“Why
Do You Worry?”
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord
Jesus Christ. Amen. The text for our Thanksgiving Day
meditation is today’s Gospel Reading from the sixth chapter of St.
Matthew, in which Jesus asks one of the burning questions of our
age: “WHY do you worry?” It is a great paradox. More than any other people on earth, even
more than any other people in all of human history, we in 21st-century America
enjoy unparalleled material prosperity. In our very own society, humanity
has achieved the pinnacle of material wealth and comfort. The generations
of the past, even most of the world’s population still today, could not even
dream of the benefits we take from granted. And yet the irony is, we have not only reached the pinnacle of
prosperity, we have also reached the heights of worry. No other nation is
so burdened with stress, burnout, anxiety, worry. It is a great paradox:
We are greatly blessed with bounty, and yet we are heavily burdened with worry.
THAT is one of the burning questions of our age: WHY? “Why do you worry?” Jesus knows the answer: “O you of little faith.” “Why do you
worry?” Because you have LITTLE FAITH. Worry is a subtle form of atheism. A lack of faith, a lack of
confidence, a lack of trust in God. Worry is also a subtle form of
idolatry. Relying more on the material things of this world than the
Creator and giver of all good things, God himself. “O you of little faith,
why do you worry?” St. Paul writes in Romans, “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?” St. John writes: “This is how God showed his love for us: He sent his
only-begotten Son into the world that we would have life through him. . .
he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” God has already given you the greatest and most valuable gift of all:
Forgiveness through Jesus Christ. His sacrifice pays for all your sins.
He suffered and died as your substitute. For Christ’s sake, God forgives
all your sins. He rose from the dead, and promises at the Last Day to
raise you up to eternal life. Put your faith, confidence and trust in him. “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat
or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important
than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the
air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly
Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by
worrying can add a single hour to his life? And why do you worry about clothes?
See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you
that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that
is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is
thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What
shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly
Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his
righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Amen. Return to Top | Return to Sermons | Home | Email Church Office
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