“Therefore, I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor about your body, what you shall 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 one cubit 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. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O men of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek all these things; and your heavenly Father knows you need them all. But seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well.”
Matthew 6:25-33
Do not be anxious—Jesus has got to be kidding, right?! Just about everyone has anxiety about something at some time, and many people struggle with anxiety on a daily basis. Here are a few thoughts on this passage from the Sermon on the Mount. First, it is a lot easier to digest the idea of not being anxious, when this passage is connected with the verse that precedes it, the one that says we can’t have two masters, that we can’t serve God and mammon, or serve God and anything else. If we are truly serving God, if He is THE Master, THE priority, then we won’t have as much anxiety about the other things. Because if God is truly THE priority, then we won’t have as much concern about food, or drink, or clothing, because the priority will be Him. When the priority shifts away from God, and we start to concern ourselves with worldly things, like what we will eat or how we look, this is where anxiety can creep in. Anxiety is lessened by trusting in God, and it is easier to keep our trust in God when He is THE priority.
The second thought about this passage is the question of “which of you by being anxious can add one cubit to his span of life?” (Matthew 6:27) To the contrary, anxiety can only take away time from our life. The biggest threat to life is not our diet or lack of exercise, but stress. Anxiety takes away from our span of life; it does not add to it.
God has established an order in creation. The most beautiful and special piece of creation is us, the human beings. It is certainly not the grass of the field which one day looks nice and the next is cut down and destroyed. I personally love the look of dew on the lawn in the morning. The little droplets look like diamonds on the lawn. But these droplets quickly disappear as the day heats up, and can go away instantly when run over by a lawnmower. We are more beautiful than this!
Back in the time of Jesus, there actually was a real concern about food and drink. There wasn’t a grocery store on every corner. There wasn’t running water in any house. If the village well went dry or got polluted, there was no way to bring in water. If there was a famine or a drought, crops would die and so would the people. Today, at least for most people in the United States, we don’t have concerns about access to clean water and food (though there are some people who still do, and this should be one of the concerns of churches, to support agencies that get food and water to people who don’t have them). It’s kind of ironic that sometimes we do worry about food, we fret over whether dinner will taste good or be overcooked or come out perfect. As I reflect on my life, I’ve had plenty of less than great meals, but when I think about it, my life today is unaffected by any of them. Why should I have been anxious or annoyed about those meals. Jesus is correct, life is about much more than food.
Fortunately, I don’t have to think much about clothing. I wear the same color scheme every day. And while I appreciate the wardrobe tastes of others (I have to enjoy their variety because I don’t have variety), I can’t think of any relationship I have that is affected by what other people wear, unless they consistently wear things I find distasteful. I know lots of guys like me who don’t have much hair, and I know lots of guys who have a good head of hair. I know lots of women who have all kinds of different hairstyles. And no relationship I have is affected by hair either. Again, Jesus is right. We fret a lot about appearances, and the truth is that our relationships really aren’t affected by appearances, and if they are, that says something less than positive about us.
Jesus punctuates this section of the Sermon on the Mount, the section on anxiety, with the directive to “Seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well.” (Matthew 6:33) If we have the “right” clothes and the best food and the most chiseled body, but we have not sought after God’s Kingdom and aren’t living according to His standard of righteousness, then what good are the things we have? And if we are seeking God’s Kingdom and living according to His standard of righteousness, then things like food, drink, and clothing all fall into line under His umbrella. We realize what we eat, drink and wear aren’t going to be determining factors on whether we enter the Kingdom of heaven, and our anxiety about these will be tempered. If we are working our way towards the Kingdom, that should inspire overall confidence in our Christian life and walk, and the anxiety over materialistic things should give way to the joy over the spiritual things. Jesus says that if we seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, then the other things will be added to us. If we are truly seeking first the Kingdom of God, then the other things probably don’t matter that much.
The Psalm accompanying today’s reflection is Psalm 127, reminding us that if the Lord is not building our house, our life, then we are laboring in vain. However, if the Lord is the foundation of our house, the house can stand through the waves of anxiety that are part of life.
Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he give to his beloved sleep. Lo, sons are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the sons of one’s youth. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate. Psalm 127
Points to ponder: What brings you the most anxiety in life? What brings you the most anxiety from a material perspective? What brings you the most anxiety from a spiritual perspective?
