Category Archives: Podcast

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?26 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 labour or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendour 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?31 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. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Matthew 6:25-34

Worrying seems to be a bit of a trait within my family. I remember my dearly loved Granny being something of a worrier – and indeed, she often used to worry about being a worrier. I think I’ve inherited this from her. I often find myself worrying, about all kinds of different things. I worry about small things, like whether my train will arrive on time, whether I’ll drop my wallet whilst out shopping, and if I’ll leave my phone somewhere. I worry about big things such as what will happen if I lose my job, or get arthritis in my fingers, or develop a brain tumour. Of course, ultimately I know it is silly to worry about these things. I have no control over most of these things, and most haven’t happened to me so far. What is even more silly is that I know ultimately, even if these eventualities come about, I’ll probably be okay. I have lost a job through redundancy, and actually, with hindsight it was probably the best thing that has ever happened to me. So the question is, why worry at all?

That’s the lesson that Jesus brings us in today’s passage. ‘Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink,’ he says. Don’t worry ‘about your body, what you will wear’. We are not to worry about these things because our God is faithful and will meet our needs. Jesus talks about the birds, which don’t engage in complicated agricultural practices or stockpile food, yet are diligently provided for by the creator God who brings about the berries and seeds that they need to survive to grow. As for clothes, look at the flowers, Jesus says. They are discarded, thrown into the fire, yet God provides them with magnificent clothing that betters anything that even the richest princes might wear. Jesus also tells his followers to look to the pagans – to those who don’t follow Christ. They have no faith in God as faithful provider, and yet they have food to eat, drink to drink and clothes to wear. God knows that we need these things, and he will provide them for us.

That is not to say that we will not face difficulties during our lives. Birds face predators, harsh winters and the loss of habitats due to human encroachment. Flowers are cut down and easily destroyed. Jesus even says that ‘each day has enough trouble of its own’. Jesus knew when he was teaching this message that every day potentially brings challenges. We are to focus more on these daily occurrences than worrying about the future, the ‘what ifs’ that can so easily plague our idle minds. Most of these will never come to pass, and if they do, God will faithfully help us to cope with all that we might encounter in our lives.

Ultimately, if we worry about what our future might hold, we are questioning God’s faithfulness to us. Rather than emulating non-believers and running after fancy food, extravagant drink and posh clothes, we should run after the kingdom of God and the righteousness that living as citizens of the kingdom of heaven entails. We should make the establishment of God’s kingdom our primary concern. This, of course, means living as Christ as described in the Sermon on the Mount; making our focus loving God and loving our neighbour as ourselves, and striving to spreads Christ’s message of love, hope and forgiveness throughout the world. If we consciously put Christ first in all that we do, then we will have no reason to doubt that God will meet our needs. Furthermore, our humanistic tendency to find food, drink and clothes will become secondary considerations, brought in check by our primary focus on serving God.

Of course, knowing all of this in theory is one thing, but actually living a life that is free from worry is incredibly difficult. In the coming weeks I will be praying to God to help me be more trusting of his provision for me, and to lift all of my worries about future difficulties – that may, and indeed probably will not happen – away from me. I will be praying that God will help me as I strive to ‘seek first his kingdom and his righteousness’. I wonder if you will join me?

Listen to this reflection/download Podcast:

19 ‘Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

22 ‘The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

24 ‘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.

Matthew 6:19-24

A couple of weeks ago, my wife, Claire, and I went to speak to a financial advisor. Our lives are about to change significantly; in about two weeks we will welcome our first child into the world. As a consequence, we thought that it would be a good idea for us to ensure that our finances are in order, and to make sure that we can provide not just for ourselves, but our new son. I don’t particularly like talking about money; I always feel uncomfortable since, on a global and a historical scale we (and by that I mean all of us in the western world) are comparatively wealthy, and I always have at the back of my mind Christian teaching on wealth. Yet confront these issues Claire and I must as we think about our family’s future.

Jesus, in the passage above, outlines how Christians should regard their ‘treasure’. He is very clear that we must not store up for ourselves treasures on earth. We must ensure that we do not fall into the easy (and compelling) trap of materialism. Acquisition of wealth and possessions for ourselves might seem attractive, but ultimately it is pointless, since it decays, degrades, devalues and can be stolen. Instead, we should aim to store up treasures for ourselves in heaven, since our treasure there is not subject to the same weaknesses of earthly wealth.

Focusing our attention on earthly wealth is harmful, both to God’s kingdom, and also to ourselves.

