The Sermon on the Mount is Jesus’ for human flourishing in the in-breaking, upside-down, of God.
Matthew 6:25 NIV
Therefore I tell you, do not worry…
μεριμνάω (merimnaō): To be anxious, to be troubled with cares; to be pulled apart by worry.
“The solution to anxiety is not a simplistic ‘Stop worrying,’ but a redirecting of the disciples’ vision to the proper heart orientation.” –Jonathan Pennington, The Sermon on the Mount and Human Flourishing
Matthew 6:34b NIV
Each day has enough trouble of its own.
How to Flourish Troubling Times?—
1. Reorient our
Matthew 6:24-25 NIV
No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. 25 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?
Philippians 4:6–7 NIV
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Jeremiah 17:7-8 NIV
Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water, that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.
2. Embrace God’s Daily
Matthew 6:26-30 NIV
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? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? 28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 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—you of little faith?
Isaiah 40:8 NIV
The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.
James 1:10-11 NIV
The rich should take pride in their humiliation—since they will pass away like a wild flower. 11 For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich will fade away even while they go about their business.
“In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus makes the same contrast between the myth of scarcity and the reality of abundance in God’s kingdom. If we live in constant fear of not having enough—like Pharaoh did—it will lead us to greed and injustice in the name of self-preservation. If, however, we believe Jesus and trust that with God there is always an abundance, then we can be set free from a self-centered posture and be empowered to truly love others.” — Skye Jethani, What if Jesus was Serious?
“Fear engenders fear. It never gives birth to love.” –Henri Nouwen
3. Live
Matthew 6:31-33 NIV
So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
“Jesus reveals that God is a God who is willing to set aside the blessedness of his own domain and become fully present to others. So too, we are called to be a people who are willing to set aside the comforts and conveniences of our own lives and become fully present to others.” –Gregory A. Boyd, Present Perfect
“Having our treasures in heaven frees us to live simply in the present.” –Dallas Willard, The Divine Conspiracy
“God provides for his own. This in no way reduces our responsibility to share what we have; rather, it enhances it, for God’s most common way of meeting the material needs of his poor children is by laying such needs on the hearts and consciences of others among his children.” – D. A Carson, Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount and His Confrontation with the World
Matthew 6:34 NIV
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
“I think that when the poor and sickly happened to be neglected and overlooked by the priests, the impious Galileans observed this and devoted themselves to benevolence … The impious Galileans support not only their poor, but ours as well.” –Emperor Jullian, AD 362
“It is our care for the helpless, our practice of lovingkindness, that brands us in the eyes of many of our opponents. ‘Only look,’ they say, ‘look how they love one another’—they themselves being given over to mutual hatred. ‘Look how they are prepared to die for one another—they themselves being readier to kill each other.'” –Tertullian, AD 197
Question for Reflection:
How is the Spirit inviting me practically embody God’s Kingdom in the world?
Breastplate of Saint Patrick
Christ with me,
Christ before me,
Christ behind me,
Christ in me,
Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ on my right,
Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down,
Christ when I sit down,
Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.
Amen
St. Patrick, 433 AD