Tag Archives: Calm

The Malicious Master of Mammon – Sermon on Matthew 6:24-34 for the Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity

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.”

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

When we are anxious and full of worry, we are serving the false god of mammon. Jesus says, “You cannot serve two masters. You cannot serve God and mammon.” I know our translation says ‘money,’ but the word there is mammon. It includes money, but it also refers to all our stuff. Worry and anxiety is the worship we give to the stuff of this world. When we worry, we are living out the future before it has even gotten here. That’s the opposite of faith. Faith simply trusts that when the future becomes the present, our heavenly Father will be there to give us what we need because He promises to do so.

This is how and why mammon is such a malicious master. Mammon cannot promise you anything in the future because all the money and stuff of this life is temporary and fleeting. Money and things come and go. One moment you have plenty, the next you have little. That is why, when mammon is your god, the one command is to try to possess more in the false hope of finding pleasure or security. But there is no pleasure or security in the things of creation apart from God’s giving of those things. And because we aren’t ever satisfied with what we have, we think the answer is to get more. But that turns into a vicious cycle. If we do, somehow, get more, we find that we aren’t satisfied with the more we’ve gotten. Repent.

Jesus wants you to listen to the preaching of the lilies. The lilies Jesus speaks about here aren’t the large lilies we know from Eastertime. Those don’t grow in Galilee. The lilies Jesus refers to here are tiny flowers that grow along the grass in the fields.

It isn’t quite true to say that the lilies grow. Saying it that way gives the impression that their growth has to do with their achievement. Instead, it is more accurate to say that God grows the lilies. All a lily can do is wait on God to give it the strength and resources it needs to grow. A lily can’t go out and get any more nourishment than what God gives to it. It can’t try to find soil that is better fertilized, and it can’t dig irrigation ditches to get more water. Every aspect of the lily’s life is in God’s hand. That’s why lilies aren’t impatient, and they don’t try to grow up to be trees. Instead, God grows the lily slowly, steadily, and quietly to be what He designed it to be. And the lily is content to receive what God has given it.

The same is true for the birds. When was the last time you saw a bird driving a tractor or operating a combine? A bird cannot plant and harvest like we can, but God didn’t design birds to do that. He designed us to do that. Birds simply do what God designed them to do: have chicks, raise them, and sing.

A bird wakes up, finds a branch, and sings the song God puts into its beak. While that little bird sings, it isn’t worried about food even though it has more reason to be worried than we do because that bird doesn’t know where its food is going to come from. It can’t go to the store to buy food. The bird just sits there and sings for a while. Then, when it is hungry, it flies off and finds the food God has set out for it.

Now, to be clear, Jesus isn’t telling you to not work in this text. The lily isn’t preaching to you that you should sit down, do nothing, and expect God to drop your clothing from the sky. God didn’t create you to be a lily. The birds aren’t preaching that you should just fly around and make music and serenate the rest of creation for free. God didn’t create you to be a bird.

We humans were created to work. Jesus’ whole life was hard work, and He has given you work to do that calls for energy, effort, and diligence. But because we rebelled against God’s design, we bear the curse of sin and our work, which should be happy and creative, has become a toil and burden. What Jesus wants for you is to have your work and, now, even the burden of work be free of anxiety and worry.

The pagans go around full of anxiety asking, “What are we going to eat and drink? How are going to get clothes?” Here, Jesus wants you to know, to be confident, and to be content in the fact that you are not your own maker. You don’t live by your own hand. The food you eat isn’t just the nourishment you have earned. No, it’s the food that God has given you. The house you live in, isn’t just a bunch of wood, sheetrock, wiring, and plumbing; it’s the combination of all those things that God has given to you.

Dear saints, you live by everything that proceeds from God’s hand. You live by Him and because of Him.

In 1 Timothy 6:6-10, Paul writes what basically serves as a commentary what Jesus says in this text: “Godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.”

When Paul says, “Godliness with contentment is great gain,” the word Paul uses for ‘godliness’ does not mean to be like God. In English, when we talk about godliness, it can mean that, and there is a right place to do that. But the word there means “right reverence.” It means to have a right and proper attitude and response toward God. To have the right attitude and reverence toward God is to recognize that He is the Giver of all good things, and when we recognize that, we can be content.

So rather than wasting your time and energy by worrying and living in the unknown future (which you can’t do anyway, all that does is drain you in the present), you can work diligently in the present knowing that God promises to give what you need in the future. Yes, it will mean more work and toil for you, but God promises to give you the strength to do that as well. Live your life in the present knowing that God holds the future in His omnipotent hand.

Philippians 4:6 says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything with prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” So, when you worry, take that worry and turn it around. Don’t let it be the slavish worship you offer to the malicious master of mammon. Instead, when you are worried about anything, make it your prayer. Pray, “God, You have told me not to be anxious. You have told me not to worry. Well, I’m worried about ______. You take care of that. Help me. Provide for me. Protect me.” Then your worry is transformed into true service to God.

