Trinity 15
Mt
6:24-34
9/13/15
You
may have noticed that Amy and I purchased a mini-van about a month and a half
ago. This is the third one we will have
owned during the course of our marriage.
I had desperately hoped that I
could avoid mini-van number three. But
alas, it was not to be. We have four children who for some reason just keep
getting taller, and so they think they need more and more leg room. Amy and I had almost convinced ourselves that
we could get by with something smaller and sportier, but in the end we knew
that the first time our family went on a trip we would regret it.
However,
when we purchased the mini-van, it turned out that our kids weren’t entirely satisfied
either. They were appalled to learn
that, get this … it does not have a built in DVD player. Now obviously
you cannot travel any real distance without being able to sit in the vehicle
and watch movies. It’s just not possible. You can’t watch the movie on your
iPad, because what are you going to do if everyone wants to see the same movie
at once? And if the screen isn’t nicely
mounted there in the center of the ceiling, what’s the point? Who wants to watch something that mom and dad
have rigged up to the back of a seat?
Of
course, as parents are supposed to do, Amy and I enjoy responding by telling
them about the way things used to be
when we were their age. Those were the days when you had to entertain yourself
by reading or by playing games like seeing how many different state license
plates you could see. It was the era of
the station wagon, and a big thrill was putting down the back seat and
spreading out a blanket so that you could lie down in the back. And yet this conversation simply repeats the
one our parents had with us when we
complained about how long it took to drive somewhere, and they told us about
how fortunate we were to have interstates to travel on rather than having to drive
on state roads all the way like they had to do when they were our age.
It is
the nature of modern life here in the western world that we see a continual
advance in comfort and luxury. The bells
and whistles increase in ways that are fun and make things easier. But along
the way something gradually and almost imperceptibly happens. The things that used to be luxuries become
essentials. I mean once you have
experienced being able to find out instantly the score of the big game by
looking at something in the palm of your hand – or even getting to watch it
surreptitiously – how can you live without that?
It
is this movement in our expectations about what is included in a “good life”
that makes it so difficult for us to understand and accept what the Lord Jesus
says in our Gospel lesson today. Yet
God’s perspective on what we need is quite
different from ours, and in turn his will for the way we use his abundant
blessings also reflects a very different understanding of life. We learn in our text this morning that it is
only Jesus Christ and the saving reign of God that he brought into the world
that can transform both.
Our
Lord says in today’s text, “Therefore I tell you, 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. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?” The
statement translated “Therefore, I tell you…” can be translated more literally
as, “because of this I say to
you.” The “this” is the first sentence
of our text
There
Jesus says, “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and
love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You
cannot serve God and money.” Jesus says
you can only serve one lord, one master.
You can’t serve God and money – wealth and all that goes with it. There
can only be one Lord.
When the question is framed this
way, the answer is obvious. Of course
God is supposed to be the master. And so
Jesus goes on to the conclusion – the “because of this.” He says, “Therefore I tell you, 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. Is not life more than food, and the body more than
clothing?”
Jesus says, if God is the master of
your life, then don’t worry. Food, drink
and clothing are not life itself, they just support life. And besides, God takes care of all of these
things. Christ points out that the birds
don’t sow or reap yet your heavenly Father feeds them. And you are certainly
for more valuable to him then they are! Jesus adds: “And why are you anxious
about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither
toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed
like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is
alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O
you of little faith?”
O you of little faith. Jesus kind of sticks you right in the gut
there. Because the truth of the matter
is that you do worry. And the things you worry about have nothing
to do with food or drink or clothing or shelter. You worry about your credit card bill, which
has been filled with the purchase of all kinds of fun stuff you just had to
have; with the expenses for that summer vacation that you just had to take. You worry about saving enough for retirement
so that you can live the life you want while also doing all that traveling that
you are going to have time to do.
The problem is that none of those
things are necessary for sustaining life. And so none of those are things God
has promised to provide. When the financial crash occurred in 2008 and
everyone’s investments went in the toilet we were all wringing our hands in
disbelief. And it was then that it struck me that God was probably not concerned at all. You know why?
