A Respectable Sin

By the way, there are some notes, if you would like some notes, they're on the table back there. Maybe you could slip out and grab some if you want some, so it's easier to follow along. It's harder to follow along when it's a topical sermon and we're just jumping around all over the place. So if you want to do that, they're on the table in the foyer. Well, we're here to look into the Word of God as we continue our series on fear and worry.

And so I'd ask that you bow with me as we pray and ask God to speak to us. Lord God, as we come to you now, we come to learn from your Word. we are here because we love you we are here because you are worthy of our worship we are here so that we can learn how to be disciples of jesus for lord he is the ultimate expression of your will and if we obey him then we will be obeying you and as we do this as we look we pray that you would help us now to learn how to be the kind of disciples of Jesus we need to be. So guide our thinking in the moments that follow.

And we'll thank you in Jesus' name. Amen. Let's turn to Matthew chapter 6. Matthew chapter 6. We'll begin reading in verse 19, and we'll read to the end of the chapter. You follow as I read.

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 that for the day is its own trouble when you hear the word anxiety or worry what videos start playing in your mind.

For me, it's my first year of ministry here at LaRue Baptist Church. My mind at that time was a mind of ceaseless, unstoppable, perpetual anxiety. I thought about the board meeting on Tuesday night. I thought about the couple coming in tonight. I sat at the kitchen table with my wife and my three sons yet they were invisible to me because my mind was constantly scanning the horizon for some kind of threat that may be coming the constant theme of my anxiety was the fear that I would do something or say something that would split the church I would arrive on Sunday mornings anxious figuring everyone would know the sermon was lousy because I'd been lazy that week anxiety helped me fast by reminding me that my responsibilities had increased six months into ministry you know I was here I was not at Brock making sure that the parts kits made it up to the shipping dock No my responsibility had changed to looking after the eternal destinies of human souls What anxious thoughts grip you?

What keeps you awake at night? What are the images playing on the screen of your mind? maybe you're worried that you'll never make ends meet is it that you might lose your job could it be that you lay awake wondering every night if tomorrow at work things will go well could it be that you lay awake wondering if your children will ever be saved and it's not just one of these things it's all of those things that are on your mind Not just one. All of them are constantly playing on your mind.

And for many of you, you are so in the rut of worry that when you're not worrying, you notice it. And you start to worry about the fact that you're not worrying. Okay? Now, I know that if you weren't wearing your masks, I would right now be seeing many faces of recognition to what I'm saying. You know that's the way it is. don't you? Well, some might think it's okay to worry.

Well, I can see how fear might be a sin. I mean, fear can lead you to cowardice, and then you're not going to do what you know to be right. But worry is not so much sin because it's getting prepared for tough, tough, for troubles, for tough situations. No, no, no, no, no, no. I'm not worried. I'm just concerned.

And so worry or anxiety becomes a respectable sin. First, we excuse worry as concern that prepares us for future troubles. Or we just redefine it as merely, I'm just concerned. Well, let's start out here. What is the difference between worry and concern? What is the difference? well first of all you need to recognize that there is such a thing as concern there is such a thing as concern the bible recognizes that but what interesting is that the word in the new Testament translated concern is the exact same word in other places that translated as anxious or worry Okay?

The word marisma, the Greek word, and I don't normally throw Greek at you, okay? I'm not trying to impress you with anything here. I just thought you might be interested in this. The Greek word marisma is the word in some places translated concern, in other places translated anxious or worried. The translation depends on the context. For example, let's talk about concern.

Philippians 2 verses 19 and 20. Turn to Philippians 2, 19 and 20. You'll see our word translated a particular way. philippians 2 19 through 20 the apostle paul's writing the church of philippi and here he mentions his dear son in the faith timothy and he says this about timothy philippians 2 verse 19 i hope in the lord jesus to send timothy to you soon so that i too may be cheered by news of you for i have for i have no one like him who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare Timothy's not anxious.

He's concerned for these people. He's concerned that they do well. Turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 12, verse 24. The last part of verse 24, 24b, 1 Corinthians 12, 24 through 26. We read this. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the, here's our word, may have the same care for one another.

If one member suffers, all suffer together. If one member is honored, all rejoice together. Here it's translated as care. And we have care for one another, concern for one another. So what is concern? Concern scans the horizon with vigilance And when it identifies a possible threat It makes the appropriate plans to meet it Okay?

