This sermon is from the series THINGS JESUS TAUGHT US and was preached at Cornerstone Baptist Church in Cherry Log, Georgia on Sunday, October 20, 2013 by Pastor Paul Mims.

Matthew 6:25-34
A young polar bear cub approached his mother one day and asked, “Mom, am I a polar bear?” “Of course you are,” she replied with a smile. “OK,” said the cub, and padded off. Later, he found his dad out by the iceberg. “Dad, am I a polar bear?” “Sure you are, son!” said his dad, wondering a bit at why his son would ask such a silly thing. The next day, the cub asked the question again and again. “Are you and mom polar bears? You are? Well, then, does that make me a polar bear? Pure, 100% polar bear?” Finally, his parents couldn’t stand it any longer. “Son, you’re driving us crazy with this question! You are a polar bear! Why do you keep asking?” The cub looked up and confessed, “Cause I’M FREEZING!”

There are people who say that they are Christians but seem to get no warmth from the faith life.
As a Christian none of us would ever like to be referred to as of be an atheist, but many Christians are guilty of being practical atheists. Practical atheism does not believe there is no God; practical atheism lives as if there is no God. Do you see the difference? Jeff Schreve, a fellow pastor, prompted me to think about this. He listed five characteristics of a practical atheist:

1. An atheist does not pray. So many Christians do not really pray. They may say a rote prayer that was learned in childhood with a bowed head before dinner or before bed, but there is no real time to seek God in prayer.

2. An atheist does not read the Bible. So many Christians do not read the Bible and are very susceptible to the devil’s lies because they do not take time to read and study God’s Word.

3. An atheist walks by sight, not faith. So many Christians do the same thing. They fail to evaluate their situation in light of God’s miraculous power, so they worry and fear and fail to simply trust God.

4. An atheist does not give to the Lord’s work. So many Christians do not either. Many Christians spend more money on their pets than they do the Kingdom of God. A study revealed that if all the members in an average-sized church were on welfare, and each one tithed, the giving to that church would double.

5. An atheist lives only for this life. So many Christians are guilty of the same. They store up their treasure on earth. They live and plan as if this temporary, mortal life is all that matters. They make decisions with only earth in mind, not heaven.”

Would you agree with his descriptions? Apparently, Jesus would. The scripture that we read together describes how a child of God can turn into a practical atheist. We can turn from a faith life to a worry life and live as if God does not exist.

The word “worry” in our English language is taken from an old German word which means “to strangle.” Isn’t that a picture of what worry does to us? It strangles the spiritual life out of us by numbing our minds and sapping our vitality.

Contemporary psychologists indicate that there are four main worries that we have: First, is life in the fast lane. Even folks who are retired today still live this way because of all of the demands upon us. Second, is the push to get ahead in our finances and in our careers because of our competitive society. Third, is the mobility of our people. A large percentage of Americans move within a five year period. Fourth, are external threats such as terrorism or nuclear holocaust. There is a pervasive mood abroad that has people talking and thinking about the end of the world. These four broad categories of concern certainly occupy a lot of our attention. Let’s look at what Jesus taught us.

I. WORRY WILL STRANGLE OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH OUR HEAVENLY FATHER. “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear.” V.25

Suppose that your children came to you when they were little and said, “We are worried about whether or not you are going to have food on the table for us to eat or clothes for us to wear.” Then you said, “That is foolish. Don’t you know that your mother and father will provide for each one of you?”

To be sure, these are things to be concerned about and Jesus is not saying that we should not give them their proper attention. For food, clothing, and housing occupy much of our resources. What Jesus is saying is that we can relax in the big picture of life and know that our Heavenly Father will enable us to have these things provided. For instance, look at how He provides for the birds. He has put everything in nature that they need to live and sing their songs for us. They do not sow, reap, or gather into barns, but they have abundant provision.

A morning ritual at our house is that I put out a feeder filled with sunflower seeds to draw the birds and we sit and drink our morning coffee and watch them come and go. When I don’t put out a feeder they go and find their food elsewhere on the mountain. So, when we are in need, as some families are in our present economy, caring people deliver food to their home from the church or community organizations. The “Meals on Wheels” is a great example of caring for our homebound seniors. Our church provides food through giving to those in need a card to purchase food at a local supermarket. Also, we take food at certain times to help in the crisis events that occur in the lives of our people. Our Baptist Association has a food distribution to the community to whoever is in need. Whenever there is a tragedy such as an earthquake or storm, our Baptist relief forces are there to help.

Do you remember that your children never worried that you would provide them food, clothing, or housing? That was your worry. It is the same with our Heavenly Father. Jesus is saying that it is the Father’s responsibility to worry about those things for us who are his people and he will take care of them. This is when we move over into the faith life.

