Money Matters - Who Is Your Provider - Origin Sermon - 12 March 2023

I'm going to advise you to take care of your Bible or your Bible

app and open it to Matthew chapter 6. as mentioned earlier,

Matthew 6 · chapter mention

we've been in this series on Money Matters and what it is for

us to trust, God in matters of money which are really matters

of heart, as Jesus taught us last week, in Matthew chapter 6

Matthew 6 · chapter mention

and pointed out this movement between our treasure, what we

focus on and ultimately, who is Lord in our lives is Jesus Lord

or is money serving as a kind of Lord and Master in our life and

he picks up on it in the next component about being worried

about money or what money can buy or can't buy that.

We actually get caught up in a lot of worry.

I don't know how this was calculated but someone

calculated that Canadians worry so much about money that the

time spent worrying. Is a the equivalent to 31 days.

That's a whole month. And their comment was that's

enough time to get another job. I didn't think it was completely

empathetic but, you know, it's there, it's true that a lot of

time is spent in worry, and we're going to talk about that

impact. But many of the students will

graduate in Canada and they're going to have student loan debt

and the average debt in 2022. Was twenty-six thousand dollars

and seventy five twenty six thousand $75 and I thought it

was very important that they actually added 75 on there.

They didn't leave anything out. You know what about 26,000

dollars is average student loan debt.

It can stay around a long time, it creates a kind of nodding

worry. In fact, seventy percent of

Canadians, have some kind of form of DET besides a mortgage,

and the average Canadian. Debt is 20 1183 dollars.

Most often that's associated and called bad debt.

That's the debt you worried about.

Did you know that Canadians? When asked this year, what their

main goals and 2023 were Get out of debt and pay their bills.

Main goals, main goals is that really meant to be the main goal

of life. But it's what we get drawn to so

quickly and one to remind us that Jesus was preaching to the

poor. We considered and looked at last

week. What was that crowd like that?

Was there with Jesus. Jesus intended his ministry.

To be good news to the poor. And so the words that were going

to read those seemingly very frustrating Jesus, who died on

the cross for our sins was buried and was raised again to

life having predicted. It also gave us these words not

to frustrate you but to ultimately lead you to the

fullness of Life To Joy and to peace.

That's the attention of his teaching, the transformation of

people who get to know him. And so he wants to transform our

thinking and our emotional habits, even about money.

So let's read what he says. beginning in verse 25 of Matthew

Matthew 6 · chapter mention

chapter 6, he says, therefore I tell you do not worry about your

life, what you will eat or drink or about your body, what you

will wear it's not life more than food and the body, more

than clothes. Look at the birds of the air.

They do not sow or reap or store away in Barns and yet your

heavenly father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable

than they Can anyone of You by worrying, add a single hour to

your life? And why do you worry about

clothes? See how the flowers of the field

grow? They do not labor or spin yet?

I tell you not even Solomon in all his Splendor was dressed.

Like one of those. If that is, 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, oh you

of little faith? So do not worry, saying, what

shall we eat? Or what shall we drink, or what

shall we wear for the pagans run after all these things and your

heavenly father knows that you need them?

But seek first, his kingdom, and his righteousness, and all these

things will be given to you as well.

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow.

For tomorrow will worry about itself.

Each day has enough trouble on its own.

Amen to that. First, let's take a look at the

issue of worry and what we can drive about worry from from what

Jesus was teaching. Ultimately is teaching, is that

worry, damages us Do I have any professional worriers?

Do you want to admit? Like you're a professional

Warrior. You let anxiety.

Pull you into a thing and you ruminate over it and you spin it

and you turn it and you consider it here.

Then you flip it around over here and you consider it and

you're worried and you're worrying.

You're worried. It's possible to find occasions

and times in our lives where we feel.

So Such a lack of power, such a lack of agency that were caught

in worried. And I believe that Jesus

recognized that when we have money as our Lord, it actually

does create a worry system inside of us.

