Luke 12:22–40

11th Sunday after Pentecost

And he said to his disciples, "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. For life is more than food and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you. "Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. "Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them. If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants! But know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into. You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect." Death was walking toward a city one morning and a man asked, “What are you going to do today?”

“I’m going to take 100 people,” Death replied.

“That’s horrible!” the man said.

“That’s the way it is,” Death said. “That’s what I do.”

The man hurried to warn everyone he could about Death’s plan.

As evening fell, he met Death again. “You told me you were going to take 100 people,” the man said. “Why did 1,000 die?”

“I kept my word,” Death responded, “I only took 100 people. Worry took the others.”

The US National Mental Health Committee reported a few years ago that half of all the people in America’s hospital beds are constant worriers. Mental distress can lead to migraine headaches, arthritis, heart trouble, cystitis, colitis, backaches, ulcers, depression, digestive disorders and even death. The mental fatigue of nights without sleep and days without peace give us a glimpse of the havoc worry plays in destroying the quality and the quantity of life.

Worry is a fatal disease of the heart, for its beginning signals the end of faith. That’s what Jesus says: “Do not be anxious for anything…O you of little faith.” In our text he ties worry and anxiety to weakness of faith. More than that, he ties it to our heart when he says, “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” If our treasures are the temporary things of this world, then we have plenty to worry about, because they are so fragile and fleeting. Today they are here and tomorrow they are gone. Today we are here and tomorrow we are gone.

But we cannot do otherwise. Worry is a disease of the heart; the sinful, human heart; the heart which treasures the things of this world instead of the treasures of heaven.

Let’s think about that just a minute. If we are completely honest with ourselves, most of us will find that the things that really excite us, that really get us motivated, are things like money, a nice house, a cool car, a secure job, and kids who grow up to become successful in a lucrative profession. But when we talk of treasures in heaven we give it lip service, but deep inside the images of floating around on a cloud with a white gown and a halo on our heads, playing a harp for ever and ever don’t really sound like much fun.

The fact is our hearts are on our worldly treasures, and try as we might to love the treasures of heaven; we cannot of our own reason or strength. This shows in our attitudes, our behavior, and our life. It shows in our worry, our anxiety, and the central place we give to our things, our houses, our designer clothes, our jobs, and our bank accounts. It shows in our behavior, we even see it in the way act in our churches.

It is sad that we who are the church of Jesus Christ are often are more concerned with the worldly and material aspects of the church than with the real purpose and mission of the church. How often are there bitterness, hard feelings, and arguments in local congregations and they always seem to be over temporal and material things. Things of this world. Things like money, church buildings, parking lots, fund-raising projects, which hymnal to use, what favorite hymn to sing, or who has the power to make decisions. Why are these temporal matters the things we get emotional about? Why don’t we have the same emotion when it comes to worship, Bible classes, evangelism, inviting people to church, and spreading the gospel to the lost? These things are the real purpose and work of the church. The church is not about the fleeting treasures of this world but about the eternal treasures of God’s kingdom. So what is our problem?

Our problem is sin; our sinful, human hearts. The hearts that are fixed on our treasures; the treasures of this world. That is the corruption of sin. Love for the temporal things of this world is idolatry. That is what Satan desired and accomplished in the Garden of Eden. And today it wreaks the very havoc Satan desired: worry, anxiety, frustration, heart attacks, depression and even death.

Yet, in spite of our sinful, twisted hearts, GOD DELIGHTS TO GIVE US HIS KINGDOM. God wants to give us eternal blessedness, eternal joy, eternal peace. Instead of this temporary and broken kingdom of the world, he gives us an eternal kingdom, a perfect kingdom, where anxiety and worry don’t exist. Where tears are wiped away. Where death does not stalk. Where sleepless nights and worrisome days don’t interrupt our joy and happiness. Where heart attacks don’t happen and where the black clouds of depression don’t hang over our heads.

