WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.799 You ever had anyone ask you if you could be any 00:00:02.799 --> 00:00:05.419 animal in the world, what would you choose? I 00:00:05.419 --> 00:00:06.759 think it's supposed to be kind of like an icebreaker, 00:00:06.900 --> 00:00:08.699 a way to get conversations going. And I'll be 00:00:08.699 --> 00:00:10.480 honest, I've never really known how to answer 00:00:10.480 --> 00:00:12.000 that question, so please don't ask me later. 00:00:12.080 --> 00:00:14.199 I don't have a good answer for you. But I know 00:00:14.199 --> 00:00:17.980 what I wouldn't want to be, and that is a carnival 00:00:17.980 --> 00:00:21.519 goldfish. Do you remember these? I don't know 00:00:21.519 --> 00:00:22.519 if they still give them out. I remember when 00:00:22.519 --> 00:00:24.989 my kids were little, they did. There'd be a school 00:00:24.989 --> 00:00:27.649 fundraiser. There'd be a carnival of some sort. 00:00:27.730 --> 00:00:30.629 You'd play a game, and the prize was you'd get 00:00:30.629 --> 00:00:34.189 your own goldfish. And you know, it's funny. 00:00:34.229 --> 00:00:36.009 I remember sitting in line with one of my kids 00:00:36.009 --> 00:00:38.250 once, and they're getting ready to play that 00:00:38.250 --> 00:00:40.530 game, and they're just looking at the goldfish, 00:00:40.590 --> 00:00:43.369 and you could tell the wheels were turning. They're 00:00:43.369 --> 00:00:45.149 imagining what it's going to be like to have 00:00:45.149 --> 00:00:46.950 this brand -new pet. They can almost see the 00:00:46.950 --> 00:00:48.990 bowl and the pebbles and the little castle you 00:00:48.990 --> 00:00:51.149 put inside and one of those little divers that 00:00:51.149 --> 00:00:54.009 goes up and down. And then they get to the front 00:00:54.009 --> 00:00:56.350 and they play the game like the ring toss or 00:00:56.350 --> 00:00:58.350 they knock over the milk bottles with the ball 00:00:58.350 --> 00:01:02.509 or whatever. And they win their prize. And for 00:01:02.509 --> 00:01:05.629 a little while, they are more proud of that than 00:01:05.629 --> 00:01:08.969 anything else, aren't they? They give it a name. 00:01:09.390 --> 00:01:11.709 They ask if you can get back in line and win 00:01:11.709 --> 00:01:14.250 a brother or sister for them. They ask if you 00:01:14.250 --> 00:01:16.209 can stop at the pet shop on the way home and 00:01:16.209 --> 00:01:17.969 make sure to get the pebble and the bowls and 00:01:17.969 --> 00:01:21.329 all the other stuff. And then they see their 00:01:21.329 --> 00:01:26.040 friend. They run off, and you never see that 00:01:26.040 --> 00:01:30.500 goldfish again. Maybe it gets left on a hot park 00:01:30.500 --> 00:01:33.239 bench somewhere. Maybe it gets left in the backseat 00:01:33.239 --> 00:01:35.500 of your car. Maybe they go down the slide, and 00:01:35.500 --> 00:01:37.099 the bag opens, and the poor thing just tumbles 00:01:37.099 --> 00:01:40.620 out along with the kid. Whatever the case, I 00:01:40.620 --> 00:01:42.719 don't know what animal it is I'd choose if I 00:01:42.719 --> 00:01:44.700 could be one, but I know what animal I wouldn't 00:01:44.700 --> 00:01:50.359 want to be, and that's a carnival goldfish. So 00:01:50.359 --> 00:01:54.359 is that what we are? Are we just God's carnival 00:01:54.359 --> 00:01:58.599 goldfish? Did God send his son Jesus here to 00:01:58.599 --> 00:02:01.159 live, die, and rise for us so he could forget 00:02:01.159 --> 00:02:02.599 about us in five minutes and move on to something 00:02:02.599 --> 00:02:06.280 else? Did he define us in time in the waters 00:02:06.280 --> 00:02:09.159 of baptism, make us his children, stamp his name 00:02:09.159 --> 00:02:11.819 on us so he could do the equivalent of leaving 00:02:11.819 --> 00:02:13.580 