Matthew 6:19-34 - Kingdom Priorities of Beloved Children

You are listening to a message from Southwood Presbyterian Church in Huntsville, Alabama.

Our passion is to experience and express grace. Join us.

But we are going to look at Matthew chapter 6 this morning.

Matthew 6 · chapter mention

I want to thank you one more time for the privilege of taking some time in study and prayer.

A couple of weeks ago was a really helpful time for me.

I'm so excited next week to jump into the Gospel of Luke with you.

Pray for that time. Read ahead if you like.

But regardless, be excited about what God will teach us there.

But today we're actually going to look at a pretty familiar passage in the Gospel of Matthew.

God has brought this passage to mind for me multiple occasions this summer

as He has been teaching me and in my life the priority of heavenly realities.

The fact that eternal truths must impact today.

That the reality of heaven has to shape and transform my earthly life.

He's been teaching me that primarily through the book of Daniel as we've been in it.

And in some other ways, I'll tell you more about that in a minute.

But first let's read God's Word together.

This is Jesus speaking in the middle of the Sermon on the Mount.

You'll hear that theme of our priorities right away as we start reading in Matthew 6 at verse 19.

This is God's Word.

In a world of broken promises, something completely reliable.

In a world of rapidly changing realities, something eternally unchanging.

In a world of mess and folly, something entirely pure and right.

Jesus says,

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal.

But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys 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 body.

So if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light.

But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.

If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other,

or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.

You cannot serve God and money.

Therefore, I tell you, do not be anxious about your life,

what you will eat or what you will drink,

nor about your body, what you will 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 a single hour 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 you 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 after all these things,

and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.

But seek first the kingdom of God

and His righteousness,

and all these things will be added to you.

Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow,

for tomorrow will be anxious for itself.

Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Will you pray with me?

Father, thank you for your word.

Thank you that it is not only true,

but that it is the truth that we need.

That it speaks into our lives.

That it changes our hearts.

So Holy Spirit, use your word in our hearts

to make us different.

To show us Jesus.

To strengthen our faith in Him.

We ask that you would do it in Jesus' name.

Amen.

I want to bring you into a conversation

that I had recently,

and a conversation that brought this passage

to mind for me again.

We were in our van,

driving back from the beach

at the end of vacation just last week.

summer is coming to an end,

and I turned to my wife

and asked what I thought

was a seemingly innocent question.

So, what does this fall look like for us?

Seemed like a good conversation starter.

And so over the next few minutes,

we did what many of you have done before.

You've had conversations like these.

We start talking about all the things

that are important to us

and that are on our plates.

And thinking of things like,

of course, school starting.

And there's teachers to get to know.

And wanting to volunteer

in our kids' classrooms.

And then there are small groups

and Bible studies

and friends at church

that we want to deepen relationships with.

Neighbors we ought to have over

and we still haven't gotten to know.

And others that we want to talk to

about Jesus.

And we need time with them.

There's goals at work

and a lot to be done.

Projects that are getting started.

Home repairs that we need to talk about,

have meetings about.

And we start talking.

I'm already starting to feel

a little unclear

how it's all going to happen

unless there are more than seven days

in any upcoming weeks.

My blood pressure is rising.

How am I going to manage all of this?

And then there's kids' activities.

Is gymnastics or swimming

or piano or ballet or art?

At least football is not on the list

in our family.

So we could cross that one off.

You know, or maybe we could do both of those

if we got the schedule to work out right

and we figured out the carpooling.

We could possibly fit them both

into the plan for the fall.

And I'll confess,

as we started having this conversation,

this thought literally went through my head.

It was brief and I slapped myself.

But I thought,

we've been watching the Olympic trials.

My girls love watching.

The Olympics are coming up.

You know what?

If they're going to make the Olympic team

in eight years,

I'm going to need them full time

in swimming and gymnastics.

We're already behind.

How are they ever going to get that moment?

That crossed my mind.

Oh yeah, did someone say date night?

Oh honey,

I think I promised once upon a time

that our relationship would be a priority.

That I would invest in that.

It would be important.

Good grief.

Many of you have had those conversations

and felt the anxiety build.

How am I going to figure out

what to do?

It may be a fall thing for you

or it may not be.

It may be a fall thing

that you haven't gotten to yet

because you're protesting

having that conversation in July.

