Sometimes,
sermon texts are a struggle. Sometimes
they are confusing and it is hard to understand what it is really trying to
say. Sometimes we don’t like what the
text says. Then there are the texts that
are fairly straightforward to understand, but hard to apply in life, like the
text I had to preach on this past Sunday: Matthew 6:25-34, Jesus’ words on not
worrying. It was a sermon (like most sermons) I had to
preach to myself first. I liked how it
turned out, so I am sharing part of it here.
Jesus is not saying that these
things of life are not important. He
doesn’t say we should go without food or clothes or a job or home. And Jesus doesn’t say that we won’t have any
trouble in the world. But he does tell
us how to respond to the troubles and the worries that come. Jesus says we can quit worrying about our
lives. We can quit worrying.
Then he gives us two pictures of
why we don’t need to worry. First, Jesus
says look at the birds of the air. They
don’t plant or gather crops. They don’t
put food away in storerooms. But your
Father who is in heaven feeds them.
Aren’t you much more important than the birds?
Think about the birds that are
coming back to Michigan right now. They
aren’t planting food, but they are busy creatures. They are out finding food. They gather materials and build a nest. They will soon be laying eggs and caring for
them. After the eggs hatch, they have to
bring food for their babies and help them learn to fly. There are lots of things that birds do in
life. But God takes care of them. God controls the sun and the rain. He makes the plants grow that birds need to
eat. God watches over the birds. God provides for them. And God says that people, created in God’s
image are worth much more than the birds.
If God takes care of the birds that well, he will take care of us even
more.
And then Jesus gives another
picture. He says look at the wild
flowers. They don’t have to work or make
clothing. But those flowers are more
beautiful than the best dressed people in the world. I was so happy this week when the daffodils
finally bloomed. Look at how bright they
are. After such a long, long winter they
finally bring a bit of spring. They
don’t have to put on make-up or buy expensive clothes to be beautiful. They just are.
But they don’t last long. It is supposed to get hotter this week, and I
think that by a week from now, these flowers will be wilted and starting to get
brown. Even though they have a short
life span, God made them beautiful. If
God cares so much about making the flowers beautiful, won’t he take care of you
and me, too?
“Your faith is so small,” Jesus
said. Maybe that’s another way to say:
“Your God is so big.” God created the
world. He made the sun and earth and
birds and flowers. God created us. And God takes care of the world. He cares for the sparrows. God watches over the flowers. And even more so, God cares about us. Later, in Matthew chapter 10, Jesus says, “Aren’t
two sparrows sold for only a penny? But not one of them falls to the ground
without your Father knowing it. 30He even counts every hair on your
head! 31So don’t be afraid. You are worth more than many sparrows”
(Matthew 10:29-31, NIrV).
God cares for us. God knows the number of hairs you have on
your head. God knows when the little
sparrows fall to the ground. And God loves
you much more than the sparrows. We
don’t need to worry, because our big God knows us and loves us.
And God has shown that he is
faithful. Over and over again in the
Bible, God made promises to people. And
over and over again, God kept his promises.
God promised Noah that the whole earth would not be destroyed again by a
flood. God kept that promise. God promised Abraham that his family would be
as many as the stars in the sky. God
kept that promise. God promised David
that a member of his family would always be king. And God kept that promise in Jesus. God promised that he would defeat sin and
Satan. God kept that promise.
And so we know that God will keep
his promises to us. God makes promises
to us in baptism. God promises that we
belong to God, that we are his children.
God promises that we have died to our sin and risen with Christ. God promises that he will be with us
always. God promises that nothing in
life or in death nor anything in all creation can separate us from the love of
God.
Thanks be to God!
Sparrow photo by Paul Stein, used under a Creative Commons License, http://www.flickr.com/photos/kapkap/415668818/
Daffodil photo by Ian Britton, used under a Creative Commons License, http://www.flickr.com/photos/freefoto/3370278750/
Rainbow photo by B.J. Bumgarner, used under a Creative Commons License, http://www.flickr.com/photos/homer4k/263070945/
