You ever had anyone ask you if you could be any
animal in the world, what would you choose? I
think it's supposed to be kind of like an icebreaker,
a way to get conversations going. And I'll be
honest, I've never really known how to answer
that question, so please don't ask me later.
I don't have a good answer for you. But I know
what I wouldn't want to be, and that is a carnival
goldfish. Do you remember these? I don't know
if they still give them out. I remember when
my kids were little, they did. There'd be a school
fundraiser. There'd be a carnival of some sort.
You'd play a game, and the prize was you'd get
your own goldfish. And you know, it's funny.
I remember sitting in line with one of my kids
once, and they're getting ready to play that
game, and they're just looking at the goldfish,
and you could tell the wheels were turning. They're
imagining what it's going to be like to have
this brand -new pet. They can almost see the
bowl and the pebbles and the little castle you
put inside and one of those little divers that
goes up and down. And then they get to the front
and they play the game like the ring toss or
they knock over the milk bottles with the ball
or whatever. And they win their prize. And for
a little while, they are more proud of that than
anything else, aren't they? They give it a name.
They ask if you can get back in line and win
a brother or sister for them. They ask if you
can stop at the pet shop on the way home and
make sure to get the pebble and the bowls and
all the other stuff. And then they see their
friend. They run off, and you never see that
goldfish again. Maybe it gets left on a hot park
bench somewhere. Maybe it gets left in the backseat
of your car. Maybe they go down the slide, and
the bag opens, and the poor thing just tumbles
out along with the kid. Whatever the case, I
don't know what animal it is I'd choose if I
could be one, but I know what animal I wouldn't
want to be, and that's a carnival goldfish. So
is that what we are? Are we just God's carnival
goldfish? Did God send his son Jesus here to
live, die, and rise for us so he could forget
about us in five minutes and move on to something
else? Did he define us in time in the waters
of baptism, make us his children, stamp his name
on us so he could do the equivalent of leaving
us on a park bench and move on to bigger and
better things? Is God like a five -year -old
all hopped up on sugar and unable to keep a thought
in his head? Is that who our God is? And is that
what we are to him? Because as Jesus went through
the world and he saw the way we worry and we
worry and we worry, it sure seems like that's
what we think sometimes. And in Matthew 6, Jesus
sets the record straight. Here's what he says.
Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your
life, what you will eat or drink. or about your
body, what you'll wear. Is not life more than
food, and the body more 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? Can any of you, by worrying, add a
single hour to your life? And why do you worry
about clothes? See how the flowers of the field
grow? They do not labor or spend. 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, 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 for His kingdom and His righteousness,
and all these things will be given to you as
well. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow,
for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day
has enough trouble of its own. You see, you are
not God's carnival goldfish. In fact, there is
nothing in all of creation that God treats like
that kid treats that carnival goldfish and the
first example he gives is the birds and I think
if you were to rate the animals in the animal
kingdom birds would maybe fall kind of far down
the list and yet there's not a one whether you're
talking about your pet parakeet or the sparrow
you see flying overhead not a one that God doesn't
provide for And they don't worry about the economy.
They don't worry about the arc of their career.
They don't think about sowing or planting or
gathering or harvesting or storing in barns.
And yet God provides for them nonetheless. In
fact, it says in Matthew 10 that not a single
one falls to the ground without God knowing about
it. And then after that, he takes us to the flowers
of the field, it says. And that's not talking
about your... prized rose bushes this is talking
about flowers that come up on their own no care
required the ones you see when you're driving
up north in a field as you drive by the ones
you see when you're hiking the ones that come
alive with color with yellows and blues and pinks
and reds and purples and it says that not even
Solomon was dressed like that You see, they don't
worry about staying in style or keeping up with
the latest trends. They don't worry about putting
together clothing for them to put on their backs.
God provides for them, and the beauty is timeless.
It does not go out of style. And that is how
God treats birds. That is how God deals with
wildflowers. So what about you? Because Jesus
didn't come to this world and take on the nature
of a bird. He took on human nature. And Jesus
didn't walk the roads of this life in the place
of birds. He walked the roads of this life in
your place. And when he went to the cross, he
didn't bear upon himself the failings of birds.
He bore upon himself our offenses, our sins,
our failings. And he does not have eternal plans
for flowers. But he has prepared a place for
you for eternity with him. I mean, if God goes
to that extent for birds and wildflowers, then
what about you? Do you see Jesus' point? What
are you so worried about, he says? We have a
God who loved us enough to live, die, and rise
for us. who loved us enough to find us in the
waters of baptism and make us his own, who put
his name on us there, who has fed us his body
and blood and the bread and wine of the Lord's
Supper, you are worth many sparrows, he says.
And yet the worry remains, doesn't it? I mean,
it is a constant part of our lives. We worry
about test results we're waiting for. We worry
about test results for things we haven't even
gotten tested yet, and we're just wondering if
we should go to the doctor and get it checked
out. We wonder about our health conditions now.
We wonder about health conditions we don't even
have yet, but we're afraid we might. We worry
about the health of our family and our friends
and the conditions that they don't have as well.
