The Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity – Pr. Faugstad sermon
Text: St. Matthew 6:24-34

In Christ Jesus, who served only the holy God, so that His perfect life of devotion to His Father’s will would count as our righteousness before God, dear fellow redeemed:

If we were to imagine birds planting seed, harvesting a crop, and storing it in little barns, I wonder if we would picture it like a cartoon. It’s make-believe stuff. We can’t even really imagine something like this in real life. Birds don’t behave like this. They are certainly active in finding food to eat, but they don’t sow and reap and gather into barns. And the lilies of the field arrayed in so many different colors, they don’t get out little sowing machines and thread and spin clothing for themselves.

Pictures like these, of animals and plants behaving like humans, was a story-telling approach made popular by a Greek man named Aesop who lived several hundred years before the birth of Christ. Aesop’s fables are more than silly stories with sometimes talking animals. They are stories meant to teach a lesson, a moral. In one of these fables, he writes about a dog carrying a piece of meat in his mouth. As he crossed a river, he saw his reflection and took it for another dog with a larger piece of meat in his mouth. When the dog opened his mouth to snatch the bigger piece away, what he had disappeared. The moral is that in one’s desire for something more, he loses what he already has.

This moral fits with what Jesus is saying in today’s reading. He tells us not to be anxious or worried about the needs of this life and instead to put our trust in God to provide for us. Like Aesop’s dog, we may already have just what we need. We may have good health, marriage, family, possessions, home, a decent job. But as we look around and see how other people seem to have more—more money, more stuff, more success, more happiness—we wish we had what they have. We might even be tempted to let go of what we have to try to get what others have.

One of the reasons we desire and covet what others have is that we tell ourselves that this thing or this person or this quality of life will finally fulfill us. It will finally make us happy and content. When we are young, we might dream of being stars on the playing field or on the stage. If only we could be rich and famous, we would have everything we wanted. As we get older, we imagine finding the perfect person to be with, and how much easier life will be if we can only find “the one.” Then we dream of having children and high-paying jobs and possessions and a big house and the respect of others. These are all good things.

But supposing we did receive everything we dreamed of having. Would all our problems and cares disappear? It could be that they would actually multiply. The more you are responsible for, the heavier your burdens can be. There is nothing in this world, in this life, that if you had it, would make your troubles go away. That’s why so many people walk around in a daze and in sadness. No matter how much they get, they still feel empty and without purpose.

It can also happen that we get exactly what we dream of having, but over time, it loses its appeal. Think of a child who begs for a certain toy for his birthday. If he gets it, he says he’ll never ask for anything else again. But one week later, it sits in a corner gathering dust. Or a teenager might have a huge crush on someone, but once she has gotten to know him better, she realizes they are not compatible at all. Or a person might get the job he always wanted only to find it wasn’t as great as he thought it would be.

When our focus is on “mammon”—the riches and possessions of the world—, when our focus is on this life—what we will eat, drink, and put on—, we will never find satisfaction and contentment. We will never get to the point where we have enough. Like Aesop’s dog which was jealous of its own reflection, our sinful flesh always wants more.

So Jesus sets before us the example of birds and lilies: “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?… 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 gifts that bring us the most fulfillment and joy in this life do not come from our own anxious toil, from our own efforts and energy. These gifts come from God.

He feeds all the birds, and you are far more valuable to Him than they are. He richly clothes the lilies, and they only live for a matter of weeks. But you, you He knitted together in your mother’s womb, you He fearfully and wonderfully made, you He brought forth into this world and supplied all that you needed (Psa. 139:13-16). But He has done more than give you life; He gives you eternal life.

It was for you that He sent His only-begotten Son.
For you, Jesus lived a perfect life.
For you, He died on the cross and rose on the third day.
He instituted the Sacrament of Baptism to join you to His holy body.
He instituted the Sacrament of the Altar to give you His body and blood for the remission of your sins.
Through the preaching and teaching of His Word, He imparts to you His forgiveness and life.
Your gracious God could not have made it clearer that He loves you, He cares for you, and He wants you to have all the treasures of heaven.

He always has your best interests in mind. Sometimes that means He will not give you what you dream of and desire—even if they seem like good and godly things. He might not give you great riches or a job you love or perfect health or a care-free life. This may be painful, but God is not punishing you. He might be withholding some blessing to teach you patience and prayer or gratefulness for what you have. Or He might withhold something to help subdue the desires of your flesh and to teach you to trust in Him.

Jesus says: “Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles [meaning unbelievers] seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.” Your heavenly Father knows. He knows what you need for this life. He hasn’t let you down yet, and He won’t. He knows what you need better than you do, so you can trust that whatever comes your way is a gift of His grace.

Looking around you with jealousy at what others have compared to you will not bring you what you want. It will cause you to lose the good things you have, like the dog who was jealous of his own reflection and lost his piece of meat. Instead rejoice in the gifts you have, especially focusing on the One who gives them. This is what Jesus teaches you to do: “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

Our faith and focus are on the holy God who made us, redeemed us, and comforts us. We seek first His kingdom and righteousness. This is what we pray for in the Lord’s Prayer, where six of the petitions have to do with our spiritual needs and only one for our earthly needs, “our daily bread.” We seek first His kingdom and righteousness by hearing and learning His holy Word. This is how the Holy Spirit brings saving faith to us and continues to increase in us the heavenly gifts of love, joy, peace, patience, and much more (Gal. 5:22-23).

Jesus promises that those who look to God and trust in Him will not have to be anxious about their earthly needs. “[A]ll these things will be added to you,” He says; all that you need for this body and life. You and I are not worthy of any of these gifts. We have not earned them any more than the birds and lilies have earned what they have. But God is good and gracious toward us. If He does not forget the countless birds and lilies but feeds them and clothes them, He will not forget us. He gives His gifts in abundance and will keep giving them.

We Gratefully Receive the Gifts of God. We receive His full and free forgiveness of all our sins, including our sins of discontentment and jealousy. We receive our daily bread with thanksgiving, acknowledging Him as the Giver of all good things. We rejoice that His kingdom comes among us through Word and Sacrament by the power of the Holy Spirit. We rejoice that the righteousness of Jesus covers us by faith in Him. Both physically and spiritually, we are well-fed, and we are well-clothed. He has given us all that we need for today, and in His rich generosity and by His sure promises, we trust that He will do the same for us tomorrow.

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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(picture from stained glass at Jerico Lutheran Church)