Bloghardt's Reflector

I think I've told my mother that she's not allowed to look at webmd.com 'cause she doesn't actually have any of the rare disease that it makes she think she has!

Mammon. Our stuff. Money. That's our favorite worry. Do we have enough? Can we pay our bills? Can we make it?

But, we've all learned at St. Mark that you can be dirt poor at the beginning of the voter's meeting and have a surplus that abounds at the end. No worries, we have a God who cares for us.

And if today has so much to worry about.. how could you possibly worry about tomorrow? You should prepare for it. Budget for tomorrow and keep to that budget. But, worry about it?

And why do you worry? It doesn't actually help. They say there are near earth asteroids that barely miss us all the time. Does my worrying make them miss? No, I can't even add a foot to my height or a year to my life by my worrying.

Worrying actually hurts us – ulcers and stress aren't good for you.

Then, you take that stress out on those around you. You forget that they are more important than you are and you put them in their place. “You just don't understand what I'm dealing with!”

Worrying is crippling. It takes energy. And when someone tells us to not worry, we worry about worrying. Why, why, why do we worry?

Jesus tells us today: oligopistoi. Little faith ones. You worry because you forget about the Father. You forget God loves you and cares for you in Christ.

Jesus tells us today that God cares for the grass of the field and the birds of the air which are here today and tomorrow tossed into the fire. God cares for you in Christ. Not gonna forget about you – even you when you worry.

The lilies, birds, grass, the water, the animals, all made by Your Father and all made for your sake.

The same God – there is only one – made the stars – for you. Sun for you. Moon for you. Asteroids for you. Planets for you. He does all of that and keeps everything up there in the sky far from you. Just far enough to light up your way at night.

And He hasn't forgotten about you. No, to you and for you He sent His Son. Beaten, bruised, crushed, and discarded like the trash – like the lilies that have been plucked and then die.

That's Jesus for you. The Father has given you every thing – even the life of His Son. Christ's faith for your unbelief. His certainty for your uncertainty. His trusting only in God for all the times you trust in the other gods in your world.

His faithfulness even makes that little Greek word oligopistoi a gift. It's not a condemning word. It's the word from a parent to a kid that everything is going to be ok.

Just wait, you'll see. It's going to work out for your good. Just watch, oligopistoi.

What you need, He'll give you. It may not be what you want, but you'll have what you need to get by. And if you have to skip that nice shirt, not eat out, or spend a bit less in the process, that might not be bad. You don't have what you don't have by God's grace. So, don't fret, little faith ones.

And if you have some and then more, well that's good too. A surplus isn't a bad thing. It's useful to help those around you with. And don't put your trust in the little bit extra you have. You have what you have because of the grace of God. Don't worry, oligopistoi.

You see, it isn't faith to believe that God exists. Nor is it faith to believe that God is powerful and strong enough to fix your problems. Every religion has that!

Christian Faith is to live like the lily in the field – perfectly trusting the God who made you.

Consider the One who held the lily in his hand that day – He lived, suffered, and died, certain in all things that God was going to be good to Him. Even when the goodness of God drove nails into His hands and feet! God was always good to Him – even when He breathed His last. That's faith!

You see, faith believes, faith trusts that God is always good to us. Which means, everything that befalls you, everything that happens, from the rising of the sun, to the bug that flies into your windshield, to the person who lets you down, to the person who smiles at just the right time, all of that is happening for your good.

The Cross shows us the God who is always – always good to us. No need to worry or doubt. No need to despair. For One who tends to the birds and the lilies is the One who tends to you.

Lily. Not the big old Easter lily, but the lily of the field. Growing wild where they weren't expected nor wanted. Carefree. Like the Texas Bluebonnets - each one different, each unique, each wonderfully and fearfully made by a God who can't get enough of you because of what Christ did for you.

And each one here this morning and thrown into the fires at sunset!

That beauty, that freedom, that mercy was given to you in your baptism, in the Word, in the Supper. His forgiveness. His faithfulness. His life right in your lips.

Why would you ever worry again! You have eaten and drunk eternal life!

Jesus for you. Never will you be discarded thrown into the fire. Not after He was in your place.

So, with death and hell handled by the One who truly believed that God is always good for Him – even through Cross and Grave, you can cling to Christ through all scarcity, adversity, trial, and tribulation.

Or better, He will cling to you. Through it all – even death itself. Don't worry, oligopistoi.

Instead, think on the birds of the air. They don't have a job, a check card, or a bank account and the Father feeds them.

And when things get particularly dark, consider the lily in the field. Solomon, the richest king, in all of Israel in all his glory isn't dressed up like one of these little wild flowers.

"And if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith."

Oligopistoi. That's little faith ones. Little faith ones who have a heavenly Father who sent the Christ to die for them.

No worries. He's done the faithful job. For you. In your place. For me too. So, consider the birds of the air and the lilies of the field. Lord, I believe. Help now my unbelief. INI. Amen.