SERMON: STRENGTH FOR TODAY

20 January 2019

I.  Introduction

            -- turn in Bibles to 2 Cor 1:21-22

2 Corinthians 1:21-22 New International Version (NIV)

21 Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, 22 set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

            -- have you ever paid attention to the names of the churches as you’re traveling around? -- historically, our church names were rather utilitarian -- you’d come into a town and you’d find the First Baptist Church or the First Methodist Church of that town -- names that identified themselves with their denomination and their geographic location

            -- then we started branching out and naming churches based on biblical places or Christian terms -- Grace Baptist Church -- Corinth Baptist Church -- Harmony Methodist Church -- Covenant Church -- Fellowship -- you get the idea

            -- you see a lot of churches using “Point” in their name -- CrossPoint -- LifePoint -- sometimes with Point spelled with an “e” at the end to be unique

            -- a lot of churches like to use the word “life” -- Life Church -- New Life -- or “Redemption” -- or just simply “Christ”

            -- but recently, churches have become quite creative in naming themselves, with recent churches choosing names such as Journey, The Bridge, Mosaic, Generation, Elevate, Vertical, or Summit¹

            -- when you’re looking around, you just never know what names churches will have chosen for themselves -- which begs the question, “What’s in a name?” -- in other words, what is important about your name?

            -- whether we’re talking about churches or people, our name identifies us -- it defines who we are -- and it becomes a legacy of what we have done and a predictor of what we will do in the future -- names carry weight

            -- when I was in school, mothers were always worried about how their daughters were known -- they wanted to make sure they had a good name -- a good reputation -- a name that reflected their values and their behavior

            -- throughout history, if someone did something bad -- something heinous -- their name would ever be associated with that action -- ever hear the term, “Do that and your name will be mud?” -- you know where that comes from?

            -- when John Wilkes Booth shot President Lincoln, he jumped from the balcony at the Ford’s Theater and landed on the stage, hurting his leg -- and then was shot by someone as he fled -- wounded and harassed by the military and the police, he made his way to a doctor friend -- someone he trusted who would take care of him, no matter what he had done -- the doctor who stitched up John Wilkes Booth’s wounds? -- Dr. Mudd

            -- when word got out that Dr. Mudd had helped Lincoln’s assassin, he was shunned by the people of Washington -- his career was over -- his name was forever ruined and remembered in the saying, “Do that and your name will be mud…”

           

            -- names are important -- that’s why we see people’s names changing in the Bible, as God renamed them to reflect their new natures and their new positions with Him -- the same holds true for us -- although our names may not have been changed since our birth, who we are has been changed as God has named us and claimed us for His own and marked us as His representatives in this world

            -- this passage from the book of 2 Corinthians goes into detail on what it means to be named and claimed by God

            -- before we get back into the Scripture, let me just give you a little context and background to get us started

           

            -- Corinth was capitol of Achaea -- a Roman province about 40 miles west of Greece -- located between the Aegean and Adriatic Seas and was an important port city known for its wealth, magnificence, and learning -- it was especially famous for the Corinthian marble and for the pottery and brass that were crafted there -- its name was associated with wealth and prosperity and the finer things of life -- even today, Corinthian marble is still sought out for use in our homes and businesses

            -- but, its name was also known for something else -- it was famous for its immorality -- it was the Las Vegas of the ancient world -- it was a town you visited to experience all the vices life had to offer -- wine, women, and song -- debauchery could be found on every street corner -- and the people of the ancient world flocked to Corinth to experience it all

            -- Corinth was also the site of the temple of Aphrodite, which wasn’t a good thing -- sexual practices were part of their religious services -- so, when people came to Corinth, they naturally were drawn to become followers of Aphrodite for the weekend in order to partake of the sexual religious rituals led by the priestesses

            -- all in all, Corinth was a wicked and evil city -- and this pagan and idolatrous world is the place from which the church of Corinth was drawn -- the people who had received the teaching of Paul and the other missionaries of Christ were all Gentiles who grew up in this town and had spent their whole lives immersed in the immorality of Corinth as their normal life -- it is no wonder that we see in these two epistles to the church at Corinth Paul dealing with their struggles at embracing the righteousness and holiness demanded by the Christian life

            -- I think we can safely say that these books are especially insightful in our modern day, as we see our country following the path of Corinth in terms of immorality being accepted and applauded as the new norm

            -- these epistles -- there were actually four of them -- we only have two left extant -- these epistles were written by Paul to encourage and strengthen these struggling Gentile Christians in their walk with Christ -- to help them walk in the new name they had in Christ

            -- through tear-stained letters, he appealed to them to live a better life -- to turn from their sins and immorality -- to turn to Christ -- to live up to the name they now carried

            -- in his earlier letter, he dealt with some unrighteous acts going on in the church, to include sin within the church and pride in the matter of worship and spiritual gifts -- he had written them with instructions on how to purge the sin from within and they had responded, but problems still abounded

            -- not only were they still struggling with living the Christian life, but now they were experiencing increased persecution and suffering for trying to walk a different path from the rest of the people in Corinth -- this letter -- a rather personal letter from the heart of Paul -- addresses both issues and seeks to encourage them in their faith

II.  Scripture Lesson (2 Corinthians 1:21-22)

            -- look back at verse 21 and let’s read this again

2 Corinthians 1:21-22 New International Version (NIV)

21 Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, 22 set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

