Good morning, Friends! Thank you all for coming today.
Last Sunday I said that I want to focus on a few simple things, and we talked for a while about prayer. The simplest prayers are often the best ones. Prayer is something we often make much too complicated.
“Keep it simple,” Jesus said. “You don’t need to repeat yourself. It’s not about showing off.”
“In fact,” Jesus said, “It’s better to keep your prayers private, in the closet of your heart. God sees and hears everything. God knows what you need, even before you ask.”
Last week I told you about a book I picked up on vacation, about three of the most basic prayers of all. It’s called Help, Thanks, Wow, by Anne Lamott, and I recommend it highly. A couple of people have told me they’ve already ordered it!
Today I want to talk with you about another piece of Jesus’ teaching.
We all get anxious about things. Am I going to have enough money to get by? Who’s going to take care of me, when I get old?
Am I going to be safe at night? What if the world runs out of food, or air, or water? What am I going to wear – to school, or to work, or to church?
I can tell you about the last one – wear whatever you want when you come to worship! I know that for some people, wearing your Sunday best is a way of honoring the Lord. And that’s fine! But I’d rather than people feel comfortable and at ease, and not worry about dressing up.
Let me tell you something. When I was growing up, we never went hungry. But my parents had three sons, and I wore a lot of hand-me-downs. For a long time, my dress shirts were handed down from my older brother, and they always had a size 14 ½ inch neck. They were always much too tight, and I hated wearing a necktie. About the time I finished high school, I finally put a tape measure around my throat, and lo and behold, I had size 16 ½ inch neck. No wonder I always felt like I was choking!
I still don’t like wearing a necktie, so I hope you’ll forgive me for dressing informally most of the time.
When I was growing up, ladies and even little girls wore hats and gloves to church. But you know what? You’re just as beautiful now as you were then! Good looks are more about your heart, and the smile you share with everyone, than about the clothes you wear.
So, let’s sit back, and listen to what Jesus has to say.
Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear.
Isn’t life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 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? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They don’t labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.
If that’s 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?
So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Therefore don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Matthew 6:25-34
One way to describe the time we live in is to call it the Age of Anxiety. Maybe our parents did all the worrying when we were young. But it seems like people today are more worried, and more anxious, than we’ve been for a generation.
I can’t even begin to list all the things we worry about – war, politics, inflation, health insurance, climate change. Earlier this summer in North Carolina we were in extreme drought. Other parts of the country had terrible floods.
There’s conflicts. There are confrontations. It feels like there is literally a whole world of things for us to be anxious about.
And here’s Jesus, telling us not to worry so much.
They had plenty to worry about back in Bible times. This week I looked up some of the words they use to describe the way they were feeling. In the Old Testament, you find words meaning irritated, troubled, trembling with fear, burdened. They talk all the time about enemies, drought, and illness.
In the New Testament, Jesus and the others talk about hunger, poverty, fear, imprisonment, storms, shipwreck, even being surrounded by wolves.
What do we do about this? How can we handle our worry and anxiety?
First thing I want to say, is if you or someone you care about has depression or panic attacks, it’s OK to talk with a doctor. If someone needs medication, or counseling, any kind of support to deal with what’s going on in their life, please get help.
You wouldn’t be ashamed to go to a doctor with a broken leg or a heart condition, would you? So, don’t be ashamed if you need to go to a doctor if you have depression or anxiety that keeps you from functioning. No shame, no blame, certainly not from me, and I hope not from any other caring person. If you need that kind of help, and lots of good people do, it’s OK.
I wouldn’t say the same thing about self-medicating with drugs or alcohol. Those are not a good way to handle worry or anxiety. I’ve known way too many people who wound up addicted or having their lives destroyed by drugs and drinking. Almost everybody I know has a family member who drinks too much or uses drugs. It’s too big a subject for just one Sunday morning message, but please remember – there are other ways to cope, and there are plenty of people who can help.
What I really want to talk about today are some simple things we can do, when we feel trapped and scared and anxious.
One of the simplest things is just to get some more oxygen into yourself. Take half a dozen slow, easy, deep breaths. This is kindergarten stuff, but you’d be amazed how many people forget to do it. Breathe in. Breathe out. Get some air inside you. Let your worry flow out of you.
Did you know, that just breathing can really help? It’s one of the first things I always used to tell people on the ambulance. It’s one of the first things the people tell you in the ER.
Breathing helps worry. Breathing helps pain. It helps grief, and fear.
Did you know, that in the Bible, the same word is used for both breath and the Holy Spirit? When you forget to breathe, it’s like you cut the Holy Spirit off from yourself. When you breathe deeply, it’s like taking the Holy Spirit into your body, into your life, into your mind and heart.
