Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God, our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen. The text for the sermon this morning comes from the Epistle which was read earlier.

I have bad news to report this morning. This may come to a shock to people. I am a sinner. Yes, that’s right. Your pastor is a sinner. It’s not something that I’m proud of but it’s something that you need to know about me. Now, is there something that you would like to confess to me? Let me help. “I, insert name here, am a sinner.” I know that it’s difficult for all of us to say, but it’s something that we have to admit, not only to one another, but to ourselves. Once we admit that we are sinners, we can truly understand what God has given to us because of our sin: grace.

Though we have received grace, Paul asks a wonderful question to the Romans: “Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?” It’s a good question to ask. If you think about what Paul is saying, then it would be smart for a person to sin: the more that you sin, the more grace that you receive. If we use that line of thought, the less sin we commit, then the less grace we would receive. Who wouldn’t want a large measure of grace in their lives?

Paul does not focus on the more you sin, the more grace you receive. Instead, he focuses on the fact that we should do all that we can NOT to sin. The old lusts are still present in the community: pride, greed, envy, bitterness, sensuality, gluttony, apathy. Their source is in the desires of the flesh. They promise life but deliver death. If baptism did not exist, their fatal deception would still triumph through the reign of sin. Sin reigns in deception by compelling obedience to these lusts. For the baptismal community this obedience has been broken and makes no sense. Having emerged from the baptismal waters, it knows a Lord greater than death, a reign greater than sin, and a truth greater than deception. It can therefore be exhorted to submit itself in obedience to the risen Lord.

It would be useless to tell sinners not to let this powerful king, sin, reign over them, whether in their mortal bodies or in the rest of their being; sinners could not prevent the sin’s reigning over them. But Christians who have died to sin, who are alive to God, they can prevent the sin’s reigning so that they no longer are slaves to sin. How is this done? How does a Christian prevent sin from reigning over them? It is not anything that the sinner does themselves; rather, it is Christ Jesus who has done all the work for the sinner.

For many, if not all of us, we don’t need to go looking for sin; it has a tendency to find us. We should flee from sin, yet instead we run to it. We should be disgusted by sin, yet instead we frolic in it. Why do we do what we do when it comes to sin? The answer is simple: sin leads us to sin. Sin makes us do those things that are contrary to the Word of God. That is the purpose of sin, to lead us away from God. Sin does a very good job of that. Satan can rejoice in the work of sin and its separation of God and His people. That is not how God desires to see His children. He does not rejoice when He sees His people sinning, from the greatest of sins to the least. He does not rejoice when He sees the effects that sin has on His children. Paul tells us in our text to “present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.” There is something important that we must keep in mind here: there is nothing that we can do to present ourselves to God. It is not by our words, it is not by our actions. It is by the actions of Jesus Christ, working for us. It is by His life, death, and resurrection. It is by our baptism into Christ, the act of us being made children of God, that we are able to be presented to God. Through this act, we are brought from death to life; death to our sins which eternally separate us from God to new life in Christ which brings us everlasting life.

All of this is done by grace: unmerited favor given to us by God. We don’t deserve it, yet God has chosen to give to each and every one of us the greatest gift that one could ever have: the gift of forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation.

Paul asks the same question twice in chapter six of Romans, once at the beginning and now again in our text: are we to continue sinning for the sake of grace. He restates the fact that appears in our text: “you are not under law but under grace.” For Paul, this is the defining point that he is trying to make.

There is a strong inclination to think that law stops sinning, that unless we have at least some law, we shall not be kept from sinning, even when we are under the fullness of grace; that grace alone is insufficient for this purpose. For this reason, so many Christians are legalists, striving to keep every law and commandment that has come out of the mouth of the Lord, in the hopes that they will have done enough by life’s end to achieve salvation. On the other hand, some are inclined to think that, since grace pardons sins so freely, one need not be so careful about not sinning; a few sins more or less make no difference to grace which will take care of the additional sins. However, that is not what Scripture teaches. Scripture teaches that we are to flee from sin. When we do sin, we are to confess our sins and to seek that forgiveness which comes through Christ’s death. We do not disregard our sinfulness, thinking that grace will overshadow our sins.