            -- the first thing Paul tells these struggling Christians is that God makes us stand firm in Christ

            -- the meaning of Paul’s statement here is two-fold -- first, it was to take away the pride of the Corinthians and the arguments of the so-called “super apostles” who challenged Paul -- they alleged that they were better Christians because they were able to live the Christian life in superior ways, whether that was through speaking in tongues or in the expression of other gifts

            -- Paul’s point here was that anything good that comes from us -- any changes in our behavior and our thoughts and our attitudes -- is not a result of our own power and strength -- but from God -- even our faith comes from God Himself -- so the Corinthians were sinning by taking credit for what God had been doing through them

            -- secondly, by pointing out that it is God who makes us stand firm in Christ, Paul is speaking encouragement to those Corinthians who were struggling in their faith -- they looked at those around them and everyone else seemed to be doing better than them in their walk with God and they asked, “What is wrong with us?” -- they thought the error was in them and that their problem was they weren’t strong enough or didn’t know enough or didn’t have enough faith

            -- instead, Paul points out, it is God who makes us stand firm -- it is not about you -- it is about Him working in you and through you to sanctify you and make you grow in Christ -- by depending on their own strength, the Corinthians were failing to tap into the power source that we have from God in the Spirit

            -- it reminds me of the story of this missionary named Herbert Jackson -- when Herbert first got to the mission field, he was given a car to drive -- it was an older car with a manual transmission, but he was excited to get it, because it meant he could drive rather than having to walk the entire time

            -- but, when he tried to crank it up, it wouldn't start -- the battery wasn't strong enough to turn the engine over and get it going -- and on the mission field, there was no way to charge the battery or to get a new battery -- the only way he could get the car started was to get it rolling and pop the clutch

            -- for the next two years, Herbert would either leave his car running or he would park on a hill so he could coast down the hill and get it rolling to pop the clutch

            -- after the two years were up, it was time for Herbert to leave the mission field, and a new missionary showed up to take his place -- while Herbert starts telling this new missionary about how he needs to leave the car running or park it on a hill so he can crank it, the new guy popped the hood and looked around for a moment and said, "Herbert, I think the problem is this loose cable!"

-- He gave the cable a twist, tightened a nut, and got in the car and turned the key, and to Herbert’s astonishment, the engine roared to life -- the power had been right there the whole time, but for two years, a loose connection kept Herbert from putting that power to work.

            -- the Corinthians were trying to come out of a lifestyle of paganism and debauchery, but were failing because they were trying to live that life in their own power -- they were not connecting to the Source -- and, without God’s help, none of us can live the life we were called to live

            -- Paul goes on to tell us in these verses that this power of the Spirit -- this work of God in us making us stand firm -- is received and experienced in three distinct ways:

1.  God anointed us

            -- when someone was set apart by God for a special work, they would be anointed with oil to symbolize God’s power and call in their lives -- this was especially true of kings and prophets and priests

            -- but now, Paul points out, because of the grace of God through Christ, we are all called to be set apart from the world for God’s use -- we are all anointed and proclaimed and consecrated as God’s servants

            -- to be anointed means we are no longer part of this world -- we are called out saints -- we are like Moses, who was drawn out of the river Nile and brought into the king’s palace -- and, we need to live like this

            -- and, not only are we called out, we are anointed to prepare and empower us for service -- rather than being passive participants in religion -- as was the practice in Judaism and in most other religions -- where only the priests were called to interact with God directly -- we are now all called to be ministers of God’s grace on earth -- as Paul puts it in 2 Corinthians 5:20, we are Christ’s ambassadors, entrusted with the ministry of reconciliation

            -- to be anointed means you have been named and called and sent forth in service

            -- it’s a good practice to remember this every morning -- the world wants to tell us who we are -- it wants to tell us how to act -- it wants to tell us who to be -- but God says otherwise -- and it is a good idea to remember who we are in Christ every morning when we get up

            -- to include in our morning prayers a prayer of consecration -- consecrating and setting apart every part of you to service to God as you begin your day -- and consecrating all that you will do and all that you have to Him, as well

            -- I like to do this every morning -- to claim this anointing fresh every day -- to remember who I am in Christ -- and then to clothe myself in His spiritual armor -- in order to go forth into this world as His ambassador and messenger

2.  God set His seal of ownership on us

            -- this term by Paul calls to mind a king sealing something with a signet ring -- putting His seal or mark on something did two things -- it identified the object as belonging to the King and it protected the object from any who would tamper with it

            -- so, when Paul says that God put His seal on us, it means that He has claimed us -- He has called us out of this world and made us His own -- we belong to Him and not to the world or the ways of the world -- we are part of His kingdom -- His ambassadors -- His servants that represent Him in this place

            -- it also guarantees His protection and care of us -- no one and nothing can come against us without God’s intervention -- He protects us from this world -- from the prince of this world -- from the evil that surrounds us -- He orders our steps -- He makes our path straight -- He gives light unto our feet as we walk through the darkness of this world

            -- I’ve been reading a series of books about a detective who is a wizard -- and when he is attacked by someone, he puts up a magical shield around himself to ward off the threat and to protect himself and those around him from the danger -- that’s an example of what the Holy Spirit does in our lives -- because God has sealed us and claimed us as His own, He has given us the Spirit as our shield -- we walk in a bubble of spiritual protection that keeps us safe and that helps us to live worthy of the calling within us

