Naeane Church Sunday Worship Message Sunday Message — The Nineteenth Sunday After Pentecost
Sunday Message — The Nineteenth Sunday After Pentecost
Naeane Church Sunday Worship Message.
The Holy Spirit Sets Our Priorities Straight in the Midst of Financial Anxiety
Text: Matthew 6:25–34 (central verse, Matthew 6:33)
Today, on this nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost, I want to preach on this: the Holy Spirit sets our priorities straight in the midst of financial anxiety. Today's theme has to do with the basics of living — food, clothing, and shelter.
Here's something that happened this week as I prepared the message. In our neighborhood there's the largest hospital in Asia, and around lunchtime I went there. I'd eaten a hearty breakfast, and the night before I'd had an expensive meal with a group of people, so I figured I'd be fine until lunch. But by lunchtime I had no strength left, all my energy drained out, and hunger came rolling in. If I miss even one meal at the proper time, cold sweat breaks out and I feel like I'm dying. It's not something that started overnight — it's been with me a long time.
And I thought: how important three meals a day are — and seeing how, missing just one meal, all sorts of thoughts come flooding in, I came, through today's message, to look again at how I need to change this kind of thinking.
As always, five questions.
One. How Did I Fight the Spiritual Battle This Week?
Last week I preached from the angle that the Holy Spirit has called us out of self-centeredness and into being evangelists who embrace the community and the region. So this week I came to pray over how to live community-centered rather than self-centered.
Honestly, I've lived most of my life as a lone operator, self-centered. Holding to my own views, living that way since my youth even in ministry, so doing something together with others was always hard for me. But through last week's word, I grew more in the mind of praying — from self-centeredness toward this region, and toward some group, holding it before God representatively as an evangelist. So even as I walked around the neighborhood, I shifted much more toward thinking: ah, God has called me as an evangelist for this region, facing head-on and fighting the spirit that dominates this area.
But there was another thing I fought hard this week. I suddenly had a stretch of time caring for the children, and Juhwan was riding a kick scooter and split his chin open. I looked and there was blood, it was torn — I couldn't just leave it — and of all times, it was Friday evening. So all sorts of thoughts came rolling in. The scene came back of a daughter I'd raised, whose head split open and who suddenly had to have surgery, and what's going to happen to this child — every kind of thought came surging.
So right then I fought the spiritual battle hard. The whisper especially came rolling in. This happened because of you. You should've told him not to ride it. Turning back to the past like that, you shouldn't have let it happen, driving me into a corner. So I kept fighting.
Follow me and confess. Jesus is the Christ.
That was perhaps one of the most earnest spiritual battles I fought this week.
Two. How Did I Meditate on Genesis 3:15 This Week?
I regard Genesis 3:15, the offspring of the woman, as the most important verse in Scripture. God gave that name.
Let's confess it again. Jesus is the Christ.
As we go out evangelizing, and as you and I always confess, it's Jesus is the Christ. But why do we have to confess it? Out of necessity. Every human being, myself included, because of Genesis 3:1–5, has the Spirit of God departed. So in our souls everyone is self-centered; each has made himself god.
Because of that, we always put the center on making a living; since I'm god, if I'm displeased I cut everything off; and I harbor the fantasy that I can conquer even disease, death, and disaster. And then we die. But after death there's judgment, and we pass that sinful nature down to our children. More than that, the satan who was outside in Genesis 1 and 2 has come inside and seized all my thoughts and ways of thinking. This is the human being's root problem, the one that can't be solved on our own until we die.
So God has already given a name to escape it. Jesus is the Christ. This name isn't about getting a little blessing. When you call this name, the Spirit of God who had departed comes back inside and is with us as the Spirit, the authority of a child of God is given, and as that authority keeps being confirmed, we can become witnesses of world evangelization.
Today's keyword is food, clothing, and shelter. And this too is a spirit. Because of Genesis 3:1–5, every human being, myself included, is bound to the basics of living as we go through life. So God said to Adam, by the sweat of your brow you will eat. Not getting by with half-effort, but with sweat on the brow — because the Spirit of God has departed.
