Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord
and Savior Jesus Chris. Amen. The text is the Gospel lesson read a few moments
ago, Luke 12:28 ff.
We are living in anxious times. According to the Anxiety and
Depression Association of America, each year 40 million Americans are affected
by anxiety.[1] Anxiety is defined simply as extreme worry.[2]
I’m not a psychologist, so please take this as a layman’s interpretation: think
of a sliding scale where there’s strong interest, then concern, then worry and
then anxiety. While there are many types of anxiety, basically the part of the
brain that controls our responses to threats, real and perceived, short
circuits and stays stuck in the wide open, full throttle position. Anxiety can
be temporary, or it can be prolonged. It can be from outside of us or it can
come from inside ourselves. It can be subtle and sneaky or it can be right in
our face. Anxiety can do anything from making us mildly uncomfortable to being
physically and mentally incapacitated, unable to function or, it causes people
to make decisions and life choices they would never make under normal, healthy
circumstances. And, for the record, anxiety has no boundaries – it hits both
Christians and non-Christian alike.
That surprises some people. After all, as Christians, the
promises of God are bestowed on us in Holy Baptism. He is our God and we are
His people. The promises He has made through the pages of Scripture are ours:
Psalm 121:4 – He who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep; Isaiah
42:3 – a smoldering wick He will not extinguish and a bruised reed He shall not
break; Matthew 11:28 – come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden and I
will give you rest; 1 Peter 5:7 – cast all your anxieties on Him for He cares
for you.
We know these promises of God. And when we hear them combined
with Jesus’ words in this morning’s Gospel lesson, “Do not be anxious…”, we
want to rejoice – there is no need for us to be anxious! The Lord has promised
it. I know, believe, trust and rely that these promises of God are true.
And then we turn on the TV and we hear about another shooting.
I drove through Sutherland Springs Friday and saw the new church that is built,
and I remembered what happened there. We open our 401K statements and see how
this economic battle with China is effecting our retirement plans. Our paycheck
doesn’t seem to go as far. The car didn’t start…again. School is getting ready
to start and for some this is terrifying – the prospect of having to meet new
classmates, risking bullying and being made fun of literally makes them sick to
their stomach. And that’s just the teachers! There will be children crying on
the first day of school because they don’t know what’s going to be happening.
Medically speaking, mild anxiety can be helped with having
someone to talk to, maybe a friend or a coworker, a classmate or a pastor.
Moderate to severe anxiety may need professional help. There’s no shame in
that. You would see a cardiologist for a irregular heartbeat; no big deal. Do
the same for mental health and take care of yourself the same way. Let me help,
let a friend help; if you want someone to go to a doctor with you, call me and
I’ll drive.
Theologically speaking, though, the root of anxiety lies in
the first commandment, “You shall have no other Gods before me.” That sounds
odd, doesn’t it? That anxiety is a sin against the first commandment? The old
self loves to be in control, so much so that it tells us that we can be like
God. We can be in control if we want to be. We have to take life by the horns,
go for the gusto, just do it, have it your way right away. Are we in good
hands? Of course – their ours! We make ourselves out to be god, in charge of
our own lives and all that is around us.
As long as life is running smoothly and we can make ourselves believe we’re
in control, then I’m OK, you’re OK, we’re all OK.
And then something happens and life, suddenly, is hard. Life
narrows down. Maybe it’s money problems, or health concerns, or a relationship
destroyed, or a new school. We’re no longer in charge. The old self that’s
still within us was drowned in Baptism, but he or she is a good swimmer and he
or she keeps bobbing up to the surface. There it is, rapidly treading water,
anxiously calling out, “Oh, yeah? How will I have enough to eat? How will I
have clothes to wear? How will I have a roof over my head?” Anxiety lies to us, telling us that should be
in control of the situation. But we’re not. We’re not even close to being in
control. In fact, anxiety amps it up even further and lies, saying no one is in
control, that there is nothing but chaos out there. It becomes irrational, but
that doesn’t matter because I’m not in control.
