Princeton Presbyterian Church

Princeton Presbyterian Church (EPC) Sermon # 1693

July 13, 2025

Matthew 6.25-34     Click here for audio worship.

Dr. Ed Pettus

(This is an extended outline, not a verbatim transcript.)

 

“Seeking The Kingdom of God”

 

“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.

 

• Do Not Be Anxious

 

Last Sunday we began a series of sermons on the Kingdom of God, beginning with Romans 14 and the understanding that the Kingdom of God is not about earthly things like what we shall eat or drink, but about the realm of God’s reign, invisible to the eye, but known in the heart and soul, known by faith and hope, known by power of the Holy Spirit. It is the Kingdom of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. It is manifest in our lives by the way we live in the righteousness, peace, and joy. It is known to the world through our behaviors and character that reflects God’s love for the world and how we love God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength, as well as loving our neighbor as ourselves.

Today we are looking at the command of Christ to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. We begin where Jesus began, with the exhortation to not be anxious about our life. The context here is primarily about the earthly things of what we shall eat and what we shall drink, the very things Paul speaks to in Romans 14. Jesus adds what we wear to the things of this world. Food, drink, clothing, all encompass what we can see and even what we can acquire, what believers and non-believers both can acquire for the sake of basic needs for life. We tend to think that we can get what we need without God. That is a narrow view of the world because the Bible teaches us that God provides for the needs of all our life. There is nothing outside of God’s realm. In Matthew 6 it is about life needs, but anxiety comes in other ways.

John’s gospel reveals another anxiety that arose in the disciples. They had heard Jesus talk about His suffering and death. In John 14 Jesus tells them to not be troubled, not be anxious, even though Jesus was saying He would not be with them much longer. Imagine the trouble this brought to the disciples, not a concern for basic needs like food or clothing, but about the future with Jesus and the claim that the Son of God would suffer at the hand of sinners.

How many times have we been told not to worry about something and we have responded, “that’s easy for you to say?” We all experience worry or anxiety. It is easy for us to tell another person not to worry about something. But we have all experienced anxiety. I am often asked what one should do in an anxious situation. Death, illness, stress for other reasons, they all present opportunity for anxiety. My advice is to become a non-anxious presence in the midst of the anxiety. What is needed, perhaps more than anything else, is someone who can be present, even without words, to bring a trust in God that can calm the souls of those who are anxious. One problem is that some people believe that if you are not joining in their anxiety they think you do not care! But just as we would hold fast to the truth of Scripture, we also need to hold fast in situations of anxiety and be that non-anxious presence. We do not have to use words, no need to tell someone to calm down, just be the calming influence through our non-anxious presence. Just be present in the least anxious way we can.

We are often made anxious by a variety of concerns in the world, whether it has been times of scarcity in basic needs or more serious worries about relationships, family, illnesses, crises, or any number of life events that cause us to worry and wonder about what life will bring. What are we worried about today? What has made us anxious? Jesus calls us to rid ourselves of anxiety and the question is how we can possibly do that. We have already read the answer in our passage for today.

 

• Lessons from Creation

 

Jesus turns to the birds of the air and the lilies of the field to teach us about how God cares for us much more than creation itself. When teaching about the birds He says, “Are you not of more value than they?” When speaking about the lilies, “will he not much more clothe you?” God our Creator sustains and provides for His creation and even more for those created in His image. God provides for everything that He has created, but over and above all other created things, God provides for us, the human being created in His image. It’s sad to see when some people put humans on the same level of value as the rest of creation. Granted we are sinners, but God has set us above all things and this passage in Matthew once again show us that God places a greater value on us than on birds, for example, or flowers.

But that is not the main concern here. The main concern is to know that God will provide for all we need for life and faith. We proclaim that God’s Word provides all we need in wisdom and understanding in life and faith, and the same holds true in God’s Kingdom, that He provides all we need in food and clothing and all others things of life. The Bible testifies over and over again that God is faithful and will provide what we need.

 

• Seek First the Kingdom

 

So what is the way of beating anxiety and trusting in the provisions of God? It is seeking the Kingdom of God, plain and simple. Do not be anxious, but...the pivot is in the three letter word “but”. But seek first...instead of anxiety, seek the kingdom of God. Instead of worry, seek God’s righteousness. Pay attention to what God is doing. We set our minds on things above (Col 3.1-2). Store up for ourselves treasures in heaven (Matt 6.19-21), for wherever our treasure is, that is where our hearts lie. Study Jesus’ commands. Pursue a godly way of life. God knows what we need. God wants people whose hearts are devoted to Him, who follow Jesus Christ, who yield themselves to the Holy Spirit. The priorities of the Christian life are not dominated by the things of the world. Yes we have to work and plan and be wise with what we are given, but not consumed by those very same things. Our work does not define us, our possessions do not give us our identity, but we belong to God and we are His children.

The kingdom of God is our kingdom. It is our reality. I remember a conversation I had with someone in another church who had a new pastor come. He was a second career pastor meaning that he had worked in business for many years and came into ministry later in life. The person said to me, “He’s worked in the real world so I think he can better relate to people.” I thought to myself after that conversation, no, the real world is where He is working now, in the Kingdom, in the invisible reality of God’s realm. But that realm of God’s Kingdom also includes all our work in or outside the church, because we are all working in the light of Christ, whether in business, medicine, law, church, it is all to the glory of God. This pastor worked in business, not outside the Kingdom of God, but within, especially if doing so as a Christian. Kingdom work brings glory to God and pursuing the Kingdom of God first and foremost enables us to reflect God’s ways in a broken reality that is mistakenly understood as “the real world”. The real world is that which is on earth as it is in heaven! Seek first God’s Kingdom and God’s righteousness and everything needed will be provided.

 

• All These Things

 

The last part of verse 33 is a promise for the future. All these things will be added. God will provide. Provision is based off what God sees ahead of time. God knows what we need before we ask because He can see what we need before we ask (Matt 6.8). We trust in the name of God, because we have seen the stories told in the Bible of all the times God provided for His people. We have seen it in our own experiences as God has provided over and over what we need for life. But we also need to recognize that it is not by our own power that we have what we need (Deut 8). God is the source of our comfort and blessings. God has provided and the promise is that He will provide again and again!

Seeking the Kingdom of God first and above all other things involves our complete devotion to the faith. It involves obedience to commandments, discipline to prayer and worship, devotion to service and love, commitment to righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. We seek the Kingdom, not just in church, not just in “spiritual things”, but in all things. In our work, in retirement, in family, in hobbies, in all things. In seeking the Kingdom we are also seeking to advance the Kingdom in that we make the Kingdom of God visible to a darkened world that is blinded by sin. We seek to show righteousness, to demonstrate peace – a non-anxious presence, to exhibit joy.

We are the church, the visible Kingdom when we are first of all seeking God’s Kingdom. We are ambassadors of the Kingdom and the community of faith that can reveal the secrets of the Kingdom. Some have called us the outposts of the Kingdom. Every church in every community is called to live out the Kingdom of God by not being anxious, by trusting in the provision of God, and by seeking first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.

All that we see in the world that seeks to cause anxiety is not the “real” world, but it is the world that is broken by sin. 1 John 2.16 speaks of all that is in the world: desires of the flesh, desires of the eyes, and the pride of life. All of these things are a source of anxiety. What a contrast, these two passages...

 

For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world…

 

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness...

Our tendency is to seek the things of the world, and thus, we find great anxiety. But, when we seek first the Kingdom of God, we find the righteousness of God, the peace of God, and joy in the Holy Spirit. Let us make that our goal this week and in all our life for all time, But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness… Amen.