Grace, mercy and peace be unto you from God, our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Our text is the Holy Gospel reading which has already been read.

Dear friends in Christ, there are two ways of dealing with anxiety in life. Either we can try to eliminate worries by our own efforts, or Jesus takes our anxieties from us. The do-it-yourself approach is based on the Law; the Jesus solution is the Gospel.

Most of the time, you and I rely on the do-it-yourself approach for being free of worries. I think the do-it-yourself approach is represented perfectly by Bobby McFerrin's 1988 song, "Don't Worry, Be Happy." The cheerful melody might lift your spirits for a while, but the message will lead you to despair, because it has depressing lyrics. McFerrin gives at least three Law-based-approaches to handling worry.

First, he says, "In every life we have some trouble, when you worry you make it double; don't worry, be happy..." The message is: if you are worried, you are just making matters worse, you are only doubling your troubles, quit worrying and be happy. Great. Just one more thing to worry about: since I can't seem to will myself to be happy in the face of trouble, since my worries persist, I must be a hopeless case.

On top of that problem, when we Christians find ourselves worrying about things we can't control, then we are sinning and revealing our unbelief in God's providential care over our lives. In the Gospel reading, didn't Jesus command us not to be anxious about material things? That reveals an ever greater cause for worry: our anxieties actually make us guilty before God and throw into question our faith. Worry is a form of unbelief, which is the chief sin, against the First Commandment. If you are worrying, how much do you really trust God?

Now some of you might be trying to justify yourselves at this point, because our sinful human nature wants to deny that we have a problem with worry. I once had a Lutheran woman tell me that she never worried; she just had lots of concerns. Spiritually speaking, that's a distinction without a difference; she was trying to justify her anxious unbelief by playing word games. But excuses and explanations about why we have sinned don't hold up in God's courtroom. God will not throw out His case against our unbelief on the grounds of a semantic technicality. Repentance is our only option, so repent of your worries; don't try to justify them.

The second do-it-yourself approach in the song "Don't Worry, Be Happy," comes when McFerrin says, "Look at me, I am happy." He goes through all the common misfortunes of life-no money, no friends, no talent, no job-and says, "Hey, you can overcome your worries; just imitate me!" (Of course, I might have a lot fewer worries if I had a hit song that sold a billion records).But imitation is another common do-it yourself approach, especially among self-help gurus and the talk show crowd. "Look at us, we're happy, we've got our worries under control, and for the cost of this book or video or seminar, you too can be like us." And maybe they're not always total quacks. There are worldly techniques that can cut down on day to day clutter and disorganization that stress us out. But trying to relieve anxiety by imitation of others is another sure path to despair, because we all have different gifts and abilities, and besides that, many people are good actors whose anxieties are just well-hidden. But again, on top of that, self-help gurus are not interested in the one unavoidable anxiety we face: eternal death, which we deserve from God as judgment on our sins.

Finally, "Don't Worry, Be Happy," offers a third option, the "grin and bear it" approach to dealing with worry. McFerrin sings, "Don't worry, it will soon be past, whatever it is, don't worry, be happy." But he's dead wrong. The fact is, many problems we face don't just pass. We all face troubles that are persistent and permanent and eventually end in death, and we cannot dream them away by saying, "Don't worry, be happy," or singing Hakuna Matata, which is Swahili for, "There are no worries." As they sing in the Lion King, "Hakuna matata...it means no worries, for the rest of your days. It's our problem-free philosophy." It sounds so simple. Just throw your past behind you, and forget about it. No problem, no big deal. If you ever watch Oprah, that's the basic philosophy of her spiritual guru, Eckart Tolle. But those are all lies, lies, lies. The afflictions and anxieties we face as a result of this sin- and death-filled world cannot be solved by putting on a happy face.

And this is an important thing for Christians to remember when they are caring for others who are suffering. Next time you find yourself consoling another person who is struggling and worried, examine the sort of advice you give, and see if it sounds more like "Don't worry, be happy" than God's Word. Did you know that the phrase "this too shall pass" is not in the Bible? Neither is "grin and bear it." Those are fatalistic expressions which might have some worldly wisdom in them, but they aren't completely true in every case, and so they do not help someone who is suffering various trials. Something we all must repent of is taking worldly philosophies and ascribing them to God. Putting words in God's mouth is a sin against the 2nd Commandment.

No, wishing our cares and worries away does as little good as being told "don't worry, be happy" or encouraging us to imitate others. So unlike Bobby McFerrin and The Lion King, Jesus doesn't just come to us this morning with pious sounding words like, "Don't worry, now; just put on a happy face; there, there, things will get better; this too shall pass." Jesus is the Truth and His Word is always true, whereas so many of our pious sounding phrases are neither true nor helpful. Our experience is so often like the grass of the field Jesus describes in the Gospel reading; the grass is thrown into the oven and burned up by pain, loss, and sorrow. In such situations, putting on a happy face is like putting a band-aid on a gunshot wound. It's a momentary fix, that doesn't deal with real problems.

So how can Jesus help? The Jesus answer to worry is found in our Gospel reading from the Sermon on the Mount. It is tempting to take our Gospel reading from Matthew 6 and make it into just another practical program for reducing worry in our lives, but the Jesus approach is far more radical. Over against all the momentary fixes that you and I apply to our problems in this life with practical advice and self-help philosophies, Jesus comes to us with the all-encompassing solution to all of our worries: He presents Himself. The One speaking our Gospel reading is the one who has fulfilled all of the words of our Gospel reading. He wipes out any grounds for us to worry at all by pointing us to Himself and by bestowing His eternal life-giving righteousness upon us.

In His Incarnation, the Son of God entered the stressful, anxious existence of toil we live in. He endured hunger, homelessness, and hatred from others, but through it all, He did not sin; unlike us, Jesus never wondered how He would pay the bills, nor did He anxiously sweat about tracking down His favorite food or drink to satisfy His cravings for earthly pleasure. He did not fret about whether He would have clothing on His back, nor did He worry about whether anyone thought He would look fat in a certain outfit. He did not stress about stretching His paycheck just to get by, nor did He worry about fluctuations in His retirement account. He did not worry about His own well-being as He laid down His life on the cross, nor did He ever worry about having the best medical care possible.

All of the worries and cares which we sinfully fret about, Jesus did not. Instead, He lived by perfect faith in God, His Father and ours, who generously gives His creatures the necessities of life even before we think to ask. And then after Christ lived a life of perfect faithfulness in our place, the Lily of the Field Jesus was thrown into the oven to be burned up for all of our sin, for all of our worries and cares and faithlessness. On the cross His life was consumed by God's wrath against our guilt. He took the penalty we owed. He died so that we who are so obsessed with the day to day cares of life might be saved from eternal cares, so that we would not be dragged to hell by our sins.

The biggest anxiety for all of us should come as we face up to God and give an account of how we have used our lives. In the light of the Last Judgment and eternity, our day-to-day worries should melt away as we grow anxious under the demands of a holy and righteous God who expects unwavering faith and faithfulness from us. "No one can serve two masters," Jesus said, "for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money" or "mammon."

Mammon is all the earthly stuff that we fret about-money, clothing, food, sex, companionship, entertainment, weight loss, medical care, preferences, tastes, and passions-all the things which we so readily enslave ourselves to. Our slavery to these things should land us in hell because no one can be a slave to both God and mammon at the same time. Do you realize that our bondage to sin is nothing but hatred of God? When you are held captive by mammon, you are acting like a slave to the devil, rather than as a servant of God.

But look at the freedom of Jesus, your Savior from death and hell! He had no concern for accumulating such things but knew that the Father would provide all that He needed, and so He freely entered the oven of God's burning wrath against your sin, so that you might be spared and saved for eternal life.

Eternal life with Him, because Jesus did not remain burned up and dry in the tomb. God the Father sent His vivifying Spirit to breathe life back into that Man, who has now ascended to the right hand of God and constantly intercedes for all of you. When you are anxious, remember that your Savior Jesus has His Father's ear. And listen to what Jesus tells us about Himself and our Father: He says, "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."

Your Savior Jesus assures you that the Father cares compassionately for you, even before you think to ask, and now all that is left to do with your lives is to "seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness." If there is any passage in the Bible that sums up the work we Christians are to do, this is it. Seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. The Kingdom of God and His righteousness is now all that really matters in this life, because it is first and foremost-our top priority-if you can even call it a priority; actually it is the one all-encompassing priority of our lives.

This passage means that we are to seek God's saving actions in Jesus by faithfully receiving the Gospel from the Scriptures and in the Holy Christian Church, and then to live by God's Word alone. Jesus invites us to look beyond the good gifts of the creation and see that God's eternal Kingdom and the righteousness of faith are far more real and enduring than the stuff of this life. Jesus bids us look to Him as the focal point of all of our life, to rest in His forgiveness and find in Him the secure ground of confidence for facing all of life's apparent ambiguities and anxieties.

Jesus invites us into the freedom that comes from having the righteousness of God fill every moment of our day to day lives. Nothing is ambiguous when everything in our lives is connected to Jesus; therefore, life with Jesus means freedom from anxiety. Especially no anxiety about death! Jesus has dealt with that biggest problem for us, and as if that were not enough, He promises to take care of our short little lives by providing all that we need to support this body and life. He is trustworthy, because He has gone through the cross to pay off the debt we owe on account of our sins, and He is risen from the grave, with an indestructible life. So for us not to trust His promises would be to call Him untrustworthy.

O you of little faith, keep on seeking His righteousness daily, by constant mindfulness of your Baptism, which tells you that you are a beloved child of the Father. Keep seeking His righteousness at Church, by having the words of Absolution sink into your ears, sending away your guilt and shame. Keep seeking His righteousness in the Lord's Supper as often as you can get it, because there you can unburden yourself of anxiety and receive Christ's assurance that the Kingdom of God does remain yours, in spite of all of your sin, in spite of all of the worries and cares you have faithlessly fretted over.

And the righteousness of God which comes to you in the forgiveness of all of your sins also opens the possibility for you to enjoy all the good things of creation which God the Father showers down upon you as gifts of His bountiful goodness. The Giver of all good things dotes upon you, even as He dotes upon your Savior, your Brother Jesus. In Jesus Christ, you have everything you need for life now and forever. And with all those Gospel promises ringing in our ears, then I think it's even safe to say: "Don't worry. Be happy." In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

And the peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting. Amen.