            -- that doesn’t mean that we won’t stumble -- we can certainly do like the Corinthians and invite into our lives sin and immorality and unrighteous living -- but God protects us from the world around and warns us when we are straying as a result of our own actions

            -- if we could remember that God has put His seal on us -- that everyday we go forth with a big sign on us -- a nametag, if you will -- that says, “I belong to God,” -- it would help us remember our power to walk in holiness and righteousness in this immoral land and it would help us strive to live holy lives through His power and strength

3.  God put His Spirit in our hearts as a deposit

            -- the Greek word that Paul uses here for deposit is arrabon -- it is a part of the whole -- it’s like in a contract when you put down a deposit or earnest money, which guarantees that you will pay the rest at the end

            -- the Holy Spirit is the arrabon given by God to us -- meaning that the kind of life we live through the Spirit’s power and influence on us now is a picture of what our lives will be like when we receive the full payment of our faith in heaven

            -- in other words, what Paul is telling these struggling Christians is that their faith and trust in the Spirit -- and His work in them and through them -- is proof of God’s grace and mercy in their lives -- that these fledgling, toddler-like steps of faith prove that one day they will be walking with God in heaven with perfection of their spirit and body and soul

            -- Paul’s telling them to not give up -- to not grow dissatisfied when they don’t see themselves proceeding as they hoped or when they fall and fail and have to get up and start all over again

            -- one day they will truly be who God called them to be -- right now, they were only experiencing a small part of who they were becoming, but the best was yet to come

            -- you've probably heard the story before of the woman who wanted to be buried with a fork in her hand to remind people of what she had learned as a little girl -- every time they would finish a meal, her mother would tell her, "keep your fork, there's something better coming" and then they would enjoy a wonderful dessert

            -- what Paul is saying here to the Corinthians is "keep your fork -- there's better things coming in the next life"

III.  Closing

            -- I opened this message by talking about names -- about living into our names -- about making sure our actions and our behaviors and our being reflected the name that we have been given

            -- Paul reminds us here in these verses of our new name in Christ -- of the standard to which we have been called -- but, he says, you don’t have to live in this new life alone -- it is God who makes you stand firm in Christ -- and He has given you everything you need to be successful in fulfilling the calling and name He has given

            -- He has anointed you -- He has put His seal on you -- He has given you His very Spirit

            -- so, go, and be who God called you to be -- trust in Him -- depend on Him -- and take up the name of Christ in this world today

            -- let us pray

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1 Thom Rainier, Contemporary Trends in Church Names, https://thomrainer.com/2018/06/contemporary-trends-church-names/

SERMON: WHEN LIFE GETS LUMPY

13 January 2019

I.  Introduction

            -- turn in Bibles to Psalm 46:1-3

1 God is our refuge and strength,

    an ever-present help in trouble.

2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way

    and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,

3 though its waters roar and foam

    and the mountains quake with their surging.

            -- Dan considered himself to be the best carpet-layer in his city -- he took pride in the fact his carpets were always the tightest, smoothest, and best looking in the city -- one day he took a job that he considered easy for him -- not challenging at all -- just one room -- nothing complicated -- but in order to get the carpet laid the way he wanted, it had taken him an hour longer than he anticipated and so he was running late for his next job

            -- as he hurriedly picked up his tools, he stood back and looked back with admiration over the job he had just completed -- to his chagrin, he noticed a lump underneath the carpet -- it was not smooth and taut like he expected -- something was wrong

            -- and then it hit him -- Dan was a smoker and he reached up and checked his shirt pocket for his cigarettes, and sure enough, they were gone -- that had to explain the lump -- he had accidentally dropped his pack of cigarettes and laid the carpet right over them

            -- He didn’t want to spend more time on this job so he took a shortcut -- he took his hammer and tapped down the lump until the carpet was level and smooth like he wanted -- he gathered up his tools and rushed to his truck to leave -- but as he opened the door of his truck, he saw his pack of cigarettes lying on the front seat -- about that time, the lady of the house came out and asked, "Have you seen my parakeet? He got loose while you were laying the carpet."

            -- the truth is life has lumps -- it is never the smooth, easy path we long for -- it is never the perfect life we had planned -- life is lumpy -- there are ups and there are downs -- but it's not the lumps that make life miserable -- it's how we deal with the lumps that cause us pain and heartbreak -- failing to handle the lumps of life the way God wants us to will not only cause unhappiness in the present, but will also affect our future happiness

            -- as we see in this Psalm, the lumps of life come in a variety of ways -- there are financial losses -- tragedies of death -- illnesses -- natural disasters -- wars and crime -- it is a part of living in a fallen world -- it is enough to make us want to get our hammer out and just beat them down until our world is smooth again

            -- but the question before us this morning is not how to make the lumps go away but how to respond to the lumps of life in the way God wants¹

II.  Scripture Lesson (Psalm 46:1-11)

            -- Psalm 46 has to do with trusting God when your life gets lumpy -- it is a declaration of faith in the grip of fear -- of hope when life looks hopeless -- of confidence in the face of calamity

            -- we were talking last week about practical steps we can take to begin living life as highly effective spiritual people -- of taking baby steps of faith to build lasting spiritual habits in our lives

            -- last week, we talked about setting aside worry and anxiety and replacing that with the habit of faith -- this week, we’re going to be looking at this Psalm together to see how we can learn to live lumpy lives by replacing fear with trust in God

            -- verse 1

1 God is our refuge and strength,

    an ever-present help in trouble.