We, who were once slaves to sin, “having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.” Paul has most emphatically said that our deliverance from sin was no less than having our old man crucified with Christ. Pilate delivered Jesus to be crucified. Jesus Himself wanted to be delivered, wanted to be crucified for the sake of our sins. We too have been delivered by being made slaves, slaves to righteousness, obeying as slaves, obeying the voice of our Master, God the Father, who speaks His Word of forgiveness to each and every one of us.

Of all the points that Paul makes in all of his letters, the most pointed one comes at the end of our text: “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” There are two outcomes for a person: death or eternal life. Prior to the Fall, there was no such thing as death. After the Fall, death became a new and added aspect to creation which was not intended. Death is the ultimate result of sin. Adam earned these wages for himself and for us. The full and final payment is made to each sinner, every man, woman, and child, when they reach their earthly end.

However, there is another gift that is given, the gift of eternal life. This gracious gift of eternal life is ours by way of a gift already given to us the moment we believe and are justified, the moment we die to sin and become alive to God.

Death is not only the inevitable consequence of sin, it is what sin deserves. The wages of sin is death. Eternal life, by contrast, is not what anyone deserves. Having emerged from the waters of baptism, no thanks to ourself and our shameful bondage to sin, we have been transferred to a new Lord, to a new set of loyalties, obligations, and allegiances, to a new future, and therefore to a new form of life even now. This is the grace of God, given to you, for the sake of Jesus. In the name of Jesus, amen. Now the peace of God which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus, amen.

Pentecost 6A 2008

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God, our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen. The text for the sermon this morning comes from the Epistle which was read earlier.

I have bad news to report this morning. This may come to a shock to people. I am a sinner. Yes, that’s right. Your pastor is a sinner. It’s not something that I’m proud of but it’s something that you need to know about me. Now, is there something that you would like to confess to me? Let me help. “I, insert name here, am a sinner.” I know that it’s difficult for all of us to say, but it’s something that we have to admit, not only to one another, but to ourselves. Once we admit that we are sinners, we can truly understand what God has given to us because of our sin: grace.

Though we have received grace, Paul asks a wonderful question to the Romans: “Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?” It’s a good question to ask. If you think about what Paul is saying, then it would be smart for a person to sin: the more that you sin, the more grace that you receive. If we use that line of thought, the less sin we commit, then the less grace we would receive. Who wouldn’t want a large measure of grace in their lives?

Paul does not focus on the more you sin, the more grace you receive. Instead, he focuses on the fact that we should do all that we can NOT to sin. The old lusts are still present in the community: pride, greed, envy, bitterness, sensuality, gluttony, apathy. Their source is in the desires of the flesh. They promise life but deliver death. If baptism did not exist, their fatal deception would still triumph through the reign of sin. Sin reigns in deception by compelling obedience to these lusts. For the baptismal community this obedience has been broken and makes no sense. Having emerged from the baptismal waters, it knows a Lord greater than death, a reign greater than sin, and a truth greater than deception. It can therefore be exhorted to submit itself in obedience to the risen Lord.

It would be useless to tell sinners not to let this powerful king, sin, reign over them, whether in their mortal bodies or in the rest of their being; sinners could not prevent the sin’s reigning over them. But Christians who have died to sin, who are alive to God, they can prevent the sin’s reigning so that they no longer are slaves to sin. How is this done? How does a Christian prevent sin from reigning over them? It is not anything that the sinner does themselves; rather, it is Christ Jesus who has done all the work for the sinner.

For many, if not all of us, we don’t need to go looking for sin; it has a tendency to find us. We should flee from sin, yet instead we run to it. We should be disgusted by sin, yet instead we frolic in it. Why do we do what we do when it comes to sin? The answer is simple: sin leads us to sin. Sin makes us do those things that are contrary to the Word of God. That is the purpose of sin, to lead us away from God. Sin does a very good job of that. Satan can rejoice in the work of sin and its separation of God and His people. That is not how God desires to see His children. He does not rejoice when He sees His people sinning, from the greatest of sins to the least. He does not rejoice when He sees the effects that sin has on His children. Paul tells us in our text to “present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.” There is something important that we must keep in mind here: there is nothing that we can do to present ourselves to God. It is not by our words, it is not by our actions. It is by the actions of Jesus Christ, working for us. It is by His life, death, and resurrection. It is by our baptism into Christ, the act of us being made children of God, that we are able to be presented to God. Through this act, we are brought from death to life; death to our sins which eternally separate us from God to new life in Christ which brings us everlasting life.

