The Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity
4 September, Anno Domini 2012
St. Matthew 6:24-34
Pr. Kurt Ulmer
In the Name of the Father, and of the +Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The details may be different for you but the sub-plot is the same: everything seems set against you, your job is full of stress or maybe you’ve lost it and can’t find another, your health is deteriorating, your children are living lives and going in directions that you know will only bring them heartache or worse, you can’t seem to get your life put together, our country seems to be spinning out of control and the rest of the world is swept up in rioting and unrest. And what does Jesus say to all of this “Stop worrying.”
How can Jesus possibly say something like STOP worrying? What possible reason could we have to stop worrying? Does Jesus have any clue what is actually going on down here? How can we not wring our hands, constantly grumble and moan, let out long hopeless sighs, be pessimistic, and even contemplate, if only for a second, quitting this mess completely? Jesus’ words really just sound like a pipe dream, not spoken with any kind of understanding of “reality”. The reality of sin, death, chaos, rising debt, busy schedules, rumors, and struggle. We worry because we think these are reality.
Repent. Jesus is reality. The Father’s love and faithfulness to you are reality. Forgiveness is reality. Your Baptism is your reality. The Body and Blood in, with, and under the bread and wine given and shed for you for the forgiveness of your sins are reality. The rest is just a smoke screen put up by Satan and your sinful flesh to distract you. The problem isn’t Jesus or His Word. We are the problem. ANY amount of worry, no matter how we express it, betrays the fact that we still want to believe that good comes from the mammon of this world. It also betrays the fact that we don’t believe that our heavenly Father actually does love us more than birds and flowers. We simply don’t trust God with our whole heart. Instead, we worry.
But, dear child, your heavenly Father WILL take care of you. THAT is reality. Jesus knows this and He wants you to know it, to believe it with every fiber of your being. God loves you dearly. He told you to call Him Father. Today Jesus pulls back the curtain of this life to show you that the Father is working behind the mess of what you see for your temporal and eternal good. Just don’t confuse your earthly condition with the Father’s love. The Father loved His Son dearly, but that didn’t mean that Jesus didn’t suffer. Just the opposite. Satan and the world hated Jesus all the more because the only One that Jesus feared, loved, and trusted was His heavenly Father. And certainly if there was anyone who had cause to doubt the Father’s care it was Jesus. He never transgressed a single commandment in thought, word, or deed. He obeyed His Father’s will perfectly, day and night, and still Jesus suffered more than anyone who has walked this earth.
Even though Jesus didn’t have a place to lay His head, He never doubted that His Father would give Him His food at the proper time. Not once – not as He was forced to lay His infant head where ox and donkey fed, not as His friends and neighbors turned against Him, not before Judas stepped into the darkness to betray Him, not as His closest friends turned tail and abandoned Him, not in middle of the lies, not as the fists and lies pummeled Him, not as the bits of bone and metal tore through His flesh, not as the thorns were being pressed into his head, not as the nails were driven through His hands and feet – not once, did Jesus stop believing His Father’s promise to love and care for Him. Why? Because He didn’t have to. Jesus knew that His Father loved Him, that His Father’s will was good and gracious, and that His Father would save Him – even if that meant death. And His obedience and trust is given to you, as though you never doubted.
Now, look at the birds and flowers. The same God that made you, made them and makes sure that every single one of them is taken care of. Birds don’t plant seeds and water them to get food. God just provides it for them. Some of the most beautiful things in this world are inanimate objects that CAN’T do anything to provide for themselves. And yet, there isn’t a fashion designer in the world who could make you look as spectacular as a single lily. But your Father didn’t send His only-begotten Son as a bird or a flower. Jesus came to save you. He took your human flesh, he suffered death FOR YOU. You didn’t ask Him to. You didn’t even deserve it. But your Father was willing and Jesus was willing.
Unbelievers worry about things like food and clothes because they don’t know God as Father. YOU don’t need to worry. You know the Father. Jesus has shown you His love for you. Your worry changes exactly zero. You aren’t God. But that’s okay, because your Baptism makes you a child of the only One who is God. You will have what you need. God saved you from hell. He will make sure you have enough to eat.
Instead of worrying about silly, yes, silly things like food, drink, and clothing, seek first what really matters – the kingdom of God and His righteousness. And if you want to find the kingdom of God, just look for Jesus. And guess what. Jesus has made even made that easy for you. He is with you where His Word is faithfully preached. Stare into the font. Therein lies God’s love and forgiveness for you so that you may have peace. And look at the altar. There is Jesus. He gives you His Body and Blood to eat and drink so that as you are surrounded with all the things that make you want to worry you can receive the very Body and Blood that suffered under and conquered all of them. He gives these to you so that you can say without a shadow of a doubt “Yes. Jesus died for ME. He gives this Supper to ME so that no one can tell me it’s not true. I have no reason in the world to doubt that my heavenly Father will give me EVERYTHING I need for this life and the next.” That’s reality. May God grant each of us to lay aside our useless and unnecessary worrying and teach us to know and find comfort and joy in our Father’s unfailing care and mercy.
In the Name of +Jesus. Amen.