Concern scans the horizon with vigilance And when it identifies a possible threat threat or a difficulty or some trouble, it makes appropriate plans to meet it. Now, when I graduated from seminary, Becca thought that my education was still incomplete, although I'd just spent four years, you know, four years after college studying. She thought my education was not complete.

I needed to go, we needed to go home to Iowa and be part of the harvest. well essentially what happened was I went home and helped with the harvest and we figured we'd be there for a few months and the church would snatch me up and you know that didn't happen in fact it didn't happen for four years no one wanted me but so we were in Iowa for a year Calvin was born there and and 1982 came along we were living with our folks I was farming with another guy. Becca was pregnant with Levi, and we thought, we can't stay here. This isn't right for us to grow our family under my in-law's roof.

We need to go back to Indiana. We need to go back to Indiana. So here I was with my wife and newborn son with another one on the way. It's time to move back to Indiana. Where we owned our house, I was renting it out to a friend. so here are the difficulties I have no job and by the way this was 1982 now some of you this is just history for you in fact 90% of this congregation here 1982 is a history to you but for us who are old enough to remember that that was after Jimmy Carter had been defeated by Ronald Reagan and in 1982 the economy had basically crashed like there were no jobs interest rates were through the roof it was unbelievable but we didn't think it was right to stay in Iowa so we were going to move back to Indiana so here are the difficulties I have no job the house we own in Indiana is rented out and I don't have a lot of money and so a plan what does concern do concern has a plan save up some money so that when we go back will have some kind of a cushion until I can find a job.

We need money, right, to buy food, buy gas, those sorts of things. So we need to have some money when we go back A couple of weeks previous to the move I was going to take my father 1956 Ford right His pickup truck, the 56 truck. Nice. It's still in use, by the way. But even then, in 1982, now it's a classic vehicle. So I'm going to load our few possessions in that pickup truck a couple of weeks before we move and haul them there and then drive back.

I would have to talk to my friend who's renting our house that he needs to find a place. And the plan was I would spend every day on the streets looking for a job. By the way, in those days when you look for a job, you're on the streets. You walk up, and I would walk, go to the industrial park, and walk up one side of the street and down the other, just filling out applications.

And the plan was I would do that, and I would do that every day. That was the plan. When you're out of a job, your job becomes looking for a job. Right. So my plan was I'm going to be looking for a job. All right.

So that's concern. You make the plan and you go with it as as the Lord allows. Now, what about anxiety? Let's look at how the word is translated anxious in the scriptures. Our word that we see there. Turn to Luke chapter 12.

Luke chapter 12. Begin in verse 11. And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious. There's our word. Do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say. for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say. So we're told in the midst of being hauled up before the authorities, right, who have the power of life and death, don't be anxious about what you're going to say.

Don't be worried about what you're going to say. So as you anticipate that, don't worry about it. Verses 25 and 26, same chapter. And which of you, by being anxious, can add a single hour to his span of life? If then you are not able to do a smaller thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? Right?

So, if you worry, you can't add a single minute to your life. It doesn accomplish anything Now turn over to Philippians chapter 4 verse 6 This is clearly command from God In Philippians 4 verse 6 it says Do not be anxious about anything but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. So here we find how the word is translated as anxious in those contexts where we would be worried.

So anxiety, what is anxiety? What does it look like? Anxiety scans the horizon with vigilance looking for possible threats, like concern, but it's vigilance that's out of control. You continually scan the horizon. You don't wait for things to pop up. You start looking for things, right?

You start looking for things to worry about. You're always asking the what ifs. it's vigilance trying to maintain control so that you can protect yourself from whatever, from heartbreak, from the ruin of your reputation, whatever. Right? It's vigilance out of control that's trying to control in order to protect yourself. And the thing is, you're trying to control what is impossible to control, which is the future.

You can't control the future now. And so it's vigilance out of control. So, we're going to move to Indiana. Right? I have no job. The house we own is rented out, and I don't have a lot of money.

