Trinity 15
Dear friends in Christ. It has been said that making your way in the world today takes everything you got. If that is true for the person of the world, how much more so is it true for the Christian, not only to make our way in the day in/ day out of this world, but so that in the end we die in the holy Christian faith and heirs of heaven? Jesus tells us about making our way in the world [Mt 10.16]: Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. –A seemingly impossible task! Why? Because: remember, as Christians, we have the devil and all his host arrayed against us all working to lead us into sin and away from faith in Christ.
We dare not fight against our spiritual enemies—the devil and his allies: the sinful world around us with all its temptations and our own sinful self within us that is a willing slave to sin and the devil and gladly follows the luring temptations of the world—alone, relying on our own strength. That will get us nowhere good fast.
Instead, we use everything we got—that is, we rely on the holy word of God and the blessed sacraments. As we make faithful and diligent use of these, the Holy Spirit is mightily working in us and on us making us wise to the temptations before us, comforting us with the Holy Absolution when we do sin, strengthening us in our faith.
And as we make our way in the world, it is the Holy Spirit who is leading us into the paths of good works and strengthening us so that we actually carry them out. And what are these good works that the Holy Spirit leads us into to do? How do we know what is a really a good work? Certainly not any/ everything we think of; instead we look at the holy law of God! The holy Law of God—the same thing we use to examine our hearts and lives to discover and root out sin—tells us what is a good work and what isn’t. In short, a good work is what God, in the holy Ten Commandments, has commanded us to do or not to do; and which we then carry out in faith and love of Him.
Our text today is part of that. It is part of Jesus’ words giving gentle guidance to His Christians, to His Church. This is not a strict hell, fire and brimstone preaching of Jesus but a gentle guidance on how to face the world—that is, how to live out our lives as Christians in light of the First Commandment to fear, love and trust in Him above all things; and in particular Jesus guides us in dealing with things, money, possessions—everything necessary for our physical well-being—and in contentment with them.
How fitting that Labor Day weekend falls this year on this Sunday of the Church year. As this weekend our thoughts are turned to God’s gift to us of work—remember God instituted work before the fall into sin so, like marriage, it is one of the few things left to us from the pre-Fall world—we as Christians are reminded of the right and proper role of work. Before the Fall into sin, work was a joy and delight; but with the Fall into sin, work became burdensome full of hardship and futility. But we see the dignity and value of work—whatever our work may be, wherever we may be laboring—because God is working through our work to bless and provide for His creation. Like He did with the Israelites in the desert with the manna [Ps. 78.24], God could just rain down food and our other provisions. But He doesn’t. He works through the farmer and rancher and blesses them with sun and rain and nutrients in the soil; He works through the miller and baker and butcher; He works through the factory workers, miners and construction workers; He works through parents, nurses, doctors, etc. The point is clear: the Christian knows in the certainty faith that all that we are and have is a result of God’s gracious gift to us. Just as the creation is the work of God, so also is His ongoing preserving of His creation. And in grace upon grace, the Lord uses means/ instruments—He uses us and our work in society and in family as part of His way to preserve us and others, to give us earthly gifts and blessings, to give us the means of life.
That’s why Jesus says in our 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? And For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. Again, the means of life—what we need to support our earthly life—is not the goal of life. Food and clothing? Yes, they are absolutely vital; they are the result of our work and the work of others—but only because God wants to use our work and the work of others to preserve us, His creation. Because it is ultimately God who blesses the work of our hands, grants favorable weather, gives increase in learning and understanding, etc. we do our work but we dare not make the vital things the goal of our work—that is, we work hard and long so that we get our food and clothing. That’s making food and clothing—as vital as they are, the means of life—the goal of life. But what does Jesus here say? What guidance does He give us Christians, who by faith know God rightly? God is preserving us, His creation; we don’t preserve ourselves. All that we have comes from Him and are the result of His blessing. That means we can work as hard and long as we can but it is all futile unless God grants us His blessing. What does Jesus tell us in our text: And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? Since we can’t do it, leave everything in the Lord’s hands, to His preservation and providence.
