Serve the Better God: Trinity 15 Sermon

Christ for Us

Trinity 15 sermon preached by Rev. James Preus on Matthew 6:24-34 in 2024.

Gospel: Matthew 6:24-34

24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

25 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Trinity 15

Matthew 6:24-34

Serve the Better God

Pastor James Preus

Trinity Lutheran Church

September 8, 2024

Jesus instructs us that we cannot serve two masters, therefore, we cannot serve God and mammon. Mammon is earthly wealth. You will either love and cling to God and hate and despise Mammon, or you will love and cling to Mammon and hate and despise God. So, you have a choice of which god you will serve. Will you serve mammon, the god of earthly wealth? Or will you serve God the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth? Jesus presents us with a perfectly logical argument why God is the better Master to serve and why we should stop serving the false god Mammon.

First, how do you serve Mammon? You serve Mammon by being anxious, that is, by caring for the things of this life. In other words, by worrying. But Jesus tells us not to worry, not to be anxious, because our heavenly Father cares for all our needs without us offering incense to Mammon with our worrying. He begins by using the logical argument, that if the greater is true, so is the lesser. Consider the birds of the air. They do not toil as you do. They don’t stay up at night worrying. Yet, your heavenly Father feeds them. Of how much more value are you than they? Study the lilies of the field. They do not spin nor sow, but your Father in heaven clothes them more majestically than Solomon the Great. Is it not self-evident that God cares more for you than the grass of the field which is gone tomorrow?

Did God create the birds in His own image? Did He give them dominion over the earth? Did God take on the flesh and nature of birds to become their Redeemer? Did He send His Son to die for the flowers in the field? No. But He has done that for you! God the Son took on our human flesh and blood, lived under the Law for our sake, and was crucified for our sins! How much more does God care for you than for birds and grass! And yet, your Father in heaven does not fail to care for these lesser creatures. How much more will He provide for you!

In that same vein, God has given us much greater blessings than food for the belly and clothing for the body. St. Paul employs this same logical argument of Christ’s when he writes to the Romans in chapter 8, “He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things?” (vs. 32) If God did not withhold His own Son from bitter pain and death for your sake, would He hold back from you any good thing? Would He deprive you of food and drink, shoes, and clothing? If God has remembered you from before the foundation of the earth, will He forget you today? If God chose you in Christ from before He created the earth for eternal life, will He fail to keep your life today? He who offers the Holy Spirit without measure for drink for your soul (John 3:34; 7:37-39), will He fail to give you water to drink for your body? He who offers His own Son as food and drink for our souls and invites you to an eternal wedding banquet, will He fail to feed your body today? He who has clothed your soul in a robe of righteousness and gave you Christ Himself as a holy garment (Isaiah 61:10; Gal. 3:27), will He fail to clothe your body today?

And so, you see, if you truly believed the Gospel of Christ, you would put away all worrying and anxiety. If God gives you much more than you desire for the soul, He will not fail to give you the lesser things for the body. If He cares for that which is of lesser value in His eyes, He will certainly care for you, who are the apple of His eye. This is why Jesus repeatedly calls God our Father. Even an earthly father will give good gifts to his children, even though he is evil and weak in his nature (Luke 11:13). How much more will your heavenly Father, who is good and all-powerful give you what you ask for?

So, you see that your heavenly Father is a much better God than that imposter Mammon. While Mammon demands that you worry, yet promises nothing in return, your heavenly Father bids you to stop worrying and to cast all your anxieties on Him, because He cares for you (1 Peter 5:7). It is God, who provides for all you need in this life. Yes, He commands you to work, but not to worry. “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil, for He gives to His beloved sleep.” (Psalm 127) Do not think that your work has given you all that you have. There are many who have worked much harder than you and have had less. And there are those who have worked far less and have more. It is God who provides according to His own generosity at His discretion and according to His purpose.

Finally, Christ crushes the false worship you offer Mammon by pointing out that it is utterly useless. Who, by worrying, ever added an hour to his life or a cubit to his stature? Yet, those who put away worry do not lack any good thing. Jesus wins us over to worship the true God with the comforting words, “Your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.” Mammon promises nothing, but forces you to worry. The Father promises you everything, and tells you not to worry.