All of this is done by grace: unmerited favor given to us by God. We don’t deserve it, yet God has chosen to give to each and every one of us the greatest gift that one could ever have: the gift of forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation.

Paul asks the same question twice in chapter six of Romans, once at the beginning and now again in our text: are we to continue sinning for the sake of grace. He restates the fact that appears in our text: “you are not under law but under grace.” For Paul, this is the defining point that he is trying to make.

There is a strong inclination to think that law stops sinning, that unless we have at least some law, we shall not be kept from sinning, even when we are under the fullness of grace; that grace alone is insufficient for this purpose. For this reason, so many Christians are legalists, striving to keep every law and commandment that has come out of the mouth of the Lord, in the hopes that they will have done enough by life’s end to achieve salvation. On the other hand, some are inclined to think that, since grace pardons sins so freely, one need not be so careful about not sinning; a few sins more or less make no difference to grace which will take care of the additional sins. However, that is not what Scripture teaches. Scripture teaches that we are to flee from sin. When we do sin, we are to confess our sins and to seek that forgiveness which comes through Christ’s death. We do not disregard our sinfulness, thinking that grace will overshadow our sins.

We, who were once slaves to sin, “having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.” Paul has most emphatically said that our deliverance from sin was no less than having our old man crucified with Christ. Pilate delivered Jesus to be crucified. Jesus Himself wanted to be delivered, wanted to be crucified for the sake of our sins. We too have been delivered by being made slaves, slaves to righteousness, obeying as slaves, obeying the voice of our Master, God the Father, who speaks His Word of forgiveness to each and every one of us.

Of all the points that Paul makes in all of his letters, the most pointed one comes at the end of our text: “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” There are two outcomes for a person: death or eternal life. Prior to the Fall, there was no such thing as death. After the Fall, death became a new and added aspect to creation which was not intended. Death is the ultimate result of sin. Adam earned these wages for himself and for us. The full and final payment is made to each sinner, every man, woman, and child, when they reach their earthly end.

However, there is another gift that is given, the gift of eternal life. This gracious gift of eternal life is ours by way of a gift already given to us the moment we believe and are justified, the moment we die to sin and become alive to God.

Death is not only the inevitable consequence of sin, it is what sin deserves. The wages of sin is death. Eternal life, by contrast, is not what anyone deserves. Having emerged from the waters of baptism, no thanks to ourself and our shameful bondage to sin, we have been transferred to a new Lord, to a new set of loyalties, obligations, and allegiances, to a new future, and therefore to a new form of life even now. This is the grace of God, given to you, for the sake of Jesus. In the name of Jesus, amen. Now the peace of God which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus, amen.

Pentecost 6A 2008

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God, our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen. The text for the sermon this morning comes from the Epistle, which was read earlier.

All too often, we hear the phrase, “I promise.” Sometimes those promises are kept, sometimes they are not. Sometimes those promises have the potential of being kept, while sometimes they do not. We promise young children that nothing bad will happen to them; yet the first time they fall and skin their knees, you have broken your promise. We are promised the world; yet in order for that promise to come to fruition, we must work at achieving those things of the world in order for them to be ours.

When one reads of the promises of God, there is never any doubt that what God promises will indeed take place. God, as far back as Genesis 3, gave to Adam and Eve, and all people, the first Gospel promise: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” That first Gospel promise was the promise of the Messiah, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Paul, in our text today, refers to the promise made to Abraham and his offspring “that he would be heir of the world.” The emphasis of the promise lies in the fact that this “did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith.” God did not and, in fact, could not make the promise, this great promise to Abraham or to his seed, by means of the Law. He did not attach this promise to Law; Law would have been the wrong vehicle. Law could never had made either Abraham or his seed righteous, and they had to be so in order to have this promise and to have it fulfilled in them, for if they had been left in an unrighteous state, they would have been no better than all the rest of mankind. Abraham and his seed had to be made righteous. They were and are made so by means of faith’s righteousness.

