Old Testament Lesson; Genesis 15:106
Epistle Lesson; Hebrews 11:1-16
Gospel Lesson; Luke 12:22-34
Sermon Text; Luke 12:22-34

Believe it or not, the United States Bureau of Standards says that if you were to take a dense fog that would cover seven huge city blocks and was a hundred feet high, (and the fog was so dense that you could barely see your way around), if you were to condense all that fog into plain liquid water, it would fit into a little glass of water. Isn't that something? All that fog would fit into one little glass!

I want you to keep that picture in mind, just for a second, as I go through this short story.

A little boy hears a phone conversation his mom is having. She is talking to the doctor, making an appointment. When his mom gets off the phone, the little guy asks her, "What was that about?"

The mom says, "Oh, I made a doctor appointment for you."

The little guy then asks, "Why?"

The mom says, "Well, you need to go in and get your shot."

The little guy shouts, "Shot! What for?"

And she says, "Well, you just have to get your shot."
The little guy’s lip starts to quiver as he asks, "Is it going to hurt?"

The mom says, "It is not going to hurt too bad."

The little boy asks, "How big is the needle going to be?"
The mom tries to comfort him by saying, "Don't worry. It will be ok, Honey."

The little boy runs off to his room and slams his door. She can hear sobbing coming from inside. Pretty soon he comes out and says, "My stomach hurts. How big is the needle going to be?"
She gets him through the day and he goes to bed that night. About an hour after he has been in bed, he calls out to his mom, "Mom! Is that shot going to hurt? Do I have to get the shot?"

That goes on for a couple of weeks, until finally it is the day they have to go to the doctor. She literally has to pick him up and put him into the car, because he is flailing and screaming about this shot. She straps him into the car seat, and drives him to the doctor. All the meanwhile, he is flailing and screaming. He composes himself enough to walk into the waiting room of the doctor’s office, where there are lots of people waiting. When it is their turn, they go into the doctor's office, sit down, and the door closes. The doctor is in there. All of a sudden he breaks into hysteria, screaming, closing his eyes, and flailing his head. The doctor simply walks up, and gives the little guy his shot. The little guy continues to flail and all of a sudden stops to catch a breath, looks at the doctor and asks, "When are you going to give me the shot?"

The doctor says, "Well, I already did. It is all over."

What had happened? That little guy had taken something the size of what it really was, and through worry, had turned it into a huge, dense fog that covered all kinds of aspects of his life, ate him up, stressed him out, and drove him almost crazy.

That is what worry can do to us, even as God's people. Worry is dwelling on something that might happen, off in the future. They are those uncertain thoughts, because we don't know what is going to come. It is the inability to control the future. And so, worry can drive us to repeat over and over in our minds, (even though we don't want to) over and over the scenarios that could happen.

They are the ‘what if’ questions.

· What if I go to the doctor?

· What if he says I really do have cancer?

· And what if then I get really sick?

· What if I do need chemotherapy?

· What if the chemotherapy doesn't work?

· What if I would die?

· What if there is nobody to take care of my family?

· What if my insurance policy isn't big enough?

· What if I can't get any extra insurance anymore?

They are those worries that just go on, and on, and on. We can walk away from them, with knots in our stomach. We can lay in bed at night, with our eyes wide open, because those thoughts just replay themselves in our head, over and over again. That is what worry is.

Worry can destroy.

● It can hurt our health.

● It can eat up everything that is going on around us.

● It can eat up our relationships, with other people, because we can become irritable and stressed out.

Worry can cover all kinds of areas of your life. You could be worried about your grades. You could be worried about your looks. You could be worried your health. You could be worried about your job. You could be worried about what the boss thinks about your work. You could be worried about what your friends in school think of you. You could be worried about making a fool out of yourself by what you are about to do. You can be worried about all kinds of things.

Worry is not healthy. It is not good for our relationships. And especially, worry, in a deeper sense, hurts our relationship with God. Worry is a sin. The Bible says,

"Do not be anxious about anything."

Don't worry about anything. That is a command.

Worry is lack of trust that God will take care of us. Jesus, in talking about worry said,

"O you of little faith!"