And so he's trying to draw out here for the crowd who is

listening to him for his disciples who were also

listening. The Fatal impact of worry,

notice what he says in verse 25. I tell you do not worry about

your life, what you will eat or drink or about your body, what

you will wear is not life more than food and the body.

More than clothes, worry, reduces life to the necessities.

That's what you're drawn to this.

These are the necessities and he's recognizing that the folks

there who he was teaching, Lord, give us our daily bread.

We're also worried about daily bread.

And so we need to be conscious that worry will move us to just

reduce life to the necessities. Same thing happens.

Again worry doubts, our value in the eyes of God.

Notice what he says in verse 26. Are you not more valuable?

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 You have immense value to God?

But worry, always seeks to drain that Consciousness away.

That you actually matter to God. Worry, anxiety creates the

illusion of purposeful action. None of us if truly asked hey,

what are you doing over there? Sitting in the corner on your

phone, none of us are really going to say worrying.

But we're worrying many times. We're searching, we have this

great fear of missing out, fear of being left behind fear of not

having enough, and it's actually now in a worry, spin, a worry

storm that's being fed by what were flipping through.

We're worrying. Just doesn't look like it.

Notice in verse 29, Jesus says, in verse 28 and do not worry

about clothes. See how the flowers of the field

grow, they do not labor or spin, do you know the strange thing

about worrying is that it can make it seem like our frantic

activities to keep up with others that were comparing

ourselves to. Is somehow also productive.

We're spinning away. Comparing ourselves to others

trying to keep up with them. The strange thing about worry is

that it erodes our faith. So to that, Jesus uses a little

term of endearment. Oh, you little faiths.

I think he didn't mean it, as a condemnation, but he was using

it almost as a as a light to lighten the moment and say you

little faiths It would be like my grandmother or somebody

calling me a worrywart. You're just worrying away at

that just whirring away. And Jesus is noting that truly

what worry does is erodes our faith in God because it's

centers, all of the solutions just in ourselves or in someone

else or someone else that we can blame.

Worry, turns us into practical atheists.

Where we stopped praying. We just worried. but Jesus

wanted those he was talking to, to see something delightful

about God, he wanted them to see differently, It was really

interesting and last week, one of the most difficult parts of

that teaching last week was the whole teaching on the eyes and I

kept hearing back from life group leaders saying that was so

hard to figure out that that little aspect of if your eyes

are bad, then your whole body's bad, but if your eyes are good,

then your body is full of light and life.

But it's what you focus on and worry actually will take us to a

lot of places to focus but we might not actually see properly

and it's fascinating to me that Jesus.

Here has them look up and look around.

He said look at the birds of the air.

I can't imagine that. It's Jesus is teaching he sort

of sweeps his hand over and says look look at all the Ian geese

over there. No, it wouldn't have been that.

What it in Israel. But it would have been some

other bird. That neither sews nor Harvest,

but is provided for doesn't God provided and he says, look at

the flowers of the field. Not even Solomon was dressed up

as beautiful as the flowers now, it's fascinating that Jesus

finally mentioned Solomon. In fact, Jesus disses Solomon.

Solomon, the son of King, David who became king, who built a

grand Temple. And built a Grandeur Palace for

himself. And who was known for his

Splendor and his dress and the Majesty of his spaces.

Solomon had all the good views. Solomon had all the good looks.

Solomon had filled his life with beautiful people and beautiful

women. And Jesus disses him.

That that would have not just gone over the heads of that

crowd. Like it did yours.

Jesus just threw shade on Solomon.

Huh. Go figure.

What's that about? I think it's about what's called

The Royal consciousness. The Royal Consciousness Walter

Brueggemann who's an Old Testament scholar, says that the

chroniclers of the history of Solomon.

And the Kings sort of seemed to gloss over Solomon.

Sometimes they call him the wisest man that ever lived.

He was ruling at the Heyday of Israel that that he had a great

heart, we know, because he was so rich.