Since Law was an impossible means and faith the only means and source, the norm had to be grace, and God intended it to be so. Grace was God’s part of it, a part that was glorious for Him and blessed for us beyond anything that language is able to express. No wonder God intended it so; in fact, as we read elsewhere in the Scriptures, God intends that no man shall ever doubt that pure grace is the norm of His entire saving work.

Likewise it appeared that Abraham had no reason to continue hoping that he would be the “father of many nations.” Humanly speaking, every basis for hope had to be discounted. And yet, contrary to all human expectations, Abraham continued to “hope against hope.” His hope persisted because its basis was God and His promise. God had said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” Abraham believed that. He believed it contrary to every human indication, even as he had believed it when God first gave him that promise. And he was not disappointed or put to shame for that hope. In due time he realized its fulfillment. Hope that looks to God and his word is a fruit of faith—faith which considers God’s promises as being as good as done.

What kept Abraham going was the faith he had in God to do what He had promised. Each and every one of us has that promise of God because of what He says in the book of Isaiah: “So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” What is the purpose in which the Word of God was sent? The purpose is the forgiveness of our sins. Jesus Christ, the Word of God made flesh, is what God sent to us. He sent the Word to make ready the hearts of God’s people, to allow the Holy Spirit to create saving faith in us, so that we may believe in God, the giver of all good things, especially the one who gives to us the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation.

God calls us as He called Abraham – into the unknown. There, faith is tested. There faith takes leave of the comfortable and steps out into obedience of God’s Word. There faith grows strong, trusting in the promises of God.

Just as we see with Abraham, we see the same in Paul. Both men had faith in God and His promises. Abraham had faith that God would make him the father of many nations. Paul, while he went by the name of Saul, had no faith. On the contrary, he did all that was in his power to stamp out Christianity. When he met Christ on the Damascus Road, his eyes were opened and faith was given to him. From that moment on, he became one of the most prominent Christians of the day.

You and I are no different than Abraham or Paul. God has made a promise to each and every one of us; the promise of His Son sent for the forgiveness of our sins. However, there is one thing between us and that promise: our sin. Should we be left to our own devices, we would have a broken promise from God. Thanks be to God, we are not left to our own devices. God’s promise is not one that can be broken. His promise surpasses our sin and remains true: Jesus Christ has come to forgive you all of your sins and to make you a child of God.

While the promise of God is and always will remain true, we tend to doubt His promise. Weak faith has little appetite for endurance. It rejoices easily in a promise, but loses heart when the fulfillment of that promise is delayed. Common sense takes over. Maybe we misunderstood. Or maybe it was meant only in a spiritual sense. The gap between our experience and our faith-experience is too painful to endure, so we lower our expectations. When faith trusts God’s promise in the face of discouragement, we are driven to reach more deeply into the strength and grace of God.

Several times, when discouragement weighed heavily on Abraham, God called him back to the original promise and re-established His covenant with him. Times of discouragement are occasions for bold remembering, remembering the promise which God has made to you through His Son, Jesus Christ.

When Martin Luther was afflicted with doubt and discouragement, when God seemed to have allowed every trace of faith to be stripped away, he would return to God’s foundational promise, and affirm, “But I am baptized!” This was not a foolish hoping in a magical rite. It was a unyielding return to the promise of baptism, that he had be grafted into Christ. It was a trusting in God’s promise when all evidence and all experience seemed to argue to the contrary.

God allows discouragement to teach us the true nature of faith and that we may see faith grow. Faith is not a mere agreement of the mind to certain truths. Martin Luther grasped the true nature of faith when he wrote, “Faith is a sure trust and confidence of the heart, and a firm consent whereby Christ is apprehended; so that Christ is the object of faith, yea rather he is not the object, but, as it were, in the faith itself Christ is present!”

Faith is a personal union between the believer and the risen Christ, which is brought into our hearts by the Holy Spirit. To grow strong in faith means to grow strong in your relationship with Christ. To grow strong in faith means to have His lordship gain strength in your life. To grow strong in faith does not mean that some part of you called “faith” gets stronger, but rather that Christ in you gets stronger. For faith is nothing other than that, Christ in you. Strong faith is not something reserved for a handful of supersaints. You can have strong faith because you have a strong Christ and a strong Father who keeps His promise to you. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Now the peace of God which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus until life everlasting, amen.

