Questions Jesus Asked: Who of you by worrying can add a single hour?

Hello, and welcome to the Kalamazoo church of Christ podcast.

Thank you so much for listening.

We're startup church.

We just planted in September, 2020 and at the Kalamazoo church, we believe that Christianity is done best when it is done together.

And so if you live in the Kalamazoo area, we would love to connect be it coming to a Sunday service, one of our small groups, or even just grabbing coffee with a member to learn more.

You can visit kalamazoo.church in order to do that.

We pray that you are inspired by what you hear today.

I'd like to start by inviting the overflow crowd just to come on in, make your way.

We've got a few seats at the front of the auditorium, a little standing room only on the side.

So just, just come on in.

There's room for you.

Switch it to the first slide.

One more.

There we go.

Boy, I don't know if you can see that or not.

Something amazing.

Yeah, we could turn off the lights here.

No, no, no, don't, don't do that.

Something amazing happened in 2015.

Reena and I had purchased a 2000 Pontiac Firebird.

And you thought I wasn't cool.

I never said that.

Right.

The words weren't necessary.

I can, I can read your minds, okay.

This was a picture that I took of my wife, my, my hot car, my beautiful wife, or was it a hot, no, no, whatever.

We were about to head out for our first out of town trip in the, in the Pontiac Firebird.

It was just, it was just going to go see a soccer game up in Grand Rapids.

But it was one of those nights, you know, it was, it was the end of summer, but it was warm enough that we, as you could tell, we took the teatop glass off, put it in the back.

We drove up 131.

You know, we had our music jams playing.

The car had a little equalizer, which I thought was just so cool.

You know, we had a marvelous night.

And then being fall, you know, how the temperatures dropped kind of like it was this morning.

We had to put the, the, the tea, tea glass back in, you know, and it just had an enjoyable.

And then, of course, just, you know, every, every stoplight that you come to, you're wanting, you know, kind of looking over at the other guy and just, you know, got that, that kind of vibe going on, you know.

It was awesome.

Then in 2016, we lost all of our, we completely lost any remaining coolness that we had, and we sold the Pontiac Firebird, and we bought a 2016 Chevy Trax.

Yes, I said a Chevy, a 2016 Chevy Trax.

Became 100% certified boring, all right.

But it was a new car, and we had not owned a new car in probably our entire married life.

And just every time we got in that car, you know, the new car smell, and it was just, it wasn't big, it wasn't fancy, but, you know, the air conditioning worked, which was a plus, you know.

Been there, done that.

The amazing thing about that little Trax was this.

Shortly after we got it, we were driving around town.

We were amazed at how many other people had bought Trax about the same time that we did, right?

They were everywhere, you know, in front of us and back of us.

Every time we went to a parking lot, we saw just a ton of them.

Now, you've been there before, right?

Nobody, you know, there wasn't any more Trax the day after we purchased ours than there was the day before, correct?

But we were more attentive to them at that point.

We became cognizant, not only of ourselves and our car, but everybody else's cars as well, because we had a new Chevy Trax, right?

This is not unlike the kingdom of God.

It's the, we really, when we join forces, when we unite with God and his purposes on planet Earth, we begin to see the kingdom all around us.

We become aware, our eyes are open, and therefore, it's that conversation that you have with your neighbor across the fence in your backyard that somehow takes on greater significance.

It's the 20-year-old marriage rescued from the ravages of divorce.

It's the birth, the great news, the glad tidings of a newborn baby.

It's the death of a lifelong servant of God.

It's the teenage boy who helps the old lady, you know, across the street.

It's the baptism of the 70-year-old skeptic.

It's the cancer-free diagnosis.

Think with me for a moment.

How many of you have gone to a restaurant and just ordered a burger or a sandwich, and the waitress, after a few minutes, brings it out to your table, and that burger is thick?

I mean, it's this big, right?

Now, okay, my mouth, it's this big, right?

But the burger is this big, all right?

There's no possible way, this is going to be messy, right?

It's impossible to eat in a dignified manner, okay?

The only thing that we can do, the only thing that we can hope for is that we nibble around the sides, you know, we digest it slowly, we take a bite at a time.

And again, this is not unlike Scripture, especially the portion that we're going to look in today in Matthew chapter 6, all right?

Matthew 6 · chapter mention

If we take too big a swallow, we're going to choke, all right?

And that's the way that Scripture works.

I love what Tony said to me earlier before service, and even Alec and I had a brief conversation here earlier.

Tony says, what you're studying, what you're preaching on today, and I said, Matthew 6.

He said, that's good, because I've been reading it all week.

And that's kind of what we need to do, right?

We take these truths from God's Word, and we let them marinate within our soul.

We let them soak into our bodies, into our thoughts.

And then they become bigger and bigger and bigger, and they have deeper meaning.

They have greater meaning.

