What Are We Really Looking For? Matthew 6:31-33
OT Reading: Jeremiah 17:5-8
NT Reading: Philippians 4:6-7
“So do not start worrying: Where will my food come from? or my drink? or my clothes? (These are the things the pagans are always concerned about.) Your Father in heaven knows that you need all these things. Instead, be concerned above everything else with the Kingdom of God and with what he requires of you, and he will provide you with all these other things." (Matthew 6:31-33, The Pew Bibles at City Light are GNT.)
The word ‘so’ in our version is the same as the word ‘therefore’ in other translations, as in “Hmmm... What is this word THERE FOR?” To find out, we will look at the larger context of the passage.
These verses are part of the Sermon on the Mount which begins in chapter 5, “Jesus saw the crowds and went up a hill, where he sat down. His disciples gathered around him, and he began to teach them,” and ends at Matthew 7:28-29, “When Jesus finished saying these things, the crowd was amazed at the way he taught. He wasn’t like the teachers of the Law; instead, he taught with authority.”
The Sermon has several elements: the blessings, the heart of the law, relationships with other people, religious activity, dependence upon God, and the way to the Kingdom of Heaven. In this section Jesus is teaching his disciples how to trust God for what really matters. Of course, it might be helpful to know what that is, and what it isn’t.
How do we know what really matters? How do we know when what we are concerned for is something we need to worry about rather than just something we want to worry about? How do we know when we are worried for the wrong things?
Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?” This means that we may think something is a need, but it really isn’t. We are really looking for something we want, and our heart is fooling us. So, if we can’t just trust our heart about whether or not something is a real need, how do we know if we should worry, or concern ourselves about it?
Jesus says the answer is to focus our concern on the Kingdom of God and trust God to provide what we need in our own little kingdoms of life.
But, “Why?” Why does it matter if we worry about things we shouldn’t be worried about?
Let’s make a distinction at this point. There is a contrast in this passage between the anxious life and the life spent in pursuit of the Kingdom of God. There are two kinds of worry.
One kind of worry is negative, and it is referred to as anxiety. Anxiety is inappropriate worry, and according to Proverb 12:25, this kind of worry weighs us down, it is a heavy burden that brings us low.
The other kind of worry is called concern. It is a reasonable and responsible, even necessary, diligence and attention to something. It is the word used in the NIV to describe God’s looking with compassion upon the Hebrews in their bondage in Egypt in Exodus chapter 3 and wanting to help them:
God says to Moses, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians...” (v.7)
When Jesus says, “Do not start worrying” he is referring to anxiety, not to concern. When he talks about food, drink, and clothes, he isn’t just talking about the basic necessities of life. In the larger context of this passage, Jesus is primarily talking about the kind of living we want to do, about what we are looking for to meet our deepest desires.
Beginning in v.16, Jesus discusses food (and fasting) in light of how we use it to impress others, and how we try to impress people with the humility or the grandeur of our appearance.
Now, I know that no one is this room has ever spent money they couldn’t afford to spend in order to impress someone they really wanted to impress. I know that no one here has ever done something like go to church or give an offering in order to look more spiritual than they really are. And, I am sure that none of us would ever complain about having something simple and healthy for dinner because we really want to stuff ourselves with something big, greasy, steaming hot, delicious smelling, covered with extra sauce, and an extra side of I-am-really-going-to-regret-this-in-the-morning!
I know we aren’t ever like that, are we? But, those people are out there! I know they are. I’ve seen them! In fact, one of them lives in my bathroom mirror!
We don’t need to be anxious about our food or about impressing others. We need to trust the Lord, and be thankful.
Our NT reading said, “Don’t worry (do not be anxious) about anything, but in all your prayers ask God for what you need, always asking him with a thankful heart, and God’s peace, which is far beyond human understanding, will keep your hearts and minds safe in union with Christ Jesus.”
Now, trusting God and being thankful may not get us everything we think we want out of life. But, when we trust Him, God will give us everything we really need. So, what are we really looking for? Are we looking for what we want, or are we looking for what we really need?
In v.19, Jesus notes how we strive to be rich in this life, rather than focusing on storing up treasures in heaven, “where moths and rust cannot destroy, and robbers cannot break in and steal.” Jesus isn’t saying money is evil; he is agreeing with the rest of Scripture, “For your heart will always be where your riches are.”
Ecclesiastes 5:10 says, “Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income.” Don’t we believe that God wants to show us how to be satisfied with the life He provides for us? Or, do we have to take care of it ourselves?
