The Joshua Victor Theory

·          Jesus’ soul searching questions and statements: “ cannot serve God and money”  Sets up a choice between two masters, and we can’t have a split love or split loyalty between them. Considering the options, why is it infinitely better to have God as our Master, rather than money? If money is our master, what does it demand of us? We are in a constant pursuit of money, and like an old Lutheran hymn says “ earthly wealth is not abiding, like a stream away is gliding” (LSB 732). Money is like a stream of water—it doesn’t stick around for long, and you can hardly hold it in your hands for long. If we are always chasing after money, we will not find happiness, but only the anxieties and worry that Jesus describes here. Money is a poor master—it can only give us more things to worry about. Money can give you cars and houses, but then those things cause us worries too, and they breakdown and cost us more money. The same is true for everythi...

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Today I want to welcome all of our preschool families and children, and thank the children for their excellent recitation of the Bible verses for today, and for their beautiful singing! The verses they recited for you are the focus of my message today, and that whole Gospel reading from Matthew 6 addresses us in a common area of our lives. That is anxiety and worry. While not everyone is a chronic “worrywart,” always anxious about something, I suspect that there are few of us who can avoid the trap of worrying altogether. Worry and anxiety rob us of confidence, sleep, peace, and even of health. How many of you have been stressed out or lost sleep over the family budget, especially in our current economic times? Or dealing with a crisis at work or in the family? Or facing difficult health concerns? Jesus teaches us in this reading that we shouldn’t be weighed down by the worries and the c...