            -- the writer of this Psalm certainly understood what it meant to live a lumpy life -- scholars think this Psalm was written in the turbulent days after the reign of David and Solomon but before the exile to Babylon -- it would have been a time of conflict and turmoil -- both from within the nation of Israel as evil and incompetent kings ruled -- and from without, as the country suffered from the raids of other nations who stole their food and killed their men and carried their young women away as slaves

            -- it was also a time of unprecedented natural disasters, as God tried to get the attention of the nation and turn the heart of the people back to Him

            -- in that day the only place of security for the people were the walled cities -- when trouble came -- whether it was a raiding party from another country or whether it was a natural disaster -- the people would run to the city and take refuge within its walls -- the king would protect them and keep them safe -- he would feed them in times of famine and plague -- that was his job

            -- but now, the people of Israel didn't know what to do -- they didn't know where to turn -- they couldn't seek help within the walls of the city, because the king and his government were part of the problem -- they didn't know where else to turn -- there was no where to go to find safety and refuge from the troubles that plagued their lives

            -- so the author of this Psalm opens by pointing the people to a place of refuge and strength -- a place where they would be safe

            -- this is the Psalm that inspired Martin Luther to write his great hymn, "A Mighty Fortress is Our God," which starts off with these words:

            -- "A mighty fortress is our God -- a bulwark never failing -- our helper He amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing"

            -- the picture of God we are given in this verse is that of a mighty fortress -- a walled city -- a stronghold that protects us from the enemies of our life

            -- the Psalmist tells us that God is our refuge -- our place of security and strength when our world gets lumpy

            -- when trouble comes -- when the lumps of life get too much for us -- he says, "run to God -- run into the walls of His stronghold -- run into His arms of grace -- and let Him protect you"

            -- He is always there for us -- He is ever-present -- as Jesus told us in the New Testament:  "I will never leave you or forsake you -- you can trust in Me"

            -- too often, our first response to a lump in our carpet is to try to fix it on our own -- we only turn to God when we've made a mess of it -- we need to learn to run to God first -- to turn to Him for help in the beginning -- to trust Him with all our lumps -- God is our mighty fortress -- not our spare tire

            -- verse 2-3

2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way

    and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,

3 though its waters roar and foam

    and the mountains quake with their surging.

            -- over the past few years, the U.S. has been experiencing unusual natural disasters -- everything from the hurricanes and excessive rainfall and flooding in our area to drought and wildfires and earthquakes in other places

            -- usually, when we think of earthquakes, we don’t think of them happening here -- but just a couple of months ago, there was an earthquake in east Tennessee that shook homes all the way down into Atlanta -- it just goes to show you that you never know how and when disaster is going to strike

            -- the earthquake we had here in Georgia was minor -- nothing like the major quakes that hit California and Alaska -- but can you imagine what it feels like when the very ground you are standing on starts to move? -- when the one place that is always constant and secure begins to shift and move? -- when the foundation beneath your feet is not a safe place anymore?

            -- that's the image the Psalmist is giving us here -- a picture of the earth giving way -- of the mountains falling into the sea -- of a natural disaster of biblical proportions

            -- but the author doesn't just mean this literally -- when you experience the death of a loved one, you feel the ground drop away -- when your boss calls you in and tells you you've been let go, the mountains fall into the sea -- when sickness and disease come into your life -- when cars break and homes are damaged and life just sucks -- it feels like nothing is safe and secure anymore -- it feels like the ground is moving beneath your feet

            -- what do we do when life just goes wrong? -- where do we turn? -- what is our response?

            -- when we went out to Yellowstone last summer, I did a few small hikes out to see some waterfalls that were not on the main road -- and I got a little worried, because any time you got off the main roads in the park, there were signs warning you about bears -- telling you to not hike alone -- and to make noise and to be extremely vigilant in looking for bears in the area

            -- they had pamphlets and signs at a couple of the trail heads that told you how to respond if a bear attacked -- it said to lie down on the ground, cover your head with your hands, and play dead -- as I was walking along by myself, jumping at every sound I heard -- just knowing it was a grizzly about to attack me -- I came up with a better response:  "Panic, then faint."

            -- that's what we do when things go wrong, isn't it? -- we panic -- we worry -- we fret -- we get anxious -- we run through heads all the things that can go wrong -- all the ways our life has ended -- all the ways that we will never be right again -- we fear the future

            -- but how does the Psalmist tell us we should respond? -- without fear

            -- why without fear? -- because we should live life with a Pollyanna attitude? -- no, because we have God on our side as our refuge and strength -- as our ever-present help -- as our mighty fortress

            -- it comes down to faith -- do you trust God just during the times things are going good, or do you trust God when life gets lumpy?

            -- let me ask you this -- have you ever had a problem in your life? -- not right now -- in the past -- have you have had a problem in your life you thought at the time was insurmountable -- that you would never get through it? -- what happened? -- you survived -- God got you through it -- He took care of it, even though you probably messed it up before you turned to Him for help

            -- so why would you think He can't help you now? -- even though the ground may feel like it's falling away from your feet, God has not moved -- and that should let you face this lump without fear

           

            -- let's speed up -- verse 4-9

4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,

    the holy place where the Most High dwells.

