Trinity
15 – Matthew 6:24ff – September 3rd and 4th
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit +
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit +
“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.” You
cannot serve God and “Mammon,” (as the old King James puts it) -
the stuff of this life, earthly power and wealth. Why? Because the
Lord your God is a jealous God, and He does not want to share your
affections with another, and He knows that your eye will wander if He
lets you. Because mammon and money is a greedy and tyrannical god,
always demanding more and more of you, more of your time, more of
your efforts. As often happens in the Scriptures two paths, two ways
of living, are set before us. There is the way of life – the life
lived in simple joy at being one of God’s redeemed servants,
knowing that your Master well provides for you. Then there is the
way of death – where your days are spent ever filled with toil and
effort to get more and more, days ever filled with worry and doubt
and despair.
I’m
sure you recognize both of these. I’m sure that there isn’t a
one of us in this room who hasn’t had sleepless nights worrying
about what tomorrow will bring. I’m sure there’s not a one of us
who hasn’t been worried about how small the number in the bank
account was, or hasn’t just been sure that if we didn’t get the
newest and latest and greatest doo-hickey or doo-dad that we just
wouldn’t be happy. We live in America, and the god that our
country truly worships is Mammon, is money, is worldly power and
might – where our heroes are all multi-millionaires, where
“reality” tv shows lives that none of us have; where every form
of entertainment is interrupted with commercials telling us what we
need to buy to make our life complete. Satan, our old evil foe, is
constantly stirring up discontent and dissatisfaction with what we
have – using money and wealth and stuff to rob us of our joy, of
our contentment, of our peace. We are not immune to this.
Dear
friends in Christ, while you are not immune to these temptations,
these temptations do not define you. Even as the world calls out to
you, even as money and wealth and power seek to dominate your life,
may I remind you of a truth? Money is not your master, for you are
baptized. When you were baptized, when God claimed you by water and
the Word, He said that you are His and He is yours. This is
important to remember at all times – while as a Christian you are
in the world, you are not of this world. While you live your life
here surrounded by all the trappings of wealth and power, they do not
define you, they do not control you. You are rather one of God’s
own children, you are part of His family, He is your Lord - and
because you are His servant – wealth, money, earthly power –
these things are not your masters, but rather they are simply tools
which God gives to you to use in His service as He wills. Whether
the bank account is full or empty – you belong to Christ – and
you use what He gives you in love for your neighbor, for you know
that your true home is not of this world, for Christ’s kingdom is
not of this world. Indeed, remembering that you belong to Christ is
the key to understanding the rest of our Gospel lesson.
“Therefore
I tell you, do not be anxious about your life….”
There are two ways in which one might hear these next words of
Christ. One might hear them as utterly crushing law – Jesus said I
shouldn’t worry, but I do, oh I’m lousy – oh, see how enslaved
I am to money and wealth, I am terrible, I stink on ice. Well,
probably – if you see your sin, I’m not going to argue against
you. I see my own sin quite often, and I know I’m only scratching
the surface thereof – we are sinful to the core. But Christ Jesus
is not trying to drop the hammer on you with these words. It is
true, you cannot serve two masters… and then Jesus says,
“Therefore, I tell you”. If Jesus is speaking to you, if He is
the one who tells you how things are, if you are listening to Him…
that means He is your Master. The rest of this passage, the rest of
the Gospel Lesson is simply your Lord telling you, promising you that
He will care for you – it is a tour de force of His love and
compassion. Your Master speaks to you now, and He tells you how He
Himself cares for you.
“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?”
Christ Jesus your Lord knows how Satan works, knows how the devil
tries to stir up fear and doubt – Satan was fool enough to try
these very temptations upon Christ – here, Jesus, turn stone to
bread; here Jesus, if you just worship me You’ll get all the glory
and wondrous clothing you could wish for. Jesus knows how Satan
attacks you, how the Devil loves to make you fret about this life,
about having enough. Your Master tells you that you need not worry
about this – that when Satan comes around and whispers worry in
your ear, you have God’s own authority to tell him to be gone. For
your life is more than food, and your body is more than clothing.