But that's not actually true. Our temptation is to believe

that someone is Rich must be really blessed by God and so

there must be good. But Solomon actually shows us

the continual erosion. That happens when you make

wealth and power your treasure and the progression of Solomon's

life is about the decay of his own faith with God and a

disaster. An ultimate crisis for Israel

from which they would never recover.

So Jesus is throwing shade on Solomon.

He's dissing him. Because he would have been the

image of really having it right in life.

And Jesus says, don't make him your goal.

I wonder how tempting it is for us to make.

Other Royals are gold. Whether they have royal families

or they have the royalty of wealth and power and ease.

We make them our goal. And Jesus says, don't look there

and the reason Walter Brueggemann says, don't look

there. He says that the Royal

Consciousness becomes numb to the realities of life and is

always trying to avoid the reality of death.

Even to avoid the realities of the sufferings of others.

And so it is that when they study the brains of those who

have great power and wealth, they actually find that.

The empathy section of the brain that should be lighting up when

they see someone else's suffering is a little dim.

That's troubling, isn't it? Where am I psychologists up

here? Yeah, that's troubling.

I mean Jesus, he's so smart. Jesus knows so much about the

human psyche and what happens to us?

When we make wealth, our treasure.

And when we worry so much, Now, Jesus is speaking to a people

who were vulnerable to Nature. They understood that when there

was a famine, you might have to move to survive.

He's speaking to a people who knew what it was to be victims

of a system designed to take from you and keep you down.

He speaking to them. And so it seems unreasonable for

Jesus to be saying, don't worry about your life.

Right. That seems unreasonable.

Look at the birds. Look at the flowers.

Don't worry about your life. Why?

Because look there's a God who values you.

Look. There's a God who will provide

for you? And this is, this is the hard

move of faith for us to make in a world where we're worried

about paying our bills, where we worried about my degree is

actually a pathway to taking care of my family.

But Jesus wants us to be on more solid ground.

Look at the world differently. Let him heal your eyes.

So that you will trust him as your provider.

Do you know one of the things that worried does is that worry?

Put such a squeeze on us that we can't see opportunities.

We can't dream up opportunities. We lose sight of the, the

strength that God puts in us already and for the extra Grace,

he can provide to move us forward.

And so, then Jesus moves on to say, here's what you should be

doing seek first, the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and

he will add all these other things to your life.

Seek first the kingdom of God and he will add all this to you.

It's such an important move for us to make.

What am I actually seeking in my workplace and my workplace.

Am I seeking the paycheck? Or in my workplace.

Am I seeking for the kingdom of God to be in this space?

Am I seeking to deliver his righteousness into this space?

When I study, am I just seeking to pass that test when I go to

class? Am I just seeking to fill my

space? Or am I seeking for the kingdom

of God to be in that space and for the righteousness of God to

be in that space? Jesus says that if you will seek

Him and pursue him as a first thing, he's going to provide the

lift. He's going to provide the grace,

he's going to provide the rest. It doesn't mean there won't be

days of suffering or a difficulty or of hard work.

But it means you don't Grant your employer the final and

ultimate word on your worth. Or on your work.

They don't own you. you belong to God, the Father Who gives

incredible worth and value to you?

And also can provide. This is our ambition and pursuit

to see the kingdom of God in all of the spaces in which we occupy

as the church gathered and the church scattered to seek first.

The kingdom of God means I'm looking for the rule and reign

of Jesus, to be evident in the places in which I go, and that I

am. So the first in my heart second,

in my home, space third in the world, Wherever I Go.

I'm looking for the rule and reign of Jesus, who died on a

cross for our sins was buried, and God Rose him from the dead.

He has the authority and place in my life.

Not the tyrants. Not the wealthy.

But Jesus in this way, the kingdom of God is a bit more

subversive than we imagine this kingdom of God works in our

lives with the small decisions that we make and a little book

called God's economy. There's this description of the

kingdom of God and he captures it in a university student named

John who went to Duke University.