5 God is within her, she will not fall;

    God will help her at break of day.

6 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;

    he lifts his voice, the earth melts.

7 The Lord Almighty is with us;

    the God of Jacob is our fortress.

8 Come and see what the Lord has done,

    the desolations he has brought on the earth.

9 He makes wars cease

    to the ends of the earth.

He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;

    he burns the shields with fire.

            -- I was listening to a podcast this week that talked about the necessity of conflict and trouble in our lives -- without them, the speaker said, life would be boring -- we wouldn’t grow -- we wouldn’t learn -- we wouldn’t mature and get better and stronger and more resilient

             -- that’s what the Psalmist is saying here -- life is lumpy -- nations are in uproar -- kingdoms fall -- the earth gives way beneath your feet -- conflict and hardship and trouble comes -- that’s just part of living in this fallen world -- it’s just a fact of life

            -- but, the Psalmist says, in the midst of your conflict -- in the midst of your trials and troubles and tribulations -- don’t forget this: God is in control -- the Lord Almighty is with us -- lumpy lives are invitations for God to intervene -- troubles are opportunities for a miracle

            -- hearkening back to the exodus of the Jews from Egypt and the many wars the fledgling nation endured, the Psalmist reminds his listeners -- God brought victory in the past, and God will do it again -- God will sustain -- God will provide -- God will intervene and make things right again

            -- He will make the wars cease -- He will be the rock under our feet -- He will be our fortress of refuge and strength

            -- He will be our river of hope -- our source of sustaining life and endless blessings

            -- the point the Psalmist is trying to get across to his listeners is that when life gets lumpy, we should not fear, but trust that God will deliver us from all our trials and tribulations

            -- He brought deliverance in the past -- He made the way through the sea when no path existed -- He brought victory against overwhelming forces -- He is with us always -- He is on our side -- so, why do you fear when life gets lumpy? -- why do you worry about lumps in your life when the God who created the very mountains promises to help?

            -- verse 10-11

10 He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;

    I will be exalted among the nations,

    I will be exalted in the earth.”

11 The Lord Almighty is with us;

    the God of Jacob is our fortress.

            -- "Be still and know that I am God" -- that's one of the most quoted verses in the Bible, but rarely do we consider the context -- usually when someone quotes this or when you hear it in a message, the focus is on busyness -- on slowing down and seeking God -- on experiencing Him in the midst of the hustle and bustle of life

            -- but that's not what this Psalm is about -- this Psalm is about calamity and disaster -- about heartbreak and shifting ground and lumpy lives

            -- and in the midst of your life getting shaken and tossed around -- in the midst of our normal reaction of fear and panic and trying to fix it all on our own, God speaks and says "Be Still -- stop what you are doing -- stop trying to solve this by yourself -- be still and know Me -- trust Me -- have faith in Me -- I am God"

            -- when Kim and I first moved back to Georgia and were staying with my parents, we had a border collie among all our other various dogs and cats -- and one day, our dogs got out -- we quickly found all of them but the border collie -- we couldn't find him anywhere

            -- and so we were out driving the dirt roads around my parent's farm when we saw our dog coming down the road lickity-split -- he was in full-blown panic -- you could see it in his eyes -- you could see it in his expression -- he was lost -- he was alone -- he didn't know where home was -- he didn't know what to do

            -- he literally became blinded with fear -- he ran past us without even slowing down -- it was like he didn't see us at all -- so Kim jumped out of the truck and yelled, "Stop -- Stop" -- and finally, her voice penetrated through the fog of fear and he stopped and turned and when he saw us he literally leaped for joy and ran into her arms

            -- that's what God is saying here -- when we're in full-blown panic mode -- when fear and anxiety and worry have taken control and it feels like nothing is going to be right ever again -- God says "Enough -- Stop -- Be still -- cease your striving -- let Me take care of it"

            -- when God says here to be still and know that He is God, He's saying there are some things that only He can do -- and we need to stop and be still and let Him do them -- we need to trust Him -- to have faith in Him -- to depend on Him

            -- that's not to say the fix will be immediate -- God's not a magic genie -- He's not going to cross His arms and blink His eyes and do our bidding and solve the problem the way we want it solved or in our time schedule

            -- but when we stop and know Him -- when we truly know in our hearts and souls that He is God and let Him have control over our life -- our mountains become mole-hills -- and our lumps become just a speed-bump

            -- we have to remember the promise of Romans 8:28: "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

            -- even though you may still face problems in your life -- even though you may have bumps and lumps you have to deal with -- God promises to bring good out of them -- He brings beauty from ashes -- He brings healing from pain

            -- when we stop and trust in God -- when we know that the Lord God Almighty -- the Creator of Heaven and Earth is with us and for us -- when we trust Him enough to let Him be God and not us -- His name will be exalted and we'll soon find ourselves in the sunshine on the other side of the storm

III.  Closing

            -- I mentioned that Martin Luther used this Psalm as the inspiration for the hymn, “A Mighty Fortress” -- but I didn’t tell you that this was one of Luther’s life verses -- we all have scriptures that are important to us -- scriptures that we turn to over and over again for inspiration and hope and encouragement -- Psalm 46 was such a passage for Luther

