Trinity 15, 2011 Sermon
Galatians 5:25 If we live in
the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
26 Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying
one another. KJV Galatians 6:1
Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore
such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be
tempted. 2 Bear ye one another's
burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.
3 For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he
deceiveth himself. 4 But let every man
prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not
in another. 5 For every man shall bear
his own burden. 6 Let him that is
taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things. 7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for
whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. 8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap
corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life
everlasting. 9 And let us not be weary
in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. 10 As we have therefore opportunity, let us
do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of
faith.
KJV Matthew 6:24 No man can
serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else
he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat,
or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the
life more than meat, and the body than raiment? 26 Behold the fowls of the air:
for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your
heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? 27 Which of you
by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? 28 And why take ye
thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil
not, neither do they spin: 29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all
his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the
grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall
he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? 31 Therefore take
no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal
shall we be clothed? 32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for
your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 33 But seek
ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall
be added unto you. 34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow
shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the
evil thereof.
Creation Teaches Us
Lenski:
Thus far the contrasts are
exclusive: either treasures on earth or treasures in heaven. The self-deception
thus lies in choosing the one kind in place of the other. Now Jesus turns to
the self-deception which would grasp at both. No one can be a slave to two
masters. The proposition is again self-evident. The emphasis is on can-be-a-slave
with which, as a matter of course, goes the idea of having a master. The matter
is viewed exclusively from the standpoint of the slave; hence no one is
the subject. How two masters would act in such a case is not touched upon. A
slave’s person and his work belong wholly to his master. This excludes the
possibility of devoting himself and his work to a second master. Two masters or
even more might own a slave jointly and might even share in his service; but
this would make the two one, and this thought is thus not a contradiction of
the proposition. The thought that underlies this word of Jesus is the fact that
no man is his own master; it is ingrained in our very nature that our heart,
will, and work be governed by another. The only question is who this other
shall be.
Lenski, R. C. H.: The
Interpretation of St. Matthew's Gospel. Minneapolis, MN. : Augsburg
Publishing House, 1961, S. 278.
Jesus often used
illustrations from Creation, because He is the Lord of Creation, the creating
Word who fashioned light before the sun and stars existed.
KJV John 1:1 In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The
same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without
him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life; and the life was
the light of men. 5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness
comprehended it not. 6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
KJV Genesis 1:1 In the
beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 2 And the earth was without
form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the
Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. 3 And God said, Let there be
light: and there was light. 4 And God saw the light, that it was good:
and God divided the light from the darkness.
This is a good text for all
of us, whether in times of prosperity or recession. In the past there were
crises in one currency or another, one part of the world or another. Now the
crisis is world-wide and continuing to develop, like a storm that builds up
after a flood, making people wonder, “How much more?”
This text requires faith,
because anyone without faith will ignore its meaning. No one is against birds
and flowers, but this text is about the Master. Jesus observed, “No one can be
a slave to two Masters at once. He will love one and hate the other, or be
loyal to one and disloyal to the other. That is often observed in human
behavior, when someone pretends to be friendly when he is really serving
another person, trying to get information or some kind of advantage.
Long ago I warned a well
known editor, “Agent X is no longer your friend.” The editor denied this was
happening. I said, “He is defending Bohlmann.” Later, Agent X went public with
his animosity. He had switched sides and was serving the opposition. We are not
capable of serving two sides at once. We pick one over against the other.
As Luther said, just as our
relationships are with others in this life, so is our relationship with God. It
is either God or mammon, not both.
Jesus warning is about the
most important basics of life.
Matthew 6:24b Ye cannot
serve God and mammon. 25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your
life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye
shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
One way to understand mammon
is “excess money.” Mammon is represented by desiring to have more and more, to
be secure and yet wanting many times more, just to be sure. In many cases
today, those who are wealthy are unhappy that they are not many times more
wealthy. A millionaire wants to be a centi-millionaire, and and
centi-millionarie wants to be a billionaire. Ted Turner was once worth $10
billion and now has to scrape by on $500 million. He had to give up some
luxuries.
Here Jesus is reminding us,
“God already takes care of the basic needs of life, for believers and
unbelievers alike. Look at the plants and animals.”
Luther is quite severe on
this topic, which is good to read over and study, because he puts this lesson
in the context of faith rather than logic. Either we believe in God or we
believe in mammon. If we love mammon, we hate God.
No believer will say, “I
hate God,” but Luther’s observation is accurate. We say that and worry about a dollar left out in the open – someone
might steal it. I was laughing to myself about this at the store, because I
kept my eyes on our shopping basket after I paid for the goods. We were having
some food at the WM Subway, and I did not want someone to leave with the
paid-for goods. Luther’s comment stuck me many times, but I still kept my eyes
on the cart.
This is the first time in my
life where I have seen everyone threatened by financial meltdown. No one I know
has been left untouched. Savings and retirement have suffered. Homes have lost
50% of their value overnight. Some things have a rolling effect. Endowments
have lost value, so the benefits from those funds are gone. Times of prosperity
seem to be a dream.