1 Timothy 6:10 reads, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have (even) wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” Could it be that Jesus is challenging us to trust God for what really matters in order to spare us a life of grief? Or, do we believe that God is really untrustworthy, a bully who wants to keep us from having a good time?
Hebrews 13:5 says, “Keep yourselves free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.'” After all, isn’t God enough for us? If we have Him, we should be satisfied. Even Job, who lost everything and suffered physically and emotionally without any real cause, when he saw that God was with him, was ashamed that he had complained.
God wants us to have true riches: eternal relationships with others who also walk with God, the satisfaction of living a life that pleases God, a life free from self-inflicted and rebellious grief, a life that is content rather than always striving and anxious. Most of all, he wants us to have himself: God, the only ultimately satisfying reality.
Beginning in v.22, Jesus mentions how our attention wanders from what is good to what is evil, and how having our attention focused on the wrong things can corrupt everything we are. This happens so easily!
We don’t intend it to happen. As followers of Jesus, we don’t set out to turn from our blessings to the things we want but do not have.
At first, we simply want to make sure we have food on the table. But, we lose our focus all too easily. Before we know it we start worrying about what other people think of the food on our table, and that leads us away from blessing and into sin, anxiety, and loss of fellowship with God. We start focusing on what is evil, and it corrupts us completely.
Instead of, “Do we have food?” we start asking other questions: “Is the food we have good enough? Is it fancy enough? Is it different enough from what we ate last night? What would the neighbors think if they saw such a sad little meal on our table? Would they look down upon us? Would they pity us? Well, now that I think about it, perhaps they’re right: this food isn’t good enough! Why should I be thankful for this? What I could really use is a big, fat, juicy steak! I deserve a steak! Why doesn’t God just let us have steak once in a while? Is that too much to ask? I mean, the guy across the street doesn’t even know Jesus (not that I’m going to tell him or anything) and I’ll bet they have steak anytime they want it. It’s just not fair! If God really loved me, I’d be eating steak right now! And then maybe some dessert...”
It happens fast, doesn’t it? We lose our focus so quickly. Perhaps Jesus really does know what he is talking about here? It’s hard to keep my eyes on my blessings for long before they start to wander. It’s like they drift into auto-pilot, looking for something better, something I want more.
And it isn’t just food. At first, we simply want shelter and clothing, and pretty soon we’re obsessed about how nice our shelter and clothing are compared to the fellow down the street. At first, we simply want to stop being thirsty, and suddenly nothing can satisfy our thirst for more. At first, we think our spouse is the most amazing person ever. Or, we really like that new-to-me car we just bought. Or, we enjoy thumbing through the pages of that new Bible. Or, we enjoy the responsibility of having that new job.
But, in such a very short while our eyes become darkened by the desires of the world. We don’t just want food, we want to feast. We don’t just want drink, we want to be quenched. We don’t just want clothing, we want splendor. Our desires for life are no longer merely the recognition of our needs. We want it all, we want it now, and we want more than the other guy. This causes our anxiety.
So, Jesus tells us: “Be concerned above everything else with the Kingdom of God and with what he requires of you, and he will provide you with all these other things.”
You see, the problem isn’t desire; it’s misplaced desire. The problem isn’t that we want something; it’s that we want the wrong things. It isn’t even that we want too much; but rather that what we want is less than God wants for us.
Our preacher uses this illustration a lot, and I think it fits here. C. S. Lewis was a man who set out to prove the Bible false and ended up getting saved and dedicating his whole life and career as an author and as an English professor in England to serving God. You may have heard his name, because he is the author of The Chronicles of Narnia.
In a sermon titled, The Pursuit of Happiness, Lewis said, "If we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered to us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased."
“We are far too easily pleased.” So, Jesus tells us not to be anxious about earthly things, but to concern ourselves with the Kingdom of God. We should do this because we so easily worry about ourselves with the wrong motives, because these earthly needs are temporary rather than eternal, because our worry so easily turns our eyes from our needs to our wants, and because concern with God’s Kingdom allows us to display our trust in God to take care of us. And also because what God wants for us is better, bigger, and more real than anything we could think to want for ourselves.
Ephesians 4:20 describes God as “him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.” God wants more for us than we could ever want for ourselves, and he is asking us to trust him to provide it.
In v.24, Jesus gives us a warning. All of this sounds pretty good, but we have to make a choice. We must serve God by concerning ourselves with His Kingdom, or we must continue to serve ourselves, by continuing in our anxiety for our earthly needs. We cannot do both.
“You cannot be a slave (bond-servant) of two masters; you will hate one and love the other; you will be loyal to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both.”