Pentecost 4A 2008

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God, our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen. The text for the sermon this morning comes from the Epistle, which was read earlier.

All too often, we hear the phrase, “I promise.” Sometimes those promises are kept, sometimes they are not. Sometimes those promises have the potential of being kept, while sometimes they do not. We promise young children that nothing bad will happen to them; yet the first time they fall and skin their knees, you have broken your promise. We are promised the world; yet in order for that promise to come to fruition, we must work at achieving those things of the world in order for them to be ours.

When one reads of the promises of God, there is never any doubt that what God promises will indeed take place. God, as far back as Genesis 3, gave to Adam and Eve, and all people, the first Gospel promise: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” That first Gospel promise was the promise of the Messiah, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Paul, in our text today, refers to the promise made to Abraham and his offspring “that he would be heir of the world.” The emphasis of the promise lies in the fact that this “did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith.” God did not and, in fact, could not make the promise, this great promise to Abraham or to his seed, by means of the Law. He did not attach this promise to Law; Law would have been the wrong vehicle. Law could never had made either Abraham or his seed righteous, and they had to be so in order to have this promise and to have it fulfilled in them, for if they had been left in an unrighteous state, they would have been no better than all the rest of mankind. Abraham and his seed had to be made righteous. They were and are made so by means of faith’s righteousness.

Since Law was an impossible means and faith the only means and source, the norm had to be grace, and God intended it to be so. Grace was God’s part of it, a part that was glorious for Him and blessed for us beyond anything that language is able to express. No wonder God intended it so; in fact, as we read elsewhere in the Scriptures, God intends that no man shall ever doubt that pure grace is the norm of His entire saving work.

Likewise it appeared that Abraham had no reason to continue hoping that he would be the “father of many nations.” Humanly speaking, every basis for hope had to be discounted. And yet, contrary to all human expectations, Abraham continued to “hope against hope.” His hope persisted because its basis was God and His promise. God had said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” Abraham believed that. He believed it contrary to every human indication, even as he had believed it when God first gave him that promise. And he was not disappointed or put to shame for that hope. In due time he realized its fulfillment. Hope that looks to God and his word is a fruit of faith—faith which considers God’s promises as being as good as done.

What kept Abraham going was the faith he had in God to do what He had promised. Each and every one of us has that promise of God because of what He says in the book of Isaiah: “So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” What is the purpose in which the Word of God was sent? The purpose is the forgiveness of our sins. Jesus Christ, the Word of God made flesh, is what God sent to us. He sent the Word to make ready the hearts of God’s people, to allow the Holy Spirit to create saving faith in us, so that we may believe in God, the giver of all good things, especially the one who gives to us the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation.

God calls us as He called Abraham – into the unknown. There, faith is tested. There faith takes leave of the comfortable and steps out into obedience of God’s Word. There faith grows strong, trusting in the promises of God.

Just as we see with Abraham, we see the same in Paul. Both men had faith in God and His promises. Abraham had faith that God would make him the father of many nations. Paul, while he went by the name of Saul, had no faith. On the contrary, he did all that was in his power to stamp out Christianity. When he met Christ on the Damascus Road, his eyes were opened and faith was given to him. From that moment on, he became one of the most prominent Christians of the day.

You and I are no different than Abraham or Paul. God has made a promise to each and every one of us; the promise of His Son sent for the forgiveness of our sins. However, there is one thing between us and that promise: our sin. Should we be left to our own devices, we would have a broken promise from God. Thanks be to God, we are not left to our own devices. God’s promise is not one that can be broken. His promise surpasses our sin and remains true: Jesus Christ has come to forgive you all of your sins and to make you a child of God.

While the promise of God is and always will remain true, we tend to doubt His promise. Weak faith has little appetite for endurance. It rejoices easily in a promise, but loses heart when the fulfillment of that promise is delayed. Common sense takes over. Maybe we misunderstood. Or maybe it was meant only in a spiritual sense. The gap between our experience and our faith-experience is too painful to endure, so we lower our expectations. When faith trusts God’s promise in the face of discouragement, we are driven to reach more deeply into the strength and grace of God.

