Proper 14C (Pentecost 9 2025)

I. Anxiety: The Heart Divided

“Do not be anxious,” Jesus says.

Anxiety is not just an emotional reaction—it is a spiritual condition. (Now, let me say, at the outset: anxiety can also be a mental health condition. And that is real. It can affect how your brain and body function. If you suffer from that kind of anxiety, please do not hear this as a dismissal or reduction of your struggle. It’s not simply a matter of ‘praying it away’ any more than we ‘pray away’ a cold. Counselors and medications are a tremendous blessing.) At the same time, what Jesus is speaking about here is something deeper, something every heart shares in common.

Anxiety is the condition of a heart divided—claiming to trust in God while your emotions are ruled by what you can see and touch. A heart that tries to trust God, but lets its peace rise and fall with the balance in the savings account. A heart that prays for daily bread, but hoards it as if God will forget tomorrow. A heart that listens to Jesus, but also listens to the headlines. And when your heart is divided, your life begins to pull apart—you hedge every risk, hoard every resource, or delay obedience until it feels safe. You want to trust God, but you also feel like it is up to you. That is the life Jesus is speaking to. That is the life He is calling back to Himself.

II. Your Father knows what you need

Do you think that the Father does not know what you need?

It is easy to say that you believe He does, but will you live as though that is true, or will you let your divided heart keep pulling you in different directions?

Consider the children of Israel. The moment they were set free from slavery, the very first thing they did was worry about what they would eat. Yes, there were now hundreds of thousands of them in the wilderness (or more!); they had not had time to store up provisions for the journey; they did not know how long their journey would take; and it was about to be dinner time. But God had just parted the Red Sea. He had brought Pharaoh to his knees. He had delivered them with signs and wonders. They could not see how He would feed them, so they panicked. They did not simply ask for their daily bread. They grumbled and complained as if they needed to persuade—or even just remind—God to feed them.

Jesus, Himself, points to a different example: the birds. “They do not sow or reap… yet God feeds them.” He points to the lilies. “They do not toil or spin… yet not even Solomon was arrayed like one of these.” They trust their Creator. Nature itself trusts its creator more than man—the crown of creation trusts Him. The birds and the flowers put you and me to shame.

Do you not do the same? You believe Jesus died and rose for you, but then your thoughts spiral into fear and what-ifs. You sing that Christ has conquered the grave, but then you worry about the future like someone who has no hope. How misplaced your anxiety really is. It is not just irrational—it is unbelief in action. Your heart is divided.

“Which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest?… If God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them” (Lk 12:25–30).

III. Your Father desires to give you what you need

The Father knows what you need. Do you doubt whether He wants to give it to you? Is that why you are still anxious?

Think of the children of Israel again. They had no reason to grumble or complain rather than simply asking in faith. God had just brought them through the Red Sea. He had brought Pharaoh to his knees. He had delivered them with signs and wonders. But there was even more reason why they could have trusted. Not only had He freed them from Egypt, led them by a pillar of cloud by day and fire by night, where was He taking them? What was His purpose? He was leading them to a land flowing with milk and honey. Was He going to forget to feed them on the way?

Your Father not only knows what you need. He desires to give it. That is why Jesus speaks not only of daily bread, but of the Kingdom. He has brought you through the waters of baptism. The devil, this sinful world, and your own sinful flesh have been brought to their knees. And, still, you have even more reason to trust Him.

Yes, this world is dark and ugly. It is hard. The only thing worse than the dangers and challenges that lie ahead are the ones lurking in the darkness and uncertainty.

But where is He leading you? To the new heaven and the new earth. To the place where there is no more death or mourning or crying or pain for the old order of things has passed away and He has made all things new (Revelation 21:1-5).

Where is He taking you? Even in the hardest, darkest, ugliest moments in this life, He is taking you to the River of Life, “bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb ...; [and], on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree [will be] for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever” (Revelation 22:1–5).

“Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom” (v. 32).

IV. The Kingdom Given

The kingdom is not something you have to earn. It is not something you have to find. It is not something you have to build. It is given.

And it is not a vague or imaginary thing—it is a real kingdom, founded in a real place and time. It was established when the King mounted His throne—the cross. There, Jesus took the guilt and punishment that was yours for all the sins that brought death, mourning, and crying, and pain into His perfect creation. There, He broke the power of sin, death, and the devil. There, He purchased you for His Father’s kingdom with His own blood.

And now that kingdom is yours in Jesus Christ. The Father sends you His Holy Spirit to bring His kingdom to you. In the words of the Small Catechism, “God’s kingdom comes when our Heavenly Father gives us His Holy Spirit, so that, by His grace, we believe His holy Word and lead holy lives here in time and there in eternity.” His Kingdom came to you in baptism—brought through the water by the Holy Spirit, just as God brought Israel through the Red Sea. The Kingdom comes to you each time you receive the greater manna—the bread of life from heaven. It comes to you in the forgiveness proclaimed in His name. There, in those means of Grace, the Holy Spirit is present and active delivering the Kingdom to you.

And because the kingdom is given, you are free. Free from the fear that you have not done enough. Free from the anxiety that you might lose what matters most. Free to set your heart where it belongs—on the One who has set His heart on you.

V. Seek His Kingdom

Brothers and sisters in Christ, “do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you” (vv. 29–31).

That is not just an instruction—it is a promise. When the Kingdom comes to you, it reorders everything else in your life. Your priorities change. Your heart changes. And so your hands change as well.

“33 Sell your possessions,” Jesus says, “and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Lk 12:33–34).

Ask yourself: What do you need to “sell”? Not just in terms of money or possessions—though that may be part of it—but what in your life is dividing your heart? What do you cling to for security or status or peace? What are you afraid to lose?

Maybe it is the comfort of your routines. Maybe it is the sense of control you have worked so hard to preserve. Maybe it is a future you have imagined, or a version of yourself you are trying to protect. Or maybe it really is the balance in your bank account, the equity in your house, the value of your investments. Jesus is not trying to take something from you—He is trying to free you from what holds your heart back.

And what about us, together? What would it mean for us, as a congregation, to live like the kingdom really is ours? What would it look like if we stopped asking, “What if we run out?” and instead asked, “What has our Father already given us to use?” What if we saw our budget, our mission, and our offerings—not as problems to be solved, but as opportunities to store up treasure in heaven, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys? Would it mean investing more boldly in our school—not simply to keep the doors open, but to plant the Word in the hearts of children? Would it mean helping families in need, even if it does not balance out on the spreadsheet? Would it mean welcoming those who cannot repay us? Expanding our ministry—not when it feels safe, but when it is needed?

Fear not, brothers and sisters in Christ. If we put our anxiety behind us by focusing our hearts and minds on Jesus Christ, and take those steps, we will find that our Lord already knows what we need for this work of faith and love—and He is ready to provide it. In fact, it is His good pleasure to provide it—not only for our sake, but so that all people might see and know that the kingdom of God is here in Jesus Christ.

God is not waiting until the Last Day to wipe every tear from our eyes. He gives you to one another to love and care for and comfort each other.

He does not wait until the Last Day to deal with the pain in this world. He sends you out to confront the unrepentant who continue to cause that pain. And He sends you out to bind up the wounds of the broken and hurting.

And He does not wait until the Last Day to deal with a world full of death. He sends you out to proclaim the gift of eternal life in Jesus Christ.

Even if it drains our bank accounts, placing what we have in God’s hands and using it in love for others will store up a treasure in heaven that the human mind cannot comprehend.

“Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail… for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Lk 12:33–34).