In today’s Gospel text Jesus uses birds and flowers to teach us something about how God takes care of us. He wants us to see that if He takes care of these lesser creatures of His, how much more will He take care of us, whom He has made in His image? And the birds and flowers don’t worry whether God is going to take care of them or not. But we do. My dog, Puddleglum, seems to exhibit worry, if he doesn’t get his food on time. Every day, a whole hour before it’s time for him to eat, he starts getting all excited and gives me these looks that seem to say, “I’m hungry now! Isn’t it time yet? Feed me!” And yet, he too can teach me something about God’s care for me. Just as my dog is totally dependent upon me to do everything for him - from feeding him, to taking him out, to taking him to the vet - so I am totally dependent upon God to provide everything for me. From work, clothing, and a place to live, to life itself and everything I enjoy in it, all of it is a gift to me from God, without whom I would have nothing. And not only has He given all these things to me, but as Luther puts it in the Small Catechism, He still preserves them, so that every moment of my life is lived under God’s care, whether I realize it or not. My dog may believe that he’s going to miss out on dinner if I’m just a minute or two late, but he always gets it. So, I too, may and often do worry whether God is going to keep His promise to take care of me and give me each day my daily bread, but He always comes through. According to Jesus, I am much more valuable to God than any bird or flower, dog or cat.
The proof of how valuable I am to Him is seen in what He does for me in His Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus shows us our true value before God. He shows this to us by taking on our human flesh. Jesus did not become a bird or a flower. He did not come in the flesh of animals. He became man. And He did this to take on our sin. Though He cares for His lesser creatures, it’s not they who rebelled against Him, but we whom He created to know Him and walk with Him. God would have been justified if He had annihilated us and saved the plants and animals. But instead, He chose to save us by giving His life for us on the cross to atone for our sins with His blood. This sacrifice was so pervasive that it not only wiped out our sin, but as the Scripture puts it, through Jesus God has reconciled to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven. Even the plants and animals that have all been affected by our sin have benefitted from Christ’s work on the cross. All creation has been redeemed by His blood.
This shows us just how much God loves and care for His creation. Not only did He speak everything into existence in the first place by His Word, but He continues to care for it. He did not abandon it or consign it to destruction when we infected it with sin. He did not scrap us, who had been made in His image, and start over. Instead, He recreated us in Christ and restored His image in us, reversing the affects of sin, so that we might be freed from the kingdom of the devil, forgiven our sins, healed of our sicknesses, and raised from the dead, in order to live with our heavenly Father in His kingdom forever.
And this is what Jesus means when He speaks here about seeking God’s kingdom. God’s kingdom is about Jesus setting up His reign among us. He does this by His Word. As His Word is proclaimed to us, He delivers the redemption and healing that He worked for us on the cross. He delivers the new creation to us and frees us from our slavery under sin, death, and the devil. We see this happening during Jesus’ lifetime, as He preached the Gospel, healed the sick, raised the dead, and cast out demons. Jesus, the King of God’s kingdom, was taking back His creation, reversing the damage done to it by sin, so that all who trust in Him might live under Him in His kingdom of grace now, and in the future live with Him in His kingdom of glory forever.
To seek God’s kingdom, then, is to put ourselves on the receiving end of God’s Word, Baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and Holy Absolution, because these are the instruments, the means, which God uses to extend Christ’s reign among us. This is where He is giving us Jesus and His gift of salvation, where sin and its effects are forgiven and erased, so that we might no longer have to be anxious or afraid for our life and where we will spend eternity. Jesus has provided all that you need to ensure that you will not die but live.
