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Sermon for Trinity 15
Deuteronomy 6:4-7 + Galatians 5:25-6:10 + Matthew 6:24-34
The message of Jesus today is very simple. You can only have one God whom you fear, love and trust in above all things. You can trust in God, or you can trust in something else, like money. But you can’t trust in both God AND something else at the same time. You can love God, or you can love money. But you can’t love both God AND money. Either one, or the other. You cannot serve both God and mammon.
Mammon, by the way, is the Aramaic word for “wealth,” and there’s kind of a pun in Jesus’ words, because this word for “wealth” comes from a similar word that means, “that in which one places his trust,” which makes sense, because most people do put their trust in wealth. And that’s called idolatry, just as much as making an idol out of stone or wood and bowing down to it. And idolatry is unbelief.
Christian faith looks to God to provide, not money. Unbelief looks to money to provide, not God. Faith takes God at His Word and doesn’t need to see any money in the bank or even any potential for putting money in the bank. Faith rests easy on God’s promise to provide. Unbelief always needs to see money in the bank, or it is restless. What’s more, unbelief isn’t satisfied with enough money for just today, but needs to see proof that there will be enough money for tomorrow, and next week, and next year, and for the kids’ education, and for retirement, and not just enough to get by, but enough to enjoy life and do the things one wants to do.
Now, let’s make sure we understand how this works. If we’re talking about unbelievers—those who have not been baptized into Christ and who do not trust in Christ as their Savior from sin…Unbelievers are pure unbelievers. Not trusting in the true God is what makes them unbelievers in the first place.
But if we’re talking about believers in Christ—as Jesus is in the Gospel, where He is preaching this sermon to His disciples… Believers are comprised of the faith part—the spiritual part—as well as the unbelief part—the flesh part. But as long as there is a faith part, the believer will serve God, not money. The believer will rely on God, not money. Faith will win the day, not unbelief. But it’s a struggle—a daily struggle that makes up the Christian life.
In whom do you trust? Well, you’re Christians. You answer, “God!”, don’t you? And so I say to you with Jesus, Good! Then why do you worry about money—or anything else, for that matter? Jesus then lovingly and patiently shows His worried disciples how foolish we are to worry.
Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?
And here, we have to pause and reflect on the sad fact that many people who have plenty to eat and drink and wear, still spend their time worrying about all sorts of other things, like having enough money to get the latest and greatest cell phone, or cable TV, or, not just a house, but a nice house, or, not just a car, but a nice car, or, not just clothes, but nice clothes. You get the picture. Some people still worry about the basics of food, drink and clothing. But for many Americans, the idolatry extends far beyond that.
Either way, asks Jesus, is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Will you put a price tag on love and friendship? Will you put a price on your immortal soul? As Jesus says elsewhere, “What will a man give in exchange for his soul?” Isn’t the wellbeing of your eternal soul worth a whole lot more of your time and thought and energy than putting food on the table for a body which will die anyway?
But see! Jesus is not unaware of your need for food. It’s just that, Jesus takes it as a given, as an obvious fact that your Father in heaven will provide food for you. He proves it from the creation. Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And the answer is, Yes! You are of more value than the birds. God made the birds on Day 5 of creation week. But on Day 6, He made man in His own image. In the image of God He created him. Male and female He created them. And God breathed into the man’s nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. You are more valuable than the birds. You are God’s special creation.
What’s more, God did not send His Son to die on a cross for birds, but for people, for all people. Every person is valued in the eyes of God far more than any other creature in all creation, because God has paid the price for every soul with the holy precious blood of His Son.
What’s more, God has given you Christians new birth into His kingdom and a place in His family through Holy Baptism and faith in Christ. The unbelieving world doesn’t have God for a Father, because they do not believe in His only-begotten Son. But you have God for a Father. And if your heavenly Father feeds the birds, Jesus assures you that He will also feed you.
