Jesus said: “Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on.” I would like to talk with you this morning about the difference between worry and faith. These two are opposites.
Worry is one of the most common things we struggle with in our lives. Jesus knows that we worry. He knows that we suffer from various trials and tribulations. He does not deny that there are problems in this fallen world. Instead, He teaches us how to face our problems and how to handle them.
The fundamental difference between worry and faith is where we place our trust. Worry looks inward. Faith looks to God and trusts in His promises. Worry says, “It all depends upon me.” Faith says, “My heavenly Father knows what I need.”
Worry is ultimately a spiritual problem. This does not mean that as Christians we will never experience anxiety or that someone who worries is not a Christian. We certainly do worry. Jesus would not warn us against worry if it were not a temptation we regularly faced. The problem is what worry reveals about our heart. We have a sinful heart. Worry often reveals that we doubt whether God is really in control or whether He truly cares for us. Instead of entrusting our lives to God, we attempt to take control ourselves. We try to manage the future by our own planning and preparation. Put simply: “Unbelief worries, but faith prays.”
It is as if God said, “Do not worry. I created you in my own image. I redeemed you. You are mine. I forgive your sins. I freely give you life and salvation by means of the cross and open tomb. I give you daily bread, food, and clothing. So, trust in Me.”
Now we should work hard, plan wisely, provide for our families and care for our neighbors. A father provides for his family, a mother cares for her children, a child obeys his parents, a worker does his job faithfully, a student works hard at school, a citizen serves his neighbor and prays for good government. These are vocations given to us to live our faith. So, Jesus does not want us to be lazy. We should not sit back and expect God to deliver what we need at our front door, like an Amazon package. Look at the birds of the air. They are not lazy. They work to find food. They build nests and they feed their young. They receive what God provides. Likewise, we should faithfully do what God has given us to do while leaving the results up to Him.
Jesus said, “Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” Worry attempts to live in the future. We take tomorrow’s problems and try to solve them today. We worry about next week, next month, next year, retirement, our children, our health, and our finances. We cannot live tomorrow today. God alone stands outside of time and knows the future perfectly. Therefore, worry attempts to carry a burden that God has not given us to carry.
Faith is different. Faith does not deny that trouble exists. Faith does not pretend that everything will always work out according to our desires. Scripture does not promise us a life free from sickness, financial difficulty, disappointment, persecution, suffering, or death. In fact, each day is going to have some sort of trouble. God has not promised us a trouble-free life. He has promised us that He will remain our heavenly Father and that all things will work out together for their good.
Faith therefore does not say, “Nothing bad will happen.” Faith says, “Whatever happens, my Father is still faithful.” This is the faith demonstrated by Job. After losing his possessions and children, Job confessed, “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” Faith can receive both prosperity and adversity from the hand of God, trusting that His wisdom is greater than ours. Faith does not require us to understand everything God is doing. It requires us to trust the God who knows what He is doing.
The difference between worry and faith can also be seen in what we do with fear. Worry turns fear inward. Faith turns fear toward God. Faith prays. Instead of saying, “How will I fix this?” faith says, “Father, You know what I need. Help me. Sustain me. Give me patience and wisdom. Thy will be done.”
Jesus tells us to look at the birds of the air. They neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, yet their heavenly Father feeds them. Then Jesus asks, “Are you not of more value than they?” Yes you are. If God cares for the birds, how much more will He care for you, His own children? The same is true of the flowers of the field. God clothes them with beauty even though they are temporary. If He cares for His creation in this way, surely He will care for us whom He has made in His image and redeemed us through His Son.
Let’s now look at the life of Christ. Jesus never worried. He trusted in His heavenly Father. When Jesus was tempted by the devil to turn stones into bread, Jesus said, “No.” Jesus never worried about food. When there was no food, He simply multiplied enough bread and fish to feed the over five thousand. Jesus never worried about food or clothing. As He traveled during his three years of ministry, someone always provided for Him and His disciples.
Buying land and building an earthly home was of no importance to Jesus. Instead, the cross was his goal. It was his mission, and he was faithful in going to the cross.
Why did Jesus die upon the cross? He died as a righteous sacrifice for our sin of anxiety and worry. Jesus made the payment for sin that we cannot make. Jesus bore the wrath of God upon the cross in our place and on our behalf. Jesus humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death even death upon the cross.
Three days later, Jesus rose from the dead. There is now reconciliation with our heavenly Father. There is peace with God our Father through our Lord Jesus Christ. There is now the forgiveness of sins for sinners like you and me.
This is the heart of the Gospel. When we worry, we are tempted to ask whether God really cares about us. But the cross gives the answer. God does care for us. He has already given His Son for us. As Paul writes in Romans 8, “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” If God has taken care of our greatest need—our salvation from sin and death—then we can trust Him with our lesser, temporal needs as well.
In Baptism, God makes us His children through Christ. We are united to Christ and clothed with His righteousness. Our identity is not determined by what we own, by our success, or by our health. Our true identity comes from our heavenly Father who created us, the Son who redeemed us, and the Holy Spirit who has made us holy.
Our heavenly Father provides us with daily bread, but He gives us something far greater in the Lord’s Supper. He gives us the true body and blood of Christ for the forgiveness of sins. We are clothed with Christ’s righteousness and fed with Christ’s life. These gifts remind us that our heavenly Father is not distant or indifferent. He is actively caring for us by means of the Gospel and Sacrament.
God has given you the gift of faith in Christ and He sustains this faith by means of His Word and the Lord’s Supper.
Therefore, Jesus gives us a new priority: “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” Notice the priority. First, seek God’s kingdom and seek Christ and His righteousness. Then all that you need will be added to you.
This does not mean that our responsibilities with family and work disappear. Rather, our responsibilities are put into their proper place. We work hard. We save money. We plan for the future. We serve the neighbor and we care for our families, but we do not make these things our highest priority apart from God. We don’t make the things of this world an idol. We place God’s Word, prayer, and church as our highest priority.
We are to seek God’s kingdom and Christ’s righteousness, but this is not a one time thing. It is ongoing. The Divine Service is a regular pattern in our lives. It is not optional.
In the end, the difference between worry and faith is the difference between trusting ourselves and trusting God. Worry tries to control tomorrow. Faith receives today from the hand of God. Worry asks, “What if everything goes wrong?” Faith answers, “My heavenly Father knows what I need.” Worry looks at the uncertainty of the world. Faith looks at the certainty of Christ.
We will still experience worry. The old Adam will continue to tempt us to doubt God’s goodness and take control of our lives. But when worry comes, we confess our sin. We receive God’s forgiveness in Christ. We remember our Baptism. We hear His Word. We receive the Lord’s Supper. We pray and we give God all praise and thanksgiving. We can cast our cares upon Him because He cares for us.
Jesus does not promise that tomorrow will be easy. He promises that tomorrow is in our heavenly Father’s hands. Therefore, we need not worry about tomorrow. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Sufficient for us is Christ. His righteousness is sufficient. His forgiveness is plentiful. His grace is abundant. And because Christ died and rose for us, we can face each day in faith, trusting that our heavenly Father will never abandon us.
What God ordains is always good:
This truth remains unshaken.
Though sorrow, need, or death be mine,
I shall not be forsaken.
I fear no harm.
For with His arm.
He shall embrace and shield me:
So to my God I yield me.
Amen.