us on a park bench and move on to bigger and 00:02:13.580 --> 00:02:18.159 better things? Is God like a five -year -old 00:02:18.159 --> 00:02:20.740 all hopped up on sugar and unable to keep a thought 00:02:20.740 --> 00:02:26.129 in his head? Is that who our God is? And is that 00:02:26.129 --> 00:02:30.270 what we are to him? Because as Jesus went through 00:02:30.270 --> 00:02:33.129 the world and he saw the way we worry and we 00:02:33.129 --> 00:02:37.550 worry and we worry, it sure seems like that's 00:02:37.550 --> 00:02:42.030 what we think sometimes. And in Matthew 6, Jesus 00:02:42.030 --> 00:02:44.990 sets the record straight. Here's what he says. 00:02:47.490 --> 00:02:49.469 Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your 00:02:49.469 --> 00:02:53.370 life, what you will eat or drink. or about your 00:02:53.370 --> 00:02:56.629 body, what you'll wear. Is not life more than 00:02:56.629 --> 00:03:00.789 food, and the body more than clothes? Look at 00:03:00.789 --> 00:03:02.969 the birds of the air. They do not sow or reap 00:03:02.969 --> 00:03:05.330 or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly 00:03:05.330 --> 00:03:09.210 Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable 00:03:09.210 --> 00:03:13.110 than they? Can any of you, by worrying, add a 00:03:13.110 --> 00:03:16.189 single hour to your life? And why do you worry 00:03:16.189 --> 00:03:18.110 about clothes? See how the flowers of the field 00:03:18.110 --> 00:03:22.849 grow? They do not labor or spend. Yet I tell 00:03:22.849 --> 00:03:25.590 you that not even Solomon in all his splendor 00:03:25.590 --> 00:03:29.629 was dressed like one of these. If that is how 00:03:29.629 --> 00:03:32.550 God clothes the grass of the field, which is 00:03:32.550 --> 00:03:34.949 here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, 00:03:35.689 --> 00:03:38.930 will he not much more clothe you, you of little 00:03:38.930 --> 00:03:42.849 faith? So do not worry, saying, what shall we 00:03:42.849 --> 00:03:45.189 eat or what shall we drink or what shall we wear? 00:03:46.129 --> 00:03:48.590 For the pagans run after all these things, and 00:03:48.590 --> 00:03:50.289 your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 00:03:51.659 --> 00:03:54.659 But seek for His kingdom and His righteousness, 00:03:54.879 --> 00:03:57.719 and all these things will be given to you as 00:03:57.719 --> 00:04:01.099 well. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, 00:04:01.199 --> 00:04:04.800 for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day 00:04:04.800 --> 00:04:11.379 has enough trouble of its own. You see, you are 00:04:11.379 --> 00:04:16.120 not God's carnival goldfish. In fact, there is 00:04:16.120 --> 00:04:20.449 nothing in all of creation that God treats like 00:04:20.449 --> 00:04:24.449 that kid treats that carnival goldfish and the 00:04:24.449 --> 00:04:27.829 first example he gives is the birds and I think 00:04:27.829 --> 00:04:29.189 if you were to rate the animals in the animal 00:04:29.189 --> 00:04:31.389 kingdom birds would maybe fall kind of far down 00:04:31.389 --> 00:04:36.189 the list and yet there's not a one whether you're 00:04:36.189 --> 00:04:38.389 talking about your pet parakeet or the sparrow 00:04:38.389 --> 00:04:42.449 you see flying overhead not a one that God doesn't 00:04:42.449 --> 00:04:46.250 provide for And they don't worry about the economy. 00:04:46.370 --> 00:04:48.129 They don't worry about the arc of their career. 00:04:48.269 --> 00:04:50.889 They don't think about sowing or planting or 00:04:50.889 --> 00:04:53.329 gathering or harvesting or storing in barns. 