Dear saints, God loves you. He has already provided you with everything you need for your eternal future. In His mercy, He sent His only-begotten Son to shed His blood on the cross to make you His own so that you will live forever in His kingdom. There is no reason for you to doubt His provision of the things you need today or tomorrow (Ro. 8:32).

And then, be free. Free to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness – the righteousness He freely delivers to you in His Word and the righteousness He gives you now in His Body and Blood given and shed for the forgiveness of all your sins. Seek that first because you know where to find it – here at His altar. And He clearly promises that all other things will be added to you as well. Amen.[1]The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

[1] Portions of this sermon – especially regarding lilies – were adapted from a sermon by Rev. Dr. Norman Nagel.

Unmoved – Sermon on Psalm 46 for Reformation Sunday

Listen here.

Psalm 46

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Winston Churchill is often cited as the one who coined the phrase, “Those who fail to learn from history are condemned to repeat it.” In a tasty bit of irony, the quote wasn’t original to Churchill. He was slightly altering a quote from a Spanish-born, American-raised, man named George Santayana, and the original statement was, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

Since today is the last Sunday in October, we remember with gratitude how God used Martin Luther to preserve His Church and the preaching of the Gospel for the world. So, today’s sermon is going to be slightly different than most sermons you will hear me preach. First, we are going to consider a little bit of Reformation history especially surrounding the writing of the hymn we just sang “A Mighty Fortress.” Then, we are going to consider the lyrics of the hymn by looking at the Biblical text the hymn is based on, Psalm 46. So first, the history.

As popular as “A Mighty Fortress” is, we actually know very little about it. The earliest hymnal that contains it is from 1533. Historians mostly agree that Luther wrote the hymn sometime during the years of 1527-1528, about a decade after he posted the 95 Thesis on the door of the castle church in Wittenberg.

Now during the first eight years after Luther posted the 95 Theses, Luther was fighting mainly against abuses in the Roman church. It is important to note that Luther wanted to reform the church and not break away from it. However, as Luther repeatedly tried to get the leaders in the Roman Church to return to the pure teaching of the Gospel, they decided to throw him out by excommunicating him. In April 1521, Luther refused to recant of his writings at the Diet of Worms where he famously stated, “Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me.” Luther was supposed to be executed for his teaching, but a nobleman hid Luther in Wartburg Castle for ten months.

When Luther finally returned to Wittenberg in 1522, he found that some radical reformers were taking his teachings too far. Some were destroying statues and art in churches. Some were teaching that the Lord’s Supper was only symbolic. Some claimed to be directly inspired by the Holy Spirit and that they had the ability to reveal God’s will apart from Scripture. So, Luther found himself fighting against these abuses as well.

Beyond that, Luther got very sick around this time. There were national threats as the Muslims were warring their way toward Germany. Catholic armies were threatening Lutheran areas. In August of 1527, a man who followed Luther’s teaching was martyred. That same Fall, a plague broke out in Wittenberg. During that plague, Luther’s wife, Katie, got sick and was quarantined twice. Just a few months later in December, Luther’s daughter, Elizabeth, was born and was always very sick. Things were so bad for Luther that he wrote to a colleague, “[I am] physically well, but outwardly the whole world and inwardly the devil and all his angels are making [me] suffer.” Luther spent the next six months praying that God would save little Elizabeth, but in May of 1528, she died.

Somewhere in the midst of all this, Luther wrote “A Mighty Fortress” based on Psalm 46. He wrote this hymn for himself, his family, and his church. A lot of times, this hymn is called ‘the battle hymn of the Reformation,’ but in one of his publications, Luther called it, ‘a hymn of comfort.’

So, today may we find comfort in the truths of Psalm 46 as they are expressed in “A Mighty Fortress” because we, like Luther then, face pandemic, upheaval, sorrow, uncertainty, and tumult. Follow along with me as we walk through this Psalm.

Psalm 46

1 God is our refuge and strength, 

a very present help in trouble.

2 Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, 

though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, 

3 though its waters roar and foam, 

though the mountains tremble at its swelling. 

First, notice that this Psalm is mainly written in the plural. God is ‘our’ refuge,’ ‘we will not fear,’ etc. This will be very important when we get to v. 10. Also, did you catch the confidence we have? Because God is our refuge, because God is our strength, because God is a very present help in trouble – we will not fear. “We will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea.” 

The devil loves to cause us to fear. Satan loves to whisper into our ears that we should be afraid of all sorts of things. Satan says, “Cases of COVID are rising. You should be afraid.” “The economy isn’t doing well, and your retirement account is shrinking. You should be afraid.” “Trump might get re-elected; Biden might win. You should be afraid.” “There is a lot of violence going on around the country. You should be afraid.” “We found an abnormal growth in your scans and need to do more testing. You should be afraid.” “God hates sinners and judges the unjust. You should be afraid.” 