Today, our Lord provides for you His holy Supper. Is the purpose of
the Lord’s Supper simply to give you a snack to strengthen your
body? Far from it – it is the True Body and Blood of your Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ, given and shed for you for the remission of your
sins, for eternal life and salvation. Your life is more than just
these brief days upon this earth – you are joined to Christ Jesus,
part of His Body, and thus you will be with Him forever in the New
Heavens and the New Earth. And as you approach your Master’s table
today – how do you come? You come as one who is baptized, clothed
in Christ's righteousness - your clothes now might fall apart and
fade – what of that – for you have been washed in the blood of
the Lamb, and even should you die, should your body be placed in the
ground, your Master will call you forth on the Last day and clothe
your risen and perfected body for all eternity.
With
these words, Christ Jesus your Lord is telling you that you have life
and salvation in Him – that this is the highest reality of your
existence – and so when Satan comes around with his temptations –
Satan can go stick it, he has nothing to do with you, for you belong
to Christ. That’s the point of the rest of the passage. “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 of not more
value than they?” Of course you are –
you are one for whom Christ Jesus came down from heaven to redeem and
save. If God cares for the birds for their time on earth, will He
not care for you and give you what you need for your days – and
more than that, will He not bring you unto His everlasting kingdom?
“And which of you by being anxious can
add a single hour to his span of life?”
Quite the opposite – stress and worry harm us – so Jesus reminds
you to be calm, to rest secure in Him. He is your God and you are
His child – He has already promised you ever lasting life, and you
can’t get longer than that. “And why
are you anxious about clothing. Consider the lilies of the field,
how 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?” Again, the promise is shown by
comparison. You are valuable to God – He has paid the price of His
dear Son for you – do you think that He, having purchased you,
would then not care for you? Hardly – He provides you what you
need for this life and the life of the world to come.
This
is your reality – that you are cared for by God. So what does this
mean, how does this shape your life now? “Therefore
do not be anxious, saying ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall
we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and Your
heavenly Father knows that you need them.”
The world is full of fear, for that terrible and cruel master of
this world, money, Mammon, power, desires and delights in terror and
fear and worry. Your Lord here pulls you away from that. Examine
your thoughts – and when they are worldly focused, when Satan’s
fears and temptations start influencing your thoughts, pause and say,
“This is not who I am – I am Christ’s own Child – He cares
for me.” As a Christian, you see this life differently than the
rest of the world – and Christ reminds you of this. This is a tool
for you, a self-diagnostic if you will. When you start thinking too
much like the rest of the world, pause, repent, and be focused again
upon the promises of Christ.
“But
seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these
things will be added to you.” Again –
be wary here. Do not fall into a false prosperity gospel – don’t
fall into what the TV preachers sell you here. This isn’t the
secret Christian way of becoming rich and powerful – who cares
about Mammon? You aren’t a Christian in order to sucker God out of
more stuff. Besides, our Lord then says, “Therefore
do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for
itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”
In this life, as long as you are in this sinful world – there will
be struggles and trials and difficulties. As a Christian, you are
opposed to Satan and power, and thus Satan and power will hound you.
Because of this, because the world will give you no rest – Christ
calls you here to this place, to seek out His Kingdom, to seek the
place where He rules, to seek out His righteousness and forgiveness.
He is your Lord, you will have what you need – and when you are
focused upon Christ, you will realize this, you will see this, you
will know that the Lord does provide. Not “wealth” and “mammon”
as the world craves, not more and more than your neighbors so you can
show them how great you are and to bring them to heel – those are
the promises of the false god of money. No, God will provide for you
what you need – and what you truly, truly need is His righteousness
and His kingdom. And because you are His own Baptized Child, because
you have been called out of the world unto His Kingdom, unto His
House, because you are forgiven and His beloved, life everlasting is
yours in His Name. Remember this, especially as the world and wealth
try to rob you of your peace – Christ Jesus is your Master, and He
gives you His peace. In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of
the Holy Spirit +
No comments:
Post a Comment