St. Luke Ev. Lutheran Church
Sermon delivered by Pastor Anthony E. Schultz
Pentecost 16, September 24, 2006
Matthew 6:25-34

And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying” What shall we eat’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

People of God—rescued from the flaming lake of fire in hell by the innocent blood of the very Lamb of God:

There is a program on TV on Tuesday nights—about a very crabby doctor—a very cranky physician. The other day his patient was a researcher who was painfully ill. Every breath he took was painful! The doctors ran test after test—again and again unable to discover what was causing so many painful symptoms. Again and again the patient said all he wanted to do was die! Finally the grumpy doctor pretends to administer a lethal dose of morphine. As he is about to push the needle into the IV port—the patient says, “I have always wondered what’s on the other side.” Without a moment’s hesitation the doctor says, “Nothing!” Then he punches in the morphine! Nothing? Think about that! When you die you cease to exist? There is nothing beyond this existence—nothing at all? If the dead are not raised, then Christ has not bee raised either. And if Christ has not been raised your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. 1 Corinthians 15:16-19 If there are no heaven and hell—then this is all some colossal waste of time! If after death there is nothing—then you might as well go home and mow your lawn and watch football. And if you think about it—you might as well go out to some all you can eat restaurant for Sunday brunch and eat all you can. It’s all incredibly depressing—if there is no point or purpose in life! But there is! There are only two possible outcomes—eternal bliss or eternal dying and never dead. It’s either peace and rest and joy beyond your wildest dreams. Or it’s like being a worm—squished and forever dying but never ever dead! It we really believe that it’s home with Jesus—or the flaming lake of fire in hell then we will as Jesus encourages us today:

Put First Things First
1. Seek Jesus’ kingdom first
2. Everything else will be given to you as well!

The part of God’s Word we are concentrating on today—is part of the sermon Jesus preached to his students, followers and imitators on a grassy hillside by the Sea of Galilee. It is important to remember the context—that this was a sermon to his disciples. This was not a sermon preached to people who happened to show up that day—people curious about who this Jesus of Nazareth might be. Jesus was preaching to people who loved him and believed in him. Jesus was talking about people with faith in their heart—about putting their faith into practice.

Jesus is talking about fruits of faith—sweet and juicy fruits of faith that come as a result of Jesus’ love in your heart and life!

And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. It is tempting to worry about clothes. Clothes are not cheap! Sneakers—a nice pair of Nikes are not cheap. We got a catalog the other day from a medium store—nice shirts were $20. Nice shoes were $50. Sport coats were $100. Suit coats $120 dollars. Trousers were on sale for $60—regularly they are $100. That makes a suit like $220 and more! Their nicer suits are $250—regularly $500! Purses—very nice purses—to carry around you money—cost up to $80 –just to carry your money and your makeup and your check book and credit cards—and cell phone and more. Only in our country is it against the rules to wear the same clothes two days in a row. I’m talking about nice clothes—you dasn’t wear the same dress—the same trousers and same shirt or sweater two days in a row. People would kid you—didn’t you go home last night? Many people around the world—have literally the clothes on their back and that’s that! Many little children in the world—have the little gym shorts they are wearing—or the big person T-shirt—and that’s it. We live in a place—where we are so blessed—that many many people have walk in closets! Most people have sock orphans—one or two or three socks—and their mate got sucked into oblivion? Most Americans have nicer shoes we wear for mowing the lawn—than they have to wear for the most important days of their lives. I dare say lots of people have clothes that they have only worn a few times—and now don’t—because they don’t fit—because we are so well fed. And most people have clothes that are perfectly good—not worn or stained or torn. The only problem being—they are hopelessly out of style. Nobody is wearing that style or that color or that look any more—so we don’t either!

See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. Consider the beauty of the wild flowers. Tall stalks of purple flowers—white and yellow daisies—baby blue flowers like those butter cookies—yellow tiger lilies with rust colored freckles—wild plum flowers—delicate white—white cups by lily pads—in the marsh where people don’t ruin things! How sad is that? Some of the most beautiful flower beds of all—are rare and delicate flowers—planted and watered and tended by the Lord. What spoils them is when people come through—trampling on them—killing them with pollution and worse! These wild flowers are so beautiful that not even King Solomon in all his royal splendor was dressed like one of these. Think about how wonderful it would be to be King! You would wake up in your royal jammies. You would put on your royal bath robe and royal flip flops. You would wear royal trousers—with a perfect royal crease. You would wear royal shirts with royal hand painted silk ties. You would wear royal jackets—with all kinds of medals on them if you wanted. You would wear royal socks—no socks with holes in them so your toes poked through. No socks worn thread bare on the bottom. Your royal shoes would have royal polish—and would be perfectly shined. Your royal shoe laces would never break. It would be pretty nice. But you would never look as nice as the wild flowers that Jesus made.