Jesus tells us the desperate situation we are in when we try to serve the God of the Bible, and Mammon, the false demon-god of earthly possessions. We cannot serve both. We will serve only one, and our fallen nature will lead us to end up serving our possessions rather than the true God. Only by listening to Jesus can we make the right choice.
Please hear me: The problem isn’t desire; it’s misplaced desire. We will worry about something, but we must daily choose what we will worry about. Moment by moment, we must decide between the anxiety of the world or concerning ourselves with the Kingdom of God and trusting him to take care of us.
God should be the focus of our desire, our concern. Above everything else, we should want to dine on His presence, to drink in His Holy Spirit, and to wear the glory of reflecting His Majesty.
The NKJV translates v.33 as, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”
Seeking first the Kingdom of God is how we trust him. It is not a ‘ho-hum’, ‘dumpty-dum’ sort of activity. Seeking first God’s Kingdom is a passionate hunting, a daily adventure, a prayerful struggle against darkness, and a search done with all the energy we would normally spend on worrying about ourselves.
As followers of Jesus, this is our purpose. And, a person fulfilling their purpose is of great worth. It is not the externals that give us value; it is God. We are created in His image, and it is our connection to Him that offers us true glory. Knowing Him, walking with Him, that is our purpose.
Do you think the devil wants you to fulfill your purpose? Do you think he wants you to have right motives, freedom from grief and anxiety, and a healthy relationship with the Lord? Do you think he really cares about your food, your drink, or your clothes? Well, who do you think it is trying to get you to focus all of your anxiety on yourself instead of being concerned about God’s Kingdom, and trusting God to take care of you? It isn’t God.
God wants to bless you. God wants you to be free from anxiety. God wants to walk closely with you and teach you what really matters, so that you can have the life you were created to have. He calls himself “Father” because he loves us.
Yet, so often we spend our energy, our worry, chasing after earthly wants and confusing it with meeting our real needs. We are worried about the wrong stuff. But God says, “Trust me. Seek me. Find me. And I will take care of all of that other stuff as well.”
“So do not start worrying: Where will my food come from? or my drink? or my clothes? (These are the things the pagans are always concerned about.) Your Father in heaven knows that you need all these things. Instead, be concerned above everything else with the Kingdom of God and with what he requires of you, and he will provide you with all these other things."
NT Reading: Philippians 4:6-7
“So do not start worrying: Where will my food come from? or my drink? or my clothes? (These are the things the pagans are always concerned about.) Your Father in heaven knows that you need all these things. Instead, be concerned above everything else with the Kingdom of God and with what he requires of you, and he will provide you with all these other things." (Matthew 6:31-33, The Pew Bibles at City Light are GNT.)
The word ‘so’ in our version is the same as the word ‘therefore’ in other translations, as in “Hmmm... What is this word THERE FOR?” To find out, we will look at the larger context of the passage.
These verses are part of the Sermon on the Mount which begins in chapter 5, “Jesus saw the crowds and went up a hill, where he sat down. His disciples gathered around him, and he began to teach them,” and ends at Matthew 7:28-29, “When Jesus finished saying these things, the crowd was amazed at the way he taught. He wasn’t like the teachers of the Law; instead, he taught with authority.”
The Sermon has several elements: the blessings, the heart of the law, relationships with other people, religious activity, dependence upon God, and the way to the Kingdom of Heaven. In this section Jesus is teaching his disciples how to trust God for what really matters. Of course, it might be helpful to know what that is, and what it isn’t.
How do we know what really matters? How do we know when what we are concerned for is something we need to worry about rather than just something we want to worry about? How do we know when we are worried for the wrong things?
Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?” This means that we may think something is a need, but it really isn’t. We are really looking for something we want, and our heart is fooling us. So, if we can’t just trust our heart about whether or not something is a real need, how do we know if we should worry, or concern ourselves about it?
Jesus says the answer is to focus our concern on the Kingdom of God and trust God to provide what we need in our own little kingdoms of life.
But, “Why?” Why does it matter if we worry about things we shouldn’t be worried about?
Let’s make a distinction at this point. There is a contrast in this passage between the anxious life and the life spent in pursuit of the Kingdom of God. There are two kinds of worry.
One kind of worry is negative, and it is referred to as anxiety. Anxiety is inappropriate worry, and according to Proverb 12:25, this kind of worry weighs us down, it is a heavy burden that brings us low.
