Would you look at your Bible please? What do you see? Words on a page. Are they clear? Do you see them clearly? How do you perceive me? Do you see me clearly? When you see the words on the page clearly, that means you are near-sighted—you see things that are close to you, and those things that are a little bit further distant are blurry and you cannot see them. You are near-sighted. You need corrective lenses so you don't have to hold your Bible way out when you read. Jesus Christ gives us corrective sight. Not physically (although he is perfectly capable of doing that), but more importantly, Jesus Christ gives to you and to me corrective spiritual sight so that we perceive this world correctly, see the things that are on the horizon correctly and wait for his coming, and we don't worry about the things that are right at our feet.

The title of this sermon is Worrywarts are Near-Sighted. Worrywarts are concerned about the things that are right here, present around us, and they are so near-sighted that they are blind to the things that might occur in a few months or a few years. They can also be blind to the second coming of Christ, as they are so concerned about the things that are right at the doorstep. Worrywarts are near-sighted.

The Fall of Jerusalem and Christ’s Return⤒🔗

Now, how does this come out of the text? Well, let's see if we can determine that. To get there, first of all, let's look at the context a little bit. In the context of the text that we have before us in Luke 21, there are two important things that are to occur. The first is the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD. The second is the coming of Christ at the end of the age.

But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then recognize that her desolation is near. Then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains, and those who are in the midst of the city must leave, and those who are in the country must not enter the city; because these are days of vengeance, so that all things which are written will be fulfilled. Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days; for there will be great distress upon the land and wrath to this people; and they will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled under foot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.Luke 21:20-24, NASB

It is pretty clear in those verses that Jesus is speaking about the impending doom of Jerusalem, something which is, from Jesus' perspective when he speaks about these things, perhaps 35 to 40 years away. When Luke writes these words, the fall of Jerusalem is perhaps only six, seven or eight years away. It is something that is looming out there.

But now in verse 25 the scene shifts:

There will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth dismay among nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, men fainting from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.Luke 21:25-28, NASB

The Son of Man will come with great power and glory. In verse 24 Jesus speaks about the times of the Gentiles being fulfilled. The time of the Gentiles is this present era, this current era, the time in which we now live. The apostle Paul in Romans 11 speaks about the fullness of the Gentiles being brought into the fold of the Church. And then Christ will come a second time in glory. This is what verses 25 and following are about.

You might wonder why these two events are packed so closely together. If you drive on the I-70 west through Kansas into Colorado, when you get into eastern Colorado and you begin to see the mountains, the mountains lie out there across the horizon. They look as though they are all the same distance from you, but when you get closer you realize that some of those mountain peaks are relatively close and others are much farther away. They look like they are the same distance when you are a distance from them. The same thing is occurring here in the Bible. The two events—the destruction of Jerusalem and the second coming of Christ—are packed closely together, and when we look at them in the Bible they appear as though they are on top of each other. But when the events take place, they are quite distant from each other. In verse 29 we come back to the destruction of Jerusalem:

Then he told them a parable: “Behold the fig tree and all the trees; as soon as they put forth leaves, you see it and know for yourselves that summer is now near. So you also, when you see these things happening, recognize that the kingdom of God is near. Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.Luke 21:29-33, NASB

Jesus says this destruction is looming large out there, and this generation which is present now in the city will not pass away until the city is destroyed. So we have these two events: the destruction of Jerusalem, a great judgment that comes upon God's people; and the final judgment, which comes later at the second coming of Christ. Keep this in mind as we look at our text in verses 34 and following.

Be Alert and Guard Your Heart←⤒🔗

Christ says that his coming may be sudden and occur like a trap:

Be on guard, so that your hearts will not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life, and that day will not come on you suddenly like a trap.Luke 21:34, NASB

It is a warning! The day may come upon you suddenly, unexpectedly, because you are not waiting. Your focus is upon the things that are immediate and you are consumed with the worries of this life. You are near-sighted. And Jesus says that the coming of the Son of Man may then be like a trap or a snare. When you go out in the woods and set a snare, you are careful how you set that snare, so when an animal comes along and the snare grabs the legs of that animal and pulls them up so that they are trapped, it is a sudden occurrence. Or when an animal steps on a trap and the steel jaws of that trap snap shut suddenly and unexpectedly, the animal is caught. Jesus does not want that to happen to you and to me—to be suddenly caught by the coming of the Son of Man—and so he issues this warning. He tells us to be on the alert and guard your heart. Luke 21:36: “But keep on the alert at all times.” Verse 34: “Be on guard, so that your hearts will not be weighted down.” Keep alert and guard your heart.