Matthew
6:26 Behold the fowls of the air: for
they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly
Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
The birds fashioned by the
Lord of Creation are an excellent example of how our heavenly Father cares for
everything. Every single day they start with nothing, yet they sing merrily and
look for food.
Blue jays hoard acorns, but
for a purpose. God has designed them to nurture and spread oak trees, so they
benefit from the food, shade and shelter of the oaks while making sure they
have more. Someone said, “Given the concept that the animals themselves (the
hardware) have evolved on their own, how does anyone explain the software
coding?” (Hardware and software go together, so the question is ironic.
Conceding one part of evolution, as a rhetorical trick, makes it clear that
design permeates everything we see.)
Believing in Creation and
observing it are great habits. Blue jays chose to build a nest outside our
bedroom window, in the bush at eye level. Their software directed them to mate
and produce a nest together, the female laying eggs, the pair bringing food to
the hatchlings. Jays can be very aggressive in attacking those who threaten
their young, but they never attacked me for bringing them piles of sunflower seed.
Birds cannot live on donated food any more than we can live on Doritos, but it
does help them to have some extra nutrition.
Their genetic code moved
them to feed their young with great energy and care, so we saw the scrawny
little things get bigger and more crowded in their nest.
LI noticed them trying their
little wings in place. He said, “Look at that. They wave their wings and say –
what are these? Maybe I can fly. And soon they are doing something they never
imagined, second nature to them.” We watched them flutter in place a few days –
then everyone was gone.
Their software told them to
grow up, set up shop somewhere else, find a mate, and start over. I gave them
sunflower seeds – for myself and our visitors. We wanted to enjoy their
feathers, their military sharpness, their bell-like calls of happiness when
food was near. We got to share a tiny bit in what God provided with such lavish
bounty.
Now all kinds of birds stop
by and peer in the window. Isn’t this where we get the sunflower seeds, crackers,
and potato chips?
Clearly Jesus taught this so
that birds would be a daily reminder of God’s care for all of us, a reminder of
His care for each and every one of us. The birds are so small and
insignificant, yet God cares for them. How much more valuable are we, created
and redeemed by Him?
Matthew 6:27 Which of you by
taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
This is interpreted as the
span or length of one’s life. That is a real obsession today. In many cases,
people have damaged their health by being so anxious and managing their food so
severely. We saw a malnourished baby at
the Cleveland Clinic, terribly sick because his parents had some weird hippy
organic obsession.
We can see the richest and
most powerful Americans dying of one malady or another, because mammon does not
buy health. All the doctors and medicine that man can buy will not change that.
Luther:
Of what help are his great
treasures and riches to the Emperor when the hour of death arrives and he is
called to die? They are a shameful, loathsome, powerless god, that cannot cure
a sore, yea, it cannot keep and take care of itself, there it lies in the
chest, and lets it's devotees wait, yea, one must watch it as a helpless,
powerless, weak thing. The lord who has this god must watch day and night lest
thieves steal it; this helpless god can aid no one. You should have contempt
for this lifeless god that cannot help in the least, and is yet so scrupulous
and precious; it lets its devotees wait in the grandest style and protects
itself with strong chests and castles, its lord must wait and be in anxiety
every hour, lest it perishes by fire or otherwise experiences some misfortune.
Does this treasure or god consist in clothing, then one must be careful and on
his guard against the smallest little insects, against the moth, lest they ruin
or devour it.
Matthew 6: 28 And why take
ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they
toil not, neither do they spin: 29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in
all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
No matter where people live,
they can observe the glories of plant life. In Phoenix we had cacti blossoming,
flowering trees, and even weeds with delicate flowers. I bought one plant because it would grow well in the
blazing heat. A landscaper said, “Did you do that on purpose?” Another plant
was $1.50 at the store, so I bought three. Later they were 7 feet tall and
loaded with blossoms, orange flowers loved by humming birds. My neighbor
finally talked to me after 10 years. He stopped at the front door and said, “Please
prune those bushes. They are growing into my roses.”
In fact, weeds can be quite
attractive – in small numbers. Their abundance is a blessing by itself, because
they protect and improve the soil in places where delicate plants would not
survive. God has designed a plant for every single habitat, one that will
thrive in that climate.
As much as people fuss over
clothes, no one can dress as delicately as a wild flower. No one can put
together the same colors, no matter how many dyes and fabrics are designed to
look good.
One of the ironies of
history is the silk trade. China guarded it for centuries, the fabric coming
from the tiny silk threads of a little worm. Constantinople finally stole some
worms and developed their own industry, but it was an industry based on God’s
Creation, not on man-made fabrics. What we prize today are the natural fabrics,
made from wool, cotton, bamboo, and worms, not the chemical fibers that color
so well and feel like plastic bags smothering our bodies.
Some roses will give up
enough perfume from one blossom to fill an entire room with their aroma.
Fragrant Cloud is one of the best for that. How much we spend to re-create the
perfumes of nature – with little success.
Matthew 6: 30 Wherefore, if
God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast
into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little
faith?