I know Quakers talk a lot about listening during open worship. And we do! But I also know Quakers, who tell me what they mostly do during open worship, is just to breathe. They say it’s relaxing, and it helps them feel centered. It’s a different kind of a quiet prayer.
If you feel there’s too much noise in your life, in your head or in your heart, this may sound dumb, but turn the noise off.
A lot of our anxiety today simply comes from too much noise around us all the time. Yammer, yammer, yammer! I’m always amazed, when I go visiting, how many people have the TV going all the time. People tell me they feel lonely without the TV. And I want to tell them, “Don’t you realize what it’s filling you up with?”
TV used to be for entertainment. But now TV is an anxiety machine. News used to be half an hour after supper. Now it’s fear and hate and anger, 24/7. It’s spiritual poison.
The internet is kind of the same thing. You won’t be more beautiful, or richer, or less anxious, if you stay on the internet all day. It’s not living. Probably the opposite.
There’s a new word for this. It’s called doom scrolling. Watching TV or cruising the internet all day, or just several hours a day, zeroing in on all the bad news.
It really isn’t healthy. And it’s especially bad, if you do it just before bed time. Don’t go to sleep with bad news on your mind. You won’t sleep well, and you’ll wake up tired and anxious and do it again.
In today’s Scripture, Jesus asks, “Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” Literally, he asks, if you worry, can you add a single cubit to your life? A cubit is the distance from your fingers to your elbow. Can you make your life that much longer by worrying?
If anything, worry and anxiety are so unhealthy, they tend to make our lives shorter, not longer. It doesn’t mean you need to shut out the world entirely. That’s not being responsible. But you don’t need to worry about things all day long.
As Jesus says, “Don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
Another thing you can do, is step back from things for a while. That’s what sabbath is for. That’s why we take retreats and vacations. Jesus used to leave everything now and then, and go off to the mountains. Or sometimes he went down to the lake, or walked along the beach.
This was something Jesus did often. He would go off into the desert or the wilderness to pray. We don’t know if he asked for things. Or maybe he just needed to spend some time with his heavenly Father.
The Scriptures are filled with words of wisdom about worry. This is not a new problem, and there’s lots of spiritual wisdom in the Bible.
Paul said, “ Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” (This is from a guy who was run out of town, beat up more than once, arrested, imprisoned, shipwrecked and went hungry.)
“Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Don’t be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:4-7)
In the Psalms, it says, “Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee. He never will suffer the righteous to fall; He is at thy right hand. Thy mercy, Lord, is great, and far above the heavens! Let none be made ashamed that wait upon Thee.” (Psalm 55:22, Psalm 16:8)
In one of the early Christian letters, it says, “Be humble. You are in God’s almighty hand! In due time, he will lift you up. Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:6-7)
Over and over again in the Bible, it says, “I sought the Lord, and He delivered me. . .” (see Psalm 34:4 and other places)
“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; he feeds me beside the still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me – your rod and staff comfort me. . .” (Psalm 23:1-4)
None of this is new. You’ve heard it all before. But we need this reminder, because these are anxious times.
There are good things we can do, when we feel worried and anxious about the world. We’ve only talked about a few of them this morning.
We can get help, and there’s nothing shameful about doing that.
We can stop trying to escape or hide from our troubles, with drugs and alcohol. That doesn’t end well.
We can bring some oxygen into ourselves. Just breathe. A few slow, deep breaths can be amazingly helpful.
And take it a step farther. When you breathe, remember that the word for breath, and the word for the Holy Spirit, are the same thing. Breathe the Holy Spirit in, and breathe your anxiety out. And remember, that’s what a lot of people do, during open worship.
Banish the noise from your life, especially the bad noise. Don’t have the TV on all day long, and turn it to some different channels now and then. The same is true for the internet. If you fill yourself with noise and bad news and anger all day long, no wonder you’re unhappy! Turn it off, and be careful about what you watch and listen to, especially when you’re tired or vulnerable.
And step back once in a while, like Jesus did. Take a full sabbath. Take a vacation. Take a mini-break. This is North Carolina – go to the mountains, or the beach!
And remember some of those words I read to you from the Bible. When I tell you to read the Bible, I’m not trying to make you feel guilty. I’m not trying to add an extra burden to your life. I’m sure you’ve got enough burdens already.
Reading the Bible is like having a full tool kit for your life. It’s like having a full drawer of recipes and tools for your kitchen. You’d be lost if you didn’t have those tools. So, reading your Bible is like having the tools you need, to feed your heart and to armor your soul.
Let me finish with just one more word, this time from Jesus himself. During an incredibly anxious and dangerous time, Jesus said, “I have said these things to you while I am still here with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, who the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and will remind you of all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. I don’t give as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubles, and do not let them be afraid.” (John 14:25-27)