But whether you're a planner like me

or a more spontaneous type,

I've realized that what often drives us

when we have those conversations

and make those decisions

is what I'd call the tyranny of the urgent.

You ever felt yourself driven by that?

For many of us,

when we get in conversations

like I just described,

everything feels urgent,

doesn't it?

How do I even know

what's really important?

There's so much that we could do

that sometimes we just shut

those conversations down

and go on with life

and then we end up living

by the tyranny of the urgent.

Whatever feels most important to me

in the moment when I get there,

whatever I like or feel I need,

what we want.

And after those conversations,

that's often just Netflix

or something to check out

and not have to make any more decisions.

That conversation in our van

made me think of something

my dad used to tell me a lot

when I was growing up.

He used to say often,

the main thing is to keep the main thing

the main thing.

That's what that silly little acronym

in your bulletin stands for.

Jesus tells us that there is actually

a priority for our lives as His followers.

Something that ought to be primary

in how we spend our time,

our money, our energy.

Now it doesn't make all the decisions

for us, unfortunately.

But I'm convinced it must be

a part of our conversations

and I for one often leave it out

and let the tyranny of the urgent,

my momentary priorities

just rule the day.

If we can at least be making our decisions

with the main thing is the main thing,

we'll have gotten a good start.

And we just read it.

Jesus says to seek something first.

He actually tells us what's most important.

Our priority, seek first the kingdom of God

and His righteousness.

Oh, right.

Jesus should be a part of those conversations.

Heavenly realities are to shape

and transform my earthly life

every day, everything I do.

You see, we know why Jesus needs to remind us

to keep the main thing the main thing,

don't we?

It's because we're consistently caught up

worrying about other things.

It's the universal problem

Jesus addresses here in this passage,

doesn't He?

We struggle with worry

and with anxiety

because we are prone to be self-focused

and self-reliant.

You see, sometimes worry comes

from having self-focused priorities,

from placing an undue importance

on the things of the world

and what I want.

That's why Jesus begins this passage

talking about what we treasure.

That's the context of what He's saying.

Laying up treasures in heaven

instead of earth,

verse 19 and 20.

Of serving God instead of money,

verse 24.

We worry about the things

that are important to us,

don't we?

The things we treasure.

You've never gotten anxious

about something that's meaningless to you.

Often our hearts have begun

to treasure selfish things

more than we should.

So Jesus says, verse 25,

don't be anxious about your life,

about your body.

Verse 31, about what we will eat

or drink or wear.

Don't be anxious.

I'm concerned about me being fulfilled.

About me being secure.

That's what those verses mean.

I struggle to treasure God

and His kingdom

and I naturally treasure myself

and my kingdom.

Things going how I want them to.

That's one reason we worry.

But we also worry

because we're prone

to be self-reliant.

The rest of the passage here

where Jesus says multiple times,

do not be anxious,

do not be anxious,

do not be anxious,

is telling us not to be anxious

about things that actually do matter.

They're important things, right?

Food, clothing, and so forth.

Those are needs that we do have.

We may give them undue importance sometimes,

but other times the problem

is not so much that

as that we give ourselves

an undue burden to provide them.

And our anxiety comes from

how I will meet my needs.

Notice verse 27 makes this really clear.

Which of you, by being anxious,

can add a single hour

to His span of life?

You're not able, Jesus is saying.

Your being anxious doesn't address

your needs.

You see, your health matters

because God has given you life.

But we worry about it

as though we carry the burden

of fixing the problem,

of providing for ourselves

what we need.

And this is exactly the place

Jesus wants spiritual realities

to transform our lives.

Listen, it's not that

that your health doesn't matter.

That your need to eat

or your need to be secure

are unimportant to God.

In fact, quite the opposite.

He wants you to know

that these concerns

that are so heavy on your radar

are also on His.

We have an extravagant provider.

Our Heavenly Father delights

to meet our needs faithfully

and lavishly.

It is this generous

and caring heart of our Father

that is of utmost importance

in this passage.

It's the thing that it all hangs on.

Notice how Jesus makes the point

about how God cares for us

through examples in nature, right?

Verse 26,

look at the birds of the air.

They are not doing it.

They don't sow or reap

or gather into barns.

And yet, who does it?

Your Heavenly Father feeds them.

