Sunday, August 10, 2025, Ninth Sunday after Pentecost

“What Faith Can Do”

Psalm 33:12-22; Genesis 15:1-6; Hebrews 11:1-16; Luke 12:22-34

Hymns: #732 “All Depends on Our Possessing”; #702 “My Faith Looks Up to Thee”; #735 “Have No Fear, Little Flock”; #712 “Seek Ye First; #554 “O Jesus, King Most Wonderful”

Dear Friends in Christ, 

     Grace, mercy, and peace to you, from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus. Amen,

     A dear lady I used to visit on my vicarage in North Dakota (and she won’t mind me telling this story since she’s gone on to heaven), had lived alone for over thirty years, after separating from her husband; she was in her nineties at the time. Among her many odd habits, she was in the habit of eating half her dinner and putting the other half away in the freezer. “By golly, I’m not going to go hungry,” she’d say. But she’d been doing this for thirty years. She’d filled one chest freezer, and then another. When I knew her, she’d almost filled freezer number four, and she was shopping for another. (Leftovers from 1972, anyone?) I’m glad it wasn’t me who had to take care of all that stuff when she was gone. Some people said she was crazy; I think the poor lady was just afraid. 

     “Do not be anxious about anything,” Jesus says. But that’s easier said than done, isn’t it? This world we live in is nuts; there are lots of things out there for us to be anxious about. There are legitimate things to worry about, that’s true; watch the news, look around you. Taking a little care about dangerous people or things, keeping your eyes open and being aware of your surroundings when you’re out in the world, can keep you and your loved ones safe and keep you alive. A little anxiousness there is probably a good idea.

     But there’s lots of other things we can worry our silly little heads about and blow them way out of proportion; and so often we do. It’s all our “what if’s” I’m talking about: what if this happens, or what if that happens - what will we do then? My answer to that is, “But what if it doesn’t?” There comes a point where worry and anxiety becomes a sin. Unchecked anxiety, worry, and stress can literally kill you; that’s a medical fact. People can fret themselves into high blood pressure and heart attacks and strokes. The devil, if he had his way, would have us all forgetting God and worrying ourselves to death.

     Let me throw at you what has to be the biggest cliché in the world: “Jesus is the answer for anxiety.” At least, that would be a cliché, if it weren’t so true! It’s been statistically proven that people who attend a Church on a regular basis, and who worship and practice their faith, live longer and happier lives than people who don’t. Jesus’ words in Luke 12 are meant to be blessed assurance for us, all the reason we need to worry much less, or even to put our anxieties aside all together. Jesus isn’t just giving us good advice here; He’s making us an everlasting promise.

     “Then Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear.’” What you’ll eat and what you’ll wear; those are the big “life things,” aren’t they? Oh, what if something happens and we don’t have enough to eat? Oh, what if we don’t have enough for clothes, or shelter, or the basics of life? Oh, what if something happens and we can’t make the mortgage or pay the rent? What if, what if, what if?

     The word Jesus uses for “worry” here is the Greek word merimnao, which means “to be drawn in opposite directions,” “to be divided into parts,” or “to be pulled to pieces,” or to fret or be anxious or have one’s mind overly occupied. That’s literally the opposite of being at peace. Oh, no! I don’t know what to do! What if this happens, or what if that happens? Should I have a safe full of gold, or a freezer full of leftovers? Should we build an underground shelter and fill it with food? Should we be ready to run for the hills? Should I pack a “bug-out bag”, just in case?

    Jesus says here, “Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes.” Your “daily bread” is in the bag! God loves you and cares for you, and He’s promised to provide you with whatever you need. (Not whatever you want necessarily, but whatever you need). Do work for your daily bread (God has given you hands and feet and a brain to do that) and do what you can to prepare for unexpected things that might come along; that’s just good sense. But don’t let your worry about things that might happen tomorrow take away the joy to be found in living this good day; that’s a terrible mistake.

     “Consider the ravens,” Jesus says. “They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than the birds!” The word for “valuable” here is diapharete, which means “distinguished from,” “separated in value,” or “worlds apart.” God loves His ravens, and His sparrows, and all His creatures, small and large. He cares for them, looks after them, and sees that they’re fed. “Not a sparrow falls to the ground without the Father in Heaven knowing.” But you are God’s number one priority! And not just all human beings in general, but you in particular! God knows you. God loves you. God cares for you. “The hairs on your head are all numbered”…“Never will I leave you or forsake you”… “You are the apple of My eye”… “Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.”

     “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” Jesus says. As we said about stress causing the strokes and heart attacks, quite the opposite is true! And “Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?” One day at a time, sweet Jesus, one day at a time. Yesterday is past, tomorrow isn’t here yet – but thank You, Lord, for this good day, and help me to live it for You.

     “Consider how the lilies grow,” says Jesus. “They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.” Flowers are a joy. It’s fun to grow them and have them in your garden, but we don’t even have to do that. God has painted the fields and hills are with lilies and daisies and snapdragons and wildflowers. Even the weeds that grow in the roadside ditches are crowned with beautiful flowers. The devil brings up his weeds, and God crowns them with glory, just to remind him whose world this still is. God’s creation is dressed in beauty, even in a sin-broken world. (Imagine what a world without sin is going to look like! Imagine the flower gardens in Heaven!)

     So, “If that is how God clothes the grass of the field,” says Jesus, “which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith!” The flowers, beautiful as they are, are temporary – but you and I are not. These souls of ours, alone of all God’s creatures, are eternal and created to last forever. If God can put a crown of beauty on a roadside weed, won’t He also put a crown of grace and beauty on the heads of the people He loves? “You of little faith” in the original language actually comes out as “littlefaith.” It’s a sobriquet Jesus sometimes used for His disciples, a nickname, even a gentle term of endearment: “Oh, you littlefaiths, why did you doubt?”

     “And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink,” says Jesus, “and do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them.” Your Father knows what you need. Do you trust Him for that? Do you trust Him for that good promise? He knew what you needed yesterday, He knows what you’ll need today, and He already knows what you’re going to need tomorrow. So many people are spending their lives fretting and scratching and scrambling for what they think they need, and worrying themselves to death in the process – but what about you and me?

     A little faith can do marvelous things, folks – not only for our physical health, but also for our spirits and our souls. Jesus has given Himself for me on a cross. My sins are forgiven – all of them, yesterday, today, and forever. Jesus has been raised up in glory from the dead, and He’s promised that one day He’s going to raise me up, too. God has blessed me, and He loves me, and He cares for me, and I know I’m going to Heaven when I die. If today is the day the Lord wants to take me, I’m OK with that; if not, I have good work to do in this place. Either way, I don’t have to worry about a thing. Whatever “what if” may happen, I’m know I’m going to be OK – because I believe what Jesus says. And if you “seek his kingdom, these things will be given to you as well.” That’s the everlasting promise. That’s what faith can do.

     So, instead of holding on tight with both hands to the things we have, in the fear that the blessings will somehow run out or that tomorrow there won’t be enough, Jesus says, “Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Do not be afraid, you flock of littlefaiths! (And I mean that in the most kind and loving way, and I accept the name for myself as well; I’m a littlefaith, too). Your Father in Heaven has been pleased, He’s taken delight, in taking all the love and joy and beauty that Heaven has and putting it in Your hands. The kingdom has been yours since that baptismal water was poured on your head, and no one can take the precious promise away from you. 

     So relax a little! Slow down… breath… shhhhhhh…. Don’t you worry about a thing; every little thing really is going to be alright! Jesus is the answer for anxiety, and faith in Him truly is the way to have peace. May we all learn to put our cares and burdens down and lay them at His feet, and to trust in Him for all things. In Jesus’ name; Amen.