The stuff that we're talking about today is thick, is thick.

So if you feel overwhelmed, I've done my job today, right?

We need to take what we've heard, and just like those Bereans that we're all familiar with, right?

You take that Scripture home, you absorb it, you examine it with a great eagerness to see if what the message presented was true.

But beyond that, even if it is true, there's greater depth, and there's greater understanding to be had.

I have a question for you this morning.

Why do we ask questions?

You probably already have done this a dozen, a couple dozen times this morning.

You know, if you have a spouse, maybe the first thing that you did, you'd wake up in the morning, or him in the morning, however the case may be, hey, are you going to get up?

Hey, would you like some coffee?

What are you going to have for breakfast?

What are you going to wear to church this morning?

You see, all these questions, why do we do that?

Perhaps if somebody knew that you met this morning, or perhaps not, but anyway, a new person that might come in, you might begin by asking a few questions.

Hi, what is your name?

Where do you live?

Tell me a little bit about yourself, those types of things.

Or perhaps an old friend, we go another step further, we get a little more intimate and deeper with our conversation.

How's the wife?

How's the kids?

Hey, what are you doing Tuesday night?

We still planning on getting together, you know, those kind of things.

Why do we do that?

Is it not to gain greater understanding?

Is it not that we're gathering information, that we're seeking knowledge of another individual?

Sure.

That's why we ask questions.

Now, let's go to this next slide, Google one more, yes, John 13, 12 through 17.

I have another question for you this morning, and based on our current study of Scripture with this theme, questions Jesus asked, I want to present another question.

And that is, why did Jesus ask questions?

You see, if it is true that we ask questions to gather information, seeking knowledge, why is it that Jesus asked questions?

The Scripture says when he had finished washing their feet, and we're picking up kind of in a bad spot, he had just finished washing the disciples' feet, and so he has this to say.

When he had finished washing their feet, he put on clothes and returned to the place.

He asked them, you call me teacher, well, part of that's not showing up.

Let's revert.

I'm going to go to Scripture.

All right.

Forget the PowerPoint.

Ah, goodness gracious.

The picture of the wife was cool, but beyond that, I'm not sure we're going to, we're not going to get far here.

Okay, good thing we got the Bible.

That's right.

John chapter three, beginning of verse 12, reading through 17, it says, when he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place.

Do you understand what I have done for you, he asked.

Do you understand what I have done for you, Jesus asked his disciples.

Why did Jesus ask that question?

What was that?

Right.

It was essentially because they didn't understand.

Jesus knew that.

Jesus wasn't seeking information.

He wasn't gathering knowledge.

All right.

What he was doing is trying to present knowledge to them.

Do you understand what I am doing?

He knew the answer to that question, just like he knows you and me today.

We continue on.

You call me teacher and Lord, and rightly so, for that is what I am.

Now that I, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you should also wash one another's feet.

I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.

Very truly, I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.

Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

When did they get to the now?

They got to the now when he actually did it.

He had provided them instruction, but now he was showing them exactly what needed to be done.

Do you understand why I did this?

Do you understand why I am telling you this?

They probably, well, pretty sure that they did not.

They didn't have any clue.

Our text today is Matthew chapter 6, verse 27, but I hate just taking like one verse out of here, especially, and let the record show here today, okay?

Matthew 6:27

I did not choose this selection, okay?

This selection was given to me, so I want to make that clear right off the bat.

We are right smack dab in the middle of the Sermon of the Mount, and in the Sermon of the Mount, you know, I've been here many times, and it's where I've come to rest on many, many occasions.

It's also known as the Kingdom Manifesto or the Kingdom Constitution, right?

It gives instruction about how kingdom life is lived out in this human existence that we have on this earth, but I want context today.

I don't want to read just Matthew chapter 6, verse 27.

Matthew 6:27

I want to read Matthew chapter 6 today.

Matthew 6 · chapter mention

Let's begin in the first verse, Matthew chapter 6.

Matthew 6 · chapter mention

All right, he starts off by saying, be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them.

If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

If we back up just in the same conversation, moments earlier, Jesus made this statement back in Matthew chapter 5, in verse 16, when he said, in the same way, let your light so shine before others that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

Oh my, what does he mean?

Shine your light, don't shine your light.

Let others see you, don't let others see you.

What is he saying?

I'm telling you, it's thick, okay?

We need to think about this.

This requires wisdom as to what's going on.

In Matthew 6 and verse 1 here, we find this instruction, but as we continue on, beginning of verse number 2, so when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets as hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others.

Truly, I tell you, they have received the reward in full.

But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right is doing, so that your giving may be in secret.

Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

You see the difference here that he's talking about, at least briefly, at least on the surface we can gather, is that our deeds should not be done to honor ourselves, but to honor your Father that is in heaven.

We need to take the whole.

There's extremes, right?