Are you not of more value than they?

Who's taking care of the birds?

Your Heavenly Father.

The One who gave you life

and brought you into His family.

He didn't just do that

to let you starve.

Look how faithfully He cares

for the birds.

Day by day.

Meal by meal.

Even though they don't plant and till

to provide for themselves.

And then consider the lilies.

Verse 28,

how they grow.

They don't toil or 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,

it's not going to last.

It doesn't have the eternal life

with Him that you know.

How will He not much more

clothe you,

O you of little faith?

The lilies don't provide

their own garments.

And yet God clothes them

not just adequately,

but beautifully.

He displays His glory

and His creativity

and His creation,

doesn't He?

How much more will He do it

for His children?

It's that classic argument

from the lesser to the greater.

If He's done it for them,

how much more can we trust Him

to provide for His children

whom He loves so much more

than the grass and the birds?

We do not have a stingy

or unreliable provider.

We can trust our Father

who delights to give good gifts

to His children.

A pastor friend of mine

tells the story of a young boy

who was adopted into a family

after spending the first few years

of his life as an orphan.

Mistreated, malnourished,

often going for long periods of time

without being fed at all.

And he loved his new family,

loved being a part of it,

loved the home.

But not long after he was adopted

by his new family,

the parents began to notice food

missing from the fridge

and the pantry.

At first they didn't think

anything of it,

but as it became a pattern,

they started to look around

and investigate.

What's going on?

One day the father walked into

his newly adopted son's bedroom

and found him under the bed

with a stockpile of food

gathered around him.

And of course,

the son explained what was going on,

that he was fearful

that this wonderful food

he'd been receiving

would stop being given to him,

that it would run out,

that it wouldn't be shared

with him anymore.

It broke the father's heart,

of course.

It also gave the father

an opportunity

to reassure his son

of what was really true.

He got to say to him,

you're my son.

You're part of this family now.

This house is my house

and all the food in it

is mine.

And because of that,

it is yours.

It will always be yours

and I will always make sure

you have enough.

You don't have to provide

for yourself any longer.

You're my son.

So often we're like

the little boy under the bed,

aren't we?

We're not confident

in the provision of our father

and we're anxious

about providing for ourselves.

And Jesus says this morning

something very important.

It's not merely

don't be anxious.

But even more helpfully

than that,

it's you don't have to be anxious.

You don't need to be anxious.

You see, Jesus understands

why we are concerned

about these things.

And he knows that

just telling someone to worry,

to stop worrying,

probably won't help things.

You know that

if you've ever been worried.

Stop worrying!

That just makes it worse,

doesn't it?

If that's all that you're told,

you start to obsess

over the thing

that you're worried about

and I can't stop

thinking about it.

Jesus says something more.

He says,

I want you to know

you don't need

to be anxious.

Everything you truly need,

your heavenly father

will provide

faithfully

and lavishly.

Listen to how Jesus

closes the argument

verse 31.

Verse 31.

Therefore,

do not be anxious

saying,

what shall we eat

or drink

or wear?

Why?

For the Gentiles

seek after all these things

and your heavenly father

knows that you need them all.

He's not scolding you.

Stop worrying about eating.

You don't need to eat.

Now, what's he saying?

Don't be anxious

about what you're going to eat.

The most extravagant provider

in all the world

is your father

and he knows

what you need

even better

than you do.

You don't have to be anxious

about it.

I know you're concerned

about being fulfilled

and secure,

he says.

I'm not scolding you

for wanting your family

to be provided for,

but I want you to know

that I am the extravagant provider,

not you.

I know you need

all those things.

It's those without a father

who have to chase

after these things,

but you've been adopted.

You have a caring

and generous father

who provides

even for those

outside his family,

birds,

lilies,

Gentiles,

and so especially

for his own children.

His eye

is on the sparrow,

even the sparrow,

so you can know

he's watching you.

Here's the really exciting

part of that.

For those of you like me

having those conversations

in your van

and getting anxious

and not knowing anything

to do with the worry

and the anxiety

and not knowing

how to make any decisions

for what should be important

in the midst

of all the busyness.

Jesus says that

the reason I want you

to know that your heavenly

Father is providing

for all those other needs

is so you can keep

the main thing,

the main thing.

Verse 33.

