Matthew 6:24-34
24“No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.

25“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? 28And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, 29yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. 30But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ 32For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34“So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.

I know that it’s our family’s first, full winter here in Beacon, but it sure seems like it’s been a long, hard one. Can anyone relate to that? On more than one dark, evening in February, Gretchen and I have looked at each other, silently expressing what we dare not speak, “How are we gonna get through this?” Between the cold, the illness, the frequent heavy snows, the falls on the ice, the loss of loved ones, it’s been a long, hard winter, indeed.
But, in the midst of the darkness, there are already signs that spring is around the corner. Thanks be to God! Just yesterday morning, I delighted in hearing the call of a cardinal outside the window and seeing the bold red a welcome burst of color against the backdrop of white and gray. And, though I haven’t seen it with my own eyes yet, I’ve heard rumors of crocuses just beginning to poke their shoots through the snow.

“When you need a reminder,” Jesus says, “look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Even in the midst of the drab of winter, they bring brightness and color. Speaking of color, consider the flowers of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin. They wait - silently - in the cold, hard ground waiting for just the right time to burst forth. Just when we can’t take the wintery blah anymore. I tell you, even King Solomon in all his royal robes and jewelry was not clothed as beautifully as one of the flowers of spring.”

Beauty will come... hope will come... you’ll get through this winter. God loves you like a child and will see you through. It seems as though so much of what it takes to get through winter... so much of what today’s scripture is about... comes down to trust. It’s one of the easiest words to say and one of the hardest words to live.

There is so much that we worry about... so many legitimate fears in life... and so many illegitimate fears fabricated by our culture to sell products or to prod us conform to a particular ideology. We are, indeed, a people of worry. We are, indeed, a people in need of trust.

One of the greatest exercises in trust in my life has been the challenge of raising children. There is so much of the endeavor that is totally out of our control. Prayers seem to rise up daily. There are those prayers of delight and wonder and gratitude as children learn and grow and do things that were impossible the day before. There are also those prayers of desperation - during tantrum meltdowns and late-night fevers - for help with situations we have no idea how to handle. And yet, we get through, by God’s grace...

If you haven’t already guessed it, our daughter, Lily, gets her name from today’s scripture. Even before we had children, we loved this text’s invitation to let go of worry. Our firstborn child - our Lily - is a daily reminder to trust God.

Today we baptized another beautiful gift from God, Evi Mumm. Though we parents know that raising children is far from a piece of cake, we delight in the possibilities. Like a colorful bird on a winter day, like spring flowers waiting to burst forth, children give us hope.

Especially to a family of faith.

Garrison Keillor, the famous author and originator of the fictional, radio town of Lake Woebegone, reflects on the importance of young people in the congregation... and the importance of community in a world that is becoming increasingly separated:

“I went to church on Sunday… and there with considerable pomp we baptized a dozen infants into the fellowship of the faith and we renounced the evil powers of this world, which all in all is a good day’s work.
The term “evil powers” is one you hear only in the church, or in Marvel comic books, or political speeches, and it isn’t something I renounce every day.

Evil lurks in the heart of humanity, and anonymity tends to bring it out. Internet trolls would never say the jagged things they do if they had to sign their names. Road rage is anonymous; there is no equivalent pedestrian rage or bicyclist rage… War requires very well-brought-up people to do vicious things which they are able to do efficiently because the recipients of their viciousness are unknown to them. The bombardier never sees the quiet shady street of brick houses that he is about to incinerate.

And here, this morning… we strangers in a cathedral embrace other people’s children and promise to fight the good fight on their behalf, a ceremony that never fails to bring tears to my eyes. We renounce evil powers. I renounce isolation and separation and the splendid anonymity of the Internet and the clicking of the mouse propelling me through six websites in five minutes. I vow to put my feet on the ground and walk through town and make small talk with clerks and call my mother on the phone and put money in the busker’s hat.

We welcome infants into our herd and though some of them sob bitter tears at the prospect, they are now in our hearts and in our prayers and we will not easily let them go.”

We will not let them go. And, Jesus reminds us in today’s scripture, neither will God. From the moment we are brought into this world to the moment we breathe our last breath and enter that great mystery beyond the grave, God is with us every step of the way.
Hear the words from one of my favorite psalms, Psalm 139:

Where can I go from your spirit?
Or where can I flee from your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, you are there;
if I make my bed in the land of the dead, you are there.
If I take the wings of the morning
and settle at the farthest limits of the sea,
even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me fast.
If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light around me become night’,
even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is as bright as the day,
for darkness is as light to you.

For it was you who formed my inward parts;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
that I know very well.
My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes beheld my unformed substance.
In your book were written
all the days that were formed for me,
when none of them as yet existed.
How weighty to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
I try to count them—they are more than the sand;
I come to the end—I am still with you.

Friends, God is with us as we endure the long, hard winter. God is with us as we fumble through parenthood. God is, indeed, with us when we baptize our children, promising to raise them in the faith. And, God is, indeed with us, when we breathe our last breath and enter the life eternal.

So, may you exhale and let go of worry. May you be present to today as God is present to us. May you strive for the kingdom of God and God’s righteousness, and trust that all you need will be given to you.

May it be so. Amen.