Yet, there are some of you who think you do not serve Mammon, because you do not worry. You have enough food and drink and clothing. You sleep like a baby at night after telling your soul that you have goods stored up for many years, so relax, eat, drink, and be merry (Luke 12:19). Yet, do not think that you are not worshiping Mammon with this attitude. While Mammon tortures most of its followers with anxiety and worry that they will not have enough, it drugs others into a complacent stupor with the riches and pleasures of this life until it finally chokes out the word of God from their hearts (Luke 8:14). Remember, that word for be anxious does not simply mean to worry. It means to care for.

So, what do you care for? What do you serve? The true God or mammon? Are you more concerned with increasing your earthly possessions than storing up treasures in heaven? Do set your mind more on that next vacation, that next vehicle, that next financial milestone, than you do in your own sanctification? Do you plan more for your children’s financial future, for their worldly education, future career, or even their hobbies and sports than you do for their eternal salvation? You could leave your children and grandchildren millions of dollars, yet leave them in the greatest poverty without the kingdom of heaven. Do you take salvation for granted and serve the things that are perishing instead fighting the good fight of faith (2 Timothy 4:7)? Remember Jesus’ solemn warning, “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” (Matthew 7:13-14)

It is easy to strive after earthly riches. And you will have much company doing it. That is why no one bats an eye when you set aside worship and God’s Word to pursue the pleasures of this life. Yet, that broad way leads to destruction. But the narrow hard way involves crucifying your flesh, repenting of your covetousness and love of earthly riches, and to seek after the heavenly treasure Christ has won for you. It is hard, because it involves daily repentance. It is narrow, because only through faith in Christ may you enter it. Yet, it is the only way that leads to everlasting life.

Many, by striving after riches, have wandered away from the faith (1 Timothy 6:10). It is hard to confront your love of money and riches. It is difficult to tear yourself away from service to Mammon. Yet, when you turn from it, you have the certainty of eternal riches in heaven. Jesus warned earlier in His Sermon on the Mount not to store up treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but store up your treasure in heaven where it is safe, concluding, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:21)

And this is what Jesus is teaching us about: The service of your heart. You may have nothing, but in your heart are the riches of this world as you worry and long after them. You may be rich like King David, yet call yourself poor and needy (Psalm 70:5). That’s what it means to be poor in spirit and so possess the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:3). You may not worry, because you think you have everything you need in earthly possessions. Yet everything you love will be taken from you. And since you filled your heart with these perishable treasures, you will be locked out of the true riches in heaven. If you sow after that which is perishable, you will reap corruption.

This is why Jesus concludes, “Seek first the Kingdom of Heaven and His righteousness, and the rest will be added unto you.” He is speaking about your service in your heart. Do not set your heart on the riches of this world. God gives them to whom He pleases. They will not satisfy you. They will eventually leave you. Yet, your service to them will lock you out of heaven. Rather, set your heart on the kingdom of heaven and His righteousness, and the rest will be added unto you. Here, Jesus concludes His logical argument of “if the greater is true, so is the lesser.” If you seek from God that which is greater, His kingdom and righteousness, then He will certainly add the rest of these lesser things to you.

Yet, how do you seek God’s kingdom? By seeking His righteousness. God reveals His righteousness through faith in the Gospel of Christ (Romans 1:16-17). Through faith in Christ, you receive the righteousness of God, which gives you access and ownership of the greatest riches in heaven: the forgiveness of sins, peace with God, eternal life, adoption as God’s children, heirs of Christ. Christ won this righteousness for you through His bitter sufferings and death on the cross, when He died hungry, thirsty, and naked, foregoing the earthly riches we so long for. And Jesus gives this righteousness to us through His Word and Sacraments. Here, He feeds us with heavenly food for our souls and clothes us with a heavenly robe of righteousness. We eat this heavenly food and clothe ourselves with this heavenly garment through faith, when we believe and trust in the promise God attaches to these means of grace. This is the greater food and greater clothing, which if you have, you will not worry about the lesser. The kingdom of heaven is before you in Christ’s Word and Sacrament. So, seek after this with all your heart. And God will not neglect to add to you whatever you need for each day. Amen.