2nd Sunday after Pentecost (May 25, 2008)

“Which Master Do You Serve?”
Matthew 6:24-34

INI

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

The main point of Jesus’ words today are pretty easy to understand. “Don’t worry. God provides for his children…the most precious of all his creation.” That part is easy. Perhaps the more perplexing part of this text is the fact that you and I have a hard time finding ourselves in most of this text. Listen very closely to Jesus’ words…and then bear with me for a few minutes. “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? 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 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?”

Think about Jesus’ words for a moment and then consider the possibility that there is not a single person here this morning that should be worried about these things. That much is clear. Then think about those disciples who left everything to follow Jesus…about the crowds gathered of people who truly did know what it was like to go without. There wasn’t a single person on the mountainside that day who was worried because $4.00 gas prices were going to make it hard to drive up to Galilee to see the family. They were more worried about having food to put on the table for their family that night. They weren’t fretting because rising food costs meant having to buy frozen produce instead of fresh…or generic instead of name-brand. They were concerned about having a morsel to put in their children’s mouths at the next meal. They didn’t get anxious because their tunic was getting a little tight in the waste…or that their sandals were an outdated style. They fretted over the possibility of having nothing to clothe a naked body.

A couple of weeks ago, a large cyclone destroyed large portions of the country of Myanmar (or Burma) and killed thousands of people. A few days later, a large earthquake in China killed tens upon tens of thousands of people. For those who weren’t killed in the earthquake, the prospect is now before the people of having to find clean water to drink…of finding a shelter in which to house a family each night…of finding food to eat each day…of getting medical care that will treat the injured. Of course in China, the population is so large that there is a major logistical challenge to meet the needs of all these people.

It’s been said that if you own a savings account…then you are among the 25% wealthiest people in the entire world. A pastor once said, “If you own more than one pair of shoes, and get to make a choice in what you eat each day, then you are wealthy.” Many of us today would not consider ourselves wealthy…when compared to the standards that are given to us by advertisements and television…by credit card companies and gossip magazines that glorify the rich and famous. By their standards, you probably aren’t very wealthy. But very few of us, if any of us, would ever be among those who have not had food to put in our mouths. After all hunger isn’t being forced to contemplate eating the can of Spam and the box of Kraft macaroni and cheese for dinner that’s in the back of your pantry. Hunger is having nothing.

What do you and I do with Jesus’ words about worrying? If you and I are worrying about not having food…or not having clothing…or not having what we need to live…then we’re probably not being honest about what God has given us. Perhaps the best thing you and I can do is examine ourselves in light of the very first words of today’s Gospel. There Jesus says, “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.” If our lives are filled with anxiety and worry over food, clothing, gasoline prices, and the cost of a gallon of milk, then perhaps the problem isn’t, “Is God giving me enough?” Perhaps the problem is, “Which master am I serving?” I’d like for everyone to notice something about this verse. Notice that it does not say, “Don’t serve both God and money.” Rather it says, “You cannot serve God and money.” It’s not possible. It can’t be done. Nothing can be served alongside of God. The First Commandment makes that very clear: “You shall have no other gods. What does this mean? We should fear, love, and trust in God above all things.”

The problem of worry then is a worship problem. When you and I worry, then God is not seen as being in control of the situation. Now worrying about paying $100 to gas up your SUV so you can pull your boat to the lake might not be a legitimate worry. But let’s be honest here: there are some worries that aren’t so ludicrous. You have a loved one who is not a Christian and you fear for his or her salvation…one of your children is taking part in some sort of activity that in unchristian and dangerous…a disease is not responding to treatment. Those worries maybe have more justification…and yet still all of them are under the control and power of our heavenly Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, our Master and Savior.

The lesson of Jesus’ words today is found in the value God places on you and me. Birds, lilies, grass…none of them even compare to the value of people that God saves by putting his own Son on the cross. There’s a lot of talk in our culture today about “self-esteem” and that’s been around for some time now. When I was in eighth grade, the school introduced a new course called “Quest.” The goal of “Quest” was to teach youth self-esteem…and we had to do things such as “give ourselves rounds of applause” and “pat ourselves on the back” and give other kids in the class “put-ups” as opposed to “put downs.” I’m not kidding…it was the stupidest thing I’ve ever had to do in my life. I remember that there were a couple of kids in the class whose parents removed them from the class because they felt that the way self-esteem was being taught was unchristian.

They were probably right…the idea most people have today about “self-esteem” is that you are important…in fact, you are more important than anything else. What matters is your happiness…your well-being…your satisfaction…your desires. I wonder if people were telling that to King David when he felt entitled to having Uriah the Hittite put to death, just to cover his affair with his wife, Bathsheba. Hey, David got what he wanted, didn’t he? Perhaps instead of learning “self-esteem,” you and I need to learn “God-esteem” or “Christ-esteem.” You and I need to hear…not how much we should love ourselves…but how infinitely God loves us through his Son Jesus Christ. Aren’t you worth more than birds? Aren’t you more valuable than flowers? Of course you are! Jesus died for you. “Do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’” Money is not your master. God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ are your Master—and they “know that you need them all.”

Jesus too was faced with the choice of serving himself and serving his Father. You can’t serve God and money…you can’t serve God and yourself. Jesus could have done what was easiest for him…instead he did what was best for you and me. He set aside his power and majesty and took on the humility of a man…he subjected himself to torture, ridicule, suffering, and death so that he might please his Father and that he might make us pleasing to the Father. And in doing so, Jesus brought to earth the “kingdom of God” that our text speaks about today. “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” It sounds like a hard thing to “seek first the kingdom of God”…but only if the “kingdom of God” is something you’re responsible for. Instead, Jesus brings about the kingdom by dying and rising. God sends the kingdom to us in Jesus Christ by his Word and Sacrament that remind us that we are of “more value than birds.”

Serving God as our master, rather than money or anything else, sounds like a challenging proposition. It actually takes place in a very simple, yet profound way. Hear the good news of forgiveness. Remember who you are in your Baptism. Eat Jesus’ body and drink his blood. God is breaking in to your world to make you his child and to care for you as the most precious of his creation. He does that by forgiving your sins and telling you of his amazing love. Don’t worry…God is our provider and Jesus is Lord and Master of us all. Amen.

The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.