This is all the preaching of the devil. But God puts in our hearts and on our lips these verses. “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” – any trouble. Even in the flood of the troubles of this life, even in the face of our ancient foe, the devil, who seeks to work us woe, God remains our mighty fortress who never fails us.

Why can we have this confidence and fearlessness? Pick up again at v. 4.

4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, 

the holy habitation of the Most High.  

V. 4 tells us about a river whose streams make glad the city of God. Now, the earthly city of God is, of course, Jerusalem. But that is not and cannot be the city that this Psalm is speaking about because there is no river in Jerusalem. So, the Psalm has to be pointing us to something else. In fact, the Psalm is pointing us to what Jesus says in John 7. In John 7, Jesus is in Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles, and while He is there, He speaks about a river. Jesus says, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water’” (Jn. 7:37-38).

Jesus is the fount, fountain, and the source of this river, and those who have faith in Him have rivers of living water flowing from their hearts.

It is never our strength or good works that provide the rivers of water that we need. It only comes from Jesus. If we confided and trusted in our own strength, no amount of our striving would do us any god. But Jesus, the Man of God’s choosing is on our side. In fact, He has set up His habitation (lit. His ‘tabernalce’) in our hearts (1 Cor. 6:19). He is the never-changing Lord of hosts. He will always win the battle.

We’ll pick up the pace now as we move on to v. 5.

5 God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; 

God will help her when morning dawns. 

God is in the midst of His people as a very present help which means that His people are unmoved. Think about that. God’s church, His kingdom, His people are unmoved while everything we see and know is wavering, tottering, and melting. V. 6:

6 The nations rage, the kingdoms totter; 
he utters his voice, the earth melts.

While nations rage and kingdoms totter, while the world is filled with devils threatens to undo us, God will triumph. The prince of darkness and all his forces and all his minions will be felled by one little word.

I’ve always wondered what that one little word was that Luther had in mind. What is the one little word that will fell the devil? There is no verse in Scripture that says what word destroys the devil. Certainly, Jesus is the Word of God in the flesh who defeats every craft and assault of the devil. I think in the context of the hymn combined with v. 6 here, any word from God will do. Everything God says exposes the devil’s lies and shows his emptiness. 

On to v. 7.

7 The Lord of hosts is with us; 

the God of Jacob is our fortress.

This verse will be repeated again in v. 11, and it is an echo of v. 1. The God who is our refuge and strength, a present help in every trouble is the Lord of hosts is with us as our fortress. Whatever threat faces us, we are eternally safe in the kingdom of God. 

On to v. 8-9.

8 Come, behold the works of the Lord, 
how he has brought desolations on the earth. 

9 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; 

he breaks the bow and shatters the spear; 

he burns the chariots with fire. 

God has repeatedly shown that He can and will deliver His people from the mightiest kingdoms, powers, and forces on earth – from Egypt, Midian, Philistia, Assyria, Babylon, Rome, and on and on we could go. Every threat in this world is nothing for you, Christian, because of God’s might. 

Now, we need to slow down again as we get to v. 10.

10 “Be still, and know that I am God. 

I will be exalted among the nations, 

I will be exalted in the earth!” 

I mentioned as we began to consider the Psalm that it is written in first person plural. The Psalm is rightly said and prayed by any of God’s people. But v. 10 stands out like a sore thumb because here God steps in and speaks. And what does He say when we are surrounded by threats? “Be still.”

Most art that I’ve seen that includes this verse is a relaxing, beautiful, calm, tranquil, idyllic scene. A quiet forest, a pristine beach, a beautiful plain, or a majestic mountain. None of those scenes are anywhere to be found in this Psalm.

Instead, this is what God speaks to us when chaos and evil, when destruction and death surrounds us. And what is it that He speaks to us as we watch everything falling around us, as we see the cosmos melting? What does God speak to us as He fights for us, as He wins every battle, as He defeats all our enemies, as He we find our refuge in Him? God says, “Be still. Cease.”

The only other time God says this is when He speaks to Moses at the Red Sea while God’s people are pinned between Pharaoh’s army and the sea. God says, “Fear not, stand firm. I will fight for you, you have only to be silent” (Ex. 14:13-14).

When everything surrounding you says that you should be afraid, God days, “Stay still. I’ve got everything under control. I will fight for you.” And again, the repeated refrain of v. 11 closes out the Psalm.

11 The Lord of hosts is with us; 

the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Dear saints, because Christ has died and risen again for you, God is on your side. Everything in this life can be taken from you by the devil and his minions, but the truth of God’s Word remains. Because Jesus is on the throne, you dwell in a kingdom that will last forever and ever. Stand strong. Take refuge in Christ. Be still in the midst of all the troubles of this world. You are safe and secure in His eternal kingdom. He will sustain you unmoved. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.