It is harmful to God’s kingdom since acquiring and storing wealth purely for ourselves does not enable us to support the poor, the needy, the sick and the starving. It is people like these that were right at the heart of Jesus’ ministry; he went out of his way to support those seen as outcasts from the rest of society. As Christians we have a duty and a responsibility to continue Christ’s work of supporting people such as these. Giving our money to charities that work to support them is a vital task of building God’s kingdom here on earth.

Storing up treasures for ourselves is harmful to ourselves, since it exposes the darkness of our hearts and brings into question the depth of our confidence in Christ. As Jesus says above, ‘where your treasure is, there your heart will be also’. If we place our focus on earthly treasure, then our heart is stuck in the sinful, earthly realms. But if instead we seek to store up treasures in heaven by following Christ, loving our neighbours and committing to always place the needs of others before ourselves, then our heart is lifted to the realms of the kingdom of God. We cannot serve both God and money; we must decide where our priorities lie.

Is it wrong, therefore, for me to be investigating life insurance, pension provision and mortgages as Claire and I prepare for the arrival of our son? Well, this is the difficult question to which I keep returning, and which I know different people will have different views on. My own view is that it is eminently sensible and desirable. I believe that we are commanded to provide for our families and to secure our financial future. Indeed, Paul writes to Timothy, ‘Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever’ (1 Timothy 5:8). Additionally, Proverbs states, ‘Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest’ (Proverbs 6:6-8). With this in mind it seems like a sensible idea to plan for our future. As for spending money on treasures that are solely about the instant gratification of a consumerist society – well that’s an entirely different matter.

Listen to this reflection/download Podcast:

16 “When you fast, do not look sombre as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 17 But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18 so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Matthew 6:16-18

I work in an environment where men are significantly outnumbered by women. I’m aware that this may sound incredibly sexist, but when I sit down for lunch, one of the most common topics for discussion is dieting. It seems that at any given time at least a couple of my colleagues are on a diet. The current diet of choice seems to be the 5:2 diet, which I believe involves eating normally on five days of the week, whilst fasting (or semi-fasting at least) on the other two days. Fasting is something of an alien concept to me. Whilst at university I participated in something that could be described as a meal-fast; we skipped a meal and donated the money that we would have spent on food to a charity working in Africa, whilst also meeting for prayer time when we would have been eating. That’s as far my experience of fasting goes.

It’s interesting, therefore, that during the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells his followers how they should fast. Jesus takes it for granted that his followers will fast, saying not if you fast but when you fast. He identified fasting as part of the Christian experience. Fasting is not a common experience for Christians today, however. Perhaps, in the light of these verses it should be something that we do far more often. A quick flick through the Bible shows that in both the Old and New Testaments, fasting was a common feature of a Godly life. Fasting seems to have been particularly linked with prayer. We see in the book of Daniel that he records, ‘so I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes’ (Daniel 9:3). In Luke’s gospel, the prophet Anna ‘never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying’ (Luke 2:37). The prophets and teachers in the church at Antioch are recorded as praying and fasting: ‘So after they had fasted and prayed…’ (Acts 13:3). When Paul and Barnabas selected leaders for the churches in Acts, ‘with prayer and fasting, committed [them] to the Lord’ (Acts 14:23). Clearly there is precedent for fasting. No doubt it helps a prayer to focus their mind on their prayers, whilst also demonstrating personal self-discipline and commitment to seeking God’s will through prayer.

Should we choose to adopt fasting in our own faith life, Jesus offers some clear guidance in the verses above. Just as we must ensure that our giving and our prayer are focused on God and not intended to be outward signs of piety, intended to encourage people to look our us and our religiosity in awe, so we should not seek to draw attention towards ourselves as we fast. We should not be dramatically somber or disfigure our faces, to make it plain that we are fasting. People who fast in this way are hypocrites who have received their reward in full. Instead, we should keep our outward appearance exactly the same as usual and avoid making our fasting obvious to those around us. If we fast in this discrete fashion, our Father in heaven will see us and reward us.

I wonder if, like me, you’ve been challenged by these verses? I wonder if you will consider fasting from time to time? If we aspire to be like Christ, we could do far worse, since he, after all, fasted from time to time. If we wish to deepen our prayer life, fasting could be beneficial. We must ensure, however, that our fasting is not intended to draw attention to ourselves, but purely to deepen our relationship with God.

Listen to this reflection/download Podcast: