Fearless Faith that Attracts
Luke 12:22-34, Hebrews
11:1-16, Genesis 15:1-6
Ninth Sunday after Pentecost
August 10th,
Year of Our + Lord 2025
Our Redeemer and Our Savior’s Lutheran Churches
Custer
and Hill City, South Dakota
Audio of Sermon available HERE.
In the Name of our Fearless and Faithful Savior,
We have had a bunch of kids in our neighborhood this summer. Two or three new families have moved in, adding to the group, and creating a critical mass of 5 to 12 year olds. They roam up and down the hill, skipping and running, riding scooters and bikes, pursuing the American kid’s dream of long summer days, with no worries, filled with whatever comes to mind. It’s great fun to sit out on the front patio and watch them play.
Two boys stand out in the mob; we’ll call them Tommy and Billy. (I’d give you their real names, which they told me, but… I can’t remember them. I don’t really want to be a kid again, but it would be nice to have a young brain with a working short-term memory.) Tommy and Billy are on the younger side, maybe 8 years old, and small. But they are fearless, and often end up leading the gang of kids, sheerly by force of personality. I had said ‘Hi’ to them a few times, but my first direct interaction came when they rang our door bell. “Mister, do you have any jobs you’d like to hire us to do? We’ll do anything, sweep, pick up garbage, clean up after your dogs, whatever you want. We’ve started a business, and we want to work.” I was blown away by their entrepreneurship, but really couldn’t think of anything for them to do. “That’s o.k.” they smiled, and headed off to the next door.
They were fearless, not worried about rejection, because they were full of faith that their scheme was going to earn them lots of dollars. And, because boldness is attractive, pretty soon their enterprise had expanded to include most of the neighborhood, including many older kids, roving up and down the street, looking for chores and odd jobs to do. Watching Tommy and Billy inspire the other kids, older and younger, leading them into adventures through optimism and fearlessness, it almost makes one hopeful for the future.
Last week we talked about the sin of covetousness, of lusting after worldly goods, instead of treasuring God’s priceless Gift of His Son. We saw how God’s Law and His Gospel are not symmetrical. We naturally expect the shape of the Good News of salvation to match, in reverse, the shape of God’s rules and threats. But that’s not right.
For example, the sin of murder is terrible, and people should stop murdering and hurting each other. But the solution to murder and violence, the solution between us and God, is not us refraining from murder, even though we should. The solution is not even us taking good care of each other, although that’s a wonderful thing. Rather, the thing that reconciles violent, murderous humanity to God is the murder of God’s Son, Jesus. The Holy One was unjustly crucified, and He suffered our just punishment from God, including the punishment deserved by murder, in order to forgive us. And that’s the only way for us to get right with God.
Likewise, Jesus in His parable against covetousness last Sunday said that to avoid ending up like the foolish rich man, who worshiped his wealth, we must be “rich toward God.” If my problem, my particularly troubling sin, is coveting, the solution would seem to be for me to use my earthly goods properly, to be generous and giving, not miserly and hoarding. That must be what Jesus means by being “rich toward God,” right? But no, that is not what Jesus meant.
Our generosity, our giving, while salutary, could never suffice to earn us God’s favor. To be truly rich toward God, we must possess His greatest Treasure, which the Father gave, for the salvation of the world. To be rich toward God means we must have Jesus, whom we do have. We hear His voice in the Word, we were covered by Him in our Baptism, and He gives us Himself in the Gospel that we eat and drink, the Lord’s Supper. It is good to be generous and giving, to use well and share the material blessings God has given you. But this is not the basis of your salvation: only Jesus saves.
This week’s Gospel reading is the immediate continuation of last week’s reading from Luke 12. And we heard about treasure, again. Good News: Jesus is still our treasure. That’s what He means when He says, “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 your heart will be also.” Jesus, crucified, resurrected and ascended on high, for you: He is your greatest Treasure. Believe this Good News, and live!
Jesus is still the Treasure. But, this week our Lord pushes us to consider Christian living, our walk in the faith, this journey we all share from the day of our Baptism to the day of our physical death, or the Final Return of Christ, whichever comes first.
It is meet, right and salutary, (good, right and spiritually healthy), for us to consider the Christian life today, because our good works are important to God. He desires them from us, they are important for our life together, and they are an important feature in God’s ongoing salvation mission.
We always need to guard against the idea that our works cause or even contribute to our salvation, because this false idea remains in the wiring of our sinful nature. At the same time, we dare not ignore walking the Christian walk, of living the faith. To ignore the Christian life would leave us with a deformed understanding of Christianity, as if once we are forgiven, there is nothing for the Christian to do but sit around, waiting for God to take us home. God created us, and has re-created us, to do things, to work, to live and love in families, and to enjoy the blessing of His company. To ignore the daily Christian life is to deny the way God has made us to be. If we forget our identity in God, if we forget who we are in Christ, life will be out of joint, beset with trouble, and we will be vulnerable to temptation by the devil, the world and our own sinful flesh. Considering how to pursue a life of fearless faith is both good, and necessary. So let’s talk about fearless faith, about living without anxiety and worry.
God greeted Abram with “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great." Jesus regularly called out “fear not” to His own disciples. Chapter 11 of Hebrews applauds the fearless faith of many ancient saints, who faced great dangers, because they believed and looked forward to the Lord’s promises. Jesus continues this theme with His “do not be anxious,” teaching this morning. “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” “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.” God’s clear desire is to have faithful and fearless followers, who walk without worry. But why? If Christ alone is our salvation, and He is, then we know that avoiding worry or showing bravery do not earn us salvation. Of course not. But then, why does the Holy Spirit throughout Scripture spend so much time encouraging God’s people to be brave, to fear not, to not worry?
Well, first of all, fear and worry are not fitting for God’s children. Like good parents who raise their kids to behave a certain way, God wants your life to reflect your place in His family, your trust in His promises. The Almighty, the Lord of heaven and earth, has your back. You are going to be o.k., He’s got this, whatever “this” might be.
The Lord is my rock and my salvation, proclaims the Psalmist, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life, of whom shall I be afraid? Like the toddler on the side of the pool who trusts completely that Dad will catch her when she leaps into the water, we have the Creator and Sustainer of all things encouraging us to pursue good things, and trust that He will take care of us.
Second, God is truly concerned for your happiness. Why should we, who are heirs of eternal glory, be miserable? God doesn’t want that. Now, I am not saying Christians never suffer. I am not suggesting Christians never lack for food or clothes or have serious financial or health problems. We do face trouble, often precisely because we are connected to Christ, the Suffering Servant. But suffering as a Christian, for and with Christ, suffering because we are clinging to the Truth of His Word, this is a source of joy for the Christian, joy even in the midst of struggle and tears, because we know Jesus is with us, especially in our troubles.
And when we are not suffering? When God blesses our days with peace and prosperity, why should we not be smiling? This is not to suggest there is not a serious side to Christian life. We do live in a fallen world, and sin is always crouching nearby. But we also have the Holy Spirit, the Word of God, and the fellowship of all believers. If we fall into the habit out of always being dour and somber, if, perhaps, we even brag about being miserable, we are denying ourselves the joy of Christ, which is new every morning. This is not how God wants you to live.
Third, like Tommy and Billy, happy, confident, fearless people are attractive. God in His infinite wisdom is working out His Mission through His people. God could do all outreach directly, I suppose. Jesus certainly is the evangelist par excellence: God in human flesh, who nonetheless took time to speak and explain the Good News, often to just one sinner at a time. But in His wisdom, God has done the vast majority of His mission work through His people, through the preaching of His pastors, and the proclamation of His people, and through their acts of love and service. God works through individual believers, giving the reason for the hope they have, to those who ask them.
And, as with Tommy and Billy in our neighborhood with kid-stuff, so also in all of life with eternal things. Those outside the Body of Christ will be much more likely to see you as someone worth imitating, much more likely ask you questions about your faith, if you are confident, unworried, perhaps even fearless about your salvation. And you should be, because Jesus has accomplished salvation for you, and for all people, 100%.
