Sufficient for the Day

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

This world has an awful lot of troubles these days. As of mid-2010, the average American has about $44,000 in personal debt, including secured debt like mortgages. According to some sources, the average household in this country has about $8,000 in credit card debt. The US national debt, as of this past week, is over $14 trillion.

The Wisconsin legislature is in its second week of protests regarding the collective bargaining rights of state workers, and has recently passed the bill in the House. However, if the fourteen state senators hiding in Illinois do not return to work, the matter will stall in the Senate. If the matter is not settled, the governor has said that 1,500 state employees will be laid off by June. The national unemployment rate continues to hover over 9%, and, as of December 2010, the Iowa unemployment rate was 6.3%.

Bodies continue to be discovered in Christchurch, New Zealand, following the catastrophic earthquake there this past week. The death toll is rapidly approaching 100 there, and many more left injured and homeless. Protests in Libya are leading to deaths daily as people demonstrate against the government.

“Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” Sufficient for the day is its own troubles, but sometimes it feels like there is an overabundance all at once. It is difficult not to worry about tomorrow when there is so much of today's trouble that seems to send ripples into tomorrow and the next day and the next generation.

Every day it seems that more troubles crop up in our lives, and there are more and more things to distract us from our goal – living in God's grace until we live in His presence.

In the history of the Church, there have been those who take this morning's reading as a call to forsake the things of this life and this world and to disdain the needs of the body and of society. After all, Jesus says not to worry about food or drink or clothing, right? So why should we work for such things or seek after them, or possess them at all? So some think, we ought to give up all the trappings of worldly existence and live in caves on a mountainside. The things of this world hinder us from seeking after the kingdom of God, so cast them aside and run after the prize.

That is the wrong answer to the problem. Therein we see the danger of over-reacting to Jesus' message in this text. Jesus is not calling us to forsake the cares of this life and the things of this world and to go live in holes in the ground. Rather, Jesus commends those things to us as good and useful. The things of this world are good and useful, and God blesses their use, as He blesses us by giving them to us. God our Father made everything that was and is and is to come, and He declared it all to be very good. The Lord gave manna to His children in the wilderness. Jesus turned water into wine at Cana, and fed crowds of 5,000 and 4,000 with bread. He even raised the widow's son and Lazarus from the dead. How's that for affirming the goodness of the things of this life!

Jesus is not asking you to get rid of the things you need to support this body and life, because He knows that you need them. After all, He is the one who gives them to you. Your heavenly Father gives you all that you are and all that you have, only out of fatherly, divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness, or even any asking, from you. And He daily and richly provides all this, even when you forget to thank Him, or even acknowledge Him.

Rather, Jesus is telling you not to get so wrapped up the pursuit of the needs of the body that you forget about the needs of the soul. Death does not reign on this earth, despite all evidences to the contrary. Death does not reign, because the Lord of Life has defeated death once for all. Jesus Christ, the Author and Perfector of our life, came into this world and was born a man, born from the womb of the Virgin Mary. He received life, and lived His life according to the same rules that govern us. He ate His daily bread and wore His clothes and did His work and received His compensation. And then He allowed Himself to be handed over to the leaders of the Jews and to be mocked, beaten, and crucified. Death had its chance, and lost. As Jesus was nailed to the cross, the sun was already setting on the devil's day. The Lord of Life carried the sins of the whole world upon His shoulders and nailed them to the cross. In that agonizing death, He received the punishment for our transgressions, and there they remained. As His lifeless body was laid into the tomb, our Lord Christ was in hell, routing the devil and bursting the bonds of death for the saints of God. On that blessed Easter morn, the joy of the glory of God was revealed in the empty tomb, as Jesus appeared to His disciples, proclaiming to them the resurrection from the dead and the victory of eternal life. Death does not reign, because the Resurrection and the Life has destroyed death.

Therefore, because death no longer reigns, you need not fret about what you will wear or what you will eat or what you will drink. Your heavenly Father will provide what you need. But instead of worrying about such things, how about you focus on the kingdom of God? The Lord God, your heavenly Father, wants nothing more than your love and your thanksgiving. He wants you to thank and praise Him for all His wondrous gifts, and in turn to serve and obey Him for the good of His people. Your heavenly Father wants to be your Father, and He desires nothing more than that you be His child and depend on Him to love and care for you, which He already does.

And because your Father in heaven already cares for your needs of body and soul, you need not worry any more than the lilies of the field or the birds of the air. For the things of this world are provided to you, and your heavenly Father wants you to use them to serve your neighbor in love. Because death no longer reigns, you need not worry about whether tomorrow will come and bring a new wave of trouble. As Luther said, if you knew Jesus were going to come tomorrow, you should go plant a tree today. Go and help your neighbor. Serve the poor and needy. Defend the defenseless and innocent.

Death no longer reigns, so do not be afraid of what will happen to your body. Your heavenly Father is already taking care of that for you. You have been placed precisely where the Lord would have you grow. In this spot, you grow and blossom and flower in your appointed time and in your appointed ways. You adorn the field in which God has planted you, and you enrich the lives of those who see you because of the wonders God has given to you to share. He has given you family and friends to love and serve and cherish. He has given you neighbors for whom you obey the laws of the land and follow the dictates of decency. He has given you the poor, who are always with you, who need your love and your charity and your good works. So call your mother or your son. Take out the trash, or thank the one who does it for you. Write a letter to your faraway friend, then write a letter to your legislator. Pray for the enemies of the Church and for the children of God in distress. Death no longer reigns, and life prevails. Sufficient for the day is its trouble, and its blessings.

Thou my faith increase and quicken;

Let me keep Thy gift divine,

Howsoe'er temptations thicken;

May Thy Word still o'er me shine

As my guiding star through life,

As my comfort in all strife.

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.