Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity

Today we’re going to talk about one of the most politically incorrect topics in existence: slavery. Our sinful world considers slavery to be the ultimate evil. God considers it to be the chief good. It is, after all, the reason that Jesus suffered, died, and was buried. As we confess in the Small Catechism: He “purchased and won me from all sins, death, and from power of the devil; not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death.” Why? “That I may be His own and live under Him in His kingdom and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness.”

That I may be His own. Jesus died on the cross so that you could belong to Him, that is, be His possession. This language is written into our Baptismal liturgy. Depart, thou unclean spirit and give way to the Holy Spirit. This is the language of exorcism, and possession, and ownership. See, I told you this would not be PC. Jesus bought you, body and soul. He owns you. You belong to Him. The world says that the buying and selling of human beings is the greatest evil ever. We confess that this is the greatest blessing. There is no higher status that one could attain to than to be a slave of Christ.

Jesus says, “No one can serve two masters”—but the verb here is “slave.” “No one can slave for two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot slave for God and mammon” (Mt 6:24). As Bob Dylan said it: “It may be the devil, it may be the Lord, but you’re gonna have to serve somebody.” On the other hand, Frank Sinatra said, “I did it my way.” He thought that he was his own man, his own master, but he has wrong. For all the world’s protesting, every single person born into this world is a slave and remains a slave his entire life. The problem with slavery is not slavery. The problem with slavery is bad masters—but everybody has a master. Consider how so many people slave away for a career that means nothing in the end. People slave for money, power, and fame. And when their life of servitude is over, what do they take with them? Nothing. Bad masters take all your time and energy. They suck away your life and leave you with nothing, or worse than nothing. What wages does the devil give to those who serve him? The Bible says: the wages of sin is death. How’s that for a paycheck?

Everyone slaves for a master, but Jesus says, “No one can slave for two masters. Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on” (Mt 6:24a, 25a). Notice how Jesus goes directly from talking about being a slave to saying, “Don’t worry.” Why? Because being a slave of Jesus is the best gig in town. When you have the wrong master, you’re going to have to worry about a lot of things. But when Jesus is your master, there’s not a reason on earth to worry, because as your master, Jesus has an obligation to care for you.

This is what our sinful world doesn’t understand. In the ancient world, we had slaves and masters. Now we’re so much more liberated. Instead of having a master, you can work at McDonalds for minimum wage and have an employer. And your employer has no obligation to you. He doesn’t care about your life. He doesn’t care where you live, whether you can pay your rent, if you have enough food, if you have clothing. That’s not his responsibility. But in the ancient world, if you had a master, he was contractually obligated to provide all those things.

In ancient times, if a man had mismanaged his wealth, and somehow got himself over his head in debt—no money, no food, no house, no job—what could he do? There were no social programs. Starvation was a real possibility. And let’s say he had a wife and young children. If he couldn’t provide for them, they were literally going to starve to death, which is basically impossible to do in our country today. But instead of starvation, he had an option open to him. He could go find a wealthy man in the city and sell himself as a slave. And what did this mean? It meant that he went home to his wife that night and said, “Honey, I have great news. We now have a house. We have food. We have clothing. We have safety and protection. I have a job. Even if I had no skills, I’m going to be trained. Everything will be provided for, because now I am a slave and we have a master.”

And then after a number of years when the man had become a skilled member of his master’s household, and had learned his trade and could manage part of his businesses, and had paid off the debt that he had incurred, he could eventually purchase his freedom. And then what would he do? He would continue to work in the business of his former master, now as sort of a franchisee, having had the opportunity to pick himself back up financially. Of course, he would defer to his former master in public and show him respect, but as part of his financial enterprise, he could take part in a successful career for the rest of his life.

Now, ff course, there were wicked masters, just as there are wicked husbands and abusive fathers today. Should we abolish all husbands and fathers because some are terrible? But Christ Jesus is the true and perfect husband to His bride, the church. Your heavenly Father is the standard against which all human fathers are measured and fall short. And God is the only true, loving Master. To be His slave is to have His promise of care and protection. It doesn’t get any better than that!

God’s plan to care for me and bless me is far better than anything I could ever come up with myself. Why do it “my way” when I could belong to Christ and slave for Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness? Consider the widow in 1 Kings, Chapter 17. “I did it my way?” When she didn’t belong to God, what was her way? She said to Elijah, “As the Lord your God lives, I do not have bread, only a handful of flour in a bin, and a little oil in a jar; and see, I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die” (1 Kings 17:12). Her plan is to pick up a few sticks and then starve to death with her son. She’s a bad master. God says, “No, Elijah, that’s not the plan. I have commanded a widow to provide for you.” How crazy is that? It’s like God saying, “Don’t worry, Elijah, I told a homeless man to take care of you and provide you a house.” A widow? Yes. Not only is she not going to starve, she’s going to feed Elijah out of her abundance! That’s God’s plan. Being a slave to God is a pretty good deal!

And Jesus goes straight from “No one can slave for two masters” to “Don’t worry.” It’s a command. And that means to break that command is a sin. Worry is a sin. But Jesus’ command is also a promise. Don’t worry. Why? Because you don’t need to, Jesus says, “Because you belong to me. You’re old master, Satan, has been driven out in Holy Baptism. You are now My possession, My beloved child, My responsibility.” The First Commandment: You shall have no other gods before Me. What does this mean? We should fear, love, and trust in God above all things. Why? Why do we trust in God? Because He Himself has promised to be your God and to care and provide for you. He has bound Himself to you as your Master. And as Jesus says, if God feeds His little creatures, the birds, how much more will He not feed you? If he clothes the flowers in greater array than Solomon in all his glory, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

Jesus shows us that worry is the opposite of faith. Faith believes God and His promises. He has committed Himself to care for you. As your Master, it’s His obligation. And His plans for you are far better than you could ever ask or think. “Eye has not seen, ear has not heard, no has it even entered into the heart of man, the things that God has prepared for those who love Him and are called according to His promise” (1 Cor 2:9).

Your plan was to pick up a few sticks and then starve to death with your son. God’s plan is that you live under Him, under His care and protection all the days of this life, and then, having been freed from all sin, sorrow, sickness, and death, to serve Him in everlasting, righteousness, innocence, and blessedness. Worry? Why would you need to? You have been granted the highest honor that can be bestowed upon any human being: to be a slave of Christ. Amen.