Several times, when discouragement weighed heavily on Abraham, God called him back to the original promise and re-established His covenant with him. Times of discouragement are occasions for bold remembering, remembering the promise which God has made to you through His Son, Jesus Christ.

When Martin Luther was afflicted with doubt and discouragement, when God seemed to have allowed every trace of faith to be stripped away, he would return to God’s foundational promise, and affirm, “But I am baptized!” This was not a foolish hoping in a magical rite. It was a unyielding return to the promise of baptism, that he had be grafted into Christ. It was a trusting in God’s promise when all evidence and all experience seemed to argue to the contrary.

God allows discouragement to teach us the true nature of faith and that we may see faith grow. Faith is not a mere agreement of the mind to certain truths. Martin Luther grasped the true nature of faith when he wrote, “Faith is a sure trust and confidence of the heart, and a firm consent whereby Christ is apprehended; so that Christ is the object of faith, yea rather he is not the object, but, as it were, in the faith itself Christ is present!”

Faith is a personal union between the believer and the risen Christ, which is brought into our hearts by the Holy Spirit. To grow strong in faith means to grow strong in your relationship with Christ. To grow strong in faith means to have His lordship gain strength in your life. To grow strong in faith does not mean that some part of you called “faith” gets stronger, but rather that Christ in you gets stronger. For faith is nothing other than that, Christ in you. Strong faith is not something reserved for a handful of supersaints. You can have strong faith because you have a strong Christ and a strong Father who keeps His promise to you. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Now the peace of God which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus until life everlasting, amen.

Pentecost 4A 2008

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God, our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen. The text for the sermon is the Gospel, which was read earlier.

Someone has said that worry is prayer in reverse. That makes sense. When we worry, we depend on ourselves, not on God, the giver of all good things. Jesus makes a connection between worry and prayer in our text. He’s just taught His disciples the prayer that we say at every Divine Service: the Lord’s Prayer. Now He expands on that, talking about what makes us anxious. As we listen to the Words of Jesus, we learn that when we take our anxieties to God and turn them over to Him, prayer puts worry into reverse.

The question we need to ask ourselves is why do we let worry drive us backward? It’s an easy question to answer. The answer is because we do not fully put our trust in God and His provisions for our lives. Some of us may be concerned about our daily needs, such as food and clothing. However, we should not be concerned about our daily needs, as these are provided for us by God daily. Luther, when explaining the First Article of the Apostles’ Creed writes the following: “He also gives me clothing and shoes, food and drink, house and home, wife and children, land, animals, and all I have. He richly and daily provides me with all that I need to support this body and life.” There are those who face devastation in their lives, such as those affected by the tornado in Colorado last week. They are desperately seeking daily needs of food, clothing, and shelter; yet we know God will provide for them because He has said that He will.

Those who are poor in worldly things are hardly free from mammon’s idolatrous powers. He can make them his victims through their anxieties over their daily needs. Jesus reminds His followers that for God’s children, such anxieties are faithless worries. Jesus lists two cases in point. First of all, Jesus says, since God provides life itself and its bodily needs, shall we not trust Him to provide our less important daily needs just as well? Secondly, since God sustains even the birds who do not have the ability to plan and store for their future, how much more will He sustain us humans who have these added gifts of God as well?

Our anxiety and worry is due to our dependence on something or someone other than God. We often find ourselves relying on all things other than God for our daily needs. We rely on credit cards to pay bills; we rely on hopes that we if play the lottery, that we will win millions. We rely on the things of this world, hoping that we will have all that we want, excuse me, need for our lives. In the end, that’s what it boils down to: want versus need. We want and want and want. But how much of our wants truly translate into needs? Wants are luxuries; needs are necessities. Deep down inside ourselves, we know that what we depend on is not the final answer. Instead the final answer is Jesus.

Our Gospel reading for today focuses on a single theme of Jesus: “You don’t need to worry.” If our worries are about tomorrow – and they often are – then Jesus’ words are a reality check. We can’t change many of tomorrow’s troubles and trials even if we want to. Worrying takes up our time and energy which we waste trying to change something which we cannot.