00:04:53.329 --> 00:04:59.269 And yet God provides for them nonetheless. In 00:04:59.269 --> 00:05:01.629 fact, it says in Matthew 10 that not a single 00:05:01.629 --> 00:05:05.629 one falls to the ground without God knowing about 00:05:05.629 --> 00:05:11.490 it. And then after that, he takes us to the flowers 00:05:11.490 --> 00:05:13.290 of the field, it says. And that's not talking 00:05:13.290 --> 00:05:15.699 about your... prized rose bushes this is talking 00:05:15.699 --> 00:05:18.779 about flowers that come up on their own no care 00:05:18.779 --> 00:05:21.339 required the ones you see when you're driving 00:05:21.339 --> 00:05:23.480 up north in a field as you drive by the ones 00:05:23.480 --> 00:05:26.379 you see when you're hiking the ones that come 00:05:26.379 --> 00:05:32.439 alive with color with yellows and blues and pinks 00:05:32.439 --> 00:05:36.040 and reds and purples and it says that not even 00:05:36.040 --> 00:05:39.829 Solomon was dressed like that You see, they don't 00:05:39.829 --> 00:05:42.050 worry about staying in style or keeping up with 00:05:42.050 --> 00:05:44.089 the latest trends. They don't worry about putting 00:05:44.089 --> 00:05:46.110 together clothing for them to put on their backs. 00:05:47.149 --> 00:05:50.009 God provides for them, and the beauty is timeless. 00:05:50.050 --> 00:05:55.410 It does not go out of style. And that is how 00:05:55.410 --> 00:06:01.050 God treats birds. That is how God deals with 00:06:01.050 --> 00:06:08.069 wildflowers. So what about you? Because Jesus 00:06:08.069 --> 00:06:09.910 didn't come to this world and take on the nature 00:06:09.910 --> 00:06:14.050 of a bird. He took on human nature. And Jesus 00:06:14.050 --> 00:06:16.310 didn't walk the roads of this life in the place 00:06:16.310 --> 00:06:19.069 of birds. He walked the roads of this life in 00:06:19.069 --> 00:06:21.610 your place. And when he went to the cross, he 00:06:21.610 --> 00:06:24.009 didn't bear upon himself the failings of birds. 00:06:24.209 --> 00:06:27.470 He bore upon himself our offenses, our sins, 00:06:27.550 --> 00:06:32.689 our failings. And he does not have eternal plans 00:06:32.689 --> 00:06:37.180 for flowers. But he has prepared a place for 00:06:37.180 --> 00:06:41.339 you for eternity with him. I mean, if God goes 00:06:41.339 --> 00:06:46.759 to that extent for birds and wildflowers, then 00:06:46.759 --> 00:06:53.160 what about you? Do you see Jesus' point? What 00:06:53.160 --> 00:06:57.060 are you so worried about, he says? We have a 00:06:57.060 --> 00:06:59.439 God who loved us enough to live, die, and rise 00:06:59.439 --> 00:07:02.839 for us. who loved us enough to find us in the 00:07:02.839 --> 00:07:05.420 waters of baptism and make us his own, who put 00:07:05.420 --> 00:07:08.300 his name on us there, who has fed us his body 00:07:08.300 --> 00:07:10.600 and blood and the bread and wine of the Lord's 00:07:10.600 --> 00:07:13.600 Supper, you are worth many sparrows, he says. 00:07:16.740 --> 00:07:21.439 And yet the worry remains, doesn't it? I mean, 00:07:21.459 --> 00:07:26.720 it is a constant part of our lives. We worry 00:07:26.720 --> 00:07:29.259 about test results we're waiting for. We worry 00:07:29.259 --> 00:07:31.180 about test results for things we haven't even 00:07:31.180 --> 00:07:33.060 gotten tested yet, and we're just wondering if 00:07:33.060 --> 00:07:34.660 we should go to the doctor and get it checked 00:07:34.660 --> 00:07:37.639 out. We wonder about our health conditions now. 00:07:37.720 --> 00:07:39.560 We wonder about health conditions we don't even 00:07:39.560 --> 00:07:42.040 have yet, but we're afraid we might. We worry 00:07:42.040 --> 00:07:44.040 about the health of our family and our friends 00:07:44.040 --> 00:07:45.879 and the conditions that they don't have as well. 00:07:46.199 --> 00:07:48.379 We worry about the economy. We worry about the 00:07:48.379 --> 00:07:50.459 company we work for. We