Therefore Jesus says: “Do not be anxious about your life…Instead seek his kingdom and these things will be added to you.” Notice the word “instead.” Instead of worrying, seek his kingdom. The word “instead” here is the equivalent of “repent.” Instead of the sin of worry that comes from weak faith, seek his kingdom. Repent of your worry and weak faith and love for the treasures of this world and instead, love the treasures of heaven. Seek his kingdom and all the material things we need to live in this world will be given to us by God.

And where do we find his kingdom? In the cross of Jesus Christ our Lord. For it was on his cross that he paid for our sin of worry. It was on his cross that our worry and idolatrous love for this world is forgiven and washed away. It was on his cross that he turned away God’s wrath from us. It was because of the suffering and death of Jesus that God looks upon us with his favor and gives us not only all we need to live, but he gives us his entire kingdom.

Repent of your worry and love of this world which is idolatry. Repent because he has forgiven you and gives you his kingdom. He gives us the kingdom because Jesus Christ bought it. He purchased it with his blood. The kingdom is his inheritance by birthright, and by his death he received his inheritance.

But the surprise God has for us is that after earning the kingdom by his death, and purchasing it with his blood, he gives it away. He gives it to us! Jesus is the rightful heir of the kingdom of God. But Jesus gave his birthright to us. With his very blood he purchased us for his Father to makes us God’s Children so that we receive the inheritance. His kingdom is ours. He gives us everything he has; yea, he gives us himself.

The really shocking news is that It is our Father’s good pleasure to give us the kingdom. He adds all things to us and gives us his kingdom because it gives him pleasure. He doesn’t do it out of obligation. He doesn’t do it because we earned it or deserve it. He is under no obligation to us. He gives us his kingdom because giving us good things is what gives him his greatest pleasure. What God enjoys most is blessing us. His entire being desires our salvation. Everything God does he does for us. Giving gifts to his children is what God is all about. It is the reason Jesus died on the cross. That is why Jesus died to forgive us. It fills his heart with joy to take us with him to heaven. You might say in colloquial language, “That is what turns him on.”

Notice a couple of very small but important words in our text. Jesus says, “Seek his kingdom and these things shall be added to you.” The first word is “shall be added.” The things we need for this life “shall be added to us.” It is not something we do;… it is something done to us. All these things are added to us. The things we need for this life are gifts from God. They are gifts of his love and grace. Do not be anxious about this life, what you shall eat, or about your body, what you shall wear. These things shall be given to you as gifts from God. All our efforts, our labor, our toil do not really provide for our needs. Jesus says there is nothing we can do to add even an hour to our life. Our life is a gift. It is given to us by God. In the worry and anxiety of our culture today people go to great extremes to exercise and eat healthy in order to live longer. But the fact is, they don’t add even an hour to our lives. The hour of our birth and the hour of our death were set by God long before we ever existed. Exercise and healthy food are good things; they also are gifts from God. They too are part of what Jesus was saying when he said, “these things will be added to you.” But we cannot add anything to our lives. Our lives are gifts from God, not something we get for ourselves.

The other little word is found when Jesus says: “it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” The word “give.” Once again, we do not get the kingdom of God ourselves; it is a gift. The kingdom is God’s gift to us. We do not earn it. We do not work for it. We do not produce it. God gives it to us through the life, suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. All God’s gifts come to us through Jesus Christ and on account of his obedience unto death.

God gives us his gifts through Word and Sacrament. Our cup overfloweth with the good gifts of God in Christ. There is no gift more precious than his Word through which the Holy Spirit joins us to Christ and bestows on us his kingdom. That is his good pleasure.

And he gives us his gifts so that we can give them to others. As he gives gifts out of his love to us, through us he gives gifts to others. When we return his gifts in our offerings so that the word of God can go forth into all the world we are giving the gift of God’s love to all nations. When we tell our neighbor about the love and forgiveness of God in Jesus Christ we are giving the gift of God’s kingdom to others. When we invite people to worship with us on Sunday morning, we are inviting them to come and receive the kingdom of God that he delights to give them.

So fear not, little flock. It is God’s good pleasure to give us the kingdom. Worry, anxiety, stress, sleepless nights, fear, sin, and guilt, the love of God wipes them all away and assures us that all things are given to us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Amen.