Here Jesus is emphasizing
our lack of faith in God’s care and power. Either we trust in man’s wisdom and
schemes or in God’s mercy and love. God serves us in the material and spiritual
realms, but mammon is a god that must be served.
All the law salesmen serve
their god Mammon, so we must be careful not to fall into their way of thinking.
They are clever because their Old Adam talks to our Old Adam so well. Look at
how prosperous that minister is! He must know the secrets. Look at his wealthy
benefactors. He must know how to reach people.
Instead, these prosperity
gurus should ask themselves, “Why does this criminal want to borrow my image to
make himself look good?” That has happened many times. I had the files of one
minister, who had a talking point paper on how to explain the criminal charges
leveled by the government against his wealthy member. I thought, “So the price
is being his mouthpiece?” So much for Law and Gospel. Being a finger-puppet
pays well in the short run, but not in the long run. “The wages of sin is
death.”
The little faith rebuke is
aimed at all of us. John 16:8 – The Holy Spirit will convict us of sin, because
we do not utterly rely on Him.
Luther used the example of
our eyes. We have redundancy in almost everything, including our eyes. We take
them for granted, even though we pity a person who is blind. We can do almost
nothing for a blind person or for someone going blind from such disorders as
macular degeneration.
But if we lost an eye
through an accident, we would suddenly value that one remaining eye. What would
we do without that? We should get up every morning and thank God for those
eyes. Gerhard even has a beautiful German hymn, thanking God for all the senses
and for God’s daily care.
When we get older, the eyes
do not work so well. My eyes are healthy, but they are no longer good for
reading a whole book in a day and grading homework. I think aging is a process
of becoming grateful for what is left.
Matthew 6: 31 Therefore take
no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal
shall we be clothed? 32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for
your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 33 But seek
ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall
be added unto you. 34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow
shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the
evil thereof.
Our sinful nature puts Mammon
first, as if we need to serve that god, while dispensing with the real treasures
of life in the Means of Grace. Many have sacrificed their families, too, in the
name of being prosperous, important, or “serving the church.” I met one layman’s
son who was utterly sick of church from growing up in the home of a father who was
the ultimate church volunteer. In fact, another father neglected his own kids
to do “youth work” and film all their activities.
The most important congregation
is the home. The pastoral epistles teach that clearly.
“Seek first the Kingdom” means
first, not second. First cannot be qualified, as in second or third, or at the
end.
Jesus has abundant examples
of how this righteousness is given to us lavishly through the Means of Grace.
In John 15:1-10, Jesus is
the True Vine. We are fruitful through remaining with the Savior.
In John 10:1ff – Jesus is
the Good Shepherd, who knows His sheep. His sheep listen to His voice alone and
follow Him alone. They know He is as anxious for them as they are for Him.
Quotations from Luther’s Sermon
"In this Gospel we see how God
distinguishes Christians from heathen. For the Lord does not deliver these
teachings to the heathen, for they could not receive them, but to His
Christians...Satan also hears the Gospel and the Word of God, yea, he knows it
far better than we do, and he could preach it as well as we, if he only wanted
to; but the Gospel is a doctrine that should become a living power and be put
into practice; it should strengthen and comfort people, and make them
courageous and aggressive."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8
vols., ed. John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, V, p. 103f. Trinity 15 Matthew 6:24‑34
"The Master uses here the
Hebrew, which we do not. 'Mammon'
means goods or riches, and such goods as one does not need, but holds as a
treasure, and it is gold and possessions that one deposits as stock and storage
provisions."
Sermons of Martin Luther, V, p. 107.
The Weak God: Riches
"They are a shameful, loathsome,
powerless god, that cannot cure a sore, yea, it cannot keep and take care of
itself, there it lies in the chest, and lets its devotees wait, yea, one must
watch it as a helpless, powerless, weak thing. The lord who has this god must watch
day and night lest thieves steal it; this helpless god can aid no one."
Sermons of Martin Luther, V, p.
107.
"The walls of our rooms should
spit upon us in contempt that we trust more in the god the moth eat and the
rust corrupt, than in the God, who creates and gives all things, yea, who holds
in His hand heaven and earth, and all that is in them."
Sermons of Martin Luther, V, p.
108.
A Little Bird Shames Us
"Early in the morning it rises,
sits upon a twig and sings a song it has learned, while it knows not where to
obtain its food, and yet it is not worried as to where to get its
breakfast. Later, when it
is hungry, it flies away and seeks a grain of corn, where God stored one away for it, of
which it never thought while singing, when it had cause enough to be anxious
about its food. Ay, shame on you now, that the little birds are more pious and
believing than you; they are happy and sing with joy and know not whether they
have anything to eat."
Sermons of Martin Luther,
V, p. 114.
Is Christ Our
Treasure?
"Here are no learned, no rich,
no mighty ones, for such people do not as a rule accept the Gospel. The Gospel is a heavenly treasure,
which will not tolerate any other treasure, and will not agree with any earthly
guest in the heart. Therefore
whoever loves the one must let go the other, as Christ says, Matthew
6:24: 'You cannot serve God
and mammon.'"
Sermons of Martin Luther,
I, p. 154.
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