Matthew 6:25-34

Matthew 6:25-34 (NRSV)

25 ‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your
life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what
you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26
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? 27 And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your
span of life? 28 And why do you worry about clothing?
Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor
spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed
like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which
is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much
more clothe you–you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not worry, saying, “What
will we eat?” or “What will we drink?” or “What will we wear?” 32 For
it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly
Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But strive first for
the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be
given to you as well. 34 ‘So
do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own.
Today’s trouble is enough for today.

Thanksgiving Sermon

Today the Lord Jesus tells us three times – “don’t worry!” God knows
what we need. God is in charge. God is taking care of things.

I find it interesting how often Jesus finds it necessary to repeat himself
when talking to grown men and women. He is not a parent setting boundaries
with a toddler. He is not the new owner of a puppy that needs house-training.
This is God’s Son in human flesh talking to adults who say they believe
in God. And yet Jesus has to repeat himself three times in 10 verses – “don’t
worry!”

The Lord Jesus knows what he is dealing with. When adults worry, we
regress to the most childish behavior. I watch this happen about this
time every year in the church when grown people purporting to be wise
in the ways of the world act so childishly in the church always worrying
about money. God has more than enough. It just happens to be in the pockets
of struggling-to-believe adults that worry far too much. To shaky disciples
the Lord Jesus firmly says, “Don’t worry!” He says it three times. He
also mentions worrying twice more in the same 10 verses if we’re struggling
with having been given a direct order three times.

Jesus is not exactly complimenting the disciples when he says that birds
and flowers don’t worry. He’s saying that lower life forms with little
or no intellectual development don’t worry. To be really foolish it takes
an adult human. To be incredibly slow to trust God it takes adult humans
who say we want to believe in God but mostly behave as if we’ve never
heard of God – as if we’ve never experienced God’s goodness.

After talking about not worrying for nine verses, Jesus closes with
a touch of gallows humor: “You think today’s something to worry about.
Just wait until tomorrow. It could get really bad! So…don’t worry! Tomorrow
you could lose all that you really love. You could die!”

If Jesus were just some great teacher offering seemingly unfeeling advice
on how to live, then we could tune him out and follow our own lead. But
this is God’s Son who not only tells us not to worry he shows us what
it means not to worry. He goes to the cross for unbelievers like you
and me. He trusts his heavenly Father to raise him from the dead. And
God does! If death is the worst that can happen to those we love and
to us, Jesus shows us that our heavenly Father can handle the worst.
Don’t worry!

Jesus‘ intent is very clear. He is talking to me and to you right where
we live and work. Don’t listen to the voices inside your head that constantly
worry. Don’t listen to those voices around you – even in the church—whose
message is filled with worry, fear, and unbelief. God is in charge. Listen
to God’s Son. Seek to do those things that God wants you to do today.
And let everything else go. God is in charge.

Why does the church offer up this Gospel lesson for Thanksgiving Day?
Isn’t it becoming obvious by now? The appropriate response of believers
is thanks living. When we trust God to know what we need, we trust the
God for whom not even death is too big a problem to handle. When we trust
God, life is not a shot in the dark. God’s Son has lived the life we
cannot live and died the death we don’t want to die, so that we don’t
have to try to figure it all out on our own. With thanks for all that
God has done and is doing and will do, we can simply live today striving
to do those things God has given us to do today. It’s good to be alive.
Say, “thank you, God,” and live!

Notice that Jesus doesn’t suggest passivity. Birds gather food. Lilies
grow. He doesn’t recommend that we trust God to motivate someone else
to take care of things for us. Jesus says, “Strive first for the kingdom
of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you
as well.”

So…if you find yourself worrying about whether God is in charge. Stop
it! God has better things for you to do than that. Ask God what God wants
you to do, and you can be sure, says Jesus today, it doesn’t have anything
to do with being a voice of worry, fear, or unbelief. If you trust God,
if you’re grateful for your life, then be generous just like your gracious
God who spared nothing – not even his own life!

Do you have an extra coat? Give it away to someone who doesn’t have
one. Do you have more than enough money? Give it away to those that need
help. Do you have property that you aren’t going to use? Let someone
else use it. Sell it, and be generous with the proceeds. If you don’t
need it, give it away!

Why aren’t people generous with God and with their neighbor? They worry
too much, says Jesus, and they’re going to die anyway. So don’t worry!
Don’t worry! Don’t worry! Trust God. Be thankful. And for God’s sake…be
generous!

The Rev. Dr. Samuel Zumwalt
St. Martin’s Lutheran Church
Austin, Texas USA
szumwalt@saintmartins.org