Worry can actually even destroy our spiritual relationship with God. Jesus, in talking about the parable of the sower and the seed, talked about some of the seed that fell among weeds and thorns. That seed grew up, but then the thorns and thistles chocked it out. Jesus said, "These are they who had faith for a little while, but then the worries of this life came and chocked out their faith"

The worries so consumed them that they forgot about their relationship with God. They forgot about studying God's Word. All they could think about was taking care of those worries.

So what is in your 'glass' that has now escaped and is making a dense fog in your life,

that is eating you up inside?

that is stressing you out?

that is causing you sleeplessness sometimes?

that is causing you to have knots in your stomach?

that you can't get out of your mind, because you replay the what ifs over and over again?

Whatever it is, in our scripture reading for today, Jesus gives these six steps for all of us to be aware of. They are six, simple, little steps to help faith overcome worry.

The first one is this. Jesus uses an argument, from what we call, ‘from the greater to the lesser.’ If I were to ask you, "What is greater, my body or a hamburger that feeds the body? Which is greater?"

Well, obviously the body is far greater than a hamburger. If I would ask you, "Which is greater, my life, or the clothes that covers this body? Which would be greater?"

Well, of course the life is far greater than the clothes that cover the body. Jesus says this, in the context of the Word. He says,

"Life is more than food,

and the body more than clothes."

Jesus wants you to think about this. God loves you so much that He has given you body and life - these great things! God chose you to come into existence! It is only by God's doing that you were brought into this world. From eternity, He chose you to come into existence. He saw to it that you were conceived. He shaped you in your mother's womb. He gave you life. He gave you breath. He chose the color hair you have. He chose the color eyes you have. He chose the size and shape of your body. He chose everything about you, in your life and your body. He has seen to it that you are here, living and breathing. Jesus said that if God has taken care of your life (He has given you a life. He has given you a body, with eyes and ears), don't you think if He has taken care of those greater things, won't He take care of the lesser things, (the clothes that covers the body, and the food that you put into your body to live)? So, don't worry about those lesser things. God will surely take care of them. That is the first, number one, argument Jesus gives.

The second defense against worry that Jesus gives is just the reverse. The first was the argument ‘from the greater to the lesser.’ If God takes care of the greater, He will surely take care of the lesser things in your life. Now Jesus uses the argument, ‘from the lesser to the greater.’ He says, "Look at things around you that are less than you are. For example, a bird, a bird is far less than you are." God did not say to the birds to subdue the earth and take care it. But, He did, to us. Birds were not made in God's image, but human beings were. A bird is far less than you are. Jesus said,

"Consider the ravens."

Now, He picked ravens for a reason. Some birds do store up things for themselves, but ravens are scavengers. They don't store up anything. They just fly around, from day to day, looking for scraps, and they eat them. Jesus says, "Look at the ravens. They are less than you are. They don't store up. They don't store things in barns. They don't sow. They don't reap. And yet, your Father in Heaven feeds them. How much more valuable are you than birds?"

God did not become a bird, but

He became a human being.

God did not die on a cross for birds, but

He died for human beings.

If God takes care of the ravens, (and they are so much less than you are), certainly you can trust that if God feeds them, He is going to feed you.

Jesus says, "Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these."

Look at the flowers, the lilies of the field. Jesus said that not even Solomon, in all of His splendor, was dressed as they are. They are so beautiful. And, God clothes them.

They are here today and gone tomorrow. And yet, God clothes them. You are not here today and gone tomorrow. You last forever, for eternity. And if God takes care of the little flowers that are here today and gone tomorrow, don't you think that God will take care of you?
Point number three is this. What good does worry accomplish? What if I do find that there is some reason that I need to go to the doctor for a test? I begin to worry, "What is going to happen? What is the test going to say? Is the doctor going to find something wrong with my health? What if my health is in jeopardy? What if my life is cut short?"

And I begin to play out all of the scenarios in my mind. Can all of that worry add even one hour to my life? If I would consume myself with it, stay up day and night, worrying, Jesus said,

"Who of you

by worrying

can add a single hour to his life?"