Now the question is, What else do you need to worry about? Since Jesus has come in your flesh, taken on your sin, died on the cross and risen again from the dead for your salvation, Is there any rational reason why you need to be anxious and afraid about anything? God has given Himself to you. He claimed you as His child in Holy Baptism. He did not withhold His only-begotten Son from you. You, who in comparison with the rest of the universe are a mere speck of sand, God thinks about so much that in Psalm 139 David writes, “How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I would count them, they are more than the sand.” And in Psalm 8 he writes, “When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than the angels and crowned him with glory and honor.” That glory and honor is the glory and honor of Christ, with whom you were clothed at your Baptism. And the glory and honor of this garment is infinitely greater than that of any flower, infinitely greater still than any garments of Solomon or the garments of your own righteousness. The garment of Christ presents you before God as holy, righteous, and blameless.
Since God has done all of this for you in Jesus and provided everything you need for righteousness, life, and salvation, what do you need to worry about in this life? Of course, we worry all the time. Lots of things make us worry. The list is endless. Jesus mentions worries about food and clothing, the most basic necessities of life. Worry is a product of doubt. When we doubt or disbelieve God’s promises, worry and fear take over. As a result, we may then be tempted to trust in other things, in our possessions instead of God, to alleviate our worries and fears. I don’t know what we hope to accomplish by worrying! It’s certainly not beneficial to worry. Far from adding a single hour to our lives, worry actually takes life away from us, not just hours but even years. Yet we do it anyway. Some of us even feel comfortable doing it, in a perverse sort of way. But Jesus assures us that we don’t need to worry. He not only shows you that He loves and care for you more than He loves and cares for birds and flowers, but He also instructs you to seek God’s kingdom (Christ and His salvation), and then all the earthly things that you need will be added to you.
But this trust in Christ is not something that we can produce ourselves. We can’t just be commanded to stop worrying and then stop worrying. Someone might as well tell us to stop sinning. With His promises Jesus takes away our worries and works faith in Him in its place. Our heavenly Father takes away our worries by giving us His kingdom. Jesus tells us that it is our heavenly Father’s good pleasure to give us His kingdom. He has joy in giving you His kingdom. Here in this place He’s giving you His kingdom by showering upon you the treasures of this kingdom - Christ and His forgiveness, His righteousness, His holiness, His body and blood. The more He does this, the more He conforms you into the image of Christ, so that you might not worry about anything, but like Abraham did, believe God’s Word and receive what God promises.
At VBS this past week one of the narratives we looked at was the one about Jesus raising Jairus’ daughter from the dead. Jairus had come to Jesus begging Him to heal his 12-year-old daughter. But while Jesus was on the way to do this, some came from Jairus’ house to let him know that his daughter had died. Their advice was, “Why bother Jesus anymore? What could He do now?” You can probably imagine how anxious and afraid Jairus would have felt upon hearing this news. Jesus knew this, but told Jairus, “Don’t fear; only believe.” Of all the things that cause us to worry, death is the most fearful. Everything else we could possibly worry about is nothing in comparison to death. If this worry can be removed, then all other worries will go with it. But Jesus does just that. He can say “Don’t fear; only believe” because He has overcome death. He did it for Jairus’ daughter. He will do it for you. All because with His own resurrection from the dead He has removed the sting of death for those who trust in Him and believe His promise. Even now you have eternal life in His Name. Even now you have already died with Christ and been raised with Him by way of your Baptism. Your bodily resurrection is guaranteed. God has given you His kingdom, a kingdom in which you live under His grace and mercy for Christ’s sake now and will on the Last Day go to live and reign with Him for all eternity in His kingdom of glory.
So, don’t worry. You don’t have to anymore. You are much more valuable to God than either birds or flowers or anything else in all of creation. And even if all your earthly possessions, your health, and your very life are taken from you, you have greater treasures than these. You have a merciful heavenly Father who takes pleasure in giving you His kingdom. You have Jesus, the King of this kingdom, who took on your flesh to redeem you. You have the Holy Spirit. You have the forgiveness of your sins, the promise of the resurrection of your bodies, and the life everlasting. Until then, God promises to give you each day your daily bread. Seek first His kingdom and everything else will be added to you. “Don’t be afraid; only believe.” Jesus has taken all your worries and fears away. Amen.