellow jazz musician in San Francisco. All it said was, “Don’t worry, be happy.” And that gave him an idea for a song.
You know how it goes: “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. Ain’t got no cash, ain’t got no style. Ain’t got no gal to make you smile. Don’t worry, be happy. ‘Cause when you worry your face will frown, and that will bring everybody down. So don’t worry, be happy.”
A year later, in 1989, it was the most popular song in the world.
“Don’t worry, be happy.” Though it might sound easy, it’s often the most difficult thing we could ever do. But that’s exactly what Jesus invites us to do in the words of Matthew chapter 6.
I’ll start at verse 25: “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these” (Matthew 6:25-29).
Then He said: “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33).
It’s easy to say that Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount is not only the most famous sermon, it’s also the best sermon anyone has ever preached. French author Francois Mauriac once said, “Those who have never read the Sermon on the Mount cannot grasp what Christianity is all about.” George Genung once called it the Magna Carta, the “great charter,” of the kingdom of God. And our thirty-third president, Harry S. Truman, once said, “I do not believe there is a problem in this country or the world today that could not be settled if approached through the teaching of the Sermon on the Mount.”
And it’s no wonder, for it’s here that we find words like these--“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3)...“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted” (Matthew 5:4)...and “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:10). And it was in this sermon that Jesus taught us how to pray, saying: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name” (Matthew 6:9).
And just as soon as His sermon was done, the Bible says: “The crowds were amazed, astonished, at His teaching, for He taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law” (Matthew 7:28-29).
As much as we might hate to admit it, worry consumes us. In a recent survey of one thousand adults, eighty-six percent of them considered themselves worriers. And it showed that, on average, people worry about something for as long as an hour and fifty minutes every day.
Some wrote things like this: “Anxiety seems to be an everyday experience for me lately in one form or another. The degree varies according to the time of day”...and “Been a Christian for thirty-nine years now and anxiety still comes”...and “Anxiety runs in our family. I used to be very worried about everything”...and “Even though I tell myself over and over that there is nothing to worry about, I always find something!”
And if that’s not enough, worry has been linked to the leading causes of death including heart disease, lung disease, accidents, cirrhosis, and suicide. And add to that the mental fatigue of nights without sleep and days without peace and we begin to see the trouble worry plays in our quality and quantity of life.
In the words of William Inge, “Worry is interest paid on trouble before it’s due.” Another said, “Worry is a thin stream of fear that trickles through the mind; if encouraged, it’ll cut a channel so wide that all other thoughts will drown in it.” And another said, “Worry is faith in the negative, trust in the unpleasant, assurance of disaster, and belief in defeat.”
And think of all the things we have to worry about! In the words of a poem: “Civil War in Syria, Libyan hysteria, United Nations forms a plan, fighting in Afghanistan, Kim Jong Ill asserts his will, while we rack up another bill. Uranium in Iran, don’t forget the Taliban. Terrorism gives us fright, how can we sleep at night? Grain is high, milk is low, farmers take another blow. Wildfires, no one hires, will I ever get to retire? I wish that I was worry free, but I have so much anxiety!”
But what does Jesus say? He says, “See how the lilies of the field grow--the anemone, the gladiolus, the iris, the narcissus, and the cap lilies. They don’t labor. They don’t spin. And neither do they make fancy threads to hang all over themselves and say, ‘I’ve been scarlet for two days now. If only I could be blue tomorrow.’”
I’ve seen plastic flowers. I’ve seen silk flowers. I’ve seen paper flowers. But nothing can compare to the petal of a real flower. Look at one through a microscope and you’ll see a texture, a beauty, and a design unlike anything else on earth. And they grow so freely, so effortlessly, and so gorgeously.
And what did Jesus say? He said, “Not even Solomon in all his splendor was arrayed like one of these. And if that’s how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?” (Matthew 6:29-30).
And He said, “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” (Matthew 6:26).
Maybe you’ve heard the poem: “Said the robin to the sparrow: ‘I should really like to know why these anxious human beings rush about and worry so.’ Said the sparrow to the robin: ‘Friend, I think that it must be that they have no heavenly Father, such as cares for you and me.’”
Or have you ever heard a bird say, “I’m going to build a bigger nest and store away more worms”? Or have you ever heard them complain and say, “Just in case God fails me, I better plan ahead”?
Every bird on earth lives because God gave it life. And when God gave it life, never once did He said, “Alright bird, I’ve done My thing. Now it’s up to you to figure out how to stay alive.” And neither do birds ever flock together to come up with some strategy on how to stay alive.
That is, after all, what the psalmist wrote, “He supplies the earth with rain and makes grass grow on the hills. He provides food for the cattle and for the young ravens when they call” (Psalm 147:8-9). Or think of the words of Psalm 145: “The eyes of all look to You, and You give them their food in season. You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing” (Psalm 145:15-16).
And Jesus said: “Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” (Matthew 6:26).
So instead of worrying, what should we do? Jesus said: “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you as well” (Matthew 6:33).
In the book of Luke chapter 10, we find one of the Bible’s most amusing stories of all. It’s where Jesus stopped in to visit three of His closest friends--two sisters named Mary and Martha, and their brother Lazarus. Apparently they were good friends and close friends, so Jesus often went there to rest and to relax.
And as Jesus and His disciples all came to their door, Martha, apparently the eldest of the three, welcomed them into her home.
And as any good hostess might do, she made a beeline for the kitchen to put together a little something to eat. After all, her guests were Jesus and His twelve disciples. What would you do if they came to your house?!
The only problem was that Martha was working in the kitchen all by herself. Now it’s easy to see why Lazarus was chumming around with Jesus. But Mary, sitting in the same room with all those men while Martha was banging around in the kitchen--now that’s just plain wrong!
And you can bet that Martha made that perfectly clear. She even had the audacity to come to Jesus and say (in no uncertain terms!), “Lord, don’t You care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” (Luke 10:40)
Now any of us would expect Jesus to say, “You know, Martha, you’re right. You shouldn’t have to do all that work all by yourself. So I tell you what. I’ll shoo Mary in there in just a sec. That is right where she belongs.”
But that’s not what He said. Instead, He said, “Martha, Martha, you’re worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:41-42).
How easily those words could be said of us: “You are worried and upset about many things.”
But what did Jesus say? He said, “Only one thing is needed.”
What is that one thing? It’s Jesus! He’s the One who suffered on Calvary’s cross to accomplish our redemption. And He’s the One who redeemed us from our life of sin and brought us into everlasting fellowship with Him. And when we have Jesus, we have everything we need.
In the words of the prophet Habakkuk: “Though the fig tree should not blossom, and there be no fruit on the vines, though the yield of the olive should fail and the fields produce no food, though the flock should be cut off from the fold, and there be no cattle in the stalls, yet I will exult in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation” (Habakkuk 3:17-18).
And that’s a promise!
Lord God, heavenly Father, how often we struggle with petty problems and with the cares and concerns of this life. Free us from our worries and lift us up from our despair, that we may know Your love is guiding us and Your hand is supporting us, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen