Good News and “Bad” News
St. Matthew 6:24-34
September 28, 2025 anno Domini
I’ve got good news and bad news. Actually it’s all good news because it comes from the mouth of Jesus. It’s only bad news to your old sinful self. And who cares if that old sinner in you gets bad news – as a Christian you can’t stand him anyway.
The good news first – from Jesus, 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?
As your pastor I have read those Words of Jesus to you more than any other words in the Bible. I’ve read those words when you lost your job, when you fell and broke your hip, when your granddaughter was diagnosed with cancer, after your test results came back.
Oddly when you are in those situations you could care less about food or clothing. You are anxious about life itself because God’s Spirit is teaching you the value of life. The losses in life teach that you will lose your life. Because of your sin you are mortal. Sinners die and you aren’t the exception to the rule. When you realize you’re going to die, you don’t care about the price of eggs or coffee – you’re not concerned about what you’re going to wear to your granddaughter’s wedding. You’re anxious about life.
But Jesus uses food and clothing and birds and flowers to teach you why you do not need to be anxious about your life. Jesus tries to calm you with two questions, “Are you not of more value than (the birds of the air)?” “Will (God your Father) not much more cloth you, than the grass of the field which is here today and burned tomorrow?”
God loves His creation and therefore He provides food for the birds. They don’t buy bulk seed at Costco. They don’t have gardens. They come to the feeders in your back yards and eat your raspberries before you can pick them. It doesn’t cost them a dime. The flowers of the field, and Jesus means the little flowers, the ones you mow down without even admiring. They are clothed more beautifully than Solomon. They never went to Grubers quilt shop. They never learned how to sew. They don’t follow the latest fashions. Yet, the beauty of the tiniest flower is impossible to match. God clothes them to regally even though they are short lived – here today and mowed down tomorrow, or eaten by a cow grazing in the pasture.
This is what Jesus wants you to know — there’s a great difference between you and the birds and the flowers. You are human. God created you different, in His image, male or female (and now I have to say only male or female). No other creature was made to speak with God, to see Him face to face, to live in His presence and receive and return His love.
How sad that the world doesn’t believe in creation? Your children and grandchildren are taught that humans are the random accident of evolutionary chance with no unique identity – no wonder they are confused about who they are. To the world humans are no different, no more valuable than the birds and the flowers. The world doesn’t know the difference between a man and a woman and a cat. They cannot even call an unborn human a human or a child. It’s a developing fetus, a clump of cells, nothing of value, easily disposed of or used for experimentation.
You are God’s greatest creation. Will God not take care of you, O you of little faith? Why do you fear for your life? Why are you anxious? Because in your sinfulness you do not fear, love, and trust in God above all things. The birds and flowers don’t worry because they never sinned. They still trust God more than their cupboards and closets and bank accounts. But here’s where the good news gets even gooder. You have more than your creation as a reason not to worry.
The Son of God became man, a human, conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of Mary, suffered bodily under Pontius Pilate, crucified bodily on the cross, dead body in the cemetery just like you someday, but then raised from the dead. He did that for you – For us men and for our salvation He came down from heaven and was made man – to save man. You have nothing to worry about. Jesus, the Son of God, has redeemed you from death, paid the price of your sins, secured eternal life for you, and promised that one day, you’re going to walk out of the cemetery just as He did. Is there any better remedy for your anxiety and worry than this? Jesus Christ died to save you from sin and death. Believe that and you will not die but live.
That’s the good news, the best and greatest news you will ever hear. So now the bad news. In your bulletin this morning is a commitment card for you to use in the coming weeks. Why is this bad news? Jesus tells us in the text.Right before the best news ever. He says, “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.”
The Christian in you has no problem with those words. Your faith says, “Amen, I want to serve Christ alone and not fear, love, and trust in money. I want to trust the Lord and not be anxious about tomorrow.” But, until the resurrection, your sinful flesh hangs around like an unwelcome ex-relative — fighting the Spirit. Waging war against your faith. It is the sinner in you who fears filling out a commitment card. It is the sinner in you who doesn’t want you to compare your offerings to your income or your other expenses.
I’ve got a test for your this morning to convince you that Jesus is right about two masters. It’s a two question test. I don’t want you to raise your hands for fear we might be confused with Pentecostals. These aren’t my questions. They come from one of our members during a discussion about our congregational assessment and future planning. How many of you think Redeemer is a great congregation? How many of you are willing to sacrifice for her? What’s the difference between your answers? Your spirityou’re your flesh. Your faith and your fear. Your salvation and your selfishness. “No one can serve two masters.”
Saint Paul instructed the Galatians – if we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. This isn’t about money – although money is likely your greatest false god. It is exercising your faith in Christ. It is walking by the Spirit in which you live. What the Holy Spirit delivers to you through His Word and Sacraments is life, the forgiveness for your sins, God’s love, hope for the future, the promise of a resurrected body, no more sin, sorrow, evil, death. That is what you get at Redeemer. That’s why this congregation exists.
I’ll talk more about the commitment cards in the weeks to come, as the readings and sermon provide opportunity, but I didn’t want to delay in giving you the good news with the good news. You have no need to worry. You are more valuable than the birds. You have been fed with the bread of life. You are clothed more beautifully than the flowers – you are made in God’s image and clothed in the righteousness of Christ. God the Father has said so in His Son and delivered that to you by the Spirit in His Word, in Your Baptism, at His table. Now, with all God has given you do not be anxious. Walk by the spirit and exercise your faith. Live in a manner consistent with what You love. The name of Jesus. Amen.