2025-08-10 Pentecost 9

Scripture Readings

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen!

Every time I get a chance to drive halfway across Canada on holidays, I often think about how amazing that experience must have been for the first European explorers who came to North America. No cities. No roads. No stores. Just your wagon and horse team, your family and probably some meagre provisions. I can only imagine how tough it must have been to sail across the ocean only to brave our harsh Northern climate, and then to trek through forests and lakes only to hit the majestic flat prairies that seemed to stretch on for an eternity, only then to hit the massive wall of Rocky Mountains! It must have been an interesting time for those travellers who left everything from the old country behind. Everything that was cherished and familiar like culture and language and extended family was gone in the rear view mirror! It was just a memory. I’m sure that many of your ancestors had similar experiences as they came to Canada. It was no doubt an adventurous journey, yet at the same time it had to have been one that was wracked with worry! That old nagging and burning question was always lingering in your mind: “What happens if…”

Worry. Truly this is an insidious sin. It’s like a fly caught in a spider web, being spun round and round until it is completely tangled! We would never joke or laugh about sins like child abuse or murder or things like that, but when it comes to worry, we just seem to kind of giggle about it! It’s the “socially acceptable sin!” Yet worry, like any sin, if left unchecked and unrepented, it becomes a vice. Which can then become a passion which is a sinful urge and source for sin when not controlled or directed by submission to the will of God. Like any sin, it can eventually consume you. Not only that, worry can also cause heart trouble, blood pressure problems, ulcers, thyroid malfunction, migraine headaches, and a whole host of stomach disorders! What does anxiety do for us?! It doesn’t empty tomorrow of its sorrows, but it does empty today of its strength! It doesn’t make you escape evil, it makes you unfit to cope with it when it comes! So why do we love it so?! Why do we cling to our worries and anxieties?

Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ knew and still knows the sinful hearts of men! So He told the Disciples: do not be anxious about life, what you’re gonna eat, or about your body or your clothes! Life is much more than all of these! … I’m suddenly reminded of a story of a wise old widow. She called up her pastor because she was continually worrying about life. When the pastor showed up at her home, he tried to bring her some comfort from these very words of Jesus. But she retorted “Don’t you tell me that worry doesn’t do any good, pastor! Don’t you do that! I know better! The things I worry about don’t ever happen!” How true is that! I’ll bet that 90% of what we worry and fret about never happen. How silly! What a waste of time.

It seems to me that worry has two general categories. One of them is over stuff, like food, clothing and our material wants and needs, as well as the fear of losing the stuff we do have. The other category of worry is about suffering. This is like an uncertain future, or harm coming to loved ones or ourselves, experiencing tragedy and loss. I guess the Proverb is true that says “Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad” (12:25). Yet, God’s people worry! We worry. And the disciples did too. In our Gospel reading, Jesus tries to convince the disciples not to worry! He uses the Psalm-like “Solomonic Logic” visuals like the ravens who don’t sow or reap, yet God still feeds them. And how much more are you worth than the ravens!? Or the beautiful lilies of the field. They don’t toil, yet God clothes them in splendour! And how much more are you worth than the lilies?! A whole lot more! Jesus showed us our worth when He stretched His arms wide on the cross to show you exactly how much you are worth. This is why worry is so insidious. And it’s not just a “don’t worry, be happy” trite instruction. Rather it is a spiritual matter that requires repentance, a deliberate and purposeful turning away from worry. To confess “I have been that someone of little faith, crushed by a tsunami of worry.” And when you turn away from worry, you turn towards Christ in faith. Faith is the opposite of worry.

Faith grasps that God provides to “ye of little faith.” He is our creator and our provider and our preserver. Everything we have comes from Him as a gift. Therefore, have no fear little flock, the Father is tickled plum to death to give you the Kingdom! It’s not just earthly food and clothing, but it’s everything – the whole Kingdom of God. It is enshrouded with the entire fullness of the King Himself. This King looks after and takes care of and provides for His subjects. The reign of God is a life under the Heavenly Father’s care. This is why Jesus instructs the disciples to seek first the Kingdom. It is the antidote for worry. It is the anti-venom for sin.

But what does this mean practically though? What does this mean to not worry and instead seek God’s Kingdom? It means to go to the place of God’s reigning. It means to go to Jesus’ gracious presence in Baptism, in His Word and His Supper and in prayer. These are the places where we receive the gifts of God: His forgiveness and righteousness that Jesus won for us on the cross and in the space of the empty tomb – both of which are given to us in our Baptism. Therefore, learn His truth and treasure it in your heart. Respond to God’s grace! His Kingdom is Holistic. It’s organic. To seek first the Kingdom of God is to seek the Gospel of Jesus.

This is another one of those situations too where we are not alone. We seek God’s Kingdom together as the church, the community of disciples. We are joined together in Christ in our Baptism and we gather together to hear the Word and eat and drink His Holy Supper. These are places where God works and gives strength. Here, in these places, Jesus draws us and invites us to be free from worry and life’s needs – our Father supplies for all of these as well!

Yet at the same time, the spiritual battle rages within. We hear the Word of God but we love those insidious sins! We treasure our worry more than God’s promises. I’m reminded of another story of a solitary traveller. He was out walking in the desert, hot and parched because his canteen was empty. He had been walking for miles when all of a sudden, he came upon an object that wasn’t sand. It was an old water pump. Tied to it was a hand written sign, left by some pilgrim who had passed through this way before. The sign read: “I have buried a bottle of water in the sand here to prime the pump. Don’t drink any of it! Pour half of the water to wet the leather, wait, then pour in the rest. Then pump the water. This well has never gone dry, but the pump must first be primed to bring the water up! Have faith & believe! When you are through drawing water, re-fill the bottle and bury it for next traveller.” What would you do? Would you dig up the bottle of precious water and slug it back or would you risk pouring it into a rusty old pump hoping to get water for yourself and others who pass by!?

I guess the situation seems ludicrous, yet think about Abram! He was exceedingly old in years and he looked up to the stars and believed God’s “crazy” promise of an heir and uncountable descendants! Or recall our entire host of Saints who by faith trusted God from our Hebrews reading! They all believed and trusted God, despite weird and ludicrous situations. Some would call it insanity. Yet others would call it faith! Faith is fearless! It’s courageous! It is free from worry and anxiety! Jesus said “Fear not, little flock.” He’s talking to you! Don’t worry about food and drink and clothing. God takes care of the birds of the air and the flowers of the field, doesn’t He? He’ll take care of you too! After all, He’s given you the Kingdom! You are heirs of wealth untold because your treasure is in Heaven. Jesus is always with us, no matter how uncertain life may seem or what our future holds: “Our soul waits for the LORD; he is our help and our shield. For our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name. Let your steadfast love, O LORD, be upon us, even as we hope in you” (Ps. 33:20-21). And such hope never puts us to shame. In His Name, Amen!