            -- because of his efforts to reform the church of his day, Luther found himself constantly under attack -- from the Catholic Church -- from European leaders -- from his own countrymen -- from religious fanatics

            -- and he famously struggled internally, with doubts and fears and insecurities -- with spiritual attacks brought about by our enemy to bring his down and stop the reformation movement

            -- but when times got hard -- when life got lumpy and Luther began to fear -- he would tell those around him, “Let’s turn to Psalm 46 and sing this together”

            -- this Psalm was a reminder of God’s faithfulness in times of trial and tribulation -- a reminder that God would sustain and protect and provide

            -- a reminder that God is our fortress -- our refuge and hope -- our strength when life gets lumpy -- therefore, we will not fear but trust in Him

            -- keep this Psalm in your hearts and your minds -- mark this spot in your Bible -- and when life gets lumpy -- when times get tough -- when it feels like the very ground you are standing on is giving way -- turn to this Psalm and declare your faith and trust in the God who delivers

            -- let us pray   

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¹Modified from "Life Has Lumps!" by Glen Young, The Road Creek Church of Christ Bulletin, 11/15/98

SERMON: PUTTING ASIDE WORRY

6 January 2019

I.  Introduction

            -- turn in your Bibles to Matthew Chapter 6 -- we’re going to be starting in verse 25, so you can go ahead and find your place there

            -- last week, we talked about the habits of highly effective spiritual people in this new year -- about adopting new habits or steps in this new year that will help us grow closer to God -- in that message, we pointed out that many of the great men and women of faith, both in the Bible and in history, all followed similar spiritual habits, such as knowing and believing God -- which we said was akin to truly living in faith -- choosing to step out in faith daily through such means of grace as reading your Bible, praying, and worshiping with others

            -- the second spiritual habit was following and serving God -- letting God use us to reach other people and to bring glory to His name -- following and serving God is the habit of putting feet to our faith

            -- and, finally, we said the third spiritual habit of highly effective spiritual people was to praise and thank God -- worshiping God -- lifting Him up in praise -- remembering Him daily in gratefulness and praise every moment of every day

            -- as we said, these spiritual habits are kind of like the big rocks -- they’re our goals -- they’re where we want to go in this new year -- who we want to be by the end of this new year

            -- but these habits aren’t just going to happen by chance or by good thoughts -- we’re going to have to take steps to make these habits real in our lives -- so, how do we do that?

            -- several people have written about the development of habits recently -- and their synopsis of the path to reaching permanent goals is always the same -- you approach it like eating an elephant -- you know how to eat an elephant, right? -- one bite at a time

            -- that’s the same way you make substantive change in your life -- one little bite at a time -- or, to put it a different way, one small positive step at a time rather than trying to complete the whole journey in just one giant leap

            -- the concept is to break down your goal into manageable steps -- and then you start moving in the right direction by taking the first positive step -- after a while, when this small habit is set in your life and you’re starting to see progress, you move on to the next step -- and so on, and so on, until you finally reach the goal you desire

            -- let me give you an example that’s fairly relevant this time of the year -- the most common new year’s resolution is to lose weight -- a lot of people come into the new year and say, “This year, I am going to lose weight” -- and most of them fail, because their goal is too big or too fuzzy and not measurable

            -- so, some people put a number to it -- “This year I’m going to lose 30 pounds” -- but experts still say these people are setting themselves up for failure because just saying you’re going to lose weight doesn’t result in a permanent change in your life

            -- so, the experts recommend identifying small steps you can make that are easy to do but that will move you towards your goal -- for instance, everyone knows there’s a lot of empty calories in sweet tea or cokes -- so one step you can take is to say, “I’m going to cut back to one glass of sweet tea or one coke a day” -- that should be easy to do -- and, if you do nothing more -- if you make no more changes in your life -- just cutting back on the calories from sugary drinks is going to make a difference in your weight

            -- and, then, when you are comfortable with your one glass of sweet tea or coke a day, change it up -- add the next step -- say, “I’m going to only drink one glass of sweet tea every three days or every week” and try that -- or, you could say, “I’m going to start walking 10 minutes once a week” -- and then build up from there over time

            -- what you will find is that little, incremental changes add up to make big differences in your lives -- you won’t meet your goals overnight, but you won’t be setting yourself up for failure, either -- instead, by approaching our goals in this way, we will be making lifetime changes

            -- these same principles of taking small, positive steps in the direction you want to go works for our spiritual lives, too

            -- instead of trying to become spiritual giants overnight, we need to adopt small lifestyle habits that will help us grow into the people we want to become

            -- some of these steps can be things like beginning a lifestyle of prayer by just committing to pray for five minutes every week and then building on that -- or just reading one chapter from your Bible every week and then building on that -- others can be steps that follow the Bible’s admonition to put off the old ways and take up the new -- to put aside our old habits and sins and to start taking up new habits that help us to become more like Jesus

            -- with that long introduction, then, I want us to consider together a first small step towards becoming highly effective spiritual people in this new year -- putting aside worry and anxiety with the goal of eventually living our lives in faith and trust in God in all areas

II.  PUTTING ASIDE WORRY -- SCRIPTURE LESSON (Matthew 6:25-34)

            -- we’re going to be looking at a familiar passage from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount found here in the Book of Matthew -- specifically, we’ll be in Matthew 6:25-34

            -- so, let’s look at this passage together now and see what Jesus says about putting aside worry and anxiety and moving forward with faith and trust in Him

            -- we’ll start in Matthew 6:25

25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?

