Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity

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JESUS begins today’s Gospel Lesson with an obvious fact, but one of which we are significantly challenged to adhere to in our Christian lives of faith. The LORD says, “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other” (St. Matthew 6.24). This seems plain enough, but in the context of the first century, ethos or society, Christ JESUS’ statements were extremely compelling. They were compelling because Judean society was very familiar with the station of a servant. In fact, in the Law of Moses, it was permissible for a Hebrew to sell himself or herself into slavery to a fellow Hebrew. The LORD GOD allowed for this institution, but only as a means to show mercy and to form the ethic of grace in His people.  

If a Hebrew had reached a point of financial straits, he or she could sell themselves to a brother Hebrew with means, thereby surviving and, in some cases, thriving due to the relationship they had with their master. Yet, it was not to be a perpetual state. The Hebrew master was to release his slave on the seventh year of their contract, as a type and shadow of the Sabbath of GOD. Further, when that servant was liberated, the LORD’s command to that Hebrew master was the following: “And when you send [your slave] away free from you, you shall not let him go away empty-handed; you shall supply him liberally from your flock, from your threshing floor, and from your winepress. From what the LORD your GOD has blessed you with, you shall give to him. You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your GOD redeemed you; therefore, I command you this thing today” (Deuteronomy 15.13-14 & 24). The elect of Israel were in relationship with GOD and with one another. Such a relationship demanded an ethic of grace, truth, respect, devotion, and mutual love (even in the institution of slavery), that ministered GOD’s mercy, societally, to the Gentiles. Thus, when JESUS said that one could not serve two masters, the idea of trying to do so would have created a severe contradiction in the minds of His Judean disciples. Thus, we can conclude that JESUS’ thesis would have had significant relatability with his audience.  

JESUS’ hearers realized (as we all must), that “In the natural sphere, it is impossible for a slave to serve two masters, for each claim him as his property, and the slave must respond to one or other of the claims with entire devotion, either from love or from self-interest.”¹ To attempt to do both is not to live in a healthy tension, but to live in a sickly contradiction. In the Hebrew context, a master cannot conquer a fellow Hebrew and make that person his slave. That man must sell himself to his fellow Hebrew as a slave on certain judicious terms. Therefore, to sell yourself unto two masters, at the same time, would be to do what C.S. Lewis describes as “Chewing the cud of lusts, which is despair.”² — It is despairing and hope without hope to attempt to serve two masters. What will we do when both call on us at the same time to go, do, and obey their voice?  When they do, which is inevitable, JESUS says that we “will hate the one and love the other, or else we will be loyal to the one and despise the other” (St. Matthew 6.24).  

Note, JESUS is not presenting a sociological issue that needs to be addressed by contemporary civic leaders and social scientists in Jerusalem, concerning the relationship between the Hebrew peoples. Instead, JESUS presents a spiritual issue that needs to be addressed by His followers – His disciples – an issue of the heart concerning the relations between man and GOD. The issue that JESUS is raising is not about the need to avoid serving two earthly overlords, but rather, He says, “You cannot serve God and mammon” (St. Matthew 6.24). Why? It is because you will hate the one and love the other. — The danger, due to our earthly nature, is that in our hearts, our preferences and loyalties will be to mammon and not to GOD. If thus we do, we will be less than trusting disciples of the one true GOD of Heaven, who provides for our every need as our Father. We do this, as JESUS points out with demonstrable earnestness, to our spiritual injury, trusting something other than our Creator unto joy and peace. Mammon is unreliable, inconsistent, and spiritually impotent. To pursue it, is to pursue something intently without any satisfaction. Notice what that book says, the Apocrypha, recommended to us by the Anglican divines, as good for morals and instruction. “Set not thy heart upon thy goods and say not: ‘I have enough for my life’ … Winnow not with every wind and go not into every way [promising thee success]; for so doth the sinner that hath a double mind” (Ecclesiasticus 5. 1 & 9). — Trusting in mammon, thus, leads to worry and anxiety, diminishes and immobilizes our priestly witness of the Christian Faith to our family, friends, and the world we live in.  

To compel us to trust GOD and not mammon for our daily bread, perhaps we should better understand the term and how JESUS is using it. — One theologian has written, “Mammon is a Syriac word that signifies gain; so that whatever in this world is or is accounted by us to be gain (Phil. 3:7), is mammon. Biblically speaking, whatever is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life, is mammon. To some their belly is their mammon, and they serve that (Phil. 3:19); to others their ease, their sleep, their sports and pastimes, are their mammon (Prov. 6:9); to others worldly riches (James 4:13); to others honors and preferments; the praise and applause of men was the Pharisees’ mammon; in a word, self, the unity in which the world’s trinity centers, flesh, eye, and pride, is the mammon which cannot be served in conjunction with GOD; for if it be served, it is in competition with Him and in contradiction to Him.”³ — The Bible teaches that the true servants of GOD have a single eye for Him, and no other. We read in Psalm 123.1-2: “Unto You I lift up my eyes, O You who dwell in the heavens. Behold, as the eyes of servant look to the hand of his master, and as the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the LORD our GOD, until He has mercy on us.” Thus, also was the mind and heart of St. Paul, who said, “But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ” (Philippians 3.7-8). 

