Episode Details

Trinity 15 sermon preached by Rev. James Preus on Matthew 6:24-34 in 2024.

Gospel: Matthew 6:24-34

24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

25  “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

34  “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Trinity 15

Matthew 6:24-34

Serve the Better God

Pastor James Preus

Trinity Lutheran Church

September 8, 2024

Jesus instructs us that we cannot serve two masters, therefore, we cannot serve God and mammon. Mammon is earthly wealth. You will either love and cling to God and hate and despise Mammon, or you will love and cling to Mammon and hate and despise God. So, you have a choice of which god you will serve. Will you serve mammon, the god of earthly wealth? Or will you serve God the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth? Jesus presents us with a perfectly logical argument why God is the better Master to serve and why we should stop serving the false god Mammon.

First, how do you serve Mammon? You serve Mammon by being anxious, that is, by caring for the things of this life. In other words, by worrying. But Jesus tells us not to worry, not to be anxious, because our heavenly Father cares for all our needs without us offering incense to Mammon with our worrying. He begins by using the logical argument, that if the greater is true, so is the lesser. Consider the birds of the air. They do not toil as you do. They don’t stay up at night worrying. Yet, your heavenly Father feeds them. Of how much more value are you than they? Study the lilies of the field. They do not spin nor sow, but your Father in heaven clothes them more majestically than Solomon the Great. Is it not self-evident that God cares more for you than the grass of the field which is gone tomorrow?

Did God create the birds in His own image? Did He give them dominion over the earth? Did God take on the flesh and nature of birds to become their Redeemer? Did He send His Son to die for the flowers in the field? No. But He has done that for you! God the Son took on our human flesh and blood, lived under the Law for our sake, and was crucified for our sins! How much more does God care for you than for birds and grass! And yet, your Father in heaven does not fail to care for these lesser creatures. How much more will He provide for you!

In that same vein, God has given us much greater blessings than food for the belly and clothing for the body. St. Paul employs this same logical argument of Christ’s when he writes to the Romans in chapter 8, “He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will H