Galatians 5:25–6:10
St. Matthew 6:24–34
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
With Sunday School and Catechism Class starting back up, it might feel like a new beginning. And maybe it is for you and your family—it’s certainly a good time to make a new beginning at being connected to God’s Word at home every day and at church every week. But of course, school and sports, have already been going on for a while, and jobs are always there demanding our time. It doesn’t take long for the day and the week to get filled up.
In our Epistle, St. Paul has this admonition for us: “let us not grow weary of doing good and sowing to the Spirit, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” Jesus also gently rebukes us, “O ye of little faith.” And to prove we lack faith, the main theme of the Gospel today is the word we all need, but we all dread: Do not be anxious! Do not be anxious, parents and teachers in the first weeks of school. Do not be anxious, farmers getting ready for harvest. Do not be anxious, while the troubling news headlines keep coming.
Why are we so anxious? We think that we must worry about food, drink, clothing, cars, practice and games, gossip and politics, because we are trying to serve two masters. We are trying to serve a heavenly Father, while on the side also serving Mammon—that is all earthly things, the riches and cares of this life. But when Jesus says, “You cannot serve God and Mammon,” it’s not so much a command as a statement of reality: you can’t do both. It’s impossible. Trying to serve God and Mammon only produces anxiety. So, why would you gladly drive so far and spend so much time and money for things that do not last, but struggle to come here to the very fountain of life?
Now a Christian can use Mammon for good, but a Christian cannot serve Mammon—at least, you cannot serve Mammon and remain a Christian, not for long. You cannot let the riches and cares of this life be your priority, your first concern. You will know when that has happened when the things of God fall into last place: your prayers, your devotion with the Bible as a family, your ability to talk about life and this world as if God’s creation or Christ’s resurrection mattered, and most important of all, your participation with this congregation in the Divine Service. When you catch yourself saying that you have no time for these things—in your home or at your Church—that is because you are devoted to Mammon, and are despising God. No one can serve two masters. So, do you try to fit or cram God and His Word into your busy schedule, or do you form and press your busy schedule around God’s Word?
When you serve Christ, you can use Mammon rightly. But those who serve Mammon always press Christ into its service. And since that never works, Mammon ultimately pushes Christ out. The true definition of “despise” isn’t just “hate intensely.” It also means to care so little for something that you hardly bother with it and it hardly bothers you. Very few Christians come to really hate God. But you know many who simply care less and less, until finally they have no interest in hearing Christ and being part of His Church. Most people drift away slowly and then never return. Do not forget Jesus’ parable of the sower, how that seed that grew up among the weeds was choked by the riches and cares of this life. If you are serving Mammon, you will soon have no use for Christ.
Jesus says, “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. For servants of Christ, every good gift of God (including earthly things) may be received with thanksgiving and put to their proper use. We also know this to be true because St. Paul, in the Epistle, gives a command from God about one very specific use of your money: the one who is taught the Word must share all good things with the one who teaches. The “teaching” word Paul uses here is actually, catechize. The one who is catechized in the faith must share all good things with his or her catechism teacher.
You probably don’t want to hear me preach about this, and I don’t want to either, except God’s Word forces it: it is the duty of a Christian to help keep their pastor alive. As Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 9:14, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel. Here in Galatians, Paul even adds this warning: Do not be deceived: God is not mocked. Now that’s also a warning for the teacher—there are many preachers who know how to preach this verse “better” than I do, and get all the money and perks from their job. But this is also a warning for the congregation—that the worker deserves his wages.
Paul chooses this word “catechist” for ministers on purpose. The pastor is not a serviceman, marrying and burying people on demand for a fee. He is not a witchdoctor, practicing magic to solve everyone’s problems. Nor is he insecure, just hoping for people to come to his special thing he’s doing so he can feel loved. The pastor is a teacher and a preacher. He brings the Word of God and speaks it into your ear, convicting and rebuking sin with all of God’s truth, but also delivering what you cannot find anywhere else: the forgiveness of sins and the verdict of judgment day.
If you have ever had a good and faithful teacher of God’s Word, a genuine pastor to the flock and a father over God’s household, then you learned from his example that money was the smallest part of it for him. He probably begged you more for your time and perhaps for your efforts than for your money. That is also at work here in our Epistle. Just as Mammon is more than money, the good things to be shared with your pastor and teacher are more than “payment” for his “work.” They are also your time and effort at hearing God’s Word and being a part of His Church.
This is how you sow seed in preparation for reaping a harvest. Jesus said you cannot serve God and Mammon. Paul said the same thing: you cannot sow to the flesh and expect to reap from the Spirit. You cannot be devoted to earthly things that fail and become corrupted without you failing and being corrupted yourself. As Jesus also said, the one who keeps his life will lose it; but the one who loses his life for My sake and for the sake of the Gospel will keep it forever.
Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, because this alone satisfies and lasts. Mammon, riches, fame, business and busyness, health and athleticism, and work—it does not care for you. God cares for you. The things that “make the world go round” do not satisfy, because they can never tell you when you’ve gotten enough, when you are done. Jesus Christ says, It is finished. He has satisfied the Father by His Blood, and His righteousness is yours by faith. That is why you have such a loving, gracious heavenly Father who knows what you need. He cares for you far more than sparrows or lilies, because He has valued you at such a price: the price of His own Son’s righteous blood.
So, do not lose heart. Do not lose faith. Do not be consumed by the riches and cares of this world. Put your money where your mouth is. More important than that, put your time where your mouth is. Seek first His Word, His gifts, His communion and His people. Sow your time, your efforts, even your wealth into faith toward God and love toward the neighbor—especially those of this household of faith. Press your good things into the service of Christ’s Word, His Kingdom, and His righteousness. Use your good earthly things to advance the Gospel and benefit your neighbors. Don’t do it in the abstract, but in the concrete. If this is “your church,” have a vested interest in it. Spend the time. Expend the effort. Yes, open your wallet proportionally. But first, for the sake of Christ, make being taught your priority! And God promises you shall reap every good thing that He has for you.
Anxiety will multiply when you trust and serve everything that makes the world go ‘round. But faith in Jesus Christ is never misplaced. Dearly beloved household of faith, focus and order your life around the Kingdom of God and Christ’s righteousness delivered to you in the Gospel and the Holy Sacraments. Because then you are focusing on something that does not end, does not fail, and can never disappoint you. Be free of all anxiety, for no sparrow falls without your Lord’s knowledge—and you are worth much more than many sparrows. You are worth the death of Jesus Christ, God’s Son. And as the Father has sowed this death into your hearts by faith in His Word, He will also reap you back from the dead alive on the Resurrection Day. Do not give up.
In the Holy + Name of Jesus. Amen.
This is adapted from Rev. Sean Daenzer, Trinity 15 (2018).