Seek first

the kingdom of God

and His righteousness

and all these things

will be added

to you.

Having an extravagant provider

as your Father

frees us.

It sets us free

to have refocused priorities.

Our passions and lives

now can and must be shaped

by kingdom priorities.

Imagine that little boy

under the bed again, right?

He's been every spare moment

because of his past,

he's had to spend his time

and energy

scheming how he can gather

more food

to provide for himself.

It's all he can think about

and dream about

but now he doesn't have to anymore.

Now he knows his Father

has him covered.

He's got time

and energy to spare.

Now we are freed up

to dream

not about ourselves

and making our lives better

and how we can move up

a little bit

but about God's kingdom

and how we can advance it.

And Jesus says

that's actually the treasure.

That's actually

what's most important.

This is the priority.

You can focus on the priority

without fear

of causing harm to yourself.

All these things

you tend to worry about,

those things

your Heavenly Father

knows you need,

they will be added to you.

Pardon me for a minute,

I'm a grammar nerd.

will be added

is in the passive voice.

It's a beautiful passive

because it's what's called

a divine passive.

It's passive

because you don't see

the subject of the sentence.

Who's doing the adding?

The divine passive is

God is doing the adding.

God will see to it

that those things

are added to you.

Your Heavenly Father

knows you need those things

and will take care of you.

And so,

knowing that our time

is valuable,

Jesus directs us here

on what the priority is

that must shape

our decisions.

It's the kingdom of God

and His righteousness.

Now that may sound like

old news to you.

Boy,

that was profound,

Will.

I didn't expect to hear that

at church today.

The importance of God

and righteousness.

I'd suggest it may be old news,

but it's not second nature

to us to live

with that kind of kingdom priority.

We have other priorities

pushed on us all the time,

don't we?

The news media

would 24-7

have us believe

that the political conventions

are what's most important

in life.

That international economy

or celebrity lifestyles

are most important.

Social media

is 24-7

telling us

that how we look

is what's most important.

Looking like

an all-American family.

And that our kids

should be priority number one.

And so,

what we feed them

or don't feed them,

whether we vaccinate them

or don't vaccinate them,

parent them this way

or that way,

it all hinges on that.

You've got to get it right

or you've failed.

It's going to determine

all the rest of their life

and whether or not

they're successful.

Listen,

Jesus says

to our anxious hearts,

let me cut through

the confusion

and the anxiety.

Seek first

the kingdom of God.

You don't know

how to sort out

the top priority right now?

Let me do it for you.

Me, the one who created

this whole world

and you to live in it,

I'll tell you,

seek first

the kingdom of God.

And now we're set free,

aren't we?

Our hearts,

our creativities,

our time

is set free

to serve the kingdom

with what some would look at

and say is reckless abandon.

They're not being wise.

But we can do that

because we know

that our heavenly Father

is meeting

all our needs.

See, I'm not just talking

about churchy stuff

here.

That's not all

the kingdom of God means.

Seek first the kingdom

is much bigger

than this building

or this day of the week.

What does it mean

to seek first the kingdom?

Just a few thoughts

to get you going.

At work,

it means rather than

just working to see

how you can make more money

at the end of this year,

you can invest

some of your time

to address broken systems

and unrighteous practices

in your industry.

It also means

practicing honesty

and integrity

in your business

rather than cutting corners

to get ahead.

With your free time,

it means rather than

getting to the gym

every single night

of the week

to perfect your body

just the way you'd like,

you can find yourself

in the Oscar Mason Center

perhaps one or two nights

a week.

Investing in the life

of a Jobs for Life student.

What about in your relationships?

It means rather than

focusing all your

relational energies

on those who will make you

look good

and feel good

about yourself,

boy, we like to do that.

We're free to invest

in those who can't

repay us.

It also means

we move intentionally

towards those

who don't know the king.

It also means

we use our tongues

to protect and build up

rather than slander

and tear down

those he made

in his image.

What about spiritually?

What about church stuff?

It means investing

in your relationship

with King Jesus.

That it's important

in your relationship

with your heavenly father

who is caring for you.

Maybe something else

is going to have to go

so that a small group

Bible study fits this fall.

Maybe corporate worship

does need to be

more of a priority

for you.

Maybe you can sacrifice

a little sleep

to be with your father

and trust him

to meet your need

for daily strength.