How do you keep alert? You keep alert by recognizing that you live in God's world and that Jesus Christ is absolutely in control of all things. You retain that perspective. You recognize that God through his Word, Jesus Christ, created this world, and God will bring this world to an end. And that men and women sinned in the beginning and that Jesus Christ came into the world as the Redeemer. You have this biblical and this Christian perspective, and you maintain this perspective.

(Transcription of audio file from 16:41 to 18:49 omitted.)

You are to have the right attitude. Have the attitude that understands that Christ is in control and that he is going to come again a second time in glory. This is how you keep yourself alert. You live in the light of the glory of Christ.

And you guard your heart. You see in verse 34: “Be on guard, so that your hearts will not be weighted down.” So that your heart might not be weighted down with sin and you are sluggish in this life, and you don't have the verve and the energy to live for God because you are not oriented properly. Your sight is not on Jesus Christ. You need to guard your heart.

Thank God that he has, as a matter of his care of people like us, directed us to meet regularly to study his Word, to sing his Word, and to pray together. It is a very good thing, and we ought to thank God that this is the case. When I used to have opportunities to lead young people in classes for church membership, I would say to them, Be thankful for your parents when they come into your bedroom on a Lord's Day morning and grab you by the scruff of the neck and say, “Get up, get out of bed, we are going to church.” Thank them that they are doing this. This is a very good thing. Because you are going to be in the situation where you hear the Word of God and your heart will be fed the things of the Word of God, and that is very needful.

You need to guard your heart so that all of the unseemly things of the world do not penetrate your heart, and on the other hand, feed your heart the good things of the Word of God. So God, through Jesus Christ here, charges you and me to be alert and to guard our hearts.

The Problem of Worry←⤒🔗

But you see, the problem is worry. Here we are back to it again. Worry, like drunkenness, makes us near-sighted.

Be on guard, so that your hearts will not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life. Luke 21:34a, NASB

Guard your heart so that your heart will not be weighted down with dissipation. Dissipation means that you are reckless with your resources and you spend your resources readily on things that will feed your lusts and your cravings. You are an impulse buyer: “Oh, I need that, I need that,” because those things feed your lusts and your cravings.

Be on guard so that your hearts will not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness. Dissipation and drunkenness really go together. Drunken dissipation is one way that you could say this. Paul says, “Do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation” (Ephesians 5:18). The two go together. And drunkenness means that you are controlled by wine. Do not be controlled by wine, do not be drunk with wine, but be filled with the Spirit and be controlled by the Spirit. That is the idea. And you are controlled by the Spirit when you think about things of the Spirit and you feed your heart and your mind the Word of God.

Drunkenness and dissipation are then linked with worry. Do you see that? “Be on guard, so that your hearts will not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life” (Luke 21:34a). You say, “Well, I would never be drunk. I would never do that. I worry a lot, but I would never be drunk.” Isn't it striking that Jesus Christ the Lord tacks drunkenness, dissipation and worry together. He links them together; he speaks about them together. They are equally ultimate as far as seriousness is concerned. There is a sense in which habitual worry is a kind of addiction. That this is how your mind works. You just go in these cycles, and you worry, worry, worry, you fret, fret, fret from the time you get up in the morning until the time you go to bed at night. It is one thing after the other. And Jesus is saying worry and drunkenness are together. Hear this. Hear that this is the case.

What are the worries of this life? We have talked about the worries of this life: worrying about what you are going to wear, worrying about what you are going to eat, worrying about what tomorrow will bring, worrying about what you are going to say to the teacher or say to the boss or say to a friend in a particular situation. [Being] overly concerned and consumed by these things. Worry, worry, worry.

The Remedy for This Worry←⤒🔗

And Jesus is giving us a remedy for this drunkenness and dissipation and worry.

