What are you worried about?  What cares do you bring with you this morning?  Sometimes the world thinks of church as a place where we check our baggage at the door and pretend like we have no problems, but we know better.  We all have something that that we worry about. We know we shouldn’t. We tell others they shouldn’t. We don’t really like it when they tell us we shouldn’t. In fact the advice contained in the old song by the same title “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” rolls off the tongue smoothly, while it’s often like fingernails on a chalkboard to our own. In fact, we are here because of our baggage, because of our worries and struggles in life.  We are here to lay it all at the foot of a cross of Jesus, for He calls us to lay our burdens on Him and find rest in His grace.

We are reminded today of God’s Word to us concerning our worries in life. In fact, when we worry, we are essentially committing the sin of idolatry.  We end up treating our worries as though they are some kind of god.  We think that by worrying about our problems somehow we will feel more at peace and find a refuge in our time of need.  Our anxieties are the prayers we offer to the god of worry.

And make no mistake, those prayers are heard.  There is a god named Worry, but his other name is Satan.  The devil knows that if he can keep us preoccupied and filled with doubt, anxiety, and worry about God’s promise to provide for us, then he can keep us from looking to God to provide for us in all times. 

And isn’t that what worry really does?  If we are constantly concerned about what we will eat or drink or wear, constantly checking the bank account to make sure there’s enough money, staying up late mulling things over and over and over again, aren’t we trying to grab control over what belongs to the Lord or to shift it to something or someone else?  Ultimately, if that worrisome doubting is left unchecked, the devil continues to make it grow until we decide to give up on God and take matters into our own hands.  

Brothers and sisters in Christ, it does not have to be this way; actually it really is not this way.  The Lord does not sow worry and anxiety into your hearts, but sows faith by the Gospel.  It is as we are dealing with these worries and countless others that may be the common plight of mankind, or specific to each one of us, that our Father assures us that He knows what we need and has promised that as we seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, all these things will be given to us as well (Matthew 6:33).

Consider this in our Gospel reading today.  Are we not more important than the birds of the air and the flowers of the field? Are we not more important than the stuff that we covet and desire that brings joy for the moment but wear off given time? The answer to that is “Yes! Yes, we are!  We have been bought with the blood of Christ!”

We might yet again respond to God: “OK, that all sounds wonderful in theory, and I know that this is where my strength and assurance should be, but when and where the rubber meets the road, how can my focus change from fear to faithfulness, from worry to faith, so that I don’t have to be anxious about anything from food, drink and clothes, to working for the Lord in His harvest field ever again?”

These are not just words meant to give some temporary comfort or to ease the mind.  This the Gospel that delivers what it says – forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation.  You see, God did not just tell Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Elijah, along with Elisha, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, Jonah and all the prophets; along with the apostles and evangelists of the New Testament, as well as with His own dear Son, Jesus Christ, and including you and me, to seek His kingdom and His righteousness first. No, God acts first, through His Son to fulfill all righteousness, to earn all righteousness through the life, death, and resurrection of His Son. And the righteousness of Christ is offered to you, freely, receiving by the simply faith and trust in Jesus as the Son of God.

The kingdom of God comes to us through the Word and the Sacrament.  This is where our attention, our aim, our goal is to be found – in Christ and in His means of grace.  This is where we are directed in our worries, and where God uses us to direct others. And since you and I are united with His Son in Baptism, in hearing the Word, in receiving His very body and blood, in His very death, being we have nothing to worry about as we seek first His kingdom, we are freed from worries and anxieties and doubt about our provisions in order to serve Him as we serve those places in our lives (Matthew 25:40) wherever and whenever He has need of us, carrying out the great task He gives to us of bringing the lost and the erring into eternal fellowship with Him.

Today, we celebrate two exciting things: Lutheran Women’s Missionary League Sunday is one. Here, we honor the effort of Lutheran Women all over the world who seek and spread the kingdom of God through the sharing the Gospel, through Bible studies, through mites, through love.  The National LWML has a goal to raise $2 million dollars by 2017 to support these efforts.  That sounds like a lot, and it is.  Will they get that much, I don’t know.  But what we do know is that all that is needed is given in Christ who brings His kingdom and His blessings to His people.

Which leads us to the second thing we celebrate today: Sunday School.  Here we are, heading the words of Jesus last week from Mark 9 to bring our children to Him to receive the kingdom.   I’m sure there is plenty of worry and anxiety to go around.  Without a doubt, the time is now for us as Christians to use our God-given gifts and abilities to meet the challenge of sharing the Gospel message of Jesus Christ with those around us, and into all the world. To be perfectly honest that is a huge responsibility and it causes us concern, worry, and moments of trembling. Will children come? Will the teachers be ready? Will our efforts produce any fruit? Will our children have faith in Christ, will they keep their faith, will they proclaim their faith?

Are these valid concerns?  Yes, they are.  But they are concerns for God and not for you.  Your concern, your worry, your attention is Jesus and His kingdom. When it is on Jesus, there is no cause for worry, no time for worry, no place for worry. For Jesus has taken it all upon Himself on the cross.

There will be days when the lilies get mowed over and the birds are cat food.  We all have those days where life is upside down, crazy, and out of control.  However, do not fear when those dark days come. Do not fear and do not worry for the Lord is with you.  He will never leave you nor forsake you.  His grace, His mercy, and His peace are with you. In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

* This sermon has been adapted from one provided by the Lutheran Women’s Missionary League and various other sermons prepared by other pastors on this text.