But in Genesis 3:15, when you call Jesus is the Christ, the relationship with God is restored, and God fills your food, your clothing, your place to sleep. In Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28, to meet the basics of living, the rain and snow and wind and sunlight all have to be right and there must be no natural disaster — but for the one who has left God, the heavens are shut like bronze and nothing comes down. That's the human being in the state of Genesis 3:1–5. But for the one who, by Genesis 3:15, calls Jesus is the Christ and is restored as a child of God, that shut heaven opens, God helps with everything, one man defeats a hundred and ten defeat ten thousand, and every road opens. Because God is Father, He can't but give everything — and we come to hold that very right. So calling this name is what matters.
Three. Explaining Today's Text on the Foundation of Genesis 3:15
Today's text is Matthew 6:25–34, and the central verse is 33. Do not worry about what you will eat or wear; all these things the pagans seek, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.
Rather than lifting this out on its own, let's see it as a flow. In Genesis 3:15 the LORD God promised beforehand that He would send the offspring of the woman, and that runs right through the Old Testament. Over thousands of years, countless kings, prophets, and priests appear; the tabernacle and temple appear; Israel enters the land, lives there, falls, is carried off into captivity, and returns — on and on.
And reading that book, something comes over you. Ah, nothing really gets solved. Even with everything in place, this wild thing in the human heart simply can't be tamed. A true King has to come who can tame it. Read through the whole Old Testament and this longing rises in your heart. So in the end, after a four-hundred-year gap from Malachi to the New Testament, at last, in Matthew, the King came. The Messiah Israel had waited for — that is Jesus.
Follow me and confess. Jesus is the Christ.
Today it's Matthew 6. As you know, Matthew 5, 6, and 7 are called the Sermon on the Mount — Jesus' teaching, compressed from the start and gathered into one place. But if you read this Sermon on the Mount without the answer that Jesus is the Christ, it reads as a list of things I must do. Do this, do that — the more you hear, the more the will rises to do it, but as you try, you hit a limit.
Yet it wasn't given as something to do. It isn't that doing it earns blessing, nor that doing it makes God pleased with you. Then what is it? It's this: if you believe in your heart that Jesus is the Christ, then, as in John 1:12, the authority to become a child of God is given — and inside that child there is enormous blessing and authority, and the Sermon on the Mount shows what that is. The Beatitudes, for instance, are not a duty to keep but a right to enjoy. There's just one condition: only when you call the name Jesus is the Christ and your eyes open does it become visible and enjoyable.
So what's the theme of today's chapter 6? Two masters. Jesus asks: the most important thing in life is the basics of living — but then, who is your master? God or money? God or food? He's speaking about how you'll set your relationship with the two masters, and 25 through 34 lays that out plainly.
In brief, today's content is this: you keep worrying about what to eat, what to wear, what to drink. But look at the birds of the air. They don't store up grain or work hard, yet God feeds them all. So don't worry. All that is what the pagans seek. You — seek only the kingdom of God and His righteousness. And don't worry about tomorrow either.
Four. The Part I Want to Explain in Detail
Today's text wasn't written to unbelievers but to believers. And specifically, to the people in Matthew 5 who had come out to Jesus — people who in their hearts believed, at the least, this one is the Messiah — and among them the disciples were further out in front. So it's a word spoken to the disciples.
So what sort of people were the disciples? Fundamentally, people who already knew this: that every human being is caught in the root problem of Genesis 3:1–5, unable to meet God; that Jesus is the Christ; that I am a child of God; that this is the end of every problem; and the Spirit-filling and world evangelization that we cry out every day — they too already had that foundation. Of course, looking only at Matthew 5 and 6 they weren't quite there yet, but from where we stand now they're people who already had the foundation in place.
Let's confess it together. Jesus is the Christ. I am a child of God. Every problem is finished. Satan, go. Filled with the Spirit. World evangelization.
But here's what I want to look at. Today's text says, do not worry about what to eat or wear; God knows. Note this: Jesus said do not worry — He did not say do not pray. So we should of course pray about eating, clothing, and sleeping. In the Lord's Prayer we say, give us this day our daily bread, don't we. Daily bread means eating and clothing and sleeping. Basically, we are already praying for that.
The Almighty God is not someone who exists in our imagination or as a phantom, but One who knows our real daily life exceedingly well. We live in reality, having to eat three meals a day, having to work, having to raise children. Korea especially has all four seasons and sharp swings in temperature, so the house has to be solid, there have to be clothes for every season, and the place we sleep has to be good. God knows all of it. So praying first is what matters.
But then Jesus says, do not worry. This is exactly where the trouble is. When a person wonders what to eat, you'd think they'd just think okay, what shall I have — but it doesn't go that way. The instant you wonder what to eat, unconsciously, worry suddenly comes rolling in. What do I eat? So many kinds. I want something more expensive. That person's eating that — what do I eat?
When I went below that big hospital this time, there was so much food — raw fish and all sorts — and far pricier than in our neighborhood. I'm hungry, and there's too much to choose from. But before what shall I eat, I start weighing my own financial level. I ate lunch already, so it shouldn't go over ten thousand won — but then I see something at thirty-six thousand. Ah, that's not my level. That's the thought that rolls in.
So here's the point. From shall I eat, wear, drink, or sleep, the thought expands into worry, and that worry keeps amplifying. And where does it finally go? Ah, I can't even earn money; why do my husband and I make only this much; why do I live in a place like this — and in the end, I'm a worthless person, tearing down and denying even one's own existence. That's why He said, do not worry.
But Jesus says something more here. First seek His kingdom and His righteousness. This is so important. Earlier He said pray for your food, but don't worry — yet before even that, there's a first thing you must pray: seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness.
The kingdom of God Jesus speaks of here is, as Luke 17:20–21 shows, not some great king arriving and seizing a vast territory, but within you. It's the state where God first rules and governs your heart and sits as King; and His righteousness is the state of continually being in a good relationship with God. In other words: before you seek anything, first set up the kingdom of God within your heart, and then seek.
In our own terms it's this. Jesus is the Christ. The moment you think of buying something, countless worries rise first. The basics of living are so ingrained in us from birth that worry rises first. So first call Jesus is the Christ, set up the kingdom of God, let God rule, push out fear and worry and anxiety first — and then seek the food, clothing, and shelter you need.
When we say kingdom of God, people picture something grand, but it isn't. The kingdom of God is right in here, inside each of us. Make this inside a place God rules first — by calling the name Jesus is the Christ, push out worry and anxiety and the self-contempt about my own worth and the irritation, push out the thing about money and food first — and then seek.
And finally, He says do not worry about tomorrow. The worry over the basics of living drags in tomorrow, the day after, five years, ten years, all the way to old age. Cut that off in the name Jesus is the Christ.
Five. How Will We Apply This Word to Our Lives?
Let's confess it together. Jesus is the Christ. I am a child of God. Every problem is finished. Satan, go. Filled with the Spirit. World evangelization.
This is the position we now stand in. You and I, to solve all the root problems of Genesis 3:1–5, took Jesus the Christ into our hearts, became children of God, and with blessing and authority restored, are now moving toward world evangelization. And in that, today we're talking about the spirit of the basics of living.
I said what we'd focus on today is the spirit of food, clothing, and shelter. It's connected to everything from birth to death. Most of the day's thoughts are tied to it. Money, clothes, house, food — from morning to evening, most of us are held by this. Someone who knows nothing of Jesus is the Christ is simply caught by that spirit, which keeps sending the message all day: what'll you eat today, what'll you wear, you'd better earn well. It comes endlessly as a message, and he lives all day captive to it as if it were his own thought. It even appears in dreams.
But here's what we can examine today: I too am a human being who can't escape it, and up to now you and I have also lived captive to it. So what we must do from now is this: that spirit which seizes the basics of living, keeps sending messages, and finally binds us with worry and anxiety and dread and drags in the future to keep us from drawing near to God — how will we push it out of our hearts?