We worry about the economy. We worry about the
company we work for. We worry about the people
moving in next door, and we worry about politics
on the other side of the world who speak a language
whose name we don't even know. But maybe most
of all, we worry about the things we don't know
to worry about. Phone calls in the middle of
the night that we've never got. Situations that
so far have not happened. Things that lay in
the unknown. They keep us up at night. They dominate
our thoughts. Our heart races. It's as if we
think, God is like some five -year -old so hopped
up on sugar he can't keep a thought in his head.
As if we think Jesus lived, died, and rose for
us so he could leave us on a park bench or forget
about us in the back of a car. And that's insulting.
It's insulting to a God who knows all. It's insulting
to a God who is present everywhere. It's insulting
to a God who is all -powerful, but most of all,
it's insulting to his love, which is the characteristic
that binds all the others together for you. I
would imagine there's probably a little bit of
exasperation in his voice when he said, you of
little faith. And it accomplishes nothing. Because
Jesus was right. He asks, who of you by worrying
can add a single hour to his life? And that word
for hour just means any unit of measurement.
Who of you by worrying can add even a month,
even a week, even a day, even an hour, even a
minute to your life beyond what God has already
ordained? It is quite simply just beyond our
control. And yet we find ourselves worrying about
it nonetheless. It is absolutely silly. But you
know, it does show where our heart is, doesn't
it? It does show what we care about. You see,
I don't know what those things are for you, but
I know what those things are for me. And if I
were to go through those things in my mind and
think about the kinds of things that keep me
up at night, the kinds of things that I find
myself worrying about, oftentimes they are things
that maybe I love a little too much, things I'm
holding on to a little too tight. Things upon
which I'm putting a level of importance that
it does not deserve. And it's silly. And God
has saved us from a life of chasing silliness.
The pagans, Jesus says, well, they got nothing
else to chase. To them, at best, God is a temperamental
five -year -old who forgets about things. At
worst, he's a God that they should fear. and
run from. And so, yeah, they will worry about
food, they will worry about shelter, they will
worry about clothes, they will worry about trips,
and retirement, and finances, and politics, and
everything else, because in their mind, there
is nothing watching over them, nothing protecting
them, nothing guiding them. For them, that's
all there is. So, of course, that's what they
would chase, but that's not you. God has opened
your eyes to this whole new world of promises.
Things you cannot see, taste, touch, or feel,
and yet things that are the only thing that will
not be taken from you. Things you have right
now, like forgiveness and acceptance from a holy
God, like His providence, His protection, Him
guiding you and working all things for your good,
as well as things that you will have, that place
with God in heaven that is yours and one day
you will experience, the resurrection from the
dead. That place God has prepared for you from
eternity. God has put that all before you. And
he has just promised it is yours. It is not something
you have to control with worry. It is not something
you have to win. It's something Jesus won for
you. You see, as a Christian, God has saved you
from a life of chasing silly things, of worrying,
and he saved you to do something of consequence.
Here's what he says. 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. Therefore, do not worry about
tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.
Each day has enough trouble of its own. It's
not that food and shelter and clothing don't
matter. Jesus says, God knows you need them,
and he gives them to you in a way that is best.
But it's not everything. And it's not what we
chase. What we chase is righteousness. And on
the one hand, that righteousness we're talking
about, the thing that is truly good, is something
we cannot chase, something God gives to us, something
he decided from eternity would be yours, that
in time he sent his son to achieve as he lived,
died, and rose for you, and that he has made
yours through the waters of baptism and the power
of his word. That holiness is ours. We stand
before him forgiven. We stand before him perfect
and righteous. We cannot chase it. It's something
God gives us. But we still live a life seeking
righteousness. Not to become something, but to
be what we already are. And it's through those
lives of service that God advances his kingdom.
That God finds others. And it means there's nothing
that you do that doesn't have purpose. Everything
from putting food on the table and a shelter
over your kid's head, clothes on their back.
It is your Heavenly Father providing for your
children through you and they get to see God's
love and His care through your actions. When
you go out into the world and you live your life
as God has called you to live, they get a chance
to see what God's love looks like and the way
you reflect it and how you treat others. And
God uses all these efforts. So that you can be
his ambassadors, you can be his messengers. And
through his word, to open up others to this whole
new world that is beyond just food and clothing
and shelter. These are things of consequence.
Things that matter. And God frees you up to pursue
them because you do not need to worry about the
future. And our focus then, it comes to today.
And you know that last part where it says each
day has enough trouble of its own? It says literally
sufficient for the day is its evil. And I like
that. Because he's not saying that everything
is always going to work out the way you want.
He's not saying that as a Christian all your
dreams always come true. Sometimes you have good
days, sometimes bad. Sometimes the things that
God blesses you with are straight out of your
dreams, other times straight out of your nightmares.
Sometimes the very thing you worry about is exactly
what's going to happen. And sometimes you find
out God protected you far more than you knew.
But you are not God's carnival goldfish. You
have a God who knows you and he knows what is
best for you and he gives you what is best according
to his eternal plans. And so we have nothing
to fear and we have nothing to worry about because
we know we've got a God who's with us. We know
we've got a God who is giving us what is best
and instead we can chase what matters. Amen.
Thanks for listening to Emmanuel's Sermon Podcast.
If you'd like to learn more about Emmanuel, you
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.org. That's I -M -M -L -U -T -H dot O -R -G.
Have a great day.