Anchoring Our Hearts to Him / Matthew 6:25-34
It is good to see all of you this week. A special welcome to guests who might be here with us for the first time. We are so glad you are hanging out. We are a multi-site church, so we welcome not just the folks gathering live at Maple and Nees, but the people over at our Fig Garden Campus at Palm and Gettysburg gathering this weekend as well.
Fig Garden is our original campus, and as a church, we celebrate seventeen years this week! We are very excited to have seventeen years of history proclaiming the gospel and inviting people to Jesus. For seventeen years, we have said we want to help people connect to God and to each other in every neighborhood. We are not the best church out there. We are not the smartest church out there, nor the most talented. But by the grace of God, we are going to be faithful to open the Word of God and invite people into an intimate relationship with Jesus, because He will mess with your life. We have been doing that for seventeen years, so let’s not change now.
The Upside-Down Kingdom
If you have your Bibles, open to Matthew chapter 6. We are in the midst of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5 through 7. Jesus is teaching the greatest sermon ever given. As a communicator, you almost hesitate to say anything about it because how do you elaborate on Jesus? You just read it and hope you do not mess it up in the process.
I was talking to my wife about this, and I said, “If you look at Matthew chapter 5, we taught the Beatitudes, and then we moved into chapter 6. What I really feel the need to do is grab chapter 5, grab chapter 6, and pull the two together.” My wife said, “Yeah, you’re trying to make a ruffle.” I said, “No, I’m not… what is a ruffle?” But if that makes sense to you, I’m just trying to make a ruffle this week.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is inviting His listeners into His kingdom. But it is an upside-down kingdom. It is a kingdom where the greatest among you is the servant, where the first is last and the last is first. It is a kingdom where if you wish to find your life, you lose it, but if you lose your life for His sake, you find it. This is not a kingdom of power and prestige.
At the beginning of chapter 5, Jesus gives nine “blessed are” statements—the Beatitudes—that lay the framework for this upside-down kingdom. Blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are those who mourn their sin. Blessed are the gentle who submit to God. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for a righteousness that is not their own. Blessed are the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, and those who endure persecution.
This is a kingdom where we relinquish everything because He is everything. We become nothing that He might be all in us. We are crucified with Christ so that it is no longer we who live, but Christ who lives in us. King Jesus does not merely come under the authority of our lives to upgrade what we already had; He reinstalls the entire operating system and starts from scratch with Himself as the focal point.
This is not a kingdom about external behaviors; it is a kingdom of the heart. In Matthew 5:21 and following, Jesus addresses issues of anger, lust, divorce, false promises, retaliation, and loving enemies. He repeatedly says, “You have heard it said… but I say to you.” He raises the moral bar to expose the heart. In Jesus’s kingdom, the message is not simply “behave rightly.” That has been a moralistic message for thousands of years, and it is flat out not the gospel. The gospel is not a self-help book from Barnes & Noble on how to be a better you. The gospel is a mirror held up to our brokenness that says you and I are wretched sinners in need of a Savior. God does not leave us stuck in our sin, but provides Jesus as the highest expression of His love, so that through faith in Him we can have a total reset.
If the standard were purely behavior, look at Matthew 5:48. All you have to do is live up to that verse all day, every day, your whole life:
Matthew 5:48 (NASB)
’Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Anybody got that down? No. Jesus was speaking to a religious crowd that thought their external behaviors made them superior. Jesus held up the mirror to show that religious and irreligious alike are dead to rights in need of a Savior.
Where Your Treasure Is
In Matthew 6:1–18, Jesus exposes those who give, pray, and fast just to impress people. Then in verses 19–24, He deals with what we treasure, what we focus on, and whom we serve.
It is so easy to get obsessed with the things of this world. We are well-intentioned people. We get up, grind it out, get a paycheck, pay the mortgage or rent, feed the kids, clothe the family, and look for the next deal, the next commission, the next shift. All the while, we risk storing up treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and thieves break in and steal.
This world is designed to woo our affections away from the one essential thing: a relationship with Jesus. Our hearts are prone to wander. But earthly treasures are transient. The government taxes them. When your parents pass away, their greatest earthly treasures often end up in a mini-storage unit, an estate sale, or sitting in your house out of guilt. And one day, your kids will do the same thing with your stuff.
Do you remember 2008? New homeowners bought in 2007 thinking they timed the market perfectly, and then the wheels came off. Real estate investors snatching up properties suddenly gave them back to the bank. When investments tanked, people lost equity, retirements, businesses, and their joy because their hearts were anchored in the things of this world. And when your heart focuses on earthly things, eternal things go out the window. We say we will focus on God if we have time—which no one ever does.
Matthew 6:20-21 (NASB)
’But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Your treasure leads your heart. As Pastor Pete Hingano said last week, don’t tell me what you value—show me. What you spend your time on and invest your money in reveals your heart. And verse 24 makes it clear: you cannot serve both God and wealth. You cannot have both on the throne of your heart. There is only room for one.
Look to the Horizon
That brings us to Matthew 6:25. Notice how it starts: “For this reason…”
Matthew 6:25-34 (NASB)
’For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, [as to] what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, [as to] what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? ’Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and [yet] your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? ’And who of you by being worried can add a [single] hour to his life? ’And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. ’But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is [alive] today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, [will He] not much more [clothe] you? You of little faith! ’Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ ’For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. ’But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. ’So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
“For this reason… do not be worried about your life.” Jesus is not just talking about surviving; He means the essence of your being. Do not be consumed with what you will eat, drink, or wear. Do not get caught up in who has the best six-pack, who is wearing the latest fashion, or whether your diet is sufficiently organic. Life is more than fashion, food, and carb intake.