First, we have to admit that I am completely captive to the spirit of the basics of living. We've never once thought about it. Second, though we'll be captive to it until we die, there is a way to escape it even a little.
Follow me and confess. Jesus is the Christ.
Ah, I was completely captive to the spirit of the basics of living. What was a hundred percent drops a little, to ninety-nine percent. The condition is this: you have to keep calling Jesus is the Christ. From morning to evening, even in your dreams. Only then do you come to know how captive you were.
Let's look at this. The problem of the basics of living is this. From morning to evening a need related to them keeps arising. I bought a few clothes last week too — rather, my wife bought them for me. It suddenly turned cold, and clearing out the house I'd thrown away the worn things, so I had nothing to wear. I had no choice but to buy.
But when the need arises, what happens next is: instead of thinking, within my budget, how much I should spend, I think of my face first. My social standing first. I should buy something a bit pricey, I've got my image to keep. And then, income is limited, but to match a social standing — especially a parent raising children, whose children get compared with their peers — you keep buying more to match that level. So income is fixed but spending grows, and what comes of it is debt.
So what happens? You pray, God, give me more money. That's why, when we hear testimonies, what we find most moving is: I made a lot of money; the business suddenly took off; I suddenly got rich. At least that's how it is for me. But underneath that is a structure where, not considering your actual income, because of comparison you keep spending in relation to your children, your spouse, the people around you. Then debt grows, and as it grows the heart grows anxious — why do my husband, my wife earn only this much, why is my house like this — criticizing the current level, and in the end tearing down even one's own worth. Most marital fights are over money, aren't they.
And there's more. Loving your children too much, you overspend beyond your income; when there's a sale, you buy the thing you wanted again; and someone like me, out of worry about old age, keeps doing more, thinking I have to earn more. So with the basics of living, underneath, the spirit always attacks like this: you have to have more, you have to earn more. This is whispering constantly inside you and me.
And then the heart has no peace at all. Even buying one item, fatigue piles up, and even after buying it all, inside you're irritated and stifled. Even after buying your child something, instead of peace there's more irritation and frustration. That means your heart has already lost the kingdom of God.
So why do you and I try to call the name Jesus is the Christ? Because as you keep calling it, instead of overbuying out of comparison and tearing down yourself and your spouse and your children and denying your worth, you focus more on your actual need and your heart shifts to doing what fits your real income. And even as you buy something, you can feel peace in your heart. So what we have to do is keep calling Jesus is the Christ.
But here, one last thing people mistake. If I call Jesus is the Christ, though I only earn this much, I'll earn enormously; something will suddenly appear. That's the devil's whisper. That's God's business, and a later matter — it may or may not come about in real life. When I look honestly at myself, having such a fantasy at all is the devil giving me a fantasy. So as you keep calling Jesus is the Christ, you come to look at your real life soberly, focus there, and live content. Guarding myself and my financial level that way, God will do something else next. Before that, guarding and training my heart over the basics of living is what truly matters.
Follow me and confess again. Jesus is the Christ.
Trace the spirit of the basics of living upward and you find the satan, wearing the face of the basics of living, coming inside you and me and, through the people outside, through television, when someone shows up in nice clothes, sending the message at once: hey, that person's like that — what are you? It always pokes at my pride. Only by cutting it off and pushing it out in the name Jesus is the Christ can you truly be free there.
This week too, as you fight that spirit and call that name, the Spirit rules and guards you and me, so may it be a week of being answered.
Closing Prayer
Let us hold this word and pray.
Father, until now we've lived as though the basics of living were everything in our lives. But through today's word, we've come to know the reality of the spirit — the one that, through those basics, keeps us from meeting God, makes us distrust God, distrust ourselves, distrust others, so that homes break and are ruined — the spirit that seizes that whisper.
This week too, as we call the one and only name, Jesus the Christ, let the Spirit establish the kingdom of God within us, set us free from being held captive to the basics of living, and open our eyes to see, newly, the everyday material world and our income and spending exactly as they are.
In the name of Jesus, who is the Christ, we pray. Amen.
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