And he says, that Duke, John was surrounded by the children of

millionaires and a few billionaires.

They became his friends in that setting and in his first year,

he tried to run with them. But in his second year, for some

reason in response to some kind of word from Jesus and his life.

He met a family at his the church and he asked them, could

I live with you? And so he moved in with them.

And his whole life became rearranged between going to

school and actually being a part of a family.

And his friends began to comment.

Well, why aren't you coming with us?

Oh, I'm going home. And then after dinner, I'm

reading books to the kids, you don't have kids, that's really

weird. Isn't that weird?

But it was a little decision that had a huge impact in his

life to create a different pattern and to Value something

different in his life. It's these little decisions that

are actually bigger than you think little decisions in

response to something. Jesus shows you where you look

at life differently and you make a decision That's different.

This happened for Christian otsu.

Soccer player from Ghana. Who recently died in the

earthquake in Turkey. Tragic loss.

It's been wonderful though to read about his life and how he

went and progressed in the soccer World and became so

successful. And he was known for his

generosity. For how he spread his wealth

around to others. And some occasion a journalist

asked him so is the reason you're so generous because you

were so poor. He said no generosity.

Is something both the rich and the poor occupy.

If their followers of Jesus. so, it's because of my faith in

Jesus that I'm generous How does that move happen in our lives?

When worry wants us to grasp and hold onto everything and to be

stingy. Some of the disciplines of

scripture that we mentioned last week, like taking a Sabbath.

Taking a Sabbath rest from your work and laborers so that you

pause and acknowledge God. That's one of the moves.

Another discipline that we call tithing or giving a tenth, it's

just one of the percentages giving mentioned in the

scripture. Is something that compels and

forces us to have to take stock of what we have and to take

stock and say this didn't just come from me.

This came from God, And so that movement, then trains us to let

go of a part and to say, oh but I'm still a steward.

Not an owner. I'm a steward.

It's a difference. God is the owner of it all and I

am a manager, a steward of a portion.

The discipline of the ties helps to create that space in our

lives. One of the other things that I

think is really important for us to be able to do is to just make

the decision again to say, okay, Lord, I give myself to you.

I make that small ultimate decision every day.

I'm Yours. Not mine.

Remember this sermon in this part is dealing with our desire

for self-determination. Instead of our yielded - to

Jesus, as Lord. Are you a worrier?

Those who worry a lot would say that the rest of us just don't

understand what's really going on in the world.

And so the invitation though, as far as to get closer to Jesus,

Jesus knows what's going on in the world.

He knows. Let's pray together.

Heavenly Father, we approach to your your word, your son.

Your church and this world. Knowing that we need help.

We need help because we worry. We need help because our heart

is drawn to wealth. We need help because sometimes

we treat money, as if it's a permission slip for just doing

whatever we want, But instead we know we must make the move for

seeking first, your kingdom, and your righteousness.

So that it's both your rule and reign. and our way, the way we

do our life, Matters. Just, as much.

Help us be in the way of Jesus, who moved down into life, who

Moved close to those who are close to the ground.

Who didn't treat the Brokenhearted and the poor as if

they were unseen unknown and unworthy.

but we turn our selves towards you, and we ask you to examine

us We asked you to shape us this morning.

We asked you to take away the numbness that comes when we're

so captured by our wealth. That we quit seeing you as the

provider. And that we're just stewards Oh

Lord. We want to be owners. but you

want us to be stewards for this greater freedom in that So we

yield ourselves to you, Lord, we're going to come to your

table, Lord, where you offer us all.

That you had at the very end, you had your body, your blood.

That was all that was left and you gave it.

And with your final breath, you said it is finished and you did

this to pay a debt. We could never pay The debt, the

outstanding debt of our own sin. Our own Rebellion, our own

selfishness, you gave all that, you had to pay a debt that we

could never pay. And we are eternally grateful

for Jesus. Let's Stand Together.

And we are eternally grateful for Jesus.

Let's Stand Together.