So, save some money from what I'm earning to set up a cushion so we can at least buy food, buy gas, and stay ahead of there. But what if we can't save enough money before we leave? what if we can't save enough money before we leave I may lose my job three weeks before we go now what are we going to do right and Mike is getting married and he, my boss and he may not be farming then what am I going to do I won't have any job then how are we going to have enough money to leave and remember a couple of weeks previous to the move I plan on taking my father-in-law's 1956 Ford truck and move our little bit of possessions, but should I take his truck Maybe I should take our car but that means I would make two trips And to make two trips that means less money We might not be able to make it Should I take his truck And what if I wreck it It's already a classic vehicle. What if I wreck his truck?

And what would he think about me if I wrecked his truck? And can I move everything in one trip or not? Right? And my friend, our friends who are renting our house, and he needs to find a place. What if Dave and Lori, our friends, don't want to move and they get mad at me? And then I'm going to lose that friendship.

And Dave and Lori and us, we go back so long. And, man, if I ask him to move and he doesn't want to move, then what's going to happen to our friendship? And especially, what if he can't find a place to live that he can afford? Then what? Then what should I do? And if that's the case, maybe I should let them stay.

Maybe I should try to find a place. But if I try to find a place, it will use up all the money that we're trying to save. and I'm going to spend every day on the streets looking for work until I find a job. Taking the first one, that'll take me. But what if there aren't any jobs? What if we're moving there for nothing? What if we move there and I can't find a job?

Then what are we going to do? Are we going to move back? Should we move back then? Maybe we should ask my in-laws for money to help us until I do find a job. But then what would they think of me? And maybe we could go back to the church where we've been members and we left for a year and ask the deacons for help.

But, you know, we've been gone for a year. They might be hesitant to give us money. And I can't sign up for unemployment. I haven't even worked in Indiana long enough to do that. And if I could get unemployment, what would my family think of me? You see where this is going, don't you?

Do you see the difference between concern and anxiety? Anxiety is vigilance that's out of control. It's saying, I've got to do this, and this is what I ought to do. And then it just goes nuts on you. And listen, what I've described, many of you out there know exactly what I'm talking about. You know what I'm talking about.

Your mind goes ape, right? You're just running 100 miles an hour. Well, we need to recognize when concern becomes sinful worry and anxiety. How do you know when you've crossed the line from concern to anxiety? You've kind of heard what it looks like. you kind of can imagine, but let's just put it down in a systematic way. Concern becomes sinful worry when it damages the body.

You know, you've got a spasm. Asthma is really more worse. You get skin rash, there's headaches, there's all kinds of physical manifestations of anxiety. I'll never forget. I am feeling this pain and it just won't go away. And so I went to the doctor.

I finally went to the doctor. I just wouldn't quit. I go to the doctor. He examines me. He does all that he does. And he says, I think the problem is you have a spastic colon.

It was like a knife to my heart because I knew what was going on. At that time, I can remember this. At that time, I was counseling a couple, and it was difficult. And I was thinking about that all the time. It was on my mind. You wake up in the middle of the night, you're thinking about it.

You get up in the morning, you're thinking about it. the day they're going to come you're thinking about it you've done everything you can to prepare your mind's going wild about what's going on so when he said i had a spastic colon man it was like a knife to my heart because i knew why my colon was spazzing out because i was worried concern becomes sinful worry when thoughts become unproductive your thoughts don't go anywhere. They just run. They just run.

They're all over the place. They're not productive. They're not moving you in any direction. They're just going crazy on you. They're just not productive. They're not productive.

Here's another way you know. When it controls you rather than you controlling it. There's a difference between concern where you say, okay, now this might happen. here's my plan and then you move on there's other things to do today than to think about that that's concern but when it controls you when it's constantly on your mind it's controlling you you're not controlling it now you know you've crossed the line from concern to worry you know it's sinful when it causes you to neglect other relationships and responsibilities by the way But anxiety was my constant companion in that first year of ministry And then I went to counseling training by God providence And I found out that my worry was not as respectable as I thought it was It was a sin And that's how God helped me after that first year to deal with anxiety, to be able to start making progress.

Now, I have to tell you, just very quickly here, you know, we all have certain sins that we, for our whole lives, we're going to have to battle. I'm going to have to battle that. Okay, I know that. But I know this. I'm not controlled by it any longer. God's given me wonderful grace to deal with anxiety.

