THIS IS TABLE ROCK FELLOWSHIP – PASTOR RYAN LADEN
Common to All
In our reading of the Sermon on the Mount for this week we heard Jesus speak to an issue that affects every person on earth. If we are paying attention, thinking about the realities of life, we will find that there are lots of reasonable concerns, worries and sources of anxiety all around us.
In the passage that follows we hear the beginning of the larger teaching of Jesus on this common subject:
“Therefore 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? 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 any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?”
True, But….
When I read this message from Jesus, my first reaction is always to agree, but with some pretty huge exemptions. It seems impossible to truly live without worry of any kind. Even in saying that, I am now feeling a bit anxious about whether I am worrying about anything at the moment.
Birds
In verse 26 Jesus challenges us to look to creation, look to the birds to see an example of God’s generous provision. I understand that the point being made by Jesus is that if the Lord will care for the birds, then he will care for his people. That makes sense.
But what makes more sense is to look at how the birds are cared for within creation. The Lord does not feed the birds their every meal. Nor do the birds live lives of leisure and frivolity. If the birds want to partake of the bounty supplied by God’s created order, they must get up and go out. They must work hard to collect the food that the Lord has provided. They do not sit idle and expect God to drop worms into their nests each morning. The birds know that the only way to feed their young is to be actively out, working hard for their sustenance.
This same point was made well by the Apostle Paul while speaking to those who were a part of the local church. Listen to the call of God that Paul laid out before the people:
“In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers and sisters, to keep away from every believer who is idle and disruptive and does not live according to the teaching you received from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you, nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you. We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you to imitate. For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: “The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.”
“We hear that some among you are idle and disruptive. They are not busy; they are busybodies. Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the food they eat. And as for you, brothers and sisters, never tire of doing what is good.”
All In
While not all people are able to provide for their needs and the needs of others, all people can be actively supporting the work of those the Lord uses to provide. We must see that we are called by God to work hard, provide for our own needs, and be a blessing to others and to the family of faith (the local church).
If you are able to pray for those who provide, do so with thanks and gratitude. If you are able to work and to contribute to the Lord’s people and to your own family, then do so as an act of worship and obedience to the Lord.
Balance
Like the birds of the air, God has provided for us all that we need to work, provide and be a blessing to others in this life. We need to stop and give God thanks for these provisions.
We need to see that one of the ways we can overcome worry is to function in such a way that we are lifting up to the Lord productive and meaningful lives. As we produce good fruit for the glory of the Lord we will find that our worries take a back seat to the joy of being a blessing to our families and to our church.
Prayer
· Ask the Lord to help you replace worry with a desire to be productive in the name of Jesus.
· Give thanks to God for his provisions. Count those blessings!
In Christ,
Ryan Laden
OUR MISSION AS A CHURCH
“TO ENCOURAGE AND EQUIP EACH OTHER IN LOVE TO KNOW JESUS AND MAKE HIM KNOWN”
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