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INJ
St Matthew 6:24-34
'Worry Turned to Prayer'
Divine Service
The 15th Sunday after Trinity Sunday | September 16, 2007
Dear Saints,
If you look at medical books, they will tell you all the bad things about worry, stress and anxiety, and all the trouble they can cause you both physically and mentally. From WebMD:
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Forty-three percent of all adults suffer adverse health effects from stress.
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Seventy-five to 90% of all doctor's office visits are for stress-related ailments and complaints.
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Stress can play a part in problems such as headaches, high blood pressure, heart problems, diabetes, skin conditions, asthma, or arthritis in addition to depression and anxiety.
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The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) declared stress a hazard of the workplace. Stress costs American industry more than $300 billion annually.
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The lifetime prevalence of an emotional disorder is more than 50%, often due to chronic, untreated stress reactions. [www.webmd.com]
Stress and anxiety and worry are bad for you. Practically, it does no good. That's what Jesus means wen He says, “Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to your stature?” [Matthew 6:27] In other words, when you worry do you grow another foot higher? When you worry about your money do you find more money in your bank account? When you worry about your health do you suddenly feel better? No, no, no, no. Worry does nothing good for us.
But listen, dear saints, because I have worse news for you. It is bad enough that worry is bad for us, but worry is more than that: worry is a sin. Specifically the sin of idolatry.
This is what our Lord Jesus is teaching us in the first two verses of the Gospel reading, Matthew 6:24-25, from the middle of the Sermon on the Mount:
24No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.
Jesus begins by laying out the two options: God or mammon. Mammon is the god of money, riches, and from the context in which Jesus uses it we see that it means all the cares and worries of this life: food, clothes, house, work, a good reputation and all these other things. You know what I'm talking about; you know what you worry about. Jesus says that we cannot, it is simple impossible, to serve God and all of these things. One or the other, but never both.
So Jesus continues:
25Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on.
If we spend our days worrying, fussing, fretting, troubling over our physical needs then we are not serving God. We are, in the end, serving ourselves, our own stomachs. This is the worst idolatry, worship and service of ourselves.
That is why the Christian response to worry is not a simple, “Quit worrying.” Rather, it is, “Repent.” Repent of your worry, for every minute spent worrying is a minute spent doubting the goodness of your gracious heavenly Father and His goodness toward us.
26Look 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? 27And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 28And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30But 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? 31Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. [Matthew 6:26-32]
O you of little faith, repent. Consider the birds. Consider the lilies. Consider your own life, and how the Lord is yet to leave you or forsake you. And last and most of all, consider our Lord Jesus, and His suffering, His cross, His death. The Lord hung naked and ashamed on the cross that you might be clothed in white robes of His righteousness. He laid dead in the tomb that you might be sheltered from the wrath of God. He gave His broken body and His shed blood that your hunger and thirst for righteousness would be satisfied and you might be full of His love and forgiveness and grace. He became poor that from His poverty we might become rich [2 Corinthians 8:9], and in Him we have all things.
Listen to the words of St Paul to God's church in Corinth:
21So let no one boast in men. For all things are yours, 22whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future--all are yours, 23and you are Christ's, and Christ is God's. [1 Corinthians 3:21-23]
All things are yours, and you are Christ's. What is there to worry about? What do you lack? “33But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” [Matthew 6:33] If Jesus is your's and you are His, you have all things, everything, you are rich beyond measure.
Still, in this life of trouble the devil comes to trouble and tempt us to worry, and to doubt our Father's gracious care for us. For our fight against the devil I would life to give you two Scriptures. With these we ward off worry and turn our anxieties into prayer. This is what our Lord would teach us to do with our worries and concerns, that we would tell Him what we are worried about, and trust that He would take care of us.
The first Scriptures verse is 1 Peter 5:7:
Casts all your care upon Him; for He cares for you.
The second is Philippians 4:6,7:
6Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Write these verses in your hearts. This instruction from the Lord is wonderful. He would have us turn our worry into prayer, and by this our fear is replaced with faith.
“Lord, I'm worried that we won't have enough money.”
“Lord, I'm troubled that my kids don't go to church.”
“Lord, I'm sick, and I'm afraid to die.”
Whatever it is that worries you, that troubles you, cast these things upon Him, for He cares for you. Turn your worry into prayer. Do not be anxious, but by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made know to God. And then, dear children of the heavenly Father, you who are made rich by the poverty of Jesus, you who are saved by His blood, be at peace. Amen.
And the peace of God which passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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Pastor Bryan Wolfmueller
Hope Lutheran Church | Aurora, CO