Jesus reminds us that our heavenly Father loves us infinitely more than He does the short-lived flowers. Reminding the people that the beauty of the flowers is short-lived, Jesus now argues from the lesser to the greater. If God dresses the passing flowers in the field with royal robes, how much more will He give ordinary clothing to His disciples who are going to live forever? He provides for our needs of both body and soul.

Luther, in his Large Catechism writes the following: “In addition, we also confess that God the Father not only gave us all that we have and see before our eyes, but He also daily protects and defends us against all evil and misfortune, turning aside danger and mishap of every sort. All this He does out of pure love and goodness, without our deserving it, like a kind father who takes care of us so that no harm may touch us….”

Why should we worry? “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?” These are the words of Jesus, giving to each and every one of us. Their purpose: to assure us that God will provide for all of our needs. He shows to us the Father’s love by serving God to the fullest extent for us. Paul writes to the Philippians that Jesus “[took] the form of a servant,… and… humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” We don’t need to worry because Jesus of the saving work of Jesus Christ, for you and for me. Christ came into this world to serve the Father by taking all of your sins and mine from us and putting them on Himself. He carried them all to the cross. When He entered the grave, they were buried with Him. When He rose from the dead, Jesus offered to us new life and forgiveness.

The greatest gift that we have received as Christians is the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. The Christian is not to worry at all. Worry is like the unbelief of the heathen world. Unbelievers think that they “earn their own way in this world,” that they provide for their own needs. Trusting themselves, they seek after the mammon of unrighteousness. But the child of God lives by a different creed because he resides in a different kingdom. His heart belongs in the kingdom of grace. Since he has a heavenly Father who knows exactly what he needs, then why worry at all?

The greatest way to put worry into reverse is with God’s gift of prayer. If worry is prayer in reverse, then prayer can be worry in reverse. With the help of the Holy Spirit, we move away from our own solutions and toward God. We let God know about all the things, big and little, that trouble us. We turn them over to His care and keeping. We are able to pray boldly the Fourth Petition of the Lord’s Prayer: “Give us this day our daily bread” knowing that God will indeed provide us with our daily bread. We can pray because we also rejoice that we have what we need: “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all theses things will be added to you.”

As we pray, we seek God’s will and the coming of where God’s will is always done: his kingdom in our lives. We do this trusting in the heavenly Father, who loves us so much to send His one and only begotten Son to take upon Himself our sins and worries.

There is no reason to let worry drive us. Worry may well be seen as prayer in reverse – and it always drives us backwards. But Christ’s assurance in our text – that by His death and resurrection we are in His kingdom and all we need will be added to us – means that our prayers are always heard for Jesus’ sake. Bringing our concerns to Him is the very reverse of worry, and the promise that He answers can drive us also – drive us to faith and confidence and joy that is found in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. In Jesus’ name, amen. Now the peace of God which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus, amen.

Pentecost 2A 2008

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God, our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen. The text for the sermon is the Gospel, which was read earlier.

Someone has said that worry is prayer in reverse. That makes sense. When we worry, we depend on ourselves, not on God, the giver of all good things. Jesus makes a connection between worry and prayer in our text. He’s just taught His disciples the prayer that we say at every Divine Service: the Lord’s Prayer. Now He expands on that, talking about what makes us anxious. As we listen to the Words of Jesus, we learn that when we take our anxieties to God and turn them over to Him, prayer puts worry into reverse.

The question we need to ask ourselves is why do we let worry drive us backward? It’s an easy question to answer. The answer is because we do not fully put our trust in God and His provisions for our lives. Some of us may be concerned about our daily needs, such as food and clothing. However, we should not be concerned about our daily needs, as these are provided for us by God daily. Luther, when explaining the First Article of the Apostles’ Creed writes the following: “He also gives me clothing and shoes, food and drink, house and home, wife and children, land, animals, and all I have. He richly and daily provides me with all that I need to support this body and life.” There are those who face devastation in their lives, such as those affected by the tornado in Colorado last week. They are desperately seeking daily needs of food, clothing, and shelter; yet we know God will provide for them because He has said that He will.