worry about the people 00:07:50.459 --> 00:07:52.779 moving in next door, and we worry about politics 00:07:52.779 --> 00:07:55.160 on the other side of the world who speak a language 00:07:55.160 --> 00:07:59.680 whose name we don't even know. But maybe most 00:07:59.680 --> 00:08:01.959 of all, we worry about the things we don't know 00:08:01.959 --> 00:08:05.199 to worry about. Phone calls in the middle of 00:08:05.199 --> 00:08:07.439 the night that we've never got. Situations that 00:08:07.439 --> 00:08:10.560 so far have not happened. Things that lay in 00:08:10.560 --> 00:08:17.000 the unknown. They keep us up at night. They dominate 00:08:17.000 --> 00:08:23.660 our thoughts. Our heart races. It's as if we 00:08:23.660 --> 00:08:26.600 think, God is like some five -year -old so hopped 00:08:26.600 --> 00:08:28.600 up on sugar he can't keep a thought in his head. 00:08:29.779 --> 00:08:32.120 As if we think Jesus lived, died, and rose for 00:08:32.120 --> 00:08:34.259 us so he could leave us on a park bench or forget 00:08:34.259 --> 00:08:38.360 about us in the back of a car. And that's insulting. 00:08:40.320 --> 00:08:45.679 It's insulting to a God who knows all. It's insulting 00:08:45.679 --> 00:08:49.460 to a God who is present everywhere. It's insulting 00:08:49.460 --> 00:08:52.419 to a God who is all -powerful, but most of all, 00:08:52.460 --> 00:08:54.980 it's insulting to his love, which is the characteristic 00:08:54.980 --> 00:09:01.539 that binds all the others together for you. I 00:09:01.539 --> 00:09:03.419 would imagine there's probably a little bit of 00:09:03.419 --> 00:09:05.879 exasperation in his voice when he said, you of 00:09:05.879 --> 00:09:12.899 little faith. And it accomplishes nothing. Because 00:09:12.899 --> 00:09:16.309 Jesus was right. He asks, who of you by worrying 00:09:16.309 --> 00:09:18.870 can add a single hour to his life? And that word 00:09:18.870 --> 00:09:21.549 for hour just means any unit of measurement. 00:09:22.529 --> 00:09:25.149 Who of you by worrying can add even a month, 00:09:25.350 --> 00:09:28.590 even a week, even a day, even an hour, even a 00:09:28.590 --> 00:09:31.929 minute to your life beyond what God has already 00:09:31.929 --> 00:09:36.269 ordained? It is quite simply just beyond our 00:09:36.269 --> 00:09:40.970 control. And yet we find ourselves worrying about 00:09:40.970 --> 00:09:49.669 it nonetheless. It is absolutely silly. But you 00:09:49.669 --> 00:09:51.429 know, it does show where our heart is, doesn't 00:09:51.429 --> 00:09:57.509 it? It does show what we care about. You see, 00:09:57.549 --> 00:09:59.049 I don't know what those things are for you, but 00:09:59.049 --> 00:10:01.029 I know what those things are for me. And if I 00:10:01.029 --> 00:10:02.649 were to go through those things in my mind and 00:10:02.649 --> 00:10:04.149 think about the kinds of things that keep me 00:10:04.149 --> 00:10:06.029 up at night, the kinds of things that I find 00:10:06.029 --> 00:10:08.370 myself worrying about, oftentimes they are things 00:10:08.370 --> 00:10:10.629 that maybe I love a little too much, things I'm 00:10:10.629 --> 00:10:13.759 holding on to a little too tight. Things upon 00:10:13.759 --> 00:10:15.960 which I'm putting a level of importance that 00:10:15.960 --> 00:10:23.679 it does not deserve. And it's silly. And God 00:10:23.679 --> 00:10:27.460 has saved us from a life of chasing silliness. 