But keep on the alert at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place.Luke 21:36a, NASB, emphasis added

Can you imagine the people in Jerusalem when the Roman armies were laying siege to that city? Do you suppose that after that Roman army had been circling that city for days and weeks and months that there were food shortages, that there were problems with water, that clothing may have been a difficulty, and that people were wondering, “What is the next day going to bring?” I would guess that would be the case. And I would guess that that would be the case for a lot of people in the world right now where there are difficulties like this. “Keep on the alert at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place.”

Pray that God will give you wisdom. It is not, “What am I doing to do? What is the next meal going to be? Where am I going to get the clothes?” No, pray. “Lord, what am I going to do?” In our country right now it is quite possible there could be a financial collapse. What are we going to do? A noted conservative talk radio guru has suggested for months that people lay away food. He was laughed at and scoffed. But suppose that hurricane came in here more closely, and we were without power for days on end, running into weeks, and you couldn't buy gasoline and you couldn't get to the store? What would you do?

This is the kind of thing Jesus is talking about. And it is not only [that we should] pray and understand that there is a calamity possibly looming very large out there, but put legs to your prayer and make some preparations. Do not be a near-sighted worrywart and just be concerned about the things that are right under your feet, but look out a little ways at least as to what may take place, and do some basic planning. This is what Jesus is imploring.

Jesus also says, “Pray.”

…praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.Luke 21:36b, NASB

Pray that you will be ready when Jesus Christ comes a second time in glory. And you will stand before the Son of Man, because when Jesus Christ comes again a second time in glory, the dead will be raised incorruptible. There will be a resurrection of the righteous and a resurrection of the wicked, and all will stand before the Lord. You and I will be there. And how is it that you are going to be prepared to stand before the Son of Man? There is only one way to be prepared to stand before the Son of Man, and that is to hear his voice and to follow him and to trust him and to recognize that you are a sinner and I am a sinner and that Jesus Christ went to a cross to pay the penalty due to you for your sins. And he paid it all.

You may say, “Yes, I have faith.” Let me caution you here. I hope you do have faith, but that faith is not something that you may present to God and say, “Because I have faith, I am worthy of entering your kingdom.” That is not how it works. Faith is not some sort of merit. Faith in actuality is an acknowledgement of the fact that you and I have absolutely nothing to offer to God. Nothing! And that Jesus Christ has everything that you and I need. In him we have forgiveness of sins and in him we have a righteousness and a perfection that can only come from God. It cannot come from us! And when you stand before the Son of Man, having prayed and having entered in by grace through faith into a relationship with Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ will say to his Father about you, “This one is mine. I paid for their sins, Father.” He will stand up for you in that last day.

Conclusion←⤒🔗

Do not be a near-sighted worrywart consumed with the worries of this life. Yes, you have the needs—you have the need for food, you have the need for clothing and all these things. Jesus said, “Seek first the kingdom of God, and all these things will be given to you” (Matthew 6:33). Remember that. And do not be so near-sighted that you are blinded to a calamity that can come down the road in a few months or a few years. And do not be so near-sighted that you are blinded to the great and glorious second coming of Jesus Christ. Live in the light and the glory of that coming again. Be alert. Guard your heart.

When you get a little older, sometimes you might have to go for cataract surgery. When you go for cataract surgery, the doctor will ask you, “What kind of lens do you want implanted? Do you want a lens that is going to allow you to read things? If I put that kind of a lens in, what is further away is going to be a little blurry, so you will need glasses to correct that. Or if I put a lens in that can see things at a distance, you are going to need some glasses so you can read.” That is how it works. Remember friends, Jesus Christ is the great eye doctor. Jesus Christ is the one who repairs your vision. Jesus Christ is the one who gives you vision so you can see more clearly into the future and prepare for what might come to pass, and also see that he is coming again a second time in glory.

One of the ways that he performs this work of eye surgery on people like you and me is by his Spirit through his Word. And the message of his Word today is, Don't be a near-sighted worrywart. When that is the case, you will be blinded to the things that may come months and years down the road, and you will be blinded to Christ's coming. It is a simple message, isn't it? It is a simple message with an answer. Don't be a near-sighted worrywart. Pray. Guard your heart. Be ready. Don't be a near-sighted worrywart.