The Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity – Pr. Anderson sermon
St. Matthew 6:24-34 “Trusting in His Loving Care”
September 8, 2024 | Christ Lutheran Church
In Nomine Iesu
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Lord God, heavenly Father, we thank You for all Your benefits. that You have given us life and graciously sustained us to this day: We beseech You, do not take Your blessing from us; preserve us from covetousness, that we may serve You only, love and abide in You, and not defile ourselves by idolatrous love of wealth, but hope and trust only in Your grace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one true God, now and forever. Amen. (Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary, by Veit Dietrich, p. 162)
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. (Rom. 1:7, etc.)
The sermon text for today is taken from the 6th chapter of the Gospel according to St. Matthew. We read selected verses in Jesus’ name:
“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? 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? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 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.”
These are Your words, heavenly Father. Sanctify us by Your truth, Your Word is truth. Amen. (Joh. 17:17)
In Christ Jesus, who is the author and perfecter of our faith, dear fellow redeemed:
There is a Gospel song that is known in many circles. The lyrics to the refrain come from the third chapter of the book of Proverbs. Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths (Proverbs 3:5-6). The last part of those lyrics finish with the words, “Don’t worry about tomorrow. He’s got it under control. So, trust in the Lord with all your heart, and He will carry you through.” These verses from Proverbs are very much reflected in this text that is from early on in Jesus’ ministry. To follow Him is all about contentment and trusting that He is the One who provides for our needs. We need to trust in His loving care because if we don’t, the devil will more than likely have us in despair.
As Jesus preaches about the kingdom of God, He is revealing to the people how the kingdom only comes and is accessed through Himself. For anyone to see it, they must put all of their trust in God. “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?” This trust should be simple. For the people that Jesus is preaching too, life is simple. Most of them did not have a lot of money. So, you had to trade your wares for your basic necessities. As we heard not that long ago when we talked about possessions, even our most basic needs come from God because they are His and He will provide them. So, if God will provide, then is there a reason to be worried or anxious?
To explain this topic even further, Jesus narrates how easy it is to see God taking care of the world. You just have to look at His beautiful creation. “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?” This is so simple for the people and for us to understand as I’m sure there are pigeons out in the parking lot right now. And just think how many birds are there in the world? With modern technology, you can go on YouTube and watch cameras that show videos of what is happening with birds in their nest. Here is God the Father Almighty, the maker of heaven and earth, taking care of His creation in real time for millions of people to see. And Jesus tells the people, “Are you not of more value than they?”
Of course, we most of the time realize and know that we are of more value than the pigeon out in the parking lot. So, why do we forget this simple to understand topic of trusting in our God to take care of us? Jesus clarifies how we lose our thoughts to worries with the first thing that He says in our text. “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.” Sometimes we try to humble ourselves, forcing ourselves to believe it’s not about money and we are content with what we have, which can sometimes be true. St. Paul reveals how we drastically though look to serve other things. “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry” (Colossians 3:5). Very quickly we move our trust to earthly things and with it comes worry. And for a people who wants to be free, it is the things of this world that bind us as Jesus says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin (John 8:34).
In our slavery, God does not reign supreme. We think it is easy as the law says, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might” (Deuteronomy 6:5). What looks easy on paper dissolves when we worry. Our minds quickly forget about the birds and drift toward; how am I going to make it? Jesus sticks us when He tells us that God’s children don’t worry about what they have. Our worrying comes from the sinful world. “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.” There are many things we can want to go our way, but there is one thing that we need to go our way. We need our trust to be in the One who provides for us because He is our constant.
As that constant we have in our lives, He provides us with far greater things than the world has to offer. “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” Not only is He clothing you with physical clothes, but in the riches of the lily you see the riches of the white robe that is made for you. A robe that you can wear because your Savior did not worry about what He had in this life. His only thoughts were about His heavenly Father and you. He didn’t serve two masters. He served the Father for you with the only thing He had, His perfect life and innocent death.
The people will see all of this come to life at the end of His public ministry. It will become very easy for them to worry as the Pharisees ramp up pressure and attacks on Jesus, finally arresting Him, and then crucifying Him. They would make great confessions about Him and believe that Jesus shouldn’t go and die. They don’t understand what is happening and they flee as He is taken away from them. It was hard to see the trust Jesus expected, but His followers trust never made Him waver His trust. He trusted in the Father and it is in His loving care the people find the perfect life He gave up. They could trust the words that He was speaking to them in this sermon because He never once contradicted them. He lived them out, fulfilling them all for the good of mankind. His Father’s plan reveals His love for all. He trusted in His One and only Son to die for the sins of the world.
Jesus did not worry about what the pain and suffering would be like. He revealed to us the trusting care of His Father. Not only can this trust be found in creation with the birds and the lilies, but it can be found in your lives. “And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?” You can’t increase its length. You can’t get rid of the suffering and pain. You can trust in your Savior’s loving care because He knows what is on your mind and He put it on Himself. He loves you so much with His death on the cross for the forgiveness of your sins. He increases and adds to your life because of His death. It isn’t a life towards eternal damnation, but one of eternal life.
This new life is yours and found in His kingdom. A kingdom Jesus says, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” There are no worries in His kingdom. You see your bonds are broken. Your earthly belongings and worries don’t have to be the focus of life. God will provide for you as He always does. He has continued to provide for you when He promised He would send His Son to die for you. You belong with your God in His kingdom which has no end. You belong there because of the work, life, death, and resurrection of your Savior. With His love for you, you can trust His kingdom has come to you now. “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you” (Luke 17:20b-21). It is in the midst of you as you believe and trust in His loving care and as He provides for you in this life and in the life that is to come.
While you put your trust in Christ who does all things for you, taking care of all your needs, the world with its temptations of a second master and its worries will arrive on your front door again. As the world lacks faith and trust in God, don’t believe that you will be immune. When Jesus questions, “O you of little faith,” know that this question can rear its ugly head. It is difficult because the world will try to tell you that Jesus isn’t here, and He doesn’t know what you are going through. He is here right now. He sees your problems, hears your cries, and He tells you to trust in His loving care. St. Paul writes, “For each will have to bear his own load” (Galatians 6:5). This load does not need to be suffered alone. The body of believers is with you in His kingdom and as you find love in the congregation there you find Christ’s love. His care will get you through this life. So, He says, “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” And as there is trouble every day, Jesus’ care is there as well. You can trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths (Proverbs 3:5-6). Amen.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.
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