I look over my life and see the gracious provision of the Lord. My family could not afford to send me to college. So the Lord gave me a job as music and youth director in a church that paid me $25.00 a week for which I drove 100 miles each Wednesday and Sunday. Janice taught school for three years while I was in Seminary and made less than $100 a week. I worked in a laundry and in a shoe store to supplement our income. Our food budget was about $15 a week. The point is that our Heavenly Father provided for us and we did not worry about it. We had hearts full of faith and an excitement about our future. If we had adopted the attitude of “I can’t see any way we can make it so we had better not try,” we would have strangled our faith relationship with our Heavenly Father and put ourselves in a position where He could not bless us.

Here is an event in the life of Martin Luther, the great Christian reformer of the 1500s. There was a time in his Christian life when he was very depressed for days on end. His wife, Kate, came into his study all dressed in black as if she were in mourning. Luther asked her what exactly she was mourning:
“Have you not heard?” she questioned. “God is dead.” Luther responded, “Woman! That is absurd! God is not dead!” “Well,” she replied, “If God is not dead, then stop living like He is!”

II. WORRY CAN STRANGLE OUR HEALTH “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life…O you of little faith? vv. 27,30.

Dr. Mayo of the Mayo Clinic said, “Worry affects circulation. Worry affects the heart. Worry affects the glands of the body. Worry affects the whole nervous system.”

It is one of the major weapons that Satan uses against us in that he convinces us that God does not care about us. So we go on our way and think that all of the length and quality of life depends on us.
“Are you not much more valuable than birds?” Jesus was very strong in his statements about his disciples trusting him. To him, worry is not a trivial sin. It is an affront to the Father’s integrity. It strikes a blow at God’s love which provides for us.

In 1929, J.C. Penny was trying to find his way through the depression. He had made some financial commitments that he was worried about. There was a fall-off in business and people were not able to buy things in his stores so he could not see how he could meet the commitments that he had made. He worried and worried. The muscles in his neck, arms, and hands tightened up. Soon, he broke out in shingles.

In the darkness one evening, he lay in his hospital room and continued to worry. Down the hall he heard the nurse’s choir singing, “God will take care of you.” He began to think he was acting as if he had no Heavenly Father and the struggle was killing him. He said, “As I heard, ‘God will take care of you’ I opened my heart and allowed that truth to come into my life.” That was the beginning of his healing physically and financially.

A poet has written: All the water in the world, However hard it tried,
Could never, never sink a ship, Unless it got inside.
All the hardships of the world, Might wear pretty thin
But they won’t hurt you, one least bit,
Unless you let them in.

Anxiety can make us sick. Faith can make us well. There is a difference between worry and responsible concern. Nothing would get done if we just sat back and expected God to do everything for us. The birds have to fly to the field where there is food and they have to look for it. They do not sit in a nest and expect God to drop the seeds on top of them.

The practical atheist says that he believes in God, but lives as if He does not exist. There is little or no faith relationship. Our secular society has secularized him. He is molded more in his thinking through the secular media than through the Holy Book which he seldom reads. He takes no part in Kingdom concerns. He lives for himself and trusts more in himself than he does in God. His witness does great harm to those around him who know that he claims to be a Christian.

Dr. Carl Bates, who was pastor of First Baptist Church in Charlotte, North Carolina told of how he tried to win a businessman to Christ. He went to his office and said, “I would like to see you in the fold of Christianity.” The man said, “Good, when will it begin?”

I read a book by Pastor Bill Johnson entitled “The Supernatural Power of a Transformed Mind.” Jack Taylor wrote the forward to it and said:

”The normal Christian life is perfectly poised between what we presently understand and the unfolding revelations that come from the realm of mystery.” (Bill Johnson) Here we are challenged to ‘move on’! ‘Large numbers of Christians are practical atheists who disbelieve in an active God.’ We refuse to say in our churches today that there is no God but by our actions we are saying, ‘There is no God like the God of the Bible, nor do we want such a God!’

Finally Bill asks, “Aren’t you weary of talking about a Gospel of power and seeing no demonstrations of it?”
Jennifer Fulwiler has studied the biographies of some great Christians and has learned that they share seven radical characteristics:
1. They accept suffering.
2. They accept the inevitability of death.
3. They have daily appointments with God.
4. In prayer, they listen more than they talk.
5. They limit distractions.
6. They submit to the discernment of others.
7. They offer the Lord their complete unhesitating obedience.

These are simply the disciplines that every Christian should practice.

In 1665, in England, a great plague caused many to die. In 1666, a fire destroyed 4/5 of London. Samuel Pepys, writing in his diary said, “All around me is death and despair. I don’t think that we can recover from this double tragedy.” The Bishop of London was Thomas Ken. He believed that they could triumph over the despair and heartache. He worked hard to keep hope alive and encouraged the people to keep their faith in God. He was sacrificial in giving his time and energy to minister to others. During those times he wrote a hymn that you and I know well – The Doxology that we often sing at the conclusion of our worship.

“Praise God, from whom all blessings flow; Praise Him all creatures here below; Praise Him above, ye heavenly hosts; Praise Father, son, and Holy Ghost.”

PRAISE BE TO HIS NAME!