Since you can't even do that little thing, why worry about the rest. Jesus is telling us that worry cannot accomplish anything good. In fact, worry probably does just the opposite. Worry may take away hours away from my life, as it hurts my health.

The fourth thing that Jesus says about worry is this. He gives a command, with a promise. It is a command, with a promised blessing. Jesus says,

"Do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink;

(You could add all the worries that you may have.)

do not worry about it."

Don't worry about all of those things.

Then, Jesus said, "For the pagan world (unbelievers) runs after all such things." (They are worried about all of those things.)

Jesus then said, "Your Father knows that you need them."

Here comes the command, with the promise, which is to Christians. He said,

Seek first,

"Seek His Kingdom

and these things will be given to you, as well."

So, what is the command? Jesus says, "Don't focus on the little things. Don't put all of your focus on ‘Are my clothes the right kind of clothes?’ ‘Am I going to have enough food to eat today?’ ‘Will I be able to pay my bills, next month?’"

Seek first the Kingdom of God

and His righteousness.

The most important thing that we should focus on is God's Kingdom. Repent of our sins, daily. Turn to Jesus, as our Savior, the One who forgives us, daily. Trust in Jesus' perfect life, daily, as our own perfect life. Go to the cross and there know that our sins have been absolutely wiped away by Jesus' blood, daily. Live for Him, daily, because that is what life is all about.

Seek first the Kingdom of God,

and His righteousness.

Here comes the promise. God does not break promises. He says,

"These things will be given to you, as well."

In other words, you will have clothes on your back. It may be rags, but He will take care of you. You will have food on the table. It may be crumbs, but He will take care of your needs.

The fifth thing Jesus says about worry is this. Look at the eternal picture. Look at the eternal picture. Jesus says,

"Do not be afraid,

little flock."

Think of all the fears that worry can bring into our lives. Worries about what our friends will think. Worries about jobs. Worries about money. Worries about health. Worries about how things are going in our marriage. Jesus says,

"Do not be afraid,

little flock,

for your Father has been pleased

to give you

the Kingdom."

Look at the perspective Jesus is giving you there. God, in His mercy and His grace, has been pleased to give to you the Kingdom of Heaven! God, at great price, has purchased you. God has sent His Son. God died for you. God has declared you not guilty. God has said, "I want you to be with me. I love you so much that I want you to be with me, not just one day, two days, three days, four days, for the rest of your life. I want you to be with me for ever, and ever, and ever. All that I have, I give you!"

God has been pleased to give you the eternal Kingdom.

So don't be afraid. Don't be afraid.

What if your worst worries would come true?

What if you did lose all of your friends? You still have the Kingdom.

What if you do lose your job? You still have the Kingdom.

What if you lose your health? You still have the Kingdom.

What if you lose your life? You still have the kingdom.

Which is why Luther put it so succinctly, "Take they our goods, fame, child, and life. Let these all be gone. They yet have nothing won, the Kingdom ours remaineth."

We have security.

The sixth thing about worry is this. (It is a real thought provoker.) The things in this 'glass' that I may worry about, (because my heart is set on those things), master my heart. It could be money. It could be what my friends think about me. It could be clothes. Those things can master our hearts. And when that is our treasure and that masters our heart, well then it is going to cause me to worry, be troubled, and make that 'fog,' because of all the 'what ifs.' Jesus says, "Don't let this be your master, whatever is in this cup. Don't let it be your master. Don't let it use you."

You use

it.

Don't let money use you. Don't let money cause you to worry. You use it, and you use it for the Kingdom. If God has given you a lot of money, don't worry about it. Use it for the Kingdom. If God has given you little money. Don't worry about it. Use it for the Kingdom.

If God has given you great health, don't worry about it. Use it for the Kingdom. If He has given you poor health, don't worry about it, use it for the Kingdom.

So then, instead of letting these things fill the air around us, we actually use those things. And instead of troubling us, they end up being used for the Kingdom.

"Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in Heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief come near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

We have an awesome Savior. He wants us to be free from our worries, because of what He has done for us.

Amen.