            -- I am not an expert in many things, but worrying is something that I excel at -- I’ll admit this is something that I struggle with -- I have a problem with worry and anxiety -- I worry about everything -- I can be driving along and find myself coming up with all kinds of doomsday scenarios and just playing them out in my head -- I worry about my job -- about my finances -- about my health -- about the state of our vehicles -- right now, I’m worried about some home repairs we need to make -- but it doesn't stop there

            -- if I let it get out of control, I’ll worry about everything from our country and our Government to killer bees and zombies -- it’s something I struggle with, but I don’t think I’m out of the ordinary

            -- a lot of people in our world today struggle with the sin of worry -- people worry about the things of the past -- they’re anxious about what might happen in the future -- and it affects their physical and spiritual lives -- did you know that worry is categorized as the number one mental disorder in America?

            -- “The Mayo Clinic claims 80-85% of their total caseload is due directly to worry and anxiety -- and many experts say that coping with stress is the #1 health priority of our day -- one leading physician has stated that, in his opinion, 70% of all medical patients could cure themselves if only they got rid of their worries and fears"

            -- we are a nation of worriers -- and, if everything is going good, we worry about that, too -- we are just sitting there, waiting and worrying about what’s going to happen next

            -- it's like the patient in the mental hospital -- an attendant was walking by and he noticed one of his patients had his ear pressed up against the wall, listening intently to what was going on in the next room

            -- the patient saw the attendant watching and motioned for him to come over and join him -- the attendant pressed his ear to the wall for a long time and finally said, "I can't hear a thing" -- the patient replied, "You're right -- it's been like that all day! -- and I’m getting worried"

            -- Jesus knows how worry can affect our lives -- He knows our hearts -- He knows our doubts -- He knows our fears -- and He knows that we are people who are afflicted with the syndrome of worry -- that’s why He tells us right here in this verse to stop -- He’s pretty clear about it, too -- He says, “do not worry about your life -- don’t do it -- stop”

            -- worry is a symptom of a lack of faith and trust in God -- and Jesus knew that if we were going to grow in grace and become who God wants us to be -- if we were going to become highly effective and mature spiritual men and women -- we were going to have to set aside worry and anxiety and begin truly trusting in God with our lives through faith

            -- look at verse 26

26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? 28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?

            -- to make His point, Jesus turned to nature for two examples -- first, He told His disciples to consider the birds of the air -- they don't worry, He said -- they don't stress over food -- they don't have storerooms or barns where they sock up food for the winter -- but still they survive because God knows their needs and He takes care of them

            -- it's the same way with the lilies of the field -- they don't worry about how they look -- they don't fret about what they're going to wear -- they don’t labor or spin to clothe themselves -- but God knows their needs, and He provides them with dress that is finer than even what King Solomon in all his splendor wore

            -- Jesus' point is this -- if God goes to such extreme measures to take care of the birds of the air and the flowers of the field, don't you think He's going to take care of you? -- if they don't worry but trust God to give them what they need, right when they need it, shouldn't you do the same?

            -- why worry anyway? -- as Jesus pointed out in verse 27, worry doesn’t do anything for us, so what good does it do to worry? -- we can't even add one hour to our lives through worrying -- in fact, science has proven that worrying will actually shorten your life -- so Jesus commands here, “stop worrying and start trusting God”

            -- Jesus goes on to give us the keys to setting aside this negative habit of worry and anxiety in our lives

            -- verse 31

31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.

            -- the first key to setting aside worry and anxiety is to start trusting God -- do you know what the opposite of faith is? -- it’s worry -- so the answer to worry is to repent and turn away from your lack of trust and put your faith in God

.

            -- in the Lord's Prayer Jesus taught us to pray, "Give us THIS DAY our daily bread" -- notice He didn't say, "Fill our barns with food -- give us enough food to get by this year -- make our jobs secure -- give us enough resources where we never have to worry again"

            -- Jesus was trying to get us to live on faith and to understand that God will provide what we need today -- don’t worry about tomorrow -- just trust that God will take care of you today

            -- He reminds us here that God knows what we need -- we shouldn't run around, trying to meet our needs in our own strength and with our own resources like the pagans do -- we shouldn’t spend all our time worrying about food and clothes -- instead, we should trust God to take care of us and meet our needs one day at a time -- this is an act of faith -- this is the first step of faith

            -- just take it one day at a time -- and choose to trust God for today -- and don’t worry about tomorrow

            -- verse 33

33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

            -- the next key to setting aside worry is to put God first and focus on Him and not anything else

            -- Jesus is telling us here to stop worrying about things -- to stop setting our hearts on the things of this earth and stop making them the focus of our lives  

            -- we've talked in here before about idols, and we've discussed how an idol is anything that you place more emphasis on and more attention to them than God -- food and clothing can become idols if we spend more time worrying about them than God

            -- Jesus tells us here to put God first -- put your focus on Him -- put your eyes on Him -- and He will meet your needs  -- our first and utmost priority in life should be to glorify God and put Him first and then to trust in faith that He will provide all that we need -- both spiritually and physically

            -- it all comes down to trust -- do you trust that God is going to take care of you? -- do you trust that the God who loves you more than anything else in this world has your best interests at heart?

