February 20, 2011
The Seventh Sunday after Epiphany
FIRST LESSON: Isaiah 49:13-18 13 Shout for joy, O heavens; rejoice, O earth; burst into song, O mountains! For the LORD comforts his people and will have compassion on his afflicted ones. 14 But Zion said, "The LORD has forsaken me, the Lord has forgotten me." 15 "Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! 16 See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me. 17 Your sons hasten back, and those who laid you waste depart from you. 18 Lift up your eyes and look around; all your sons gather and come to you. As surely as I live," declares the LORD, "you will wear them all as ornaments; you will put them on, like a bride. | GOSPEL LESSON: Matthew 6:25-34 "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? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. "Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." |
Jesus said that we should not worry or be anxious about things. He said that life was more important than food or clothing. God feeds the birds of the air. God clothes the lilies of the field. We are more valuable than birds and flowers, and so he will feed us and clothe us even better. Our heavenly Father knows what we need. Because God loves us and knows what we need, we can have faith that he will give us what we need.
And so we do not have to worry about what to eat or what to wear. But we should worry about the Kingdom of God and his righteousness. We should really, really worry if we do not find salvation, that is, the kingdom of God and his righteousness.
The Israelites were seeking the kingdom of God. The Prophet Isaiah spoke to them. They were in Exile in Babylon. They worried about their daily lives, plus they had all the worries that any captive people have. For them, to seek the Kingdom of God meant to return to Jerusalem and the Promised Land. After nearly 70 years of exile however, they worried that God had forgotten them. They had lost hope of returning home.
But Isaiah told them not to worry. First, because God has compassion. And second, like a mother who can never forget her child, God will not forget the Children of Israel. He can not forget because the Israelites are in his hand and cannot be removed from his hand. The Lord says, "See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands." It is like a tattoo that cannot be removed. God will always remember his people.
We are also in the hands of God. It is like the old spiritual song, "He's got the whole world in his hands. He's got you and me, sister and brother, in his hands."
People write things on their hands lest they forget. A student writes answers on his hand so that he can take a peek during a test. A nurse writes a patient's blood pressure on her hand so that she will remember the numbers and write it on the patient's chart when she gets back to the nurses' station. God cannot forget us. He can always see us right before his eyes. And so he knows what we need. He makes a memo of our needs. He knows our fears and our tears. Psalm 56:8 says, "Record my lament; list my tears on your scroll, are they not in your record? [NIV]" "Put my tears into Your bottle; Are they not in Your book? [NJKV]"
We are not written on God's hand with washable ink. It is more than a tattoo, we are carved deep into his hand. God says, "See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands." Engraving uses an iron tool. A sharp tool like a nail, the nails of the cross. Those nails were pushed into the hands of Jesus. And at that time, our sin was pushed and carved and engraved upon his hands also. In Christ, we too are crucified with Christ. And therefore our sins are forgiven. The cross is the throne of Christ in the kingdom of God. There we find his righteousness. We find that he is right. And he makes us right, he makes us okay. He makes our lives okay. Therefore we do not worry.
The resurrected Jesus showed his hands to Thomas. Maybe Jesus spoke this way to him, and to us as well. "Thomas, look at my hands. See these marks. Those marks are you. I took your worry, your doubt, your sin, your tears, and your life and salvation into my hands. I will never forget you. I will never forget my sacrifice for you. I will never forget my love for you."
In the hands of Jesus we seek and we find the kingdom of God and his righteousness. And there also we find all the other things that are added to us. In the Lord's Prayer we pray, "Give us this day our daily bread." These words become a thanksgiving because God our Father knows what we need and provides for us. He gives us life, faith, baptism, salvation, love, and our daily bread, too. Therefore we do not worry and have the peace of God which passes all human understanding.
Amen.
Michael Nearhood, Pastor
Okinawa Lutheran Church
