Fear Not Little Flock!

Luke 12:22-34  There was an occasion in Jesus’ earthly ministry when his disciples were arguing about who was the greatest in the kingdom of heaven and he called a little boy into their circle and said that unless we become like little children we will never even enter the kingdom of heaven to say nothing of being the greatest.

            What did Jesus mean by that?  Let me illustrate from our own little circle here.  When Avery McIntosh wakes up in the morning she is not worried about breakfast being on the table.  She is not anxious about whether or not she will have something to wear.  She is not afraid that she will not have a place to live. 

She has parents who take care of that and she never gives it a second thought—she trusts that the parents who love her will provide for her.  That is the kind of trust that only a child can have and Jesus says that is the kind of child-like trust we are to have in our heavenly Father.

And yet that child-like trust in God is the very thing that we find so difficult to do.  The words that we hear from Jesus in our lesson today address that trust-problem that each of us has that shows itself in fears and worries and anxiety. 

What Jesus wants us to know and believe and take to heart is that we don’t have to live our lives anxious, worried, and afraid.  We CAN HAVE that kind of child-like faith and trust in our heavenly Father because he is worthy of that trust.  Jesus says:

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on.  For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing.

            The first thing that we are going to have to come to terms with is that anxiety, fear, and worry are sin.  When Jesus says “Do not be anxious”—“Do not worry”—Do not be afraid”—that is exactly what he means and when we disobey him—we have sinned.  In fact, we have sinned against the First Commandment that calls us to fear, love, and trust in God above all else.

Now, I can hear what you’re thinking because I’ve heard it before:  But pastor, everybody worries—everybody is afraid--everybody is anxious at times.  How can that be a sin when everyone does it?  But that these thoughts are universal does not prove that they are not a sin but instead shows that we are sinners just like everyone else for we are part of the same broken family of mankind and we have the same fallen flesh. 

We can deny that—and many people do to their eternal spiritual harm—OR—we can confess it to Jesus for the sin it is, receive his forgiveness, and the help he wants to give us today by replacing our anxiety, fear, and worry with the fear, love, and trust in God that he wants to give.  Jesus says:

Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

            If we are thoughtful about what causes us to fret and fuss and fear—isn’t it usually something to do with our earthly life?  Maybe it’s a health concern.  Maybe it’s an economic hardship.  And we toss and turn and talk to ourselves about it until we’re frantic.

Jesus wants to deliver us from anxiety, fear, and worry and so he begins by helping us to see just how foolish and unproductive these kinds of thoughts are.  He says:  consider the ravens—consider the lilies.  In other words, get out of your own head and those worries you are chasing around and open your eyes to a Creator who continues to care for his creatures are not concerned in the least about their Maker’s provision.

The material needs of the birds of the air and the flowers of the field are met gloriously and abundantly by the One who created them and gave them life.  The psalmist caught the beauty of this wonderful, comforting truth when he wrote:  the eyes of all look to you O Lord and you give them their food in due season.  You open your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing. 

The Creator who brought this world into existence and has been wisely ordering its affairs for thousands of years knows his creatures and their needs better than they know themselves and he wants us to have the same kind of freedom that the birds of the air and the flowers of the field have when it comes to not worrying about having our needs met. 

Second of all, Jesus wants us to understand just how powerless we are to change our situation by worrying about it or being afraid of it.  Worry and anxiety and fear are exhausting—but they will not change a thing.  Jesus gives an example:  just try to add an extra hour to your life by worrying.  Of course we know that we can’t do that—God is the One who gives us life and he can be trusted with all of our life.  Jesus says:

If God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith!  And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them.

            Because Jesus wants to deliver us from anxiety, fear, and worry he points out just how foolish and unproductive these thoughts are and he reminds us that God cares for his creatures without their fussing and fretting about it. But Jesus wants us to know even more—that we are not just creatures of a Creator—but that we are children of a heavenly Father.

            You see, the foolishness of worry is a lesson for everyone—whether they are believers or not.  That there is a Creator who wisely orders the natural order ought to be evident to all.  And so even the unbeliever is left without an excuse when it comes to the sinfulness of their worries, fears, and anxieties.

But there is something more for us who believe in Jesus:  we are part of God’s family—children of the heavenly Father—members of the household of God.  Jesus’ death on the cross has paid for all our sins of thought, word, and deed—including our failure to fear, love and trust in God as we should.  His resurrection is the promise of our reconciliation to God and our restoration to his family where death has no part.

God certainly cares for the birds of the air and the flowers of the field but we are much, much more than that:  we are his children- and his care for us goes beyond that of a Creator for his creation.  His care for us is formed and shaped by the love of a Father for his children.

When we believe this and when we build our live upon it then we are then set free to receive from God something infinitely more than merely the basic necessities of life.  Jesus says that instead of worrying about material, earthly things:

Seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you.  “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

            We don’t have to fuss and fret about the things of this life.  It doesn’t do any good.  Our heavenly Father can be trusted to meet our needs.  And besides, the cares and concerns of this life are nothing compared to our eternal life—and that ought to be our first priority—that ought to garner our care and concern. 

            When we are focused on the things of this world, what truly matters (our life with God) gets pushed to the side.  What is pressing and present gets the priority.  That is why Jesus not only wants to forgive our sins of worry and anxiety—but to give us a brand new way of thinking and a brand new way of living and a brand new set of  priorities that puts our life with God first.

That’s what it means to seek God’s kingdom—to confess our sin and receive Christ’s blood-bought forgiveness, and ask for the Spirit’s help to lead holy lives, and to hope for heaven and to order the rest our life so that it supports our life with God.  This is what God wants for us and he has promised to give it.  He has promised to give it!

We don’t have to worry about our earthly life and we certainly don’t have to worry about eternal life because our heavenly Father has gracious promised to give us what we need for each:  food and clothing for this life and the merits of Jesus Christ for eternal life—and so—whether we talking about our life today or our life to come there is no need for worry or fear in the life of a child of God. 

Not only does that free us to enjoy our life with God—it frees us to care for others because we know our own needs are met.  Jesus says:

Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

            When we are fussing and fretting about what about what’s going on in our lives rather than trusting God to meet our needs, it not only affects our life with God, it affects our life with others.  We’re so focused on getting what we want that it blinds us to our neighbor’s need.

But when we understand that God can be trusted to meet our needs it frees us from the self-centeredness of worry and anxiety to serve others.  No longer are we afraid of having “enough”—we know that our provision earth and in eternity comes from God and so we can give generously and freely to help those around us. 

Last week we heard about a rich fool who had nothing waiting for him in heaven because his treasure was what he could hold in his hand.  Jesus does not want that to happen to us.  God knows we need material things to support this earthly life but he wants us to trust him to meet those needs so that we are free to love him and our neighbor—which is the real treasure of this life and the life to come.  Amen.