But in that first year, in that first year, I did not see the treasures that were sitting around my kitchen table. I did not see them. When we would go out to have fun together, I didn't have fun. You know why? Yeah, my mind was running. I can still see certain scenes in my mind I can see us driving to Kenton to do something as a family and I can still remember that evening and I didn't enjoy it at all with my family why? because my mind was going 100 miles an hour it caused me to neglect my relationships with my family because I was controlled by it so when it causes you to neglect other relationships and your responsibilities.

It's a sin. It would keep me from my responsibilities. Folks, let me tell you something. I would sit in my office and worry all day long and not get a thing done because I was worried. Okay, somebody's going to come and see me on Wednesday. This is Monday.

What am I going to do? What's he going to say? This is what I'm going to say. I'm going to do this if he does that. And on and on it would go. I'd waste the entire day.

You know what would happen? The next day, I'd have more to worry about Because I had a lot more work to do on the next day because I didn't get yesterday's work done. See? And so when it causes you to neglect relationships or your other responsibilities, then it's sin. You're not concerned anymore. You're worried.

Fifth, you lose hope rather than finding answers. I'm just anxious. That's all. I'm just going to have to learn to live with it. That's not finding answers. That's losing hope.

Right? I don't have any hope. And then lastly you know that it sinful when your thoughts are focused on changing the future For most of us anxiety is looking ahead And we're focused on changing the future. And we can't do it. And again, you've heard me describe this, right? If he says this, I'll do this.

How many of you here, how many of you here, I'm taking a shot here. How many of you here, where am I going, Steve? Steve knows where I'm going. How many of you here remember the story of Bob Beckel and the ham? How many of you have heard that? Wow.

Okay, not enough. I'm going to tell that story. Bob Beckel. Bob Beckel was a dear saint of God. He and Mary used to sit right over here. And Bob said to me one day, pastor is it okay if I stop by and see you on Tuesday I said sure that'd be great and this is when the office was I was gonna say the office was over here in the house the house is gone but there was a time when the house next door where we used to live was where the offices were a big porch and everything Bob says I'm coming on Tuesday with I'm coming on Tuesday to see you So what happens on Monday?

What do you think? Man, I'm just going crazy. What does Bob want to say? I think it's this. I think it's this. And if he talks about this and I'm going to do this, on and on it went.

Tuesday evening, I'm sitting in my office chair. It's getting time. I'm getting really nervous. Then I hear the footsteps on the porch. Knock on the door. I answer the door.

There's Bob Beckel. He tosses me a ham. I catch it, and he says, Merry Christmas, Pastor, and walks off. All right? Now, all that time wasted about the future for nothing. For nothing.

And even if he came to ream me out, those two days would have still been worrying for nothing. All right? So these are the ways you can tell whether you step across the line from legitimate concern to sinful worry. Now let look at why anxiety and worry is sinful Turn to Matthew chapter 6 the text that we read at the beginning Matthew chapter 6. I've read that text, so you just look at the references as I mentioned them, glance at them and see what we're talking about.

Why is worry or anxiety sinful? worry is sinful because worry is idolatry look at verses 19 through 24 worry is idolatry you have um you seek and trust competing treasures why why seek treasures on earth seek treasures in heaven so many of your worries involve earthly things don't they your job, your marriage, your money, your possessions, your health, your children, rather than heavenly treasures. And so you expend all your energy on earthly treasures rather than heavenly treasures. So I'm worried, you say, but I'm worried about my, I want my kid to be saved.

Well, how do you seek heavenly treasures? You don't seek heavenly treasures by expecting them to get saved. You seek heavenly treasures by ministering the gospel to him. Whether he's saved or not, you are working for heavenly treasures. You are ministering the gospel. You're ministering the word of God.

That's what counts. It's not ultimately up to you. And you have to say, I'm going to be faithful to God no matter what. He knows best. He tells me to minister of the word, that's what I'm going to do. I'm going to leave it with him then.

I'm going to, instead of seeking the treasure of, oh, the treasure basically of my peace. My peace. Oh, my daughter's going to heaven. And I can't rest until I know for sure that that's the case. You're after your peace. You want heavenly treasures, not earthly treasures.

Where he says that you look at life with competing eyes, this business about the eye is the lamp of the body, and if it doesn't work, your body is filled with darkness. It says that you look at life with competing eyes. Instead of a single vision, you have competition. When you fail to have a good eye, when you fail to set your sights on Jesus and his kingdom, will be filled with the darkness of worry.

