"God and Mammon"
Matthew 6:24-34
Trinity 15, August 30, 2008
Pastor Aaron A. Koch
Mt. Zion Lutheran Church
Greenfield, Wisconsin

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

Perhaps even more than how people spend their time, the way people spend their money reveals their heart. One of the best indicators of what people judge to be most important in life is what their financial priorities are. A person's philosophy and beliefs are taken out of the realm of pious platitudes and are made real and concrete in the way they use their monetary resources. Those actions often speak louder than words.

Now that's not to say that direct comparisons can always be made. Some bills by definition are going to be bigger than others, especially these days. The question is, what things get top consideration and what things tend to go to the bottom of the list? What things usually outrank the others? And are those priorities right? Do they reflect the proper focus in a person's life that loves and trusts in God above all things?

The fact of the matter is that our use of money often reveals the idols in our lives, the false gods that we give homage to because they give us what we want. Investing 10% of our income in that improvement to the house or that newer car or that trip or that gadget we've always wanted or our retirement account-that makes sense to us (and there's not necessarily anything wrong with that). But giving a 10% offering to church or to mission work to support the saving ministry of the Gospel-that amount seems outrageously high. Whatever it is you find it easiest to spend money on, that is likely something that is vying to be an idol in your life. I'll confess it's much easier for me to spend money on a nice family vacation or a new technological toy than it is for me to put our tithe in the offering each week. This is something we must all honestly and penitently examine.

In the verses just before today's Gospel, Jesus said, "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." And your real treasure, the center of your life cannot be both the immortal Lord and mortal, passing things. Jesus said, "No 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." You can't. Either you're going to end up despising God because of how He supposedly "limits your freedom" or because He isn't coming through for you like you want. Or you're going to hate mammon because of the temptations that it puts before you and how untrustworthy it is.

Now that's not to say that earthly things are bad of themselves. For God is the Maker of this earth, and He Himself sustains us through the physical things of this world. The point is this: is your allegiance to the Creator, which is faith, or is it to created things or people, which is idolatry? God calls you to look past what is seen to Him who is unseen. You are to focus not on what is made but through what is made to Him who is the Maker and the Giver of all good and perfect gifts.

You cannot serve both God and mammon because they require contrary forms of service. The worship that is offered up to the false god of mammon is worry, anxiousness about money and possessions. On the other hand, the worship that is offered up to the true God is faith, a confident trust that He is a loving Father who will care for all of your needs in both body and soul.

Mammon requires anxiety, because even if you are paying all the bills, even if everything is going pretty well, there's still always something to worry about in order to keep it and hold onto it. You're always having to protect your mammon and maintain it and, of course, try to improve and increase it. You can never seem to get enough mammon.

But the service of God is simply faith. Even when all is not going well, faith does not worry because it is not wrapped up in the uncertainties of this changing world but in the certainty of a changeless Lord whose mercy endures forever. The faithful believe that He who made all things, who has given you your bodies and souls and everything you have, will also sustain you according to His gracious purposes. And even when sickness and death come, faith trusts that He who created you will also recreate you in the resurrection of the body on the Last Day. "Though he giveth or he taketh, God His children ne'er forsaketh." That is the calm certainty of faith.

Worry dwells upon the problem, but faith prays about the problem and dwells instead on the words and promises of God's Word, such as Romans 8, "If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, will He not also along with Him graciously give us all things," everything that we need? Trusting in Christ, knowing all that He has done and prepared for us, our worries and fears are calmed. For if God has provided so bountifully for our eternal needs, certainly He will care for us in all the necessities of this temporal life.

And so our Lord says, "Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. . . Do not worry about tomorrow." Now, when Jesus says this, He doesn't mean that we should merely have a "live for the day" sort of attitude. He's not saying we shouldn't use the minds He has given us to plan ahead. And He's certainly not saying that we should be lazy or apathetic. Too often people use a passage like this to justify their idleness and sloth, when in fact God would have them use the abilities he's given them to work and engage in a vocation that serves their neighbor and provides for them and their family. St. Paul even goes so far in a letter to the Thessalonians as to say, "If a man will not work, neither shall he eat." What Jesus means when He says, "Do not worry about tomorrow" is that we shouldn't be all worked up about the future and our material necessities, as if we were unsure of God's care. He teaches us to pray, "Give us this day our daily bread" so that we will trust in His promise to support and sustain us in all our physical needs.

And in order that we might be made sure of this, Jesus gives us two very simple and familiar things to consider. First of all He says, "Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?" You can buy a small bird for only several dollars. Now if God provides for and feeds ordinary birds, won't He also provide for and feed you who are of much greater worth? And you are of much greater worth. For not only did God create you in His own image, but He became your flesh and blood in Jesus to redeem you. What great worth you have, that the Son of God did that for you!
Second of all the Lord says, "Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these." If God "dresses" the wildflowers and the fields so marvelously, which eventually are burned up or dry up, will He not even more dress you and provide for your bodily needs? Do not be of little faith, but rather, like the birds and the flowers, simply look to the Lord and receive the gifts which freely come from His hand. Let the pagans run after what passes away. You, cling to what endures. Pursue the treasure that will not rust or decay. "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."

And to seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness is very simply to seek the things of Jesus. For He is the King of this kingdom. He is the Righteous One who freely gives you true righteousness. You see, God made you His #1 priority. He seeks first your salvation. The Eternal Son of God became the Son of man, fully human, to rescue and restore you. Jesus bore in His own body the corruption and the decay and the mortality that sin brings, and He put it all to death on the cross. In Christ the old perishable order of things has passed away and all things have become new. For His resurrection has conquered the old order of death and brought forth a new order of invincible life for you and all who believe. You who are in Christ are righteous and forgiven, a new creation.

In this new creation our Lord clothes and feeds you marvelously and abundantly. Listen again to what Jesus says, "Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink." Don't be anxious about such things, because Christ faithfully gives you to eat of His body and drink of His blood for the forgiveness of your sins. Your life is forever safeguarded by His own life which He puts into you under the bread and wine. If you are given to partake of the Living Bread which came down from heaven, there is no need to worry about daily bread, is there? Any anxiety you may have about your life must vanish away as you hear Christ's words, "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."

Likewise, listen again to these words of the Lord, "(Do not worry) about your body, what you will put on." You need not be anxious about clothing, either, for it is written, "As many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ." You have been robed in Christ's righteousness. At the font you were dressed in the apparel of the Savior that will never wear out or fade in its glory. If you've been given such divine, royal garments to wear, there's no need to fret about clothes, is there? Your value and worth come not from your earthly clothes, but from the fact that Christ became your brother in the water, making you eternal children of the heavenly Father.

In fact we are looking forward to the day when we can be rid of our mortal clothing-this perishable flesh and blood-and put on our new and everlasting clothing in the resurrection of the body. It is written, "The perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. . . Then the saying that is written will come true: 'Death has been swallowed up in victory.' . . . Thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

Therefore, brothers and sisters of Christ, as you lead your lives in this unstable and changing world, do not worry. Let your fears be turned to faith. Let your worries be turned to confidence in the Father's loving care. He will sustain you. Cast all your care on Him, for He cares for you.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit