"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can anyone of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?" (Matthew 6:25-27)
To understand what Jesus is telling us here, we have to understand that the "therefore" in verse 25 indicates that what follows is a summation of the stuff that came before. It's like one of those resolutions passed by Congress that, unlike the efficacious Word of God, doesn't really do anything, but they pass them to honor dignitaries and such. Whereas, such and such background or historical information...Whereas, this and that series of facts and accomplishments...Therefore, be it resolved that Henry Suspenders be commended for his contributions to life, the universe, and everything. All the "whereases" are important to understand the "therefore" that comes at the end. So, what are the things that come before Jesus tells us not to worry? Most immediately, Jesus warns against the idolatry of Mammon:
"No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money." (Matthew 6:24)
We can either fear, love, and trust in God above all things, or we can serve money ("Mammon," in the KJV; it means "stuff"). This is the constant struggle of the Christian in this life. The inner man wants to keep God's Law; the Flesh is inclined toward evil, selfish desires and away from God. Nothing can rescue us from this predicament but Christ, who comes to us through the means of grace.
More practically speaking, we set up these idols of Mammon because we think that they will provide us with security. And they do, in a certain sense. It's way easier to pay the rent when you have money. It can be difficult to make one's way in this modern world of ours without a good paying job, which allows you to afford a car to get to work, and to buy groceries, not to mention all the other "important" things we could all think of.
The problem, however, is twofold. First, these things aren't the most important thing, as we believe them to be. Second, we mistakenly think that we are the ones who are responsible for getting and keeping these things.
The point of this is for us to understand a couple of things. First, God will protect and provide for His people the things that they need. He does so for the rest of His creation; for the birds of the air and beasts of the field. He clothes the lilies of the field. He is even so gracious to as to provide for the needs of the wicked, as God makes His sun rise on the evil as well as the good; He sends rain on the just as well as the unjust. Our problem often is this: We don't understand what it is that we need. Jesus, however, tells us what it is that we actually need:
"So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." (Matthew 6:31-43)
Everything else apart from God's Kingdom and God's righteousness is secondary. Our sinful flesh is inclined to seek after both the material things of this world, and the immaterial things such as power, pride, and vengeance. That's because we want to seize control of our lives and be God, just like our first parents in the Garden at the time of the Fall. But God empowers us by the working of His Holy Spirit through His means of Word and Sacrament to seek the thing that we actually need: the new life which we take hold of by faith in Christ. All the other things -food, drink, clothing; the things which we think are so important to life in this world -God will provide for us too. And unlike the pagans, who run after these things; who fear, love, and trust in these things; who reject God's call to repentance; we will have the forgiveness of sin, eternal life and salvation. Luther explains this better than anyone in his explanation of the First Article of the Creed. Not only has God created me, God also actively continues to take care of me:
"I believe that God has made me and all creatures; that He has given me my body and soul, eyes, ears, and all my members, my reason and all my senses, and still takes care of them. He also gives me clothing and shoes, food and drink, house and home, wife and children, land, animals, and all I have. He richly and daily provides me with all that I need to support this body and life.
He defends me against all danger and guards and protects me from all evil. All this He does only out of fatherly, divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in me. For all this it is my duty to thank and praise, serve and obey Him. This is most certainly true."
Luther treats this article as Law. He says that if we really believed it, we would act according to it. He implies that we (at least according to our Flesh) neither believe it, nor do what it suggests. The fact that we sin daily, Luther says, should terrify us in light of this article. Luther says we ought to impress this article on our minds. Then we will begin to see God's love for us in our lives and in the world around us. In this way, he writes, "the heart would be warmed and kindled to be thankful."
God gives me all these secondary things, like a job and money, in spite of the fact that I don't deserve them because I am a poor, miserable sinner; because I am a god-awful shitty mess; because I am a rebel who sets himself up as his own god; because I fear men and institutions as though they were God; because I love myself and the things of this world; because I trust in my own power, wisdom, and wealth to save and protect him from evil. So, if God at some point allows these things to be taken away, He certainly has done no injustice to me. I had them by His undeserved favor in the first place. Even if He kills me, as He one day will, such death is what I deserve. Here is Luther, writing in the Large Catechism:
"We could say much here, if we were to wander, about how few people believe this article. For we all pass over it, hear it, and say it. Yet we do not see or consider what the words teach us. For if we believed this teaching with the heart, we would also act according to it (James 2:14). We would not strut about proudly, act defiantly, and boast as though we had life, riches, power, honor, and such, of ourselves (James 4:13-16).2 We would not act as though others must fear and serve us, as is the practice of the wretched, perverse world. The world is drowned in blindness and abuses all the good things and God's gifts only for its own pride, greed, lust, and luxury. It never once thinks about God, so as to thank Him or acknowledge Him as Lord and Creator. This article ought to humble and terrify us all, if we believed it. For we sin daily (Hebrews 3:12-13) with eyes, ears, hands, body and soul, money and possessions, and with everything we have. This is especially true of those who fight against God's Word. Yet Christians have this advantage: they acknowledge that they are duty bound to serve God for all these things and to be obedient to Him." (LC II 20-22)
So, because of Christ's death and resurrection, and my baptism into Him, I have the advantage over the man of this world; I have the one thing that is truly important. Because of this, I don't need to worry. I have Christ. I am connected to Him. His death is mine. His resurrection is mine. His righteousness is now mine; He clothes me in it. In Christ I, a man who is sinful and unclean, am declared righteous. Luther, somewhere, called it the sweet exchange. Christ, who has no sin became sin for us, and we, because of our faith in Him, are declared to be righteous. Even the enemy death becomes a portal, as the author of the hymn says, to life immortal.
Therefore, I declare along with Job, though He slay me, yet shall I praise Him. And, God commands us to bring all those things that cause us worry to Him in prayer. St. Paul sums up this same message in his letter to the Philippians:
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:4-7).
St. Peter writes similarly in his first epistle: Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
But what about all of this protection, and provision, and healing, and righteous reward, justice, and desires of my heart that God promised me? Did I not do something I was supposed to do? Did I not keep up my end of the bargain, or something? It is a logical question. And, the answer that a large portion of American Christianity would give is, "Yes, it is your fault. No, you didn't have enough faith. God wanted to do all the things He promised, but He couldn't because...you."
That is, of course, heresy. The real answer is that, while God has promised to provide for us and protect us, God has not promised to give us all the things that we think are so important. He has not promised us unlimited material prosperity. He has fulfilled His promises in Christ. In Christ Jesus, all our prayers are "yes," and "Amen." That's what David, writing under the inspiration of God the Holy Spirit, tells us in the Psalms, and in particular, Psalm 37:
Do not fret because of those who are evil or be envious of those who do wrong; for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away.
Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun.
Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when people succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.
Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret it leads only to evil. For those who are evil will be destroyed, but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land.
A little while, and the wicked will be no more; though you look for them, they will not be found. But the meek will inherit the land and enjoy peace and prosperity. (Psalm 37:1-11)
God is a long-term thinker. He also stands outside of time, which gives Him a perspective that we cannot comprehend. We look around and see the wicked men of this world amassing wealth and power for themselves. The become famous; they are revered as examples of what it means to be successful and prosperous. They seem to get away with lawlessness; they commit sin openly; they suffer no consequences, while everyone else suffers.
But the wicked and evil men will have received their reward here in time. Their punishment will come, should they persist in their impenitence, in eternity. Brug, echoing Luther's explanation of the First Article, says that before we try to figure out how all this works, we should trust in God:
"Since [God] has demonstrated his goodness and love in so many ways, above all in giving his only Son to be their Savior, they should have confidence in the Lord and should continue to obey him, even when they have trouble understanding the unfairness they see in the world. When you are having trouble making sense out of the apparent injustice of life, the first step is to remind yourself of God's unquestionable love (Brug, 1992)."
Works Cited
Brug, John F. 1992. "People's Bible Commentary: Psalms I." Psalm 37, pp. 153-159. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House.
McCain, Paul T., et. al., eds. 2005. "Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions. A reader's edition of the Book of Concord." Large Catechism. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House.