When we put our trust in our work, when we put our trust in/ make our goal the things that support our bodily life, that’s idolatry. It also makes us slaves to these things—we need them so we have to do everything necessary for them. Instead, as Christians who know God rightly as the One who created and preserves His creation and from whom alone come all good gifts and blessings/ everything vital we need for this life, yes, we do the work the Lord has called us to do but we rely on Him to bless our work, to provide us what we need. Your heavenly Father knows that you need them. And because we know that He knows that we need them, how freeing/ liberating that is! What contentment we can have in our lives—I work and the Lord blesses the labor of my hands and gives me what He in His holy, divine, gracious goodness He knows I need. How freeing: 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…
This is how we make our way as Christians in the world today—in the full faith and knowledge that our dear loving heavenly Father is providing for us. Knowing that it is all in His hands, that it is His worry, we are free from anxiety and saying: ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ And because we are free from this worry/ anxiety, we then can gladly do good to our neighbor and share with those in need from the goods/ bounties the Lord has given us. If the means of life—the necessities like food and clothing—are the goal, how easy it is to forget about God and neighbor. But if we are freed from that worry/ anxiety knowing that the Lord provides for us, His creation, how we then want to serve the Lord and our neighbor! Does this mean that the Christian becomes slack in his/ her work? Since “the Lord will provide” why bother to work/ put out any effort? Never! This adds a new dignity to our work—“the Lord is using, working through me!”—and this joy and dignity makes us more diligent in our work. We make our way in this world working diligently but free from worry.
But, because we still have our old sinful nature with us, it wants us to take our eyes off the Lord and His care and provision; it wants us make the means of life—food, clothing, etc.—the goal of life; it wants to make us slaves to these things. And the devil would want nothing more because this desire for the means of life—money and possessions is greed; it’s idolatry! Where the heart serves riches that First Commandment of perfect fear, love and trust in God is broken. That’s why, making our way through this world, we must be on guard and recognize our sinful nature’s inclination to look to things and to put our trust and confidence in them. The devil uses wealth, riches, possessions, etc. to call us away from the Lord. Where that is happening in our hearts—and this sin is not just a sin of the rich but also of the poor, the have-nots who want to be rich—there is not only the sin of idolatry but also the sin of greed. In fact, the two go hand in hand. This greed results from a distrust of God—basically saying that God is not or cannot be the Creator and Preserver of the world—of us; and since the holy Triune God, then, cannot preserve us/ provide us what we need in this life, this distrust shows itself in anxious care. And where there is this anxious care, this worry divides and distracts the mind leading to distrust and denial; where there is this anxious care/ lack of contentment God and neighbor are soon forgotten and good works are not done, showing faith has departed.
This is a very real danger for the Christian. That’s why hearing today’s Gospel we do well to heed our Lord’s gentle guidance and repent where we see this sin rearing its ugly head in our heart and life. What does Jesus call us in our text? O you of little faith! By that He is encouraging us. He’s not saying that we have no faith, but He is calling on us to use the faith we have, that by His Holy Spirit He has created in us. He calls on us to recognize our sin, sorrow over that sin and to hold to the forgiveness He has won for us and now fully and freely gives us. The thing is, since our gracious Triune God has not only created us but has done everything to rescue us from our sins, from death, devil and hell—since He has taken care of our greatest need—won’t He also take care of our lesser needs, our physical needs? Of course! And since He has shown Himself to be our dear, loving God and Savior doesn’t it also mean that He will provide for us in the best possible way what we need for our physical needs? And that’s why we the O you of little faith, use that faith and hold to our Lord and Who He is and what He has done for us.
Certain that He is our gracious God and Savior and also our Creator and Preserver, we are content in all circumstances and with what and how He provides for us. And because we always have these relentless attacks of the devil trying to get us to distrust God, question how He is providing us, trying to get our focus off the Lord and onto things, Jesus, in mercy and grace, puts a sermon that is always before our eyes: 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 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? The Lord has given us a sermon that continually surrounds us—nature and God’s preservation of even the seemingly insignificant creature.
Look at and be strengthened by a sermon the birds and grass teach. Trust the Lord to provide, bring Him your needs in prayer, and do your work faithfully. He is God almighty: don’t worry about what’s in His hands and be content with what He in grace and love gives you knowing it is best for you. INJ Amen.