Sermon: Trinity 15 - 2018

9 September 2018

Text: Matt 6:24-34 (Gal 5:25-6:10)

In the name of + Jesus.  Amen.

The Christian life, like old age, is not for sissies.  

The Christian life is difficult.  As the great Lutheran theologian Blessed Dietrich Bonhoeffer (who was hanged by the Nazis in 1945) famously put it: “When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die.”  For indeed, we Christians are to take up our crosses and follow Him.  Salvation costs us nothing, but it cost the Son of God His life.  And the cost of following Jesus is that He becomes the center of our lives.  Hence, Pastor Bonhoeffer’s words.

But the reality is that most of us will not die as martyrs at the hand of a monstrous government.  God willing, anyway.  Most of us will not be called to confess Christ in the face of the loss of our freedoms and our lives.  But the Christian life is still difficult, dear friends.

Of course, it is difficult to fight our sinful nature and uphold the Ten Commandments.  We fail miserably.  We confess, repent, receive forgiveness and mercy, and we fail again.  But there is something even more difficult for us Christians, and that is what our Lord preaches as recorded by St. Matthew in the Sermon on the Mount that we got to hear a bit of once more this morning.  Jesus tells us “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.”

This is perhaps, for us, the hardest part of the Christian faith.  Why do we worry?  We worry because we are not in control.  At any moment, a hurricane or tornado or fire can take everything from us.  Without warning, cancer or a heart attack or a stroke can result in death or disability, for ourselves or our loved ones.  Accidents happen out of the blue.  Stock markets crash, skyscrapers collapse, wars are declared – and we cannot control any of this.  We worry for our children and grandchildren as western civilization seems headed for the ash heap.

And of course, there is also money.  We need money to live.  Without money, we would starve, or wander about homeless.  We rely on many things to survive financially, and again, many of them are beyond our control.  At any moment, any of us could become destitute. 

But in the face of these very rational concerns, what does Jesus say?  “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?”

The same Lord who created the birds created you, dear brother, dear sister, and He continues to care for them and you.  This is why He bids you not to worry.  He is in charge.  He has it under control.  Our job is to be faithful, to discern His will, and carry it out to the best of our abilities.  We are not to make an idol out of money, for “No one can serve two masters,” says our Lord, “You cannot serve God and money.”  Money is not evil.  Money is a tool for us and for the Kingdom.  But we are not to serve money as a master, but rather money is to serve us as its master, even as we are to serve our Lord and Master, who has bidden us not to worry.

For what good can it do anyway?  “And which of you,” asks Jesus, “by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?”  

Jesus points out that our heavenly Father has it all under control.  And again, He points to creation itself: “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.”

We look around, dear friends, and we see the Lord’s providence all around us.  We see His grace and mercy in our lives and in our world.  Think of what we deserve, and then think of what we have!  Think of what might have been, and then think of what is.  God, in His wisdom and love and providence, has not only created you and brought you to life, He has sustained you to where you are right now.  For where are you?  You are in the very presence of the Lord.  Each one of us has more access to Him than did even the High Priest of Israel.  For we have been baptized and set apart as Holy to the Lord, cleansed by water and the Word, according to Christ’s command and promise.  You have been baptized, dear friends, and you have been called.  You have been given the Word of God, and what’s more, in this beautiful historic church building that has weathered so many storms, both literally and figuratively.  You have been invited to the communion rail to partake of the true body and blood of Christ for the forgiveness of sins, in a union of physical nearness with Christ Jesus as close and as miraculous as His physical, incarnate presence with the apostles.  

Jesus indeed bids you to die, to lay down your life to take up your cross, and to do so triumphantly as a Christian, as one whose sins have been exchanged for Christ’s righteousness.  You are here, dear friends, here to hear anew the preaching of Jesus, His very words recorded and preserved for us by the work of the Holy Spirit.  You are not just a bird of the air, but you are a child of God, you are one for whom Christ died to give you everything – not just a few bucks, but rather all the riches of His kingdom, all by grace – and all by faith.

And having that faith is indeed hard, dear friends.  It means letting go.  It means letting God be God, and not trying to control every aspect of our lives, the lives of our families, the lives of our fellow parishioners, the lives of our co-workers, and the lives of people who seem to pull the stings of our world.  For in the final analysis, God is the one who is in control – not us, and not those who claim lordship over us.  For all men must bow before Christ, whether joyfully, or fearfully, whether in loving obedience to His will, or in terror of His judgment.

You, dear friends, are here not for judgment, but for grace.  And so let us embrace the words of our Lord and take them to heart.  Let us joyfully die to ourselves so that a new and better self may emerge from the death of the Old Adam, drowned in the font, and arisen with our Lord Jesus Christ in the resurrection.

The Christian life is not for sissies, but for sinners who have heard the Word of God, who are given the grace to receive what Christ has won for us at the cross, and the faith to receive Him without serving idols, like money, or worrying about things that He has under control.  Instead of worrying about ourselves like the Gentiles, let us praise Him and put all things in His nail-scarred hands, hands that receive you as you “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness,” knowing that “all these things will be added to you.”  This is how Christians can live the Christian life as St. Paul encourages us: “Let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.  So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.”  Amen.

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