We can go too far this way, and then we can go too far that way.

Where we need to be is right here in the sweet spot.

In the sweet spot of kingdom living, right?

Advance the slide to Ecclesiastes.

Are we there?

Okay.

Okay, I think I can read this one.

Let's see.

Glasses on, trying to focus in.

Here we go.

In this meaningless life of mine, another translation describes that as this vain life of mine.

It's this vain life of mine.

I have seen both of these things.

Maybe you have too today.

Number one, the righteous perishing in their righteousness, and the wicked living in their wickedness.

Yeah?

Yeah?

Yeah.

But here's something interesting.

The next verse.

Do not be over-righteous, neither be over-wise.

Why destroy yourselves?

I very distinctly remember an evening in my living room, Alex sitting across the living room from me.

We read this verse, and we got real quiet, okay?

We just stared there, looking at each other for the longest time.

What in the world does he mean, do not be, have you ever considered yourself to be over-righteous?

To be over-wise?

And then he follows it by saying, this is the wisest man who wrote these words, inspired by God himself.

Why destroy yourself?

Do not be over-wicked, he continues, over-wicked.

Don't be wicked.

No, no, no.

He says, don't be over-wicked.

And do not be a fool.

Why die before your time?

It is good to grasp the one and not let go of the other.

Whoever fears God will avoid all extremes, just what we said a moment ago, right?

So I sense that this can happen, you know, when we study scripture, when we bite off that big chunk and we're trying to chew it, trying to digest it, that we can choose one extreme over the other.

And that's not where we want to be by any stretch.

Okay, back to Matthew.

Let's pick it up in verse number four.

I don't have these on the slide, so if you've got your Bibles with you, I'll follow along.

Verse number five, and when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others.

Truly I tell you, they have received the reward in full.

But when you pray, go into your room, close the door, pray to your father who is unseen.

Then your father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like the pagans, for they think that they will be heard because of their many words.

Do not be like them, for your father knows what you need before you ask him.

This then is how you should pray.

Our father in heaven, hallowed be your name.

Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly father will also forgive you.

But if you do not forgive others their sins, your father will not forgive your sins.

Are you letting it sink in?

You're trying to chew what's going on, okay?

Keep doing it.

Keep doing it.

Don't lose it.

When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting.

Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.

But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your father who is unseen.

And your father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth where moths and vermin destroy and where thieves break in and steal.

But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven where moths and vermin do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal.

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

The eye is the lamp of the whole body.

If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light.

But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness.

If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness.

And no one can serve two masters.

Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to one and despise the other.

You cannot serve both God and money.

So therefore I tell you.

Therefore I tell you, he says, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink or your body, what you will wear.

Is not life more important than food and your body more important than clothes?

Look at the birds of the air.

They do not sow or reap or store away in barns.

And your heavenly father feeds them.

Are you not much more valuable than they?

Can any of you, by worrying, add a single hour to your life?

There's our verse today, okay?

There's our verse today.

Can any of you, by worrying, add a single hour to your life?

And why do you worry about clothes?

See how the flowers of the fields grow?

They do not labor or spend.

Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all of his splendor was dressed like one of these.

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, you of little faith?

So do not worry, saying, what shall we eat?

What are we going to drink?

Or what am I going to 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 as enough trouble of its own.

So back to questions.

And I want you to think, to imagine yourself meeting Jesus down at Water Street.

You're sitting at a table, sipping on your coffee, just chit-chat, then all of a sudden he comes up with some questions.

Question number one, and you must answer, you must present an answer.

This is Jesus sitting at your table, right?

Look at the birds of the air, he says, they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly father knows that you need them.

Are you not more valuable than they?

What are you going to say to that?

Question number two, can you, by worrying, add a single hour to your life, Paul?

He continues with another question, why do you worry about your clothes?

It didn't take me a long time, but it took me a little while to decide what am I going to wear today, right?

I should have just rolled out of bed with my flannels on and showed up.

No, no, no, no, maybe not, maybe not, but we don't need to worry about that, do we?

Question number four, what am I going to eat?

It's been a long time since I missed a meal, a long time, what am I going to drink?

These are the questions that Jesus has for you today, and what is his instruction, what is his teaching for us this morning when we find it in verse number 31?

Don't do it, don't worry, he's telling you right there as he takes another sip of coffee, don't worry.

Verse 32, man, even the pagans run after these things, your father knows what's going on here, he's been around the block a time or two, he created you, remember, right?

Your father knows you need to eat and drink, he knows you need clothes to wear, he knows what's going to happen tomorrow, don't you worry.

You know, it seems like that the first half of this chapter, you know, when we were talking about prayer and fasting and treasures in heaven and giving to the needy, and a lot of these were just outward signs, right, they're very visible, we could see, in fact, the instruction was don't do it to be seen, right, check your motivation, all right, check your ego in at the door and then go do these things, in fact, don't even let your left hand know what your right is doing, but this last section here, beginning in verse number 25 where he talks about do not worry, you know, I'm pretty good about hiding, I'm pretty good about tucking that inside and appearing pretty good on the outside, it's just as deadly.

