Easter
7A
1 Peter 4:12-14;
5:6-11
BECAUSE GOD CARES
FOR YOU
Pastor Don
Robertson tells of waking up at
No matter how hard
he tried, he could not get back to sleep. Finally he had to get up and get ready
for the day. As he drove to the
church, his mind continued to churn.
He gripped the steering wheel tensely. His chest felt tight. His body was taut.
“I was physically
in the car,” explained
Robertson, “and I was even managing to
drive somehow, but my mind was worrying all over the place. Here it was a lovely, sunny day, and I
was trying to be a modern Atlas. I
was carrying the cares of the world on my shoulders. I was just a weary wooden worrier.”[1]
On Friday morning,
as I began writing this sermon at home, a repairman showed up to replace a
damaged tile on our kitchen counter.
I had assumed that this would be a relatively easy task. I was working upstairs at my desk, while
he was chipping away in the kitchen.
Suddenly he stopped and called up to me in broken English. I went downstairs, and he showed me that
he had damaged several other tiles in chipping out the one. Then a lady from his company called and
said that they did not have enough tiles in stock to finish the job until
Wednesday. I could feel the anxiety
rising within me. I did not need
this on a sermon writing day, even if the sermon was on how people of faith deal
with anxiety. I struggled to
control my anger, as I spoke to the lady on the phone.
I share
Robertson’s experience of anxious sleeplessness and my experience of an anxiety
attack not because they are unique, but because they are so typical. In some ways we may be extremely
blessed. But the comforts and the
amenities of our way of life have not kept us from becoming a very anxious
society.
The threat of
terrorist attacks, the continuing war in
It is not
surprising that the people of faith to whom the First Letter of Peter is
addressed would be afflicted with anxiety.
They have been subject to persecution or at least the threat of
persecution. We do not know
precisely the nature of that persecution.
1 Peter
We may have a clue
to what these Christians faced in Pliny’s letter to Trajan: “this is the line I have taken with all
persons brought before me on the charge of being Christians. I have asked them in person if they are
Christians, and if they admit it, I repeat the question a second and third time,
with a warning of the punishment awaiting them. If they persist, I order them to be led
away for execution; for, whatever the nature of their admission, I am convinced
that their stubbornness and unshakeable obstinacy ought not go unpunished.”[2]
Such threatening
treatment at the hands of the authorities surely produced acute anxiety. Peter’s letter is intended to encourage
these Christians in their time of persecution and help them deal with their
anxiety and fear.
No human being can
completely escape anxiety. Perhaps
we can escape the acute anxiety of those whose lives are threatened. But as our own lives show, even when we
do not face the threat of persecution, even when seem to have so much going for
us, we can be subject to chronic anxiety, the kind of anxiety that typifies busy
Americans.
Often people deal
with their anxiety in self-destructive ways such as excessive alcohol
consumption, addictive drug usage, increased busyness, shopping binges,
aggressive or reactive behavior, isolation, and so on. Such behaviors may temporarily numb or
cover over our anxiety. But the
anxiety remains.
1 Peter and
several other key biblical texts offer us a different way of responding when we
feel the pressure rising and our anxiety increasing. In 1 Peter 5:7 we are exhorted: “Cast all your anxiety on him, because he
cares for you.” As people of
faith, we are confident that God cares for us. God’s care for us is the foundation of
our response to anxiety.
It is truly
amazing that the God who created the universe and who raised Jesus from the dead
cares for each one of us. That is
the heart of the biblical testimony. That is the heart of the good news of Jesus
Christ.
Next week six of
our youth will be affirming their baptism and becoming adult members of the
church. In baptism God makes
visible that he cares in a special way for the one who is being baptized. In affirming their baptism our youth
will be expressing their confidence that God indeed cares for them. In Holy Communion God makes visible on a
weekly basis that God cares for each one of us. The body and blood of Christ are given
“for you.”
The two most
well-known texts in the Bible are Psalm 23 and John 3:16. Psalm 23 begins: “The Lord is my shepherd.” The whole Psalm communicates God’s
care. Even though the Psalmist
walks through the valley of the shadow of death, he does not give in to fear and
anxiety, because he knows God cares for him.
John
It is amazing what
the early Christians were able to endure, because they knew in their hearts and
minds that God cared for them. It
is amazing what even the most ordinary of Christians in our own time can endure
and do, when they are confident that God cares for them. Our confidence in God’s care allows us
to overcome our anxiety and fear.
The biblical
testimony also gives us some very practical advice on how to respond to
anxiety. Psalm 127:2 states: “It is in vain that you rise up early and go
late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives sleep to his
beloved.” Anxious toil is a
sign of a lack of confidence in God.
Pastor Robertson
experienced relief from his attack of anxiety when it finally dawned on him that
it was not his job to “run the universe.”
God had not assigned him that task.
He needed to stop trying to play God. He asked himself, “Do you think that God has no stake in the
universe or in our own life? Do you think God is unaware of all these
problems?”[3]
Rather than
toiling anxiously, God calls us to balance work and rest. We do have a role to play in God’s work
in the world, but a lack of adequate rest is a sign that we have exaggerated our
role and need to recover our confidence in God’s care.
Paul offers us
another piece of practical advice in Philippians 4:6: “Do not worry about anything, but in
everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be
made known to God.” No one can
avoid all anxiety. But when we feel
ourselves becoming anxious, we can turn to God in prayer. Turning to God in prayer is a sign of
confidence in God’s care. It can
bring us calm in the midst of life’s struggles and storms.
Finally, in
Matthew 6:34 the evangelist writes: “So
do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for
today.” People of faith live
one day at a time. One day at a
time we live in the confidence of God’s care. One day at a time we do the tasks that
God has given us. No need to panic
about what might happen today or tomorrow or the next. No need to bear the burden of our
anxiety alone.
During times of
transition, families, congregations, communities, and nations often experience
increased anxiety. Those who know
in their hearts and minds that God cares for them will weather a time of
transition with far less anxiety.
Cast all your anxiety on God, for God cares for you. It is as true and counter-cultural now
as it was in early Christianity. It
will be amazing what we the people of St. Andrew will accomplish insofar as we
are confident that God cares for us.
In Jesus’ name,