Sunday, August 10th 2025
Ninth Sunday after Pentecost, Series C (Proper 14C)
Text: Luke 12:22
Sermon Audio
As we gather… We like our lives to go smoothly. We do everything we can to make sure we don’t have to worry about tomorrow. What happens when something happens to upset our best laid plans? We often become anxious and fearful. Regardless of what causes our anxiety, the Lord Jesus gives us a reason not to be anxious in today’s Gospel text: He has it under control. If the Lord takes care of the ravens and the lilies, will he not much more take care of you? Instead, we can be grateful for the abundance that God does give us, and use that abundance to share with others in need. “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom!”
Anxiety. Worry. Fear. These things surround us in this world. They assault our sense of peace, our contentment with what God has provided to us. Our lives often seem to be moving along just fine. Everything is going as planned. Then, your car unexpectedly breaks down. Or, the company you are working for is cutting back and you get laid off. Or, the cost of living goes up and you haven’t had a raise in years. How are you going to be able to keep a roof over your head? How are you going to feed and clothe your family? Anxiety, worry, and fear invade your thoughts. You may even begin to question God, whether or not He even cares for you. These are all quite natural responses when we’re attacked by the troubles of this fallen world. God knows your troubles. Listen to the words of Jesus at the beginning of our Gospel reading today. “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.”
Before we go any further I think we should rewind the clock to last week’s Gospel reading. There Jesus is telling a parable about a rich man whose field gives off more food than he knows what to do with. He builds a barn to store it all up so he can live a life of luxury the rest of his days without any earthly worries about sustaining his life. He made his own comforts his god. He worshipped his abundance. He stored up for himself the vain things that will pass away in a world that will pass away. He had no eye on God’s eternal kingdom. He laid up treasures on earth. He was a fool. This is the parable that Jesus is explaining further in today’s Gospel reading. Oh how tempting it is to lay up our earthly treasures. After all, no one likes to be uncertain of where their next meal will come from.
This is not to say that having an abundance is bad. The LORD is the one who gives abundantly to the rich, the ravens, and the lilies. The problem with the rich man wasn’t that he had an abundance, it was that he worshiped his abundance. He worshiped his life in a perishing world. He put his faith, trust, and hope in his abundance. This is what the pagan nations do as Jesus would go on to say, “For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them.” But you, dear Christian, have a life to hope for that is beyond the worries of this world. You can trust that the God who gives food to the ravens and radiantly clothes the lilies of the field will certainly grant you, His child, your daily bread. How can you be so certain?
In a word, faith. As the letter to the Hebrews says in our Epistle reading, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation.” It goes on to extol the faith that was given to Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, and Sarah. All of them, through faith, trusted in the promise of God. In the promise of a Savior. In the promise of the Promised Land. They all died not seeing the Promise, yet they all trusted the Promise. They were not concerned with the land that they were in – they hoped in the Promised Land. The epistle continues, “If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.” How much more do we have? The Savior that the people of old hoped for has come to bring the better country, His kingdom.
The Christ did not come in any way that you would think that the Creator of the world would come. No, Jesus came humbly. The Son of Man had nowhere to lay His head. Even the birds of the air have nests. He came as the Kingdom of God into our perishing worldly kingdom. He went through this world trusting in our Father in heaven to provide for Him. He took on all of the anxieties, worries, and fears that pursue us daily. He not only took them on, He took them to the cross. There Jesus nailed all of our doubts, all of our sins, to the cross. They died along with Him. He buried them in the tomb so you could arise anew with Him when He rose on the third day. You have not been given a faith in some vague god out there somewhere; you have been given a faith in the crucified and living Savior. Your hope and trust is in Him. He is the only way into the Promised Land. He has prepared your way. He is building your eternal home. You need only to trust in Him. Through Christ, God is not ashamed to call us His. Through Christ we are not just another part of creation, we are God’s own beloved children. “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”
I find it interesting that our reading from Luke focuses on our needs for food and clothing in this world. Not only are these basic earthly needs, they are also ways that our Father provides us His kingdom while we are still here in this perishing earthly kingdom. In Holy Baptism He has given you the Holy Spirit, given you faith, made you His child, and clothed you with His robe of righteousness. Here He has clothed you with a heavenly robe that is far more important than any earthly garment that you will ever put on.
Right here in this place, in Faith, Jesus feeds you His very body and blood in the LORD’s Supper. The only food that gives you forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. The only food that we must partake in to have eternal life in Christ. Eating of Christ’s flesh and drinking His blood brings eternal life. Here we are united to Him and to one another. Here we are promised resurrection on the last day through our Savior, Jesus Christ. There is no king’s feast on this earth that can compare to the feast that Jesus offers you here at this very altar. It is your Father’s delight to give you His kingdom, His Son. Here, in the words of Christ and in His sacraments, is where you seek and find the Kingdom of God to sustain you in this perishing world. Here you receive the foretaste of the eternal marriage feast of the Lamb that will have no end. The feast that is prepared for those who have come through this world of great tribulation with robes made white in the blood of the Lamb. Here you are fed and clothed with eternal food and clothing. All other earthly things will be added unto you. Your Father in heaven has given you the only food and clothes you truly need. He will certainly care for you in every way in this fallen world. We do not hope in this world, we hope in the Promised Land; the new heavens and the new earth that will be ours in Christ’s returns.
What do we do in the meantime? We still are sinners in a fallen world, whose cars break down, whose jobs get lost, who struggle to make ends meet. We may find ourselves in times of abundance or in times of great need. No matter which of these categories you find yourself in at any given moment, you can trust in the LORD whose mercies are new every morning. Continue to come here to Faith, where your faith is being strengthened in the hearing of God’s Word and the eating of Christ’s body and blood. Take the hope that you hold together, as brothers and sisters in Christ, the hope that unites you with one another, and let the peace of God flow from His altar through you. For you trust solely in Christ. If you have plenty, you can be prudent towards tomorrow, for a rainy day; but do not let it be your treasure. Your treasure is in heaven with Jesus. You can empty that savings account for a fellow saint in need and let the love of Christ flow from you as the means by which He cares for His people. He will care for you even more than ravens and lilies. If you find yourself in times of need, you need not fear. God will give you the means to provide for your earthly needs. That very well may be help from your fellow saints while you wait for God to provide more work. He will care for you even more than birds and grass. Our needs shall be supplied to us by our Father in heaven. You who have been given faith to store up your treasures in heaven, need not be anxious, worry, or fear. Your faith clings to Christ and His mercy. In Him you trust. In Him you have eternal hope.
Hear the Word of the LORD to Abram from our Old Testament reading. “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” Fear not, saints of Faith, Jesus is your shield; your reward shall be very great. He is your eternal treasure. Seek His kingdom, and you will have eternal reward. God will not forget you, His beloved child, in your earthly needs. He sent His Son to ensure that you not only will be taken care of on this earth, but eternally in His kingdom that has no end. His kingdom that has no more tears. That is the hope of those who have faith in Jesus. That is your eternal hope. All anxiety, worry, and fear can only be quieted in faith, hope, and trust in Christ. This faith, hope, and trust has been poured out upon you through Jesus Christ our Savior. Those who believe in Him will be counted as righteous for Christ’s sake, and inherit His eternal kingdom. His kingdom where you eternally feast with Christ, robed in His righteousness. Thanks be to God!