It's a cancer that's fatal to your soul.

Worry, worry, and why is this?

Because verse 33, he sums it up, he answers the questions, but seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well.

What do we have to worry about?

What do we have to worry about as long as we're seeking the kingdom of God and his righteousness first?

I remember the verse back in Ecclesiastes, you know, talking about being over-righteous, you know, being over-wise, being over-wicked, I would really like to see a show of hands this morning.

How many of you are righteous?

Let's just stay with righteous, okay, how many of you are righteous, okay, how many of you are wicked?

Oh, we got more wicked people here than righteous people, actually, if you take the full scope of your life, I would have loved to have seen a raise of hands both times.

We are wicked, we're hopeless, we're hopelessly wicked, we may even be over-wicked at some point in time, right, but the same is true of our righteousness, our righteousness does not come from ourselves, it comes from ever-seeking God's kingdom, right, that's how we become righteous.

Now, I want to speak to all believers here this morning.

I think we got a slide on 1 Corinthians, if you can find that, 1 Corinthians chapter 8, this is one of those scriptures that I came across, oh, a month or two back or so, it won't leave me, it's become part of my consciousness.

1 Corinthians 8 · chapter mention

Now, about food, again, we're picking up in a discussion about, of all things, food's sacrifice to idols.

Now, about food's sacrifice to idols, we know that we all possess knowledge, don't we all possess knowledge, forget about the idol thing, all right, maybe not so much there, but we possess an awful lot of knowledge in other areas, right, we feel pretty comfortable with a lot of scripture, we can talk, pretty good game when it comes to that, right, we think we know about God, right, we can tell you about the life of Jesus and some of his miracles and those kind of things, right, Paul continues by telling a church at Corinth, but knowledge puffs up, but what, but love builds up, I want you to think about this, how confident do we think when we actually learn something, wow, I never knew that before, when somebody asks you a question, you can give the right answer, wow, look what I did, I actually answered correctly, knowledge puffs up, it affects our pride in ways, it's insidious, we don't even understand how it does this, but thank God for the second part of that verse where he says, but love builds up, but love builds up, those who think they know something, knowledge, those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know, now there's one, there's a thick piece of meat you need to live with the rest of your life, right, those of us who think we know something do not know as we ought to, wow, you better learn some more, but not just that, we need to learn to love, right, because love is our trump card, we're not going to have all knowledge, we're not going to have it all figured out, even by the time that we die, even if we learn every day, even if we learn from all the mistakes that we've made in life, we're not going to get there, but love will get us there because love trumps knowledge, look at the last, look at the last thing that he writes here, but whoever loves God is known by God, whoever loves God is known by God, wow, I feel good because all I got to do is to focus on my love for God, he'll get me there, I know he'll get me there because I'm seeking first his kingdom, I love God, I love his kingdom, help me get there father, I know I'm going to screw up today, I know I've been a mess, I know I failed more than I've succeeded, but God, I love you, help your struggling servant, so really the question, the final question that the lesson comes down to today is this one I'm going to present to you, do you love God, do you love God, remember how Jesus asked one of his disciples that same question, Peter, do you love me, and Peter said, yeah, of course I love you, no, no, no, Peter, do you love me, well, of course I love you, Jesus, Peter, do you love me, I think Jesus is asking each one of us that same thing today, there's another question, and it's such an important question that you, he just can't ask us once, he has to ask us every day that we wake up, when that alarm goes off, Paul, do you love me, Paul, do you love me, let's go back and end in Matthew chapter 6 here before we wrap things up, Matthew 6 and right in the middle of that chapter, we find a prayer, right, it's like a lot of times Jesus, you know, leaves us on our own to figure things out a little bit, but in here he gets kind of specific with his disciples, and he says this then is how you should pray, we got a slide on that one, I think, so as we close today, I want us to pray as Jesus taught us to pray, and as we pray, this isn't something wrote, I want you to read this with fresh eyes, with new understanding, with greater knowledge, with greater purpose today.

Matthew 6 · chapter mention

After we have this word of prayer, we're going to have a time of fellowship that happens only when we come together as we remember the body and the blood of our Lord, and the sacrifice, the love that he demonstrated to each one of us, that same love that he wants us to reflect and to give to others.

Will you pray with me?

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

For yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever.

Amen.

Thank you so much for listening to the Kalamazoo Church of Christ podcast.

If you're in the Kalamazoo area, we'd love to get connected.

Please go to kalamazoo.church and fill in your information to come to a Sunday service or any other event that we have going on.

In any case, you'll be hearing from us next week.

He's saving souls.