00:10:29.740 --> 00:10:33.399 The pagans, Jesus says, well, they got nothing 00:10:33.399 --> 00:10:37.659 else to chase. To them, at best, God is a temperamental 00:10:37.659 --> 00:10:39.519 five -year -old who forgets about things. At 00:10:39.519 --> 00:10:42.200 worst, he's a God that they should fear. and 00:10:42.200 --> 00:10:44.879 run from. And so, yeah, they will worry about 00:10:44.879 --> 00:10:46.720 food, they will worry about shelter, they will 00:10:46.720 --> 00:10:48.320 worry about clothes, they will worry about trips, 00:10:48.460 --> 00:10:50.940 and retirement, and finances, and politics, and 00:10:50.940 --> 00:10:52.879 everything else, because in their mind, there 00:10:52.879 --> 00:10:54.980 is nothing watching over them, nothing protecting 00:10:54.980 --> 00:10:57.399 them, nothing guiding them. For them, that's 00:10:57.399 --> 00:10:59.600 all there is. So, of course, that's what they 00:10:59.600 --> 00:11:05.059 would chase, but that's not you. God has opened 00:11:05.059 --> 00:11:08.899 your eyes to this whole new world of promises. 00:11:10.750 --> 00:11:13.409 Things you cannot see, taste, touch, or feel, 00:11:13.549 --> 00:11:15.850 and yet things that are the only thing that will 00:11:15.850 --> 00:11:19.529 not be taken from you. Things you have right 00:11:19.529 --> 00:11:23.970 now, like forgiveness and acceptance from a holy 00:11:23.970 --> 00:11:27.870 God, like His providence, His protection, Him 00:11:27.870 --> 00:11:30.169 guiding you and working all things for your good, 00:11:30.250 --> 00:11:33.450 as well as things that you will have, that place 00:11:33.450 --> 00:11:35.610 with God in heaven that is yours and one day 00:11:35.610 --> 00:11:38.049 you will experience, the resurrection from the 00:11:38.049 --> 00:11:41.399 dead. That place God has prepared for you from 00:11:41.399 --> 00:11:48.639 eternity. God has put that all before you. And 00:11:48.639 --> 00:11:52.139 he has just promised it is yours. It is not something 00:11:52.139 --> 00:11:54.960 you have to control with worry. It is not something 00:11:54.960 --> 00:11:57.340 you have to win. It's something Jesus won for 00:11:57.340 --> 00:12:02.259 you. You see, as a Christian, God has saved you 00:12:02.259 --> 00:12:06.360 from a life of chasing silly things, of worrying, 00:12:06.539 --> 00:12:09.620 and he saved you to do something of consequence. 00:12:11.460 --> 00:12:15.299 Here's what he says. So do not worry, saying, 00:12:15.440 --> 00:12:17.440 what shall we eat or what shall we drink or what 00:12:17.440 --> 00:12:20.639 shall we wear? For the pagans run after all these 00:12:20.639 --> 00:12:22.519 things, and your heavenly Father knows that you 00:12:22.519 --> 00:12:26.279 need them. But seek first his kingdom and his 00:12:26.279 --> 00:12:29.279 righteousness. And all these things will be given 00:12:29.279 --> 00:12:32.279 to you as well. Therefore, do not worry about 00:12:32.279 --> 00:12:35.159 tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. 00:12:36.320 --> 00:12:41.080 Each day has enough trouble of its own. It's 00:12:41.080 --> 00:12:43.860 not that food and shelter and clothing don't 00:12:43.860 --> 00:12:47.320 matter. Jesus says, God knows you need them, 00:12:47.379 --> 00:12:49.360 and he gives them to you in a way that is best. 00:12:51.559 --> 00:12:55.799 But it's not everything. And it's not what we 00:12:55.799 --> 00:13:03.029 chase. What we chase is righteousness. And on 00:13:03.029 --> 00:13:04.710 the one hand, that righteousness we're talking 00:13:04.710 --> 00:13:06.649 about, the thing that is truly good, is something 00:13:06.649 --> 00:13:09.769 we cannot chase, something God gives to us, something 00:13:09.769 --> 00:13:12.250 he decided from eternity would be yours, that 00:13:12.250 --> 00:13:14.450 in time he sent his son to achieve as he lived, 00:13:14.450 --> 00:13:16.370 died, and rose for you, and that he has made 00:13:16.370 --> 00:13:18.889 yours through the waters of baptism and the power 00:13:18.889 --> 00:13:23.700 of his word. That holiness is ours. We stand 00:13:23.700 --> 00:13:25.879 before him forgiven. We stand before him perfect 00:13:25.879 --> 00:13:28.340 and righteous. We cannot chase it. It's something 00:13:28.340 --> 00:13:33.360 God gives us. But we still live a life seeking 00:13:33.360 --> 00:13:38.620 righteousness. Not to become something, but to 00:13:38.620 --> 00:13:42.940 be what we already are. And it's through those 00:13:42.940 --> 00:13:46.320 lives of service that God advances his kingdom. 