Again, Jesus points out the futility of worrying. Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? Or “one foot to his height”? Can you worry food into your pantry? Can you worry money into your bank account? Someone will say, “Well, no, but if I can think hard enough about how to earn more money, if I stay awake at night making plans in my head and figuring out how everything is going to go, then I’ll be able to get things going in the right direction. Then I’ll be able to…” Will you? You will not even wake up in the morning unless your heavenly Father keeps you through the night. You will not be able to carry out all these careful plans, unless your Father makes it happen. As the Psalm says, Unless the LORD builds the house, They labor in vain who build it.
Jesus goes on, So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies. Consider the lilies. God makes them beautiful, even though they only last for a day and then are mown down, or they wither and fall. But you—God has redeemed you for time and for eternity. He has made you His own children through faith in Jesus and is preparing eternal dwellings for you. Do you really think He will not provide clothing for you?
“O you of little faith,” Jesus says. There’s that struggle between faith and unbelief in the believer, and sometimes the unbelief side rears up and tries to squash the believing side. But with these very words of today’s Gospel, Jesus beats down our unbelieving flesh, so that the little faith is sustained and strengthened.
Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
If I might use an illustration, think of that great ocean liner, the Titanic, as it was sinking into the ocean. Imagine the people on board the Titanic worrying about what to eat for their next meal, or what to drink, or what to wear. Well, that would be foolish, wouldn’t it? They have a much bigger concern, don’t they? Getting off the sinking ship! Seeking refuge in a life boat.
“Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness,” Jesus says. Your concern shouldn’t be feeding your dying self. Your concern should be that you are a sinner who deserves God’s wrath and eternal punishment, like the rest of this dying world. Your concern should be seeking refuge in Christ, for yourself and for your family, and for others, too. That’s repentance. That’s Baptism. That’s receiving absolution, and the Sacrament of the Altar. That’s trusting in Christ Jesus to cover you with His own righteousness, so that you stand before God clothed, not in your own righteousness, but in His. Then, it’s studying the Scriptures and learning the catechism by heart, and praying and going out from these doors on Sunday to live according to God’s commandments in your vocations as parents, spouses, children, workers, citizens and church members. That is “seeking first God’s kingdom and His righteousness.”
If your heart is focused on that, then it will not have time to worry about the things of this life. Nor does it need to, because the God whom you seek will give you every spiritual blessing in Christ, and will add those bodily things, too, as icing on the cake. “All these things shall be added to you,” Jesus says. You’re in God’s own life boat, the Church. He is and always will be the Father, and you are and always will be little children who eat at His table. It’s His job to provide the food and clothing on this boat, not yours. It’s His job to worry about you, not your job to worry about yourself. God has done everything necessary to rescue you from sin, death and hell in giving His beloved Son into death and hell for your sins. He’ll give you food, too.
Now, the Apostle Paul says to Pastor Timothy, “Be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity.” As your pastor, I strive to be that example to you, and when I fail, God forgive me, and may you forgive me, too. But I remember very well preaching on this Gospel last year about this time, when I didn’t know yet what the synodical district was going to do or how our congregation was going to respond to the threats coming from the district. I didn’t know how much longer I would be receiving financial support from anyone, and I didn’t know if any confessional Lutheran pastor in the world would stand together with me on the Gospel. We were told that no one would. But Jesus told us in this Gospel, “Do not worry about tomorrow,” and only by His grace and the power of His Gospel, I believed Him. You believed Him, too. We stood together on the Gospel, in faith. And see what our Father has done! There’s still food in our pantries and clothes on our backs. And now, we rejoice today in the new fellowship we enjoy with the ELDoNA, as they stand with us and we with them on the truth of God’s Word. It is truly amazing and unbelievable, humanly speaking, that those pastors would tackle the doctrine of justification as they did and take a stand on it as they have. No amount of human planning or worrying could have ever accomplished what has been accomplished to this day. Only our Father in heaven could do it. Great is His faithfulness.
So. Do not worry about tomorrow. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Ain’t that the truth! Tomorrow may bring financial ruin, or the cancer diagnosis, or even death. But sufficient for the day is also God’s help. He is your Father, and a better God than money—or anything else. Let Him worry about tomorrow, and also about today. Amen.