            -- that’s the whole point Jesus is getting to here -- trust God and don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow is already in God’s hands -- don’t try to eat the whole elephant of faith at one time, but just take the bite of trusting in God today, and see how that goes

III.  Closing

            -- as we close, let me give you a couple of practical small steps you can apply in your life to stop worrying and start trusting God and seeking Him as Jesus commands in this passage

            -- the first is to look beyond your immediate circumstances -- sometimes, when we’re in the middle of a problem that we’re worrying about, it’s all we can think of -- we can’t see any way out -- we can’t think of anything beyond this one crisis

            -- but we need to think past the immediate to the eternal -- most of our worries are about physical and temporal things -- about things and about events that are taking place today or tomorrow -- but these things are going to pass away -- they’re not going to last -- so don’t waste your time and health focusing on something that is temporary

            -- in my job, it seems like everything is an emergency -- early in my career, I found myself working and working and working and striving to get things done and never seeming to make any progress -- one day, my boss told me to start applying the five-year rule -- he said, slow down and think about your problem -- think about the task at hand -- five years from now, will this still be an emergency? -- five years from now, anyone even remember this issue? -- if it is not something that is going to last, then stop pouring out your time and energy at a frantic pace -- just take care of it as you can and don’t worry or fret about it -- don’t hurt yourself working on something that doesn’t really matter in the long term

            -- that’s a good word, especially when you consider it from a spiritual and eternal perspective -- is this crisis you’re going through something that is going to affect you short-term or long-term? -- is this going to be something that affects eternity? -- if not, stop worrying about it -- let God handle it -- trust in Him and focus on what is truly important -- not on things that are going to pass away anyway  

            -- second, cultivate mindfulness and contentment -- focus on what you have, not what might happen or what you don’t have -- live in the moment -- thank God for the blessings He has given -- admit up front, “Yes, if this problem happens, this negative action might occur -- but this is an opportunity for me to experience God in a whole new way” -- a problem is nothing more than the opportunity for a miracle -- trust that God is going to take care of it, in some form or fashion

            -- third, set up worry appointments -- I ran across this idea online but it’s something I’ve seen in other places -- if we’re honest with ourselves, we’ve got to admit that we’re still going to worry -- even though Jesus tells us not to worry in these verses, we all know it’s probably still going to happen from time to time until we finally are able to fully trust in God as Jesus commands

            -- so, until that happens, control your worrying by scheduling it -- make yourself an appointment to worry -- set aside 10 minutes every day to just fully give yourself into your worries -- look at yourself in the mirror and verbally recite all the horrible things that could happen -- all the things that you worry might occur -- write them down if you want

            -- you’ve got 10 minutes to come up with the worst things that can happen in your life -- from meteors crashing on your house to aliens taking you hostage -- when the 10 minutes is over, let it go -- you are not allowed to worry any more until the next worry appointment -- say a prayer and ask God to give you the grace to trust Him in these things -- and leave your list of worries behind you and get on with your day

            -- it seems ridiculous, but it can help -- it stops you from worrying all the time, all day -- if you’ve got a rule in your life that you can only worry for these 10 minutes and no more, then it cuts down on the amount of time you worry in a given day -- it also helps you frame your problem and speak it out so that you can realize it’s not as bad as you think -- the consequences are just not going to be as bad as you imagine, especially if you trust that God is there with you and He will take care of you through it

            -- at the end of each day, pull out that list or think about all the stuff you worried about during that 10-minute appointment, and see how much actually happened -- I think you’ll be surprised

            -- I can tell you this -- out of all the stuff I worry about on a regular basis, I’d say that over 95% of it never happens -- all that worrying and fretting about the future, and what I fear never comes to pass -- we need to move away from worrying and move into trusting God in faith

            -- without a doubt, worry can negatively affect our lives -- it affects our walk with God -- it hampers our ability to truly trust and put our faith in Him -- that’s why God tells us to stop worrying and to trust Him -- to turn our focus off our problems and put our focus on who He is and what He can do in our lives -- worry is evidence of a lack of faith in your life

           

            -- let me close by sharing with you a story about an Eastern monarch who lived many years ago -- he had great wealth and treasure -- he had many fine things in his palace -- and many wives in his harem -- he lived his life plagued by worry, concerned that he might lose what he possessed

            -- one day, this monarch called all his wise men together -- he asked them to invent a mantra -- a few magic words that would help him in time of trial or distress -- something that would take away his worry and replace his fear with strength

            -- and he gave them these guidelines -- the phrase had to be brief enough to be engraved on a ring so that he could have it always before his eyes -- it must be appropriate to every situation, as useful in prosperity as in adversity -- it must be wise and true and endlessly enduring -- it had to be words by which a man could be guided all his life, in every circumstance, no matter what happened.

            -- The wise men left the monarch and put their heads together -- they thought and thought and finally came to the monarch with their magic words -- this phrase, they declared to the monarch, were words for every change or chance of fortune -- they fit every situation, good or bad -- they would ease the heart and mind and take away all fear and worry

            -- and then, with a flourish, they presented their monarch with a ring engraved with these words, "This too shall pass."

            -- good words for us this morning as we seek to set aside worry in our own lives in this new year

            -- let us pray