There is of course nothing wrong with wearing nice clothes. There is nothing wrong with wearing something very nice when you come to Church. It is certainly true that we will want to wear modest clothes when we come to Jesus’ Father’s house of prayer. Certainly Church is not a place to wear any clothes that are too anything. That we not wear anything that is too tight or too small or too thin or too high or too low—too anything! And now that you mention it. It wouldn’t be good to wear any thing too anything—at work or at school or at parties or at weddings where you will dance either! If you really think about it—what we wear is a reflection of how much we love Jesus. That’s why it is always appropriate for husbands to compliment their wife on how pretty she looks. For husbands to be observant—so when their wife has a her hair done—we notice and compliment them. It is appropriate for parents to take note of what their children are wearing—so they don’t go to school wearing t-shirts that say to anyone who reads them—that they are cheap or easy. Parents will take note so their children do not wear t-shirts that are insulting—showing a total lack of respect for their peers and teachers and elders—by flat out calling anyone who read them—that they are ignorant losers or worse! Clothes are something to take care of—but they are not something to be worried or consumed or obsessed about! In the Old Testament—when they were building the Tabernacle—the people brought their fabric—their yarn and wool—their jewelry—their gold jewelry of all kinds, brooches, earrings, rings and ornaments—and presented them as gifts—Thankofferings to the LORD. It says—all the Israelite men and women who were willing—those who were motivated by joyful thankful hearts—brought freewill offerings for all the work. People were so thankful—they brought so much—Moses gave an order and they sent this word throughout the camp: “No man or woman is to make anything else as an offering for the sanctuary.” And so the people were restrained from bringing more, because what they already had was more than enough to do all the work. Exodus 36:6,7 Imagine that! People who didn’t know exactly how baby Jesus would be born in a stable—worshipped by shepherds. People who didn’t see Good Friday—Jesus dying on the cross to rescue them. People who didn’t see Easter—Jesus risen from the dead—just like he promised. Those people—Old Testament people—with faith in the Gospel promises of God—brought so many Thankofferings—freewill offerings—that they actually had to tell the people—no more offerings for now! We have more than enough to do all the work! If Old Testament believers brought so much—won’t we do even more?

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well. Jesus is talking about priorities. The most important thing—is not the Green Bay Packers or the Bears or the Vikings playing football this afternoon. The most important thing is not whether Tiger Woods and his teammates win the Ryder Cup in Ireland. The most important thing is not how many minutes our children play on their school football game or basketball game. The most important thing is not that our children wear such nice clothes and are in such perfect physical shape they look like a page from a J. C. Penny’s Catalog. The most important thing is not that we have enough riches stored away in barns so that when we are 65 we can retire and then go out for breakfast—take cruises and dance into the night because we have enough money to be comfortable for many years! There is a bumper sticker I have seen in town many times. It says, “50 years from now it won’t matter how big your house is—or how fancy your car is—or how much money you have in your wallet. It will matter how you raised your children!” All that matters is getting ready to come home to heaven! The fact is—Jesus could call any of us at any moment. Today could be the day that Jesus returns to judge the living and the dead. Jesus is not going to care if your bed is made or not—if there are dirty dishes soaking in your sink—if your lawn is mowed or your garage organized or not. Jesus is going to care that you have a mustard seed of faith in your heart. That faith will grow every time we come to this place to hear the Gospel. It will grow every time we come to Lord’s Supper. When you read God’s Word—you will be encouraged again and again to show your thankfulness to Jesus by the Thankofferings you bring. God’s Word will come true—his Gospel promise in the scroll of the prophet Malachi, bring your thank offerings. “Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit,” says the LORD Almighty. “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for your will be a delightful land,” says the LORD Almighty.” Malachi 3:10b-12

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Worry, worry, worry. People do it all the time! Worry about spinach that might contain e-coli! Worry about identity theft—someone stealing your social security number and charging travel and “things and stuff” in your name. Worry about your children safely strapped into your cars and vans. Worry about the price of a barrel of oil and a gallon of gas. Worry about drinking water from your garden hose—that it might make you sick. Worry about drinking diet soda—that it will give you cancer. Worry about using your cell phone—that it will give you a brain tumor. What we need to be concerned about—is people in our home—people in our family tree—people in our neighborhood and people around the world who don’t know Jesus is the only way—the only way to heaven! We need to do everything humanly possible to share the essential Gospel before it’s too late. Everything else will take care of itself. Jesus promised and he always keeps all his promises. Amen!