MY NEXT SERMON

I AM  PREACHING NEXT ON SUNDAY 8 MARCH 2026 - at ALL SAINTS' CHURCH, WINTERSLOW, WILTSHIRE - 9.15 a.m. - 3rd Sunday in Lent

SERMON 231 - SUNDAY 8 FEBRUARY 2026 - SECOND SUNDAY BEFORE LENT

Sermon at All Saints’ Church, Farley – 2nd Sunday before Lent  –  Sunday 8th February 2026

Matthew 6:25-34

Why Worry?”

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear… Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?”
— Matthew 6:25, 27

Why Fear?

And as for worry’s cousin “fear”, a former President of the United States once said “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself” – President Franklin Roosevelt.

I have just returned from a 14 nights’ cruise to the western Mediterranean, by way of the Bay of Biscay, with a colleague who was most fearful about the stability of the ship on the high seas and was constantly worrying about the prospect of sailing through heavy seas and being seasick. In fact, as if he was being tested, we did indeed encounter 9-metre waves in the Atlantic yet he was absolutely fine throughout. His worries and fear were totally unnecessary and probably spoiled some of the excitement of being on his first cruise. 

Worry is one of the most common human experiences. It doesn’t matter who you are, how strong your faith is, or how well your life seems to be going—worry finds us all. We worry about money. We worry about health. We worry about our children, our future, our past, our relationships, our work, and sometimes things we can’t even name. Worry has a way of sneaking in quietly and then settling down as if it belongs.

And into that very human condition, Jesus speaks some of the most challenging—and comforting—words in we will find in the Bible - “Do not worry.”

At first, that can sound unrealistic, even dismissive. “Do not worry?” we think. “Have you seen the world we’re living in?” But Jesus is not offering a shallow slogan or a denial of reality. He is offering a radical reorientation of how we see life, God, and ourselves.

Jesus begins by addressing the basics: food, drink, clothing—the necessities of life. These were not small concerns in the first century. For many people, daily survival was uncertain. Yet Jesus says, “Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?” In other words, if God has given us life itself, should we really believe He will abandon u when it comes to sustaining that life?

To make His point, Jesus tells us to look around. Look at the birds of the air. They do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet, he says, your heavenly Father feeds them. Look at the lilies of the field. They do not labour or spin, yet even Solomon in all his splendour was not dressed like one of these.

Jesus is inviting us to notice something we often forget: creation itself is a testimony to God’s care. The birds are not lazy; they still search for food. The flowers still grow according to their nature. But they are not consumed by anxiety about tomorrow. They live within the care of the One who made them.

Then Jesus asks a piercing question: “Are you not much more valuable than they?”

This is where worry often reveals its deeper issue. Worry is not just about circumstances; it is about trust. When we worry excessively, we are not simply acknowledging that life is uncertain—we are quietly assuming that we are alone in that uncertainty.

There’s an old saying sailors use when things go wrong: “Worse things happen at sea”, probably a phrase which was very much in the mind of my travelling companion on that recent cruise voyage. However, it’s a way of putting trouble into perspective. Yes, this is hard. Yes, this is unpleasant. But it is not the end of the world. That phrase carries a kind of grounded wisdom. It reminds us that difficulty is part of life, but difficulty is not the final word.

Jesus says something similar when He reminds us that worrying does not actually help. “Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” The answer, of course, is no. If anything, worry shortens life, drains joy, clouds judgment, and steals peace.

It’s often said—and studies back this up—that about 98% of the things we worry about never actually happen. Think about that for a moment. Almost everything that keeps us awake at night, knots our stomachs, and dominates our thoughts never comes to pass; and even when difficult things do happen, they rarely happen in the way we imagined. We therefore end up suffering twice: once in our imagination and once, maybe, in reality.

Worry, then, is a terrible investment. It costs us a great deal and returns nothing.

But Jesus doesn’t just tell us to stop worrying; He tells us why we can stop worrying. “Your heavenly Father knows that you need all of these things.” God is not ignorant of our needs. He is not distant. He is not indifferent. The same God who clothes the grass of the field—which is here today and gone tomorrow—knows your name, your fears, your needs, and your future.

This is where faith comes in—not faith as wishful thinking, but faith as trust in a faithful God. Jesus says, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

Notice what He does not say. He does not say, “Ignore your responsibilities.” He does not say, “Pretend problems don’t exist.” He says, “Put first things first.” Make God the centre, not the margins. Let your life be oriented around His kingdom rather than your fears.

When we put our faith in God through Jesus, we are not promised a worry-free life—but we are promised a life that is not ruled by worry. Through Jesus, we come to know God not as a distant power, but as a loving Father. At the cross, we see just how far God is willing to go for us. If God did not spare His own Son, do we really believe He will abandon us in the details of daily life?

Faith does not remove tomorrow’s challenges, but it does remove tomorrow’s weight from today. Jesus ends this passage by saying, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” That is not pessimism; it is realism paired with hope. Jesus acknowledges that each day has trouble—but He also implies that each day has sufficient grace too.

We are called to live one day at a time, trusting God one step at a time. Worry pulls us into a future we cannot control. Faith anchors us in the present, where God’s grace is always available.

So when worry rises—and it will—perhaps we can remember a few simple truths. Worse things happen at sea, and yet people survive storms they never thought they could. Most of what we fear will never happen. And the God who holds the universe together has promised to hold us as well.

Worry says, “What if?”
Faith says, “Even if.”

Even if things don’t go as planned.
Even if the road is harder than expected.
Even if answers don’t come right away.

Even if—God is still God. And we are still His beloved children.

May we hear Jesus’ words not as a rebuke, but as an invitation. An invitation to lay down burdens we were never meant to carry. An invitation to trust the One who knows what we need before we ask. An invitation to live not in fear of tomorrow, but in confidence in God today.

Amen                                                                                                         MFB/231/05022026