Rev. Charles Lehmann + Trinity 15 + Matthew 6:24-34; 1 Kings 17:8-16
In the Name of + Jesus. Amen.
A Lutheran pastor once said, “When Jesus calls a man, He calls him to come
and die.” Though these are hard words to hear, they could not be more true.
Four times in the Gospels our Lord tells his disciples to “take up their cross
and follow him.”
When we think of the cross we don't think of it the way that Jesus'
disciples would have. Our view of the cross is shaped by two thousand years of
history. We think of what our Lord accomplished by dying on the cross, and
that allows us to think of it as less than what it was, an instrument of
crucifixion. Only criminals who had been sentenced to die carried crosses.
And so the saying is absolutely correct, even in its starkness. When Jesus
tells us to take up our cross, He is calling us to come and die.
Elijah's words to the widow at Zarephath probably sounded just as harsh.
The prophet came into the house of the widow and her son and saw that they were
starving. He knew that only a little oil and flour remained. He knew all of
this when he said to her, “Bring me a morsel of bread.” He knew that he was
asking her to give him all that she had. And, for her part, the widow knew
that the prophet's command was the Lord's command. On her ears, it must have
sounded like God was saying, “Obey my words even though they will kill you.”
The Lord's Word is often like that. His holy Word of Law kills us whenever
we hear it. We never live up to the perfect standard that has been given to
us. The Law is an absolute standard of holiness and love. If we were truly
obedient to the Law of God, we would never seek own life before the lives of
others. If our obedience were perfect, we would never doubt God's love and
provision, and we would never fear for our future.
But too often, we seek our own good first. We doubt God's love and look to
our friends, family, jobs, or bank accounts for the peace and security that can
really come only from God. And certainly, in these dire economic times, our
lives are often clouded by fears about the future and we sometimes wonder if we
will really be provided with all that we need.
God's Word of Law can only kill us. It can only remind us of the great
gulf that exists between God and man. Not only are we not God, but we are not
godly either. We oppose the Lord's will at every turn, and our doubts and
fears make it clear how little we actually believe what the Lord has promised
in His Word.
Our bodies of sin, doubt, and fear must die. They must be nailed with
Jesus to the cross. What that Lutheran pastor said seventy years ago was true.
“When Jesus calls a man, He calls him to come and die.” Our sinful flesh must
die with Jesus on the cross. It must be buried with Him in the tomb. That is
the word that God spoke through Elijah to the widow at Zarephath.
All of this is bound up in baptism. It is in baptism that your sinful
flesh has been nailed to the cross. It is in baptism that the flesh that wars
against God has been drowned. But the Word that God spoke to the widow at
Zarephath didn't end there, and His Word for you doesn't either. Just as the
Lord drowned your sinful flesh in the waters of your baptism, so also has He
raised you to new life in Christ. Christ truly did die on the cross for the
sins of the world and was buried in a tomb. But just as Jesus was once dead
and is now alive forevermore, the same baptism that drowned your sinful flesh
has also raised you to new life in Christ.
And so the word to the widow at Zarephath does not end with, “Bring me a
morsel of bread.” After the widow honestly lays out her fears before the
Lord's prophet, Elijah says, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said. But
first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make
something for yourself and your son. For thus says the Lord, the God of
Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be
empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth.’”
When you are facing death, it is hard to see God as your creator who loves
you, sustains you, and provides for all your needs. Death makes God's love for
us look like a lie. We are always coming before God saying, “What have you
done for me lately.” When we say this we are forgetting that every breath we
breathe is a gift from the Lord. But even in our unbelief and ingratitude, the
Lord is still gracious to us. Elijah's answer to the widow is “Do not fear!
The Lord will provide for you.” It is more than she can expect, and it is more
than she deserves. But that is the way with God. He does not work on a system
of you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours.
He simply gives the gift because of who He is. He is loving and merciful.
He is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He provides for the needs
of the swallow. He clothes the lily with splendor. There is nothing that
falls outside of the protection of His providential hand.
Luther once commented that when a bird wakes up in the morning it does not
let the worries of the day descend upon it. Instead the bird raises its voice
in a song of thanksgiving to God. The bird is confident that God will provide
for it. It lives in no fear that the food will not be given.
Our Gospel reading teaches us that there is no gain in anxiety and worry.
These emotions are of no benefit to us. Instead, like the gun that a thief
uses when he robs a gas station, anxiety and worry are the weapons that Satan
uses to try to make us doubt our faith and become uncertain of God's promises
to us in Christ.
Our heavenly Father knows what we need better than we do. He knows it
before we ask, but still delights in our asking. He comes to our fear and
gives us the promise of his everlasting love and mercy. In response to this
Saint Paul can only respond with joy. In Romans, he says it this way: “If God
is for us, who can be against us? He did not spare his own Son but gave him up
for us all. How will he not also with him graciously give us all things?”
But there is one promise in today's Gospel reading that sometimes seems
false. Jesus says, “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and
all these things will be added to you.” This would seem to say that if you are
seeking the things of God that you will never want for any physical thing. On
the other hand, these words can sound like they're saying that if we are ill,
poor, or struggling to feed and clothe our families that maybe the reason is
that our faith is somehow not strong enough or not perfect enough.
But that is not what Jesus is saying. Though He promises to give us what
we need, we do not know what that is. If our money or health become an idol
that we look to for all good things in life, then God might take those things
away so that He can give what we need: utter dependence on Him. Sometimes when
a loved one has cancer, they die. In that moment, God is providing that person
with the eternal life He first gave in baptism.
It is absolutely certain that God will always give us what we need. What
is not so certain is what that will look like in the end. When we suffer,
God's provision for us is still there, but it is hidden. Sometimes it is not
revealed until years later, and sometimes it is not revealed in this life at
all.
But all things that are needful for us have been provided. God has taken
all of your sin, all of your suffering, and all of your fear and laid them on
the shoulders of Jesus. Your Savior has taken all those things to the cross
and He has suffered and died for them there.
In place of your fear and doubt and pain, Christ has won for you life,
salvation and forgiveness. All of these things are certain because God Himself
has accomplished them for you. There is nothing for you to fear. There is
nothing for you to doubt. There is only Jesus, your Savior, who has borne your
sin to the cross and given to you the oil of baptism and the bread of His holy
supper. They will not run out until you are safely with the blessed Trinity
forever and ever.
In the Name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and
minds in faith in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Rev. Charles R. Lehmann
Pastor, Saint John's Lutheran Church, Accident, MD
http://www.stjohncove.org
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