It also means longing

and praying

for his kingdom to come.

How about parenting?

I've picked on parents

a little

and included myself

and my Olympic dreams

in that mix.

I think it's really important

for us as parents here.

It's vital for us

to remember

that we are not

the only ones

with a heavenly father.

Remember the sign

of the covenant promises

that we placed

on little faith

just a few minutes ago?

This passage means

that our kids

have a heavenly father too.

An extravagant provider

for them.

And not one

that is you

or me.

It's their heavenly father.

And that means

priorities as a parent

are not merely

making money

to put food

on the table

and clothes

on my kids' backs.

Not merely shopping

for clothes

and cooking food.

But,

even more than that,

teaching them

the truths

of God's words

so that they

know their heavenly father.

Exposing their hearts

to the glories

of the gospel.

Sacrificing

and serving

alongside our kids

for the extension

of the kingdom

so they see

what's most important.

Helping them learn

to love others

different from them

the way the king

loves us.

How about that

for this school year?

Things our kids

need

need

to be reminded

of.

You see,

the vision

of Southwood

is to advance

the kingdom

of God.

And that doesn't

mean only

in this place,

only on Sundays.

That means

every moment

of every day

in all of life,

all of us,

to advance

God's kingdom.

We're called

to seek first

His kingdom,

to long for,

pray for,

and work for

a world

that reflects

His righteous character

everywhere.

Some of us

need to go back

and have that

anxiety-inducing

van conversation

all over again

from a different

perspective.

That's our priority

this fall.

It's going to look

different for every

one of us,

but regardless

of what it looks like,

the main thing

is to keep

the main thing

the main thing.

And in this passage,

the main thing

is to experience

the extravagant love

of our Heavenly Father.

See, most religions

and sadly,

even many Christian churches

tell you to seek God first

and do kingdom stuff

and if you do it

well enough,

God will take care of you.

He'll provide

everything you need

if you just seek Him

hard enough

and well enough.

Biblical Christianity says,

before you sought God

at all,

He sought you

and loved you

so much,

He sent His Son

to die for you.

How do you know

that you're more valuable

than the birds,

more important to Him

than the lilies?

Romans 8,

He who did not spare

His own Son

but gave Him up

for us all,

how will He not also

along with Him

graciously

give us

all things?

Listen,

He has already

made you

His sons and daughters.

You're not auditioning

with how well

you seek the kingdom.

He has already

made you

His sons and daughters.

Jesus says,

He is your heavenly Father.

He will provide

faithfully

and lavishly.

He has met

your greatest need

in sending His Son

to be your Savior,

your substitute.

You can trust Him

to meet all

of your other needs.

He is,

after all,

your Father.

And so He

and His kingdom

are worth seeking

above all else.

If selfish people

like you and me

are going to have

our hearts changed

to the point

that we'll be willing

to reorder our priorities

and reshape our lives

for the sake of the King,

the main thing

we need ringing

in our ears

and hearts

this week

is the soul-freeing

good news

that our Heavenly Father

is caring for us

and holding us

in His hands.

We've heard it sung

once beautifully,

this morning.

It's captured really well

in the words

of this children's song

by Rain for Roots

that James is going to

come and sing

for us now.

As James sings

these words,

listen to these simple

and beautiful words

and consider God's Word

to you this morning.

See the birds you are singing

in the spring air

giving everything

they need

they don't worry

where the next meal

will come from

they don't worry

about a thing

so just

look around you

and try to listen

to the song

creation sings

don't you worry

cause you're in

the hands

of the God

who made everything

She's not

See the flowers in your colorful beauty.

They're dressed better than the king.

They don't worry about what they should wear, no.

They don't worry about a thing.

So just look around you and try to listen to the song creation sings.

Don't you worry cause you're in the hands of the God who made everything.

You're not a bird and you're not a flower and you don't have petals and wings.

But there's good news you were so much more to the God who made everything.

Oh.

So when you worry about today or tomorrow and the storms that they might bring.

Do remember that you're in the hands of the God who made everything.

So just look around you and try to listen to the song creation sings.

Don't you worry cause you're in the hands of the God who made everything.

God who made everything.

You're in the hands of the God who made everything.

For more information visit us online at southwood.org.

Thank you.

Thank you.