Now, I don’t mean to make missions, outreach and being a witness seem simple or easy. The devil does not give up slaves without a fight; spiritual warfare is certainly part of evangelistic outreach. Everyone who dares to tell others about Jesus will face rejection. But what of it? What does a man’s rejection mean to us, who have been accepted by God?
Each one of us will struggle to be a
witness, because we are all sinner/saints.
By our baptismal faith in Jesus, God declares us and sees us as holy,
righteous, beloved children. But sin is
not yet entirely expunged from our beings, and we know it. We have eyes to see, ourselves, and the
brokenness of the world, of our communities.
We want the world and we want ourselves to be different, but progress is
painfully slow. Perhaps it seems things
are going backward. Most efforts to
speak of Christ to others do not engender enthusiastic replies, especially not
right away. We may know in our minds
that planting seeds is vital work, and the fruit may not come for years. But it is still easy to be disappointed and
pessimistic.
Also, the visible prestige of the Church goes up and down through history. In 1950s America, the Christian Church was dominant. These days, we certainly seem to be in a downturn. Exuding Christian confidence today is challenging. It’s much easier for Christians to be dour, down in the mouth, almost hopeless.
But your Jesus says “No! Jesus says no, do not be anxious, do not let your hearts be sad. Trust in God, trust also in Me. I have come that you may have joy, joy to the full. Jesus says ‘no’ to Christian pessimism because joy is the Truth, even though it may be hidden from our eyes. Joy is the Truth, joy is the future, because Jesus is reigning over all things, for His Church, for you.
Being a fearless and faithful follower of Christ is a struggle, and it always has been. Consider Abram. He was doubting God’s promise, and so God doubled down. Not only would all families of the earth be blessed through the One particular Seed of Abram, (see Genesis chapter 12), but Abram would also be the father of many, many people, as many as the stars of heaven.
God repeated His Word of Promise, and by that Word, Abram believed God. For this faith, God credited Abram as righteous. He’s in! Abram is officially declared a “saved by faith” heir of heaven. Abram has God on His side, and he believes it.
Still, after this blessed moment, and after a special covenant ceremony with God, and after repeated visits and messages, Abram still struggled to live out his faith. He doubted the promise that he and Sarah would have a biological child, and went along with Sarah’s suggestion that they get their child through Hagar, her maid. That didn’t work out well. Even more, when they journeyed into the land of King Abimelech, Abram feared that the king would kill him in order to take his wife Sarah. So, he told Sarah to lie and say she was just his sister. He doubted God’s protection and gave up Sarah to Abimelech’s harem, in order to save his own skin.
Despite all this, God did not abandon Abram, or Sarah. God protected Sarah from Abimelech, he never touched her, and God rescued Abram and Sarah from their predicament, even though they did it to themselves. Why? Why did God do this?
Because God had given them His Word. God had made a Promise, to Abram and Sarah, that through their own biological son, God would fulfill all His promises. Despite their foolish sins, for the sake of His Word of Promise, God overcame Abram and Sarah’s doubts, fears, sins and failures.
God has also given His Word of Promise to you. His promises to you were fulfilled in in the Cross of Christ, and delivered to you through the cleansing of water with the Word. God’s promises in Christ have been proclaimed over you, again and again. God’s Word of promise to you is joined with bread and wine in a mysterious meal that renews your union with God, through the body and blood of Jesus. God’s promises to you are irrevocable. They don’t depend on your fearlessness or faithfulness, rather they are based in the fearless faithfulness of Jesus, and they are given to you, and me, as free gift. God delivers His promises to us, again and again, to renew our faith, and to help us be a bit less anxious, less fearful, more confident tomorrow than we were yesterday.
These are God’s promises to you. Believe them, and rejoice. Pray for the Holy Spirit to help you always interpret and understand life through these promises, through this Truth. With the Spirit’s help, you can live without fear, without worry, because Jesus, your true treasure, is in heaven, ruling the universe, and holding a place for you, in His glory, forever and ever, Amen.
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