The other kind of worry is called concern. It is a reasonable and responsible, even necessary, diligence and attention to something. It is the word used in the NIV to describe God’s looking with compassion upon the Hebrews in their bondage in Egypt in Exodus chapter 3 and wanting to help them:
God says to Moses, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians...” (v.7)
When Jesus says, “Do not start worrying” he is referring to anxiety, not to concern. When he talks about food, drink, and clothes, he isn’t just talking about the basic necessities of life. In the larger context of this passage, Jesus is primarily talking about the kind of living we want to do, about what we are looking for to meet our deepest desires.
Beginning in v.16, Jesus discusses food (and fasting) in light of how we use it to impress others, and how we try to impress people with the humility or the grandeur of our appearance.
Now, I know that no one is this room has ever spent money they couldn’t afford to spend in order to impress someone they really wanted to impress. I know that no one here has ever done something like go to church or give an offering in order to look more spiritual than they really are. And, I am sure that none of us would ever complain about having something simple and healthy for dinner because we really want to stuff ourselves with something big, greasy, steaming hot, delicious smelling, covered with extra sauce, and an extra side of I-am-really-going-to-regret-this-in-the-morning!
I know we aren’t ever like that, are we? But, those people are out there! I know they are. I’ve seen them! In fact, one of them lives in my bathroom mirror!
We don’t need to be anxious about our food or about impressing others. We need to trust the Lord, and be thankful.
Our NT reading said, “Don’t worry (do not be anxious) about anything, but in all your prayers ask God for what you need, always asking him with a thankful heart, and God’s peace, which is far beyond human understanding, will keep your hearts and minds safe in union with Christ Jesus.”
Now, trusting God and being thankful may not get us everything we think we want out of life. But, when we trust Him, God will give us everything we really need. So, what are we really looking for? Are we looking for what we want, or are we looking for what we really need?
In v.19, Jesus notes how we strive to be rich in this life, rather than focusing on storing up treasures in heaven, “where moths and rust cannot destroy, and robbers cannot break in and steal.” Jesus isn’t saying money is evil; he is agreeing with the rest of Scripture, “For your heart will always be where your riches are.”
Ecclesiastes 5:10 says, “Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income.” Don’t we believe that God wants to show us how to be satisfied with the life He provides for us? Or, do we have to take care of it ourselves?
1 Timothy 6:10 reads, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have (even) wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” Could it be that Jesus is challenging us to trust God for what really matters in order to spare us a life of grief? Or, do we believe that God is really untrustworthy, a bully who wants to keep us from having a good time?
Hebrews 13:5 says, “Keep yourselves free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.'” After all, isn’t God enough for us? If we have Him, we should be satisfied. Even Job, who lost everything and suffered physically and emotionally without any real cause, when he saw that God was with him, was ashamed that he had complained.
God wants us to have true riches: eternal relationships with others who also walk with God, the satisfaction of living a life that pleases God, a life free from self-inflicted and rebellious grief, a life that is content rather than always striving and anxious. Most of all, he wants us to have himself: God, the only ultimately satisfying reality.
Beginning in v.22, Jesus mentions how our attention wanders from what is good to what is evil, and how having our attention focused on the wrong things can corrupt everything we are. This happens so easily!
We don’t intend it to happen. As followers of Jesus, we don’t set out to turn from our blessings to the things we want but do not have.
At first, we simply want to make sure we have food on the table. But, we lose our focus all too easily. Before we know it we start worrying about what other people think of the food on our table, and that leads us away from blessing and into sin, anxiety, and loss of fellowship with God. We start focusing on what is evil, and it corrupts us completely.
Instead of, “Do we have food?” we start asking other questions: “Is the food we have good enough? Is it fancy enough? Is it different enough from what we ate last night? What would the neighbors think if they saw such a sad little meal on our table? Would they look down upon us? Would they pity us? Well, now that I think about it, perhaps they’re right: this food isn’t good enough! Why should I be thankful for this? What I could really use is a big, fat, juicy steak! I deserve a steak! Why doesn’t God just let us have steak once in a while? Is that too much to ask? I mean, the guy across the street doesn’t even know Jesus (not that I’m going to tell him or anything) and I’ll bet they have steak anytime they want it. It’s just not fair! If God really loved me, I’d be eating steak right now! And then maybe some dessert...”
It happens fast, doesn’t it? We lose our focus so quickly. Perhaps Jesus really does know what he is talking about here? It’s hard to keep my eyes on my blessings for long before they start to wander. It’s like they drift into auto-pilot, looking for something better, something I want more.