00:13:47.460 --> 00:13:52.129 That God finds others. And it means there's nothing 00:13:52.129 --> 00:13:55.590 that you do that doesn't have purpose. Everything 00:13:55.590 --> 00:13:58.070 from putting food on the table and a shelter 00:13:58.070 --> 00:14:00.029 over your kid's head, clothes on their back. 00:14:01.169 --> 00:14:03.190 It is your Heavenly Father providing for your 00:14:03.190 --> 00:14:05.149 children through you and they get to see God's 00:14:05.149 --> 00:14:08.049 love and His care through your actions. When 00:14:08.049 --> 00:14:09.909 you go out into the world and you live your life 00:14:09.909 --> 00:14:11.769 as God has called you to live, they get a chance 00:14:11.769 --> 00:14:14.090 to see what God's love looks like and the way 00:14:14.090 --> 00:14:16.669 you reflect it and how you treat others. And 00:14:16.669 --> 00:14:20.480 God uses all these efforts. So that you can be 00:14:20.480 --> 00:14:24.639 his ambassadors, you can be his messengers. And 00:14:24.639 --> 00:14:28.600 through his word, to open up others to this whole 00:14:28.600 --> 00:14:31.960 new world that is beyond just food and clothing 00:14:31.960 --> 00:14:36.679 and shelter. These are things of consequence. 00:14:37.799 --> 00:14:42.080 Things that matter. And God frees you up to pursue 00:14:42.080 --> 00:14:44.039 them because you do not need to worry about the 00:14:44.039 --> 00:14:48.139 future. And our focus then, it comes to today. 00:14:50.240 --> 00:14:52.299 And you know that last part where it says each 00:14:52.299 --> 00:14:55.480 day has enough trouble of its own? It says literally 00:14:55.480 --> 00:14:58.779 sufficient for the day is its evil. And I like 00:14:58.779 --> 00:15:02.220 that. Because he's not saying that everything 00:15:02.220 --> 00:15:03.820 is always going to work out the way you want. 00:15:04.909 --> 00:15:06.929 He's not saying that as a Christian all your 00:15:06.929 --> 00:15:09.009 dreams always come true. Sometimes you have good 00:15:09.009 --> 00:15:11.769 days, sometimes bad. Sometimes the things that 00:15:11.769 --> 00:15:13.450 God blesses you with are straight out of your 00:15:13.450 --> 00:15:15.990 dreams, other times straight out of your nightmares. 00:15:16.330 --> 00:15:19.029 Sometimes the very thing you worry about is exactly 00:15:19.029 --> 00:15:21.830 what's going to happen. And sometimes you find 00:15:21.830 --> 00:15:23.669 out God protected you far more than you knew. 00:15:25.450 --> 00:15:30.250 But you are not God's carnival goldfish. You 00:15:30.250 --> 00:15:32.389 have a God who knows you and he knows what is 00:15:32.389 --> 00:15:35.350 best for you and he gives you what is best according 00:15:35.350 --> 00:15:39.990 to his eternal plans. And so we have nothing 00:15:39.990 --> 00:15:43.850 to fear and we have nothing to worry about because 00:15:43.850 --> 00:15:46.450 we know we've got a God who's with us. We know 00:15:46.450 --> 00:15:48.409 we've got a God who is giving us what is best 00:15:48.409 --> 00:15:53.690 and instead we can chase what matters. Amen. 00:15:56.809 --> 00:15:59.889 Thanks for listening to Emmanuel's Sermon Podcast. 00:16:00.490 --> 00:16:03.509 If you'd like to learn more about Emmanuel, you 00:16:03.509 --> 00:16:07.269 can follow us on Facebook or visit us at imluth 00:16:07.269 --> 00:16:12.350 .org. That's I -M -M -L -U -T -H dot O -R -G. 00:16:12.669 --> 00:16:13.889 Have a great day.