Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity

Habakkuk 3:1–2, 13–19

St. Matthew 6:24–34

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Do not be anxious about your life. Could there be a more fitting verse for us right now? All we see, all we are told, all we know is anxiety, worry, fear—anxiety about the virus; worry about how to handle it or prevent it; fear that this will never end; fear of suffering for our loved ones or for ourselves; fear of death. But Jesus says, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. He says don’t be anxious about our health, about our possessions. He says don’t be anxious about trying to control our lives.

Some will think, all this from Jesus sounds nice, but we can’t take it too seriously. Less worry in your life is fine, but your health is still important. But Jesus says that you should not be anxious about food! That’s incredibly serious. You die without food. And Jesus says not to worry about it. So then we certainly should not be anxious about medicine. Without the right medicine, you might die and you might not. But without food, you’ll definitely die. 

Jesus’ command for us is not nice; it’s incredibly challenging. It hits us right where our other master is. We try to serve two masters: God and Mammon. And Mammon is not just money—it’s the god of this material life and it includes our health. And for most of us today, whether it’s in the form of diet and exercise or staying safe from a virus, we let Mammon rule over us. But we cannot serve Mammon and God together.

I think the proof of that is seen if we consider, are we ever anxious about Christ? We’re anxious about health and everything else in our lives, but are we ever anxious about hearing God’s Word or reading our Bible? Do we ever lose sleep over missing church, or put everything else on hold so we can go to the Lord’s Supper? Funny how those things always seem to come later, when we’re not so anxious about everything else. That’s a sure sign we have a master other than our Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus demands, Do not be anxious about your life. Stop serving Mammon. He is right and He is just to say it. But as a word of Law it doesn’t really help us does it? If you’re worried about something, it almost never helps when someone tells you, Don’t worry. That didn’t solve the problem you’re worried about. So, what do we do? How should we hear Jesus’ command to not be anxious? We need to go back and read again what else He says, and so see what God is doing to take our anxiety away.

Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Of course, we know the answer is, Yes, I’m more valuable than a bird. But why? And are you sure? There are days or moments where it might feel as though you are completely worthless and life is not worth living. But you know what something is really worth when you know how much someone is willing to pay for it. And we know what God paid for you. Money’s no object for Him. In fact, money can’t begin to estimate the price He is willing to pay for you. Because He didn’t value you with gold or silver. God paid the awful, glorious price of His Son’s blood for you. Worth more than birds… That’s quite an understatement on Jesus’ part, trying to get you to really see how much your heavenly Father loves you. He loves you as much as His own beloved Son, because He gave up His Son on the cross so that He could have you back with Him. If this is how He loves you, then surely He is taking care of you. So, don’t be anxious.

Of course, some people consider themselves too practical for God. They claim to be realistic. It’s true that the Father gives food to the little birds and nice clothes to the little flowers, but sometimes the cat catches the bird. Sometimes the flower gets picked early. What are we going to do about that? We still have to plan, they say. We still have to take care of ourselves. There are still dangerous things out to get us. 

Well, Jesus has a follow up question for these realistic people: Which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? What are you going to accomplish from worrying about this life and its stuff at all costs? What are you going to gain by trying everything in your power to delay sickness or death? Does the cat catch the bird? Does the flower get plucked? Yes, and that was how God directed it to be. He directs every moment of your life as well. You can’t ruin His plans for you. He loves you, which means He knows you and cares for you every moment He has given to you. 

King David confesses to God: in Your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. Psalm 139 (:16). Or Psalm 31: I trust in You, O Lord; I say, “You are my God.” My times are in Your hand (:14–15). Even before we existed, God knew every one of our days. He holds our lives in His loving hands, where nothing else can touch them without His allowing it, all in His good time for our eternal salvation.

Your anxiety does you no good. Your worry solves no problems and keeps no sickness at bay. Your fear cannot save you from death. But you have a heavenly Father who loves you. Loves you, so that He would send His Son to die for you and win you a kingdom. You have a righteousness that guarantees eternal life for you, the righteousness of Christ that actually replaces your sin and actually conquers your death. If you have all that, do not be anxious.

The prophet Habakkuk certainly learned what it meant to not be anxious. He gambles everything on God, was willing to lose it all in exchange for the Lord who gives true life. Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, YET I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. Even if we lose everything in this life, even if we lose this life itself, we may still rejoice in the Lord who gives us eternal salvation in His death and resurrection. This joyful confidence can only come from faith in Christ. In fact, just before Habakkuk’s prayer in chapter 3, God tells him the cause of salvation in chapter 2. It’s the line that is quoted by St. Paul in Romans: The righteous shall live by faith (Hab. 2:4). By faith in Christ, you are made righteous, right with God, and given everything you need for eternal life. And all the wealth and health of this world can’t even compare. Even if it all falls apart, you are righteous in Christ and you rejoice in the Lord.

All of that is really just another way of saying, Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all the other things will be added to you. So, do you see better how Jesus removes anxiety and calms worry and takes away fear? He does it with His Father’s love, and with His own righteousness, and with His Spirit’s joy. And now do you see how Jesus handles all the things of this life that can cause so much anxiety? He handles it all with a loving playfulness, pointing out the carefree lives of the birds and the flowers, and bidding us to learn from them. Jesus handles everything with a calm contentment that comes from sharing His life with His heavenly Father. And He welcomes you to share that life as well.

Jesus doesn’t say we should not care about food or clothing or whatever else, but we should hold them lightly, not as if our lives depended on it. And if they are taken from us, nothing is lost. We still have a food that does not perish, but will make our bodies immortal—His own body and blood. We still have clothing that cannot wear out, but will cover us forever in the presence of God—His own righteousness. We still have a life that will not be taken or diminished, but will go on forever in His own kingdom.

So, the focus and goal of the Christian faith is not that there should be more material goods, more health, wealth, and safety, and also not that there should be less. Our focus and goal is there should be more love for God and for one another. More love for His Word and His kingdom found here in His Church, and more love shared between real persons—soul and body created by God; soul and body redeemed by the blood of His Son; soul and body waiting to be resurrected by the Spirit and live forever. Therefore do not be anxious about your life… Do not be anxious about tomorrow… But look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.

In the Holy + Name of Jesus. Amen.

Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity

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).