Years ago, I had a midlife moment—no crisis, no girlfriend—so I bought a Harley. I bought an 850-pound 2007 Ultra Classic cruiser with four speakers, XM radio, and highway pegs. I learned a valuable lesson riding that bike. (I eventually sold it because my wife wanted a Goldendoodle instead—so I lost the Harley and got a puppy!) When riding a motorcycle, you go where your eyes are looking. One day, I came into a sharp left turn a little hot. I drifted toward the right shoulder and made the rookie mistake of looking down at the gravel on the shoulder. The moment I looked at it, I started heading right for it. Thankfully, I didn’t crash, but I learned that to ride well, you have to look through the turn to the horizon.
If you take your eyes off the horizon and stare at the danger right in front of you, you will end up on the side of the road waiting for an ambulance. In the same way, when there is too much month at the end of the money, when student loans are due, when tax season arrives, or when the orthodontist tells you that you still owe $7,000 for your teenagers’ braces, it is easy to look down at the circumstances and panic. We have to get our eyes back on the horizon—fixed on Jesus.
Look at verse 26. Birds do not sow or reap, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. A bird is not made in the image of God, but you are. You are individually, fearfully, and wonderfully made by God. You bear His image. If God feeds the birds, how much more will He take care of you? Can worry add a single hour to your life? Anxiety, ulcers, or drowning your sorrows in a bottle will never fix the problem.
Look at the lilies of the field. Not even King Solomon in all his splendor was clothed like one of these. If God clothes the grass that is here today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, will He not much more clothe you?
And then Jesus gives us the key phrase in verse 30: “You of little faith.”
The Tell of an Anxious Heart
Our worry and anxiety is a “tell.” In poker, a tell is an unconscious habit that reveals whether you are bluffing or holding a winning hand. Our anxiety is a spiritual tell. It gives away the fact that our hearts have drifted from trusting God to obsessing over earthly circumstances.
That phrase, “you of little faith,” appears in only one other context in Matthew. In Matthew 14, Jesus walks on the water in the middle of a storm. Peter boldly steps out of the boat and walks toward Jesus.
Matthew 14:30-31 (NASB)
But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’ Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and said to him, ‘You of little faith, why did you doubt?’
Peter was doing fine until he took his eyes off Jesus and looked at the wind and waves. He focused on his circumstances, panicked, and began to sink. Jesus reached out, caught him, and said, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”
When we worry, we are doing the exact same thing. We have taken our eyes off the horizon of Christ and fixed them on the storm. We need to lift our gaze back to Him.
In Matthew 6:31–32, Jesus says the Gentiles—those who do not know God—eagerly seek after these earthly things. But your heavenly Father already knows what you need. As earthly fathers, when our kids have a genuine need, our hearts are moved to provide for them. Sometimes the greatest act of love is saying “no” or “not yet” to build character, but we care for their needs. How much more does our perfect Heavenly Father care for us?
Matthew 6:33 (NASB)
’But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
What does it mean to seek first His kingdom and righteousness? It is not a one-time search; it is an ongoing, daily pursuit of God. You cannot put your faith in neutral and drift into spiritual intimacy. You must actively pursue Jesus one day, one moment, one thought at a time, coming under His rule and striving for what is holy.
This is not the prosperity gospel. Jesus is not promising that if you have enough faith, He will make you wealthy. He is promising that God knows your needs, He has a plan for your life, and He can be trusted.
The Apostle Paul echoes this truth in Philippians:
Philippians 4:6-7 (NASB)
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
When anxiety strikes, take it to the Lord in prayer. Talk to Him about the orthodontics bill, the job, the health scare. Present your requests with thanksgiving, and His peace will guard your heart. Redirect your thoughts to dwell on whatever is true, honorable, right, pure, and lovely.
Three Anchors for the Heart
As we close, take these three truths with you:
First, worry and anxiety are tells of a doubting heart. It reveals an area where we are struggling to trust God. This week, as our staff went through Step 4 inventory in Re:generation recovery, I had to spend three hours listing resentments, fears, harms, and struggles. It brings up anxiety because my flesh still wants to look impressive rather than honest. Anxiety reveals that I need to bring my heart back into alignment with Christ. When you feel anxious, let it serve as a prompt to raise your sights back to Him.
Second, God can be trusted. He is good. Some of you have walked through deep pain—burying a loved one or experiencing the betrayal of a spouse. Even through tears, God is present, He is good, and He can redeem your most anxiety-filled moments.
Third, we battle anxiety through a daily pursuit of Christ. Christianity is not a spectator sport. If you came to faith decades ago but lack an active, daily pursuit of God today, anxiety will inevitably creep in. Where your treasure is, your heart will follow.
Matthew 6:34 (NASB)
’So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Today, let’s take care of today. Anchor your heart in the unchanging Christ who loves you. Tomorrow when you wake up, anchor your heart in Christ again. As we do that, He will give us a peace that surpasses understanding. When a chaotic, unbelieving world watches us walk through the same storms they face, they will see trust instead of panic, and fortitude instead of despair—a peace that points directly to our Heavenly Father.
Let’s pray.
Father, when we worship the things of this world, anxiety wells up within us. But when we surrender those things and worship You, King Jesus, You flood our hearts with peace. Make us a community that sets its sights firmly on the horizon of Christ. Teach us to live every day in pursuit of Your kingdom and Your righteousness, trusting that You will provide all we need. We surrender our worry, our fears, and our insecurities to You, thanking You for the gracious stability of Your presence. In Jesus’ name, Amen.