Those who are poor in worldly things are hardly free from mammon’s idolatrous powers. He can make them his victims through their anxieties over their daily needs. Jesus reminds His followers that for God’s children, such anxieties are faithless worries. Jesus lists two cases in point. First of all, Jesus says, since God provides life itself and its bodily needs, shall we not trust Him to provide our less important daily needs just as well? Secondly, since God sustains even the birds who do not have the ability to plan and store for their future, how much more will He sustain us humans who have these added gifts of God as well?

Our anxiety and worry is due to our dependence on something or someone other than God. We often find ourselves relying on all things other than God for our daily needs. We rely on credit cards to pay bills; we rely on hopes that we if play the lottery, that we will win millions. We rely on the things of this world, hoping that we will have all that we want, excuse me, need for our lives. In the end, that’s what it boils down to: want versus need. We want and want and want. But how much of our wants truly translate into needs? Wants are luxuries; needs are necessities. Deep down inside ourselves, we know that what we depend on is not the final answer. Instead the final answer is Jesus.

Our Gospel reading for today focuses on a single theme of Jesus: “You don’t need to worry.” If our worries are about tomorrow – and they often are – then Jesus’ words are a reality check. We can’t change many of tomorrow’s troubles and trials even if we want to. Worrying takes up our time and energy which we waste trying to change something which we cannot.

Jesus reminds us that our heavenly Father loves us infinitely more than He does the short-lived flowers. Reminding the people that the beauty of the flowers is short-lived, Jesus now argues from the lesser to the greater. If God dresses the passing flowers in the field with royal robes, how much more will He give ordinary clothing to His disciples who are going to live forever? He provides for our needs of both body and soul.

Luther, in his Large Catechism writes the following: “In addition, we also confess that God the Father not only gave us all that we have and see before our eyes, but He also daily protects and defends us against all evil and misfortune, turning aside danger and mishap of every sort. All this He does out of pure love and goodness, without our deserving it, like a kind father who takes care of us so that no harm may touch us….”

Why should we worry? “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?” These are the words of Jesus, giving to each and every one of us. Their purpose: to assure us that God will provide for all of our needs. He shows to us the Father’s love by serving God to the fullest extent for us. Paul writes to the Philippians that Jesus “[took] the form of a servant,… and… humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” We don’t need to worry because Jesus of the saving work of Jesus Christ, for you and for me. Christ came into this world to serve the Father by taking all of your sins and mine from us and putting them on Himself. He carried them all to the cross. When He entered the grave, they were buried with Him. When He rose from the dead, Jesus offered to us new life and forgiveness.

The greatest gift that we have received as Christians is the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. The Christian is not to worry at all. Worry is like the unbelief of the heathen world. Unbelievers think that they “earn their own way in this world,” that they provide for their own needs. Trusting themselves, they seek after the mammon of unrighteousness. But the child of God lives by a different creed because he resides in a different kingdom. His heart belongs in the kingdom of grace. Since he has a heavenly Father who knows exactly what he needs, then why worry at all?

The greatest way to put worry into reverse is with God’s gift of prayer. If worry is prayer in reverse, then prayer can be worry in reverse. With the help of the Holy Spirit, we move away from our own solutions and toward God. We let God know about all the things, big and little, that trouble us. We turn them over to His care and keeping. We are able to pray boldly the Fourth Petition of the Lord’s Prayer: “Give us this day our daily bread” knowing that God will indeed provide us with our daily bread. We can pray because we also rejoice that we have what we need: “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all theses things will be added to you.”

As we pray, we seek God’s will and the coming of where God’s will is always done: his kingdom in our lives. We do this trusting in the heavenly Father, who loves us so much to send His one and only begotten Son to take upon Himself our sins and worries.

There is no reason to let worry drive us. Worry may well be seen as prayer in reverse – and it always drives us backwards. But Christ’s assurance in our text – that by His death and resurrection we are in His kingdom and all we need will be added to us – means that our prayers are always heard for Jesus’ sake. Bringing our concerns to Him is the very reverse of worry, and the promise that He answers can drive us also – drive us to faith and confidence and joy that is found in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. In Jesus’ name, amen. Now the peace of God which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus, amen.

Pentecost 2A 2008