St. Luke’s / Prescott, AZ
The Rev. Mark Moline
Sunday January 25th, 2009
Title: “What – Me Worry?”
What a bizarre second reading we have this morning! “Brothers and sisters, the appointed time has grown short; from now on, let even those who have wives be as though they had none, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away.”
That’s a fairly typical advent message from Paul about the imminent return of Christ. Get ready, Christ is coming back soon. Nothing wrong with that message, except here it is in the middle of Epiphany and it seems to proclaim that familiar message at the expense of our relationship with others, at the exclusion of honesty with others and in defiance of day-to-day reality. You may be happy – but don’t act like it and you married men, act as though you were not married. Strange sounding to say the least, that is until you read just one more short verse that is not included in the lectionary.
The very next verse of scripture reads, “I want you to be free from anxieties.” Don’t Worry! Now the passage makes sense! Don’t get so caught up in the worries of this world, that you forget God. Don’t worry yourself sick over your portfolio – what will it matter to you in twenty or thirty more years. Thirty years ago seems like yesterday to me. I promise you the economy will improve in another thirty years. I guarantee it and if I don’t make good on this promise, walk out of your grand and glorious mansion, cross that golden street and come over to my mansion and remind me how wrong I was in this sermon.
Just a few weeks ago Johnny Purnell drove into the parking lot, parked her car, and came into my office. I asked her if she had received the results of her tests. She answered, “The doctors say I have ninety days to live.” I asked her, “Are you scared?” She said, “No – I’m at peace with it – it’s in God’s hands.” She was not about to let anxiety get between her and God – and she didn’t even have 90 days. She was a courageous woman of strong faith. As Paul writes, “Brothers and sisters, the appointed time has grown short.”
Don’t worry! Now that’s easier said than done. In fact, I would suggest that to some degree, in many of life’s situations – a little worry is even healthy. I think worry in and of itself is a normal human emotion. Worry is not involuntary sin. It can be a lot like food. If you don’t eat enough you will become sick. At the same time, if you eat too much you will become sick. You can eat yourself sick – you can certainly worry yourself sick. If you are worried that you worry too much go see a mental health counselor, I’m serious. There are all sorts of devastating anxiety disorders and I am not qualified to address those matters.
By-and-large though, appropriate worry can keep us safe. The pilots seem to capture what I’m referencing here in one brief observation. You’ve heard it before, “There are old pilots and there are bold pilots – but there are no old bold pilots.” An appropriate degree of worry can help keep us safe and healthy. I’m diabetic. I should be worried about my sugar level. That’s a healthy worry for me to have.
A primary and crucial factor concerning “worry” seems to be fear. Is fear and worry one-in-the-same? Some say they can’t be separated. They claim worry is fear and fear is worry. I disagree. It may all be semantics, but if I tell you, “I’m worried that the battery in my Jeep is about to go out, I just hope it starts when I go out there today.” That is worry – but it is not fear. I’m not frightened by the fact that it won’t start; I’m worried. I’m not afraid of the battery. On the other hand, if we’re driving down Yarnell Hill and it’s the brakes – not the battery that I’m worried about – now that is fear. Worry and fear are different – but there is a point when worry can become fear; like at the crest of Yarnell Hill..
“Fear not” That’s one of the most frequently quoted admonitions in all of Holy Scripture. I don’t believe God wants his children frightened. But once again, this is easier said than done.
“Are you scared?” I always ask that pastoral question of people facing crisis. I think I ask it because that was precisely my initial emotion four years ago when my doctor scheduled me for surgery. He said my tumor was large and “I had better get my affairs in order, I had better call my family in.” Within the week I was seated in the waiting room of an attorney signing “power-of-attorney” over to Judy.
Initially I was afraid of dying – I almost did. In hindsight it was good for me to spiritually work through that fear. I was scared and yet my faith was stronger than ever. I wasn’t afraid of going to heaven, I wasn’t afraid of facing Christ. I was afraid of biological death. There are worse things than fear of biological death, like fearing death and not being able to admit it to others. That combination makes us both frightened and alone. There is no shame in being frightened.
Approximately seven hundred years before the time of Christ, King Hezekiah was suffering from a large tumor. He summoned Isaiah who told him he had better get his affairs in order for he was going to die as a result of that tumor.
Isaiah left him alone to die, and alone, he wept bitterly and prayed petitioning God for healing. Soon Isaiah returned to tell Hezekiah that God had seen him crying, heard his faithful plea, and changed his mind. God gets to do that when God chooses; I think that choice just goes with the job of being God. He decided to add fifteen years to Hezekiah’s time on earth. Hezekiah recovered and wrote poetry to reflect his encounter with God. In part he wrote, “Yes, this anguish was good for me.”
While fear is not God’s will for the believer, the spiritual process of overcoming fear is. We read an almost hauntingly beautiful and power-filled passage from Romans, “The Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the spirit itself intercedes for us with groans that words can-not express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for us in accordance with God’s will. And we know that in all things – in all things – God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
Fear is terrible. The process for overcoming fear is restorative. That process is prayer, love, faith and community. “Do not be anxious about anything, the Peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