Because for almost every single one of us, it did not change the fact
that we had food and clothing and shelter.
We had everything God has promised to support our life – and that in a
way that went beyond the majority of the people on this planet.
Remember, Jesus spoke
these words to people who could not imagine the wealth and comfort you possess.
The problem is that wealth – our
money and our possessions – is the thing that gives us comfort and security. It gives us joy that we want in life and we
love it. That is why we focus upon it.
That is why we worry about it.
But as the Small Catechism
teaches us, when you fear, love and trust someone or something, you have just
described a god. Our wealth is a false
god and we bow down at its altar in a thousand ways.
The answer is to admit this – to
name it for what it is: sin. The answer is to confess this sin, and listen to
the words of our Lord in the text. For he says, “Therefore do not be anxious,
saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’
For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows
that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his
righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
The only One who can provide
forgiveness for this sin is Jesus. The only One who can transform the way we
view the things of this world is Jesus.
Our Lord says to seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness. When he says this, Jesus is directing us to
himself.
Jesus speaks of the kingdom of God.
But when he does so, he does not refer to a place like the kingdom of England
or France. Instead he refers to an
action – he refers to the reign of God that arrived in him in order to remove
Satan, sin and death from our lives and creation itself. He refers to God’s righteousness which we
learn in Isaiah and the Psalms is God’s saving action to put all things right.
In response to the sin in our lives
and world, God did something dramatically new – yet something that he had
announced long ago. God the Father sent
his Son into the world as he was incarnate by the Holy Spirit and born of the
virgin Mary. In his death on the cross Jesus Christ took all of your sins – all
of the times you worry; all of the ways treat wealth as a god – and he received
God’s judgment against them. And then by his resurrection from the dead he
defeated sin’s detestable child – death. The saving reign of God present in
Jesus has transformed things so that you are the forgiven child of God who is
now living in the Last Days and who knows that you will share in Jesus’
resurrection. The righteousness of God
has made you righteous – justified – so that already now you know the verdict
of the Last Day. It will be innocent;
not guilty.
You received the reign of God – the
kingdom of God – in your baptism. There you were born again of water and the
Spirit. There the Holy Spirit made you a new creation in Christ. Because of God’s work in Christ through the
Spirit you are different than you were
before. You have been renewed and
reborn.
Because of Jesus, you are now called
to view the things of this world differently.
So begin to recalibrate. Consider
the blessings God gives to you whereby he sustains your life and give thanks to
him. Look at those things that are not truly necessary for sustaining life and recognize them as just that. Begin to ask yourself about the ways those
things take a place before Jesus.
When you look at your life in this
way, you will find that God has blessed you with means that go far beyond
anything you need. And consider how,
because of the saving reign you have received in Jesus, you can now use those
blessings to support the work of Christ’s reign. God calls you through your offering to
support the ministry of the proclamation of the word and the administration of
the sacraments here in this place. He
calls you through your gifts to support the work of the Church that that extends
and supports the ministry of the Gospel around the world.
He calls you to share with those in need – for there are indeed those
who do not have the basic things needed to sustain life- who do not have food
and clothing and shelter.
This is the way you deal with money
and wealth when you are a new creation in Christ. However, you have not yet shared in Jesus’
resurrection. And so while you are a new creation in Christ, the fallen old
Adam is still in you as well. He clings
to the frills of life and calls them essential.
He revolts against giving what he has.
And so we must return to our Lord’s
words again and again. For he says, “Therefore
do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or
‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your
heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God
and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
Our Lord calls us to seek God’s
reign and his saving righteousness where it is present for us now. He draws us to his Means of Grace – to his
Word, to Holy Baptism, to Holy Absolution and to the Sacrament of the
Altar. For through these means the
saving reign of God is present for us, giving forgiveness for all the times we
fail. And through these saving gifts the
Spirit of God sustains and strengthens us so that we can view our money and
wealth in God’s way as we then seek God’s kingdom and righteousness in the way
we use it.
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