When you fail to look at life with a single vision, I serve Jesus, that's all that matters. And everything I do is going to be done in submission to him. All right? Worry says that you serve competing masters. You serve competing masters. you're trying to serve two masters and it it doesn't work that's why he says on the basis of this therefore what don't worry okay so get rid of the competing treasures the competing eyes the competing masters so then this then is true he goes on to talk about worry in verses 25 through 31.

He says worry is unbelief. It is unbelief. Where he says to them, you of little faith. Now notice, it is the fruit of remaining unbelief, verse 30. The fruit of remaining unbelief. Notice that Jesus says that the problem is little faith.

He's not talking to his followers as pagans. He's talking to them as his followers, not as pagans. Oh, you have little faith. Your faith needs to grow. You need to trust more. It's unbelief because it denies that God's power, wisdom, and love are for you and your situation.

It denies God's power, wisdom, and love for your situation. It's denying that all that is in harness for your good. Robert Jones writes this, Jesus also gives reasons not to worry and those reasons center on the character and promises of God as your father. To worry is to deny in practical ways God's power, wisdom and love for you in your situation To worry is to forget the full implications of your identity as one of God chosen adopted and deeply loved children To worry is to say God does not care about me God does not care about me I worried I looking to the future with no God in it when I worrying when I look ahead and I see there may be trouble what do I need to tell myself I need to tell myself God has committed himself to me he loves me listen he loves me even more than my parents my wife or anyone else could love me he loves me so much more deeper than that and his love is based on what Jesus has done, not on what I am doing.

He is passionately concerned about my welfare. And so I'm worried about something, and it may not turn out really well by my calculations, but God, who loves me passionately, is working for my good. When I'm worried, I'm essentially saying, well, okay, God, I'm not so sure you're working for my good, because my good is this. my good is pain free right? what's good for me is getting what I want what's good for me is a world where there's nothing that ought to concern me and God you're not giving me that see the problem? we're denying that God is for us it's unbelief worry is unbecoming look at verse 32 who worries? unbelievers it's unbecoming it's like pagans it's like unbelievers that's the problem we don't make God look good when we're worried we don't magnify his name when we're worried it's unbecoming of us as his children and one else I would mention worry is unproductive jump back to verse 27 and which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life Worry is unproductive because it focuses on tomorrow not today And so it becomes a thief of time.

It becomes a thief of time. It's also unproductive in that it wears you out and you got nothing to show for it. Jay Adams in a little pamphlet he wrote, what do you do when you worry all the time, said this. worry is like sitting in a rocking chair and rocking like crazy all day long at the end of the day you're tired but you haven't accomplished anything you haven't gotten anywhere you're still in the same spot it's unproductive you see and so here are the reason some reasons why Worry and anxiety, then, are sinful.

Okay, then. You see that worry is sin. But we want to make it respectable. It is no such thing. It is sin, and we need to understand it as such. Let's face it.

Worry is functional atheism. Atheism. When we worry, we imagine a reality with no God in it. When we worry, we deny that there is a Heavenly Father whose power, love, and wisdom are yours. And yet, there is hope in Jesus. Because of worry, we're guilty of great sin. but Jesus died to deal with our guilt that is to say to remove our liability to punishment Jesus died as if he was the worst warrior in the world and God poured out his wrath on him for functional atheism that guilt if you have trusted in Jesus your record is clear in heaven You may be the worst worrier or the best worrier however you put it in the world, but if you've trusted in Jesus, you're no longer liable to the guilt of that sin.

But that also means that his death has set you free from the tyranny of that atheism, and so that you can grow, knowing that you are no longer held guilty for your worry, for your atheism. Knowing that, know this, that Jesus' death does not just pay the penalty. It frees you so that now you can deal with worry. You can say no to worry and yes to God because you've been freed from the tyranny of that atheism. and so I pray that God would bless our efforts in the coming weeks with wisdom that we need to fight this kind of atheism let's pray Father, thank you for your word we would ask now that you would help us to begin to think about our own practical atheism help us to see it as that, not as something respectable and more than that Lord, we pray More than that, we would pray that you would begin to empower the people in this congregation to conquer worry.

We're looking for change. We have hope that your word has answers. Your spirit has power. and we can become those who trust you. So in the weeks that follow, help us, not just to learn, but to grow. And we will thank you in Jesus' name. Amen.