Luke 12.22-34

Worry and anxiety seem to be the default mode of our humanity.

We all seem to be overwhelmed by the unsteady walk that is daily life.

That’s why, there is no shortage of songs expressing the frustration of our inability to find rest and peace on a daily basis.

With that being said, maybe your daily anthem is the same as mine.

Listen to these probably familiar feelings, written by pop-punk rockers, Bowling For Soup:

Hello, hello anxiety

It really sucks to see you

Hello, hello anxiety

I’ve been expecting you

I could never through one day

Without you hanging around

So hello, hello anxiety

Maybe, on your drive to work, when you need some encouragement to face the day ahead, you ask your personal assistant, Siri, to spin Bobby McFerrin’s 1988 reggae-jazz mega-hit, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy,” or Billy Joel’s (also 1988) hit song from Disney’s Oliver and Company, “Why Should I Worry?” (what the heck was going on in 1988 that caused so much need to sing our way out of worry?!)

As an 8 year-old, I was obsessed with that Billy Joel song. I would dance around the house singing the catchy chorus which stated:

Why should I worry?

Why should I care?

I may not have a dime

But I got street savoir faire

The French term savoir faire translates to “knowing how to act.”

So, this chorus refrain was promoting the idea that “I don’t have to worry because I have the knowledge and wisdom to handle life.”

I had no idea what that French term meant when I was 8 years old, I just knew I liked the groove and catchy melody, and the onscreen street-smart animated cats who belted out the tune. 

In this morning’s Biblical text, the words of Jesus that we hear are a response to a man who was worried about how to get his fair share of an inheritance. 

Let’s hear from our Biblical text found in the Gospel of Luke.

Luke 12:22–34 tells us this:

[22] And he said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. [23] For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. [24] Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! [25] And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? [26] If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? [27] Consider the lilies, 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. [28] But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! [29] And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. [30] For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. [31] Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you.

[32] “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. [33] Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. [34] For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. (ESV)

At our VBS Family Night, before the singing and snacking, I shared with our students and families why VBS happens at Bethel year after year.  And, I want to share that short message with you this morning.

1 John 4:7-19 says:

[7] Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. [8] Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. [9] In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. [10] In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. [11] Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. [12] No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us….[19] We love because he first loved us. (ESV)

Bethel’s VBS doesn’t exist because those of us here are really good people.

The truth is that Bethel, and by extension VBS, exists because of the exact opposite reason.  We are inherently broken people who are naturally selfish, self-centered, and self-righteous.  However, despite all of that brokenness, God, in the person and work of Jesus Christ has come to us and forgiven us by His death on the cross.  And, that sets us free from the daily self-loathing of shame, embarrassment, and guilt, by making all things right between us with God.

A friend sent me a quote last night that said,

“Stop looking for the perfect church. Go worship a perfect God with a congregation of flawed people who need grace as much as you do.”  

Here at Bethel, we admit the truth that we are messed up people because of Sin but we rejoice together because God has come to us in Jesus to be a Savior who is always greater than our Sin.

You may have heard the following words before, but because of the great love for I have for everyone of you here this morning, I invite you to hear them now with fresh ears:

[16] “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. [17] For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

Because of God’s great love, shown to us through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, we can have full confidence that on the day that we exit this life, we will be welcomed by God in Heaven with open arms.

What you have heard this morning from our campers speaks to us about the only true place you can find hope for today and tomorrow and which is summarized in the Bible at John 14:1-6:

[1] “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. [2] In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? [3] And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also…[6] Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

The five Bible points that our student’s learned at VBS this week flow perfectly out of Jesus’ teaching today. 

The 5 Biblical VBS points are:

• When we wonder, we can trust Jesus.

• When we feel alone, we can trust Jesus.

• When we feel powerless, we can trust Jesus.

• When we need hope, we can trust Jesus.

• When we need help, we can trust Jesus.

How does our Biblical text from the book of Luke speak to these points?

Well, worry and anxiety immediately take our eyes of Jesus and cause us to try to find the answers to life’s problems apart from the only place the answers can be found—from God our Creator and life’s designer. 

So, when we worry, we wonder if God is really good.

So, when we worry, we feel like God has left us alone. 

So, when we worry, we feel powerless. 

So, when we worry, we lose hope. 

And, when we worry, we feel helpless.  

In our Biblical text for this this morning from The Gospel of Luke, Jesus gives us the answer to our worry and anxiety.

The answer is to trust Him.

The answer to our worry and anxiety is to trust Jesus.

When we look to God’s great love that drove Him to step into the flesh of Jesus and come into this world to rescue us, we don’t have to wonder if God is good.  Only a genuinely good God would leave His throne in Heaven to die a sinner’s death on the cross so that we don’t have to be punished and separated from Him forever.

When we look at Jesus, we don’t have to feel alone because we have His promise that through faith, He will never leave us or forsake us and He will be with us until the end of this age and eternally in the next.

When we look at Jesus, we know that without His intervention in our life, we are powerless and hopeless because in our sinful brokenness, we cannot fix our relationship with God.  We cannot do enough good works or good deeds to please God.  However, through faith in Jesus, Jesus’ record of perfection becomes our record of perfection before God’s throne in Heaven.

And, when we look to Jesus (and ONLY when we look to Jesus), do we find and receive the hope we need that God is love, that God has acted in love toward us, and that God will continue to act in love toward us all the days He gives us on this earth.

I started this morning with song lyrics that describe our situation when we live without faith in Jesus—worry and anxiety about today, tomorrow, and the future.  

Now, I will end this morning with song lyrics that describe the confidence, comfort, power, hope, and help with have with God for us in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

Late 90s, early 2000s Christian hard rockers, Pillar, give you this reminder about Jesus’ presence in your moments of worry and anxiety:

So next time that you feel like crying

Next time you don’t feel like trying

Just remember I’ll be right there

Smiling down on you

In the morning you don’t feel like rising

Next time you feel like compromising

Just remember I’ll be right there

Smiling down on you

Today, you don’t have to worry because when you trust in Jesus, you have the knowledge and wisdom, that lead to rest and peace and an ability to handle life.

Today, [31] Instead [of worrying and sinking into the despair of anxiety], seek his kingdom, and [Jesus’] things will be added to you.

The is the Word of God for you today.

This is the Grace of God for you today.

Amen.

Reverend Fred Scragg V.

August 10, 2025.