Ninth Sunday After Pentecost

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

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing” (Luke 12:22-23). Jesus’ words come right out and challenge the very heart of the matter for many of us. Not being anxious about our lives can be a challenging endeavor; no matter what it is, it seems that anxiety is almost unavoidable.

We are confronted with many things in this world that might make us feel anxious, food and clothing being some of the more common, but not least among them. On a microscopic scale, this probably describes many of us today, perhaps even worrying about what to wear as we hurried to get ready and leave, and get to Sunday school on time.

With the school year beginning, likely many parents had to do some last-minute school shopping for supplies and clothes. And if anyone has done this over the years, you know it does not go without some brushes with anxiety.

And even after you hand off all the supplies needed, you are sure you forgot something....oh yes, the lunch box!

Jesus tells us not to be anxious for our lives, and instead wants us to look beyond ourselves, see a God who is working to our good, and the good of all things. And that is not an easy task! Especially when under the weight of many things to prioritize. But our Father in heaven knows all this. He knows our needs. He knows the things that weigh heavily on our hearts and minds.

In the gospel lesson today, Jesus invites us to pause and consider how God continually works in heaven and on earth to provide for all that He has created, including birds, grass, and the lilies of the field.

Jesus challenges us to examine our “little faith,” and observe God’s great faithfulness even among the least of things, such as ravens and lilies. Upon examination, we might ask ourselves where God has shown his faithfulness to those who love and fear him.

Our first reading may shed some light on the answer to that question. It illustrates the covenant promise made by God to Abraham. What seems like an odd exchange between God and man, where God promises Abram both protection and promise, Abram, in his response, says, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless… behold you have given me no offspring.”

These few words that Abraham offers to God are the contents and concerns of his heart. His lamenting prayer to God makes it clear that he seeks something from God to provide, that he is anxious and worried over what he sees as his future. He lifts these concerns to God. What Abraham could not immediately see or understand was that God had a plan for that already. Abram would have an heir, and it would be a son of his own.

Not only that, God takes Abraham out of the tent, has him look at the night sky, and tells him that his offspring will be as numerous as the stars. Have you ever been outside on a clear night and tried to count the stars?

I remember going to university years ago in La Grande, Oregon. It was a town nestled in the high desert of the Blue Mountains. There was very little ambient light, and on a clear evening, you could see thousands of stars in the sky. Because of its high elevation, it was so clear, but counting them would have been impossible.

God’s promise was not just for a son, but that Abraham would have offspring so numerous that he compared it to the vastness of the stars in the night sky; he compared it to a number impossible to comprehend.

Examining the text, it doesn't appear that Abraham was noticeably shaken or anxious at what the Lord had to say. Without any material proof, but only a promise, and perhaps this promise contradicts any sound reason on Abraham’s part, scripture tells us that Abraham “believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.”

After all, that is what faith is. As the writer of Hebrews tells us, “faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Heb. 11:1). In other words, it defies sound reason and earthly understanding.

God’s promise to Abram was a promise for all of us, all of us who are here, who have been called to God by faith. The promise wasn’t just about Issac, but the one who would come after Issac, many generations later…It was about Jesus, and those who would believe in his name for their salvation would be more numerous than the stars of the night sky.

Again from scripture, the psalmist says today, “Behold the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love, that he may deliver their soul from death and keep them alive in famine” (Psalm 33:18-19) Our Heavenly Father knew our condition and decided from the very beginning to make a way to save those who love and fear him from sin, death, and the devil by believing on His only Son. That through Jesus, our hope would be sustained, that we might not be anxious but be assured in times of plenty and scarcity.

In today’s lesson, Jesus draws us out into our reasoning when he asks us to “Consider the ravens of the air, and consider the lilies of the field,” while at the same time filling our hearts with the gospel and faith when he says to us, “Yet God feeds, but God clothes them all.” Neither the ravens nor the lilies of the field can do anything for themselves. Ravens have no storehouses and cannot store up anything for themselves, and lilies cannot dress themselves or do anything. He teaches us that God's work is present in everything to fulfill the needs of all His creation. Jesus also reminds us of our great value to the Father and how He knows us and what we need. Our greatest need is HIM!

So Jesus would have us reorient ourselves and our focus to faith in what God has done, and is doing and will do and “seek his kingdom,” that we might be rich in knowing that it matters less what we eat or materially wear, which is consumed today and gone tomorrow, than what we are promised in salvation and life, which is yours now and forever.

Seeking the kingdom keeps us rooted in the Word, where we discover the kingdom's promises that help us face current anxieties.

When feeling overwhelmed by sin and worry, perhaps even disconnected, we can find comfort and peace in Jesus’ unfailing love, who wants us to come to Him in repentant faith. Paul's letter to the Romans reminds us: “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom 8:38-39). Christ wants us to seek his kingdom, which is an enduring and eternal promise.

And with this eternal promise, we are free to live out the vocations into which God has called each of us to as we wait for Jesus’ assured return at any time. Jesus tells us to “stay dressed for action,” and he has mercifully provided us with the very thing we need to stay dressed for action with. The whole armor of God!

He has given us “the belt of truth and the breastplate of righteousness, and as shoes for our feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace, with the shield of faith and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”

He gives us these things that we may “be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast that we may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks.”

In this life, we will face anxiety almost daily that seeks to take our focus off the kingdom and onto the cares of this world. We will worry about school supplies, lunches, will I get to where I need to be on time, will my daughter visit me today, and will I be able to get to the store and get what I need. Will I, Will I, Will I....but Jesus tells us, "Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." With all the worries of the world, there is one thing that we do not need to worry about...Jesus!

He has called us His flock, and scripture teaches us that with our Good Shepherd we shall not be in want, because beyond our material needs we need guidance, and He leads us; we need forgiveness and He restores us; we need to feel the love of God; and He comforts us; we need healing; and He anoints us.

Even when we feel anxious, and we will, for whatever reason, take a step back, and remember He is near us as the Psalm says, “The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth” (Psalm 145:18). We know that He is present in the wine and in the bread in His supper that we will take today. His Holy Spirit is present and active in the Word and in our prayers always.

Jesus urges us to pursue the kingdom and remain vigilant, ready for His return. We can live with focused, confident faith, casting our worries on the Lord and trusting His promises. As baptized children of God, He assures us of His unfailing love and constant presence.

He calls us to orient our lives to being faithful and obedient servants, directing our minds and hearts to seek after our great inheritance, which is the kingdom of God.

Father, may you grant us strength and wisdom to seek this, always trusting you will add all the things we need, that we may never be anxious for our lives. - Amen

Let us sing our Gospel hymn - “Jesus Still Lead On” - 237