Yet, without a doubt, the battle for the human soul is a fierce one, and the soul cannot serve two spiritual masters – he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will love the one and hate the other. — There is much data to support this truth! For example, Forbes Magazine reports that the most common mental illness in America is anxiety disorder. “Anxiety disorders include generalized anxiety, panic disorder, phobias, and social anxiety disorder. Symptoms of such disorders include panic and fear, increased heart rate, rapid breathing, difficulty sleeping, nausea, and dizziness. It is estimated that around four percent of the global population suffers from anxiety disorders, making anxiety, along with depression, one of the most common mental health disorders in the world.”⁴ In the USA, 1 in 5 Americans, or “20% of people, suffer from some sort of anxiety disorder.”⁵ — Further, according to Statista.com, a global data and business intelligence platform, the most worrisome topics amongst Americans in 2025 are inflation, crime, violence, poverty, and social inequality. — What is the solution? What is the antidote? — JESUS Christ’s exhortation is not to worry, for it adds nothing to the Christian life but distraction – giving love and attention to an ‘almighty gain’ over the ‘One Almighty’, viz., turn the singleness of your eye unto GOD and not mammon, and your worries will be a thing of the past. — “For godliness with contentment is great gain” (1 Timothy 6.6). 

JESUS gives His followers several examples as to why we should not worry and fret about gain that comes by trusting mammon. These examples vary in their reasoning from the lesser to the greater, and from the commonplace to the exceptional. For example, the LORD uses the common lilies and the grass of the field to express the care and concern GOD has for His creation. In their beauty, none can compare, says the LORD, not even the most highly exalted mortal man in all his glory, Solomon. If these things, here today and gone tomorrow, be so glorious, JESUS says, will not the Father so clothe and care for us, His children whom He loves exceptionally and sustains with life and breath? 

The LORD’s most compelling argument for not worrying is the first He gives. He says, “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?” (St. Matthew 6.25). Here, the LORD is arguing from the lesser to the greater. To compel us to trust GOD and not Mammon – flesh, eye, and pride – JESUS asks us to consider life itself. No man can create or give life – this comes only from GOD – the LORD and giver of life. If He has so willed to give each of us life, which we cannot procure on our own, why would we concern ourselves by fretting over the things in life that are less than life itself? If GOD would deem us worthy to possess His ‘breath’ in a specially made body, if the LORD GOD vai·yip·pach ַnish·mat (breathed the breathe of life), making us chai·yim le·ne·fesh (living beings), will He not also deem us worthy of His care by providing food for us to eat and clothes for us to wear? ‘Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?’ 

Now, this does not mean we sit about expecting food to magically appear in our refrigerators and pantries. Nor that clothing will materialize in our closets. The Bible is strict in teaching us that, “Whoever keeps the fig tree, will eat its fruit” (Proverbs 27.18). — We are to be responsible in our work and mindful in our efforts to procure items that we and our families need to live and survive. For in the wisdom of the Proverbs, again, we read: “Through wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established; By knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches” (Proverbs 24.3-4). Worrying not, does not mean to retreat from thoughtful and responsible stewardship of life and property. Instead, JESUS is striking at the heart of the matter, urging us to have faith in GOD and be anxious for nothing. For to be anxious and to worry is to divide our faith into parts, “to go to pieces,” allowing the force of our worry to pierce through the fortifications of our Christian faith, thereby causing the floods of doubt to drown us in despair. — If we trust GOD and not mammon, we will leave our faith intact, as a whole, trusting in GOD alone to be our provider – our strength and shield.  

Brothers and sisters, our GOD is the living GOD, the Creator of heaven and earth. Those who worry, trust not in Him. “Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands. They have mouths, but they do not speak; eyes they have, but they do not see; they have ears, but they do not hear. Noses they have, but they do not smell; they have hands, but they do not handle; feet they have, but they do not walk; nor do they mutter through their throat. Those who make them (unfortunately), are like them; So is everyone who trusts in them (Psalm 115.4-8). But unto our GOD, let us “cast our burdens on Him, and He shall sustain us. He shall never permit the righteous to be moved [and divided with anxiety] (Psalm 55.22).  

Instead of allowing ourselves to be torn into pieces with worrying anxiety, the LORD JESUS tells us to pour our energy into seeking first our Master and His Kingdom. If we are but more careful to please GOD and to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, we should be less keen to please ourselves. We will be less solicitous to work out with worry and anxiety, a fleeting estate in this transitory world, through the pursuit of mammon’s gain. Thoughtfulness for our souls is the most effectual cure for thoughtfulness for this transitory world.  

Dear Church, do not borrow worry from tomorrow, today. When tomorrow comes, if hardships arrive, GOD promises to provide for you every good gift in His righteousness, holiness, and paternity. Your life comes from Him, and He will see that your needs are met. Be diligent, seek Him – serve Him – for you cannot serve GOD and Mammon – all things come of the LORD, and of His own – the cattle upon a thousand hills – will he give us so that we might clothe and feed ourselves. Therefore, do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things … Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble” (St. Matthew 6.31-32, 34) — Can I get an ‘Amen’. — In the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen. 

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1 BibleHub.org. “Commentary on St. Matthew 6:24.” Accessed 23 September 2025. https://biblehub.com/commentaries/matthew/6-24.htm.  

2 Lewis, C.S., Dymer, (Dancing Unicorn Books), 86. 

3 Henry, Matthew. BlueLetterBible.org. “Commentary on St. Matthew 6.24.” Accessed 25 September 2025. https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/mhc/Mat/Mat_006.cfm?a=935024. 

4 Statista.com. “Anxiety in the U.S. – Statistics & Facts.” Accessed 25 September 2025. https://www.statista.com/topics/5223/anxiety-in-the-us/#topicOverview. 

5 Booth, Jessica & Romanoff Psy.D., Sabrina, “Anxiety Statistics and Facts”, Forbes.com, Oct 23, 2023, https://www.forbes.com/health/mind/anxiety-statistics/, Accessed 25 September 2025.