And it isn’t just food. At first, we simply want shelter and clothing, and pretty soon we’re obsessed about how nice our shelter and clothing are compared to the fellow down the street. At first, we simply want to stop being thirsty, and suddenly nothing can satisfy our thirst for more. At first, we think our spouse is the most amazing person ever. Or, we really like that new-to-me car we just bought. Or, we enjoy thumbing through the pages of that new Bible. Or, we enjoy the responsibility of having that new job.
But, in such a very short while our eyes become darkened by the desires of the world. We don’t just want food, we want to feast. We don’t just want drink, we want to be quenched. We don’t just want clothing, we want splendor. Our desires for life are no longer merely the recognition of our needs. We want it all, we want it now, and we want more than the other guy. This causes our anxiety.
So, Jesus tells us: “Be concerned above everything else with the Kingdom of God and with what he requires of you, and he will provide you with all these other things.”
You see, the problem isn’t desire; it’s misplaced desire. The problem isn’t that we want something; it’s that we want the wrong things. It isn’t even that we want too much; but rather that what we want is less than God wants for us.
Our preacher uses this illustration a lot, and I think it fits here. C. S. Lewis was a man who set out to prove the Bible false and ended up getting saved and dedicating his whole life and career as an author and as an English professor in England to serving God. You may have heard his name, because he is the author of The Chronicles of Narnia.
In a sermon titled, The Pursuit of Happiness, Lewis said, "If we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered to us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased."
“We are far too easily pleased.” So, Jesus tells us not to be anxious about earthly things, but to concern ourselves with the Kingdom of God. We should do this because we so easily worry about ourselves with the wrong motives, because these earthly needs are temporary rather than eternal, because our worry so easily turns our eyes from our needs to our wants, and because concern with God’s Kingdom allows us to display our trust in God to take care of us. And also because what God wants for us is better, bigger, and more real than anything we could think to want for ourselves.
Ephesians 4:20 describes God as “him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.” God wants more for us than we could ever want for ourselves, and he is asking us to trust him to provide it.
In v.24, Jesus gives us a warning. All of this sounds pretty good, but we have to make a choice. We must serve God by concerning ourselves with His Kingdom, or we must continue to serve ourselves, by continuing in our anxiety for our earthly needs. We cannot do both.
“You cannot be a slave (bond-servant) of two masters; you will hate one and love the other; you will be loyal to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both.”
Jesus tells us the desperate situation we are in when we try to serve the God of the Bible, and Mammon, the false demon-god of earthly possessions. We cannot serve both. We will serve only one, and our fallen nature will lead us to end up serving our possessions rather than the true God. Only by listening to Jesus can we make the right choice.
Please hear me: The problem isn’t desire; it’s misplaced desire. We will worry about something, but we must daily choose what we will worry about. Moment by moment, we must decide between the anxiety of the world or concerning ourselves with the Kingdom of God and trusting him to take care of us.
God should be the focus of our desire, our concern. Above everything else, we should want to dine on His presence, to drink in His Holy Spirit, and to wear the glory of reflecting His Majesty.
The NKJV translates v.33 as, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”
Seeking first the Kingdom of God is how we trust him. It is not a ‘ho-hum’, ‘dumpty-dum’ sort of activity. Seeking first God’s Kingdom is a passionate hunting, a daily adventure, a prayerful struggle against darkness, and a search done with all the energy we would normally spend on worrying about ourselves.
As followers of Jesus, this is our purpose. And, a person fulfilling their purpose is of great worth. It is not the externals that give us value; it is God. We are created in His image, and it is our connection to Him that offers us true glory. Knowing Him, walking with Him, that is our purpose.
Do you think the devil wants you to fulfill your purpose? Do you think he wants you to have right motives, freedom from grief and anxiety, and a healthy relationship with the Lord? Do you think he really cares about your food, your drink, or your clothes? Well, who do you think it is trying to get you to focus all of your anxiety on yourself instead of being concerned about God’s Kingdom, and trusting God to take care of you? It isn’t God.
God wants to bless you. God wants you to be free from anxiety. God wants to walk closely with you and teach you what really matters, so that you can have the life you were created to have. He calls himself “Father” because he loves us.
Yet, so often we spend our energy, our worry, chasing after earthly wants and confusing it with meeting our real needs. We are worried about the wrong stuff. But God says, “Trust me. Seek me. Find me. And I will take care of all of that other stuff as well.”
“So do not start worrying: Where will my food come from? or my drink? or my clothes? (These are the things the pagans are always concerned about.) Your Father in heaven knows that you need all these things. Instead, be concerned above everything else with the Kingdom of God and with what he requires of you, and he will provide you with all these other things."
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