2006-02-05 Communion Dedication – Baldwin Christian Church

Matthew 6:25-34

In verse 25, Jesus begins with “Therefore”, so the following is a logical conclusion we should be reaching because of His words in the previous verses.  In them, He drew a line and admonished us to choose sides.  There are heavenly treasures and there are earthly treasures.  Which one keeps a hold on your heart?   In this world, there is light and there is darkness.  Which one keeps the attention of your eyes?  Which one beams from your heart?   Jesus us saying that, because of this line separating the heavenly from the earthly, the light from the darkness, God from the love of riches:

25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?

26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?

27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?

28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:

29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?

31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

34  Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

Why do I fret and worry about my life?  Well, there are things that I want to do, improvements to make in my lifestyle, my job, my house, and even my car.  These dreams motivate me to get up every day, to keep going, and to keep working toward them.  When I finally achieve one of my personal goals, there’s a lot of satisfaction for a moment, and most people encourage me to enjoy the rewards of my accomplishments.  Then it happens; one day, one of these things that I’ve worked so hard for, one of these things that I cherish, it becomes damaged, or the dream suddenly becomes impossible, or something opens up my eyes so that I finally see what a big waste of time it was.  What happens then?   I wanted more comfort, more security, and more freedom, but when it slips away from me, how will I respond to that?

What is it about us that makes us worry and stress over these things?  What makes us toil and spin, and worry about how we look?  Doesn’t this go back to the Garden, to the test there?  Right before Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden, the LORD told Adam (Gen 2:17-18), “cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;  In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.”  Even unto the taking of our last breath, the LORD says we will need to work and sweat to earn a living.

When Jesus taught the parable of the sower to His disciples in Mark 4, He explained that you must be able to understand that parable if you were ever going to understand the rest of them.  In that parable (Mark 4:18-19) He explained that some people will hear the good news of God’s word.  “And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful” The desire to be clothed like the “lilies of the field”, deceives and entangles us in the thorns and briars of vanity.  As a result, all of our toiling, spinning, and “keeping up with the Joneses” choke the sprouting word of God, and that tiny seed that could have not only fed us, but could have increased a hundred-fold, dies in vain.

I’m not saying that we shouldn’t work, but I am saying we shouldn’t worry so much about ourselves.  Even when the word of God lands on good ground, the thorns and thistles can grow there too.  If there’s something in your life that’s worrying you, realize that the Lord is dealing with you on that subject.  When we receive the sacraments of communion, we should be examining ourselves, repenting of our evil, rooting out the thorns and thistles, the worldly cares that choke out the growth and fruitfulness of God’s word in our lives.  “Do this in remembrance of Me”, and let the stress in your life melt away.  When you set it in your heart to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, you will learn and know for sure where those trials, temptations and stresses are coming from.  The moment you decide, “I’m not going to worry about tomorrow, let’s just take care of today”, today becomes a lot easier to deal with.  When you wake up in the morning and think to yourself, “Ok, what do I have to do today”, make your very next thought be, “I’m sorry Lord, what will You have me do today?”

Consider the beautiful things, the simple things.  See the glory of the Father in them, and remember why He sent you His Son.  We deserve a stone, but He gives us bread (His Word).  We deserve a serpent, but He gives us a fish (His church).  We deserve a scorpion, but He gives us an egg (a new life).  He says that He will give us more of the Holy Spirit if we would just ask Him. (Luke 11:11-13)  Let’s set our hearts to do that each and every day this week, beginning right now.