Into this storm, Jesus speaks to the anxious heart, “Peace…be
still. Do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or your body or
what you will put on.”
Now, if you are anxious about anything, at this point your
old self is screaming something like, “Pfft…yeah, Jesus. That’s easy for you to
say, ‘Don’t be anxious…’ You’re God, after all…I’m just me and that doesn’t
seem to be getting it done…”
Jesus full well understands. He knows what it is to have His
life threatened to the point of death. He knows what it is to be hungry. He had
no place to call His own home. He knows what it is to see friends turn against
Him while others run and flee. So, when He directs us to see the birds of the
air or the flowers of the field as models and examples, He wants you to see how
God shows His love and mercy on His creation. While, yes, there are seasons of
hardship for the birds and flowers, that doesn’t change the love that God has
for them. And, if that is true for plants and animals, how much more certain
and true it will be for us, the pinnacle of His creation.
So repent. Repent of trying to be God, as if we can gain the
kingdom for ourselves. It’s not ours to earn. Instead, “It’s your Father’s
pleasure to give you the Kingdom.” Christ, whose throne was the cross, and
whose royal chambers was the tomb, has in His death and resurrection opened the
Kingdom for you. God, in Christ, rules with grace, mercy and compassion. He
cares for you now and into eternity. Cast your anxieties on Him; you can’t be
God. Let Him be God. You simply be His.
Now, let me have a word for all of my fellow anxious brothers
and sisters in Christ: Perhaps you are anxious about money or your health;
maybe you’re anxious about your child leaving for college; maybe you’re anxious
about your parents or your children; maybe you are now anxious about going to
public places. Maybe you’re anxious about school starting in a couple days.
This afternoon, go home and re-read this morning’s Gospel
lesson. I want you to notice two things: First, notice that nowhere does Jesus
condemn the anxious heart. He doesn’t say that this makes you a bad Christian
or that you are now outside God’s grace. Jesus is speaking compassionately
here, to the conscience that has been twisted and turned against itself. Here,
He does not condemn anyone as being faithless. Instead, He says, “You of little
faith.” Yes, anxiety weakens faith but this is not the same thing as no faith.
Remember: it’s not the size of your faith that counts, but that your faith –
whatever size it may be – remains in Jesus. Little faith still is faith in
Jesus. Second, I want you to also see the term of affection Jesus uses: little
flock. He is the Good Shepherd; we are the sheep of His hands. As a shepherd
cares for his sheep, so Jesus tenderly and lovingly cares for us – even the
anxious ones.
I want you to know these things so that whether your are
anxious now, or if anxiety strikes another time, if the devil tries to throw
against you, “If you were a good Christian, you wouldn’t be anxious,” or some
such other lie, I want you know the truth. Do not let satan twist your forgiven
and Christ-focused conscience against you, for it, too, has been redeemed by
Jesus. If you hear that voice in your head trying to tell you otherwise, make
the sign of the cross and say, “I am baptized.” That sign of the cross, placed
on your forehead and heart, marked you as one redeemed by Christ the crucified.
What I do know is this: Our Lord takes those moments of
anxiety and He uses them to lead us to repentance. There’s a story about a
preacher who prayed, “Lord, I hate lard. Lord, I hate buttermilk. And, Lord, I
hate plain flour. But when those things get mixed together and baked, I do love
those biscuits. So, Lord, help me realize that when life gets hard with things
we don’t like and we don’t understand what you’re doing, help us wait patiently
and see what it is that you’re making. After you get done with the mixing and
the baking, it’ll be something even better than biscuits.”
If you’re anxious, remember: we are not in control; He is. Earlier,
I said “Life is hard and life narrows down.” I took that line from a devotion written by
Rev. Arnold Kuntz. The rest of the quote is this, "Life narrows down, and
crisis comes. And suddenly only one thing matters, and there, in the narrow
place, stands Jesus."[3]
[1] https://adaa.org/about-adaa/press-room/facts-statistics
[2] https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/anxiety
[3] As
cited here: https://www.lutheranhour.org/sermon.asp?articleid=30624
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