Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity

St. Matthew 6:24-34

September 13, 2026

“Why do you worry?”

Anxiety isn’t merely a psychological problem. It is a religious, spiritual, theological problem. The root of anxiety is unbelief. Anxiety stems from lacking confidence that God is in control, and that He is good.

Today’s Gospel comes from the Sermon on the Mount (Mt. 5-7). In Luke’s Gospel, the same teaching is prompted by a dispute about an inheritance. “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me” [12.13]. Was the man’s brother being unfair? Perhaps. But even if he is, the Lord Jesus shows that the true problem is in the man’s heart: “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses” [12.15].

Now what does any of that have to do with anxiety? Family conflict about money, coveting what others have, the search for abundance and the fear of scarcity – all are symptoms of a restless heart. We seek stability, something we can rely upon. St. Augustine famously said to God, “Thou hast made us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee.” Money won’t get you there. But you think it will. Which is why Jesus elsewhere calls riches “deceitful.”

Our Lord then goes on to tell the parable about the barns:

“The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.”’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’

“So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” [12.16-21]

The most important detail in the parable is in the summary: he laid up treasure for himself. And that is the heart of anxiety: we are looking to the self for stability, we seek a place of rest for and within the self.

What’s beneath that? We have forgotten we are creatures. Creatures have a Creator. Man is in the passive position in that equation. He depends upon Another.

Now apply that to yourself. You are a creature. You depend upon Another.

We’re all dependent on others. No one is viable.

Little babies in utero are sometimes spoken about as being viable. In other words, can the baby survive outside of the womb? The answer is actually, through all nine months of pregnancy, NO. No one is viable - at least not without mom and dad, who are going to provide food and drink, house and home, clothing and shoes, blankets and diapers. We seem to grow in self-sufficiency, and yet take away the power grid, take away the transportation and commercial systems bringing food from farm to table, and see how long any of us make it. We depend on others, we depend on our incredible planet, we depend on the sun – and undergirding all of it is the Creator.

There are lots of reasons to baptize your babies. First of all, the Bible says so. “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children.” Second, the early Christians baptized their babies. This fact is indisputable.

But I don’t think I understood this until I became a dad. Listen to the Augsburg Confession, article IX:

Concerning Baptism, our churches teach that Baptism is necessary for salvation [Mark 16:16] and that God’s grace is offered through Baptism [Titus 3:4–7]. They teach that children are to be baptized [Acts 2:38–39]. Being offered to God through Baptism, they are received into God’s grace.

That phrase being offered to God doesn’t capture the original German which was read aloud to the Emperor. That text says in Baptism the babies, Die Kinder, are überantwortet - it means to hand them over, to entrust them to someone else’s care. In this case, it’s God. When we bring our children to baptism, we are saying, “God, I need Your help. I need You to take care of these children.”

It’s one of the things I love about Lutheran theology. The dogmatic texts, the doctrinal statements are not abstract theories, but intensely personal and practical. Children are anxiety creation machines, it’s perpetual worry about their well-being and their future. Baptism, and the ongoing life of prayer, is about handing the anxiety over to God.

And that’s the meaning then of the Gospel today. Why do you worry? You worry because you’ve forgotten God is God. You have anxiety because you stopped treating God as your dear Father, and instead regarded Him as a deadbeat dad who stopped coming around, or a capricious alcoholic who one day gives you presents and the next day smacks you around.

These are tricks of the devil. He wants you to not trust God.

The Sacramental life of the Church returns us to the state of infants and toddlers. Jesus takes us up in His arms and says, “Here, let me wash you, and speak tender words to you.” And then, “Here is some food and drink. Open your mouth, and I will feed you.” “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

So do not worry. Do not despair.

Is the world collapsing around us? It feels like it.

But isn’t that exactly what God said would happen? Yes.

Be not anxious. God is real. His kingdom endures. Your heart can be at rest, because your life is secure, your salvation is already won. Your Jesus is risen from the dead. Be not anxious. +INJ+