Stressed Out

SR

The New International Version Chapter 5

6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. 7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

Two jobs, one staff member down due to maternity leave, decided to teach a class spring semester, Scoutmaster (weekly meetings, leadership training, merit badge classes, camping), lead weekly Bible study, and preach at Sierra Madre! Stressed out! Ever had those days, weeks, semesters??

Two jobs, one staff member down due to maternity leave, decided to teach a class spring semester, Scoutmaster (weekly meetings, leadership training, merit badge classes, camping), lead weekly Bible study, and preach at Sierra Madre! Stressed out! Ever had those days, weeks, semesters??

Definition of stress: Perception that obligations outweigh your resources. You don’t have enough (time, money, talent, persistence, patience) to accomplish all that needs to get done.

“Stressed Out” Twenty One Pilots

Wish we could turn back time, to the good old days When our momma sang us to sleep but now we’re stressed out

We used to play pretend, give each other different names We would build a rocket ship and then we’d fly it far away Used to dream of outer space but now they’re laughing at our face Saying, "Wake up, you need to make money"

We used to play pretend, give each other different names We would build a rocket ship and then we’d fly it far away Used to dream of outer space but now they’re laughing at our face Saying, "Wake up, you need to make money"

We used to play pretend, give each other different names We would build a rocket ship and then we’d fly it far away Used to dream of outer space but now they’re laughing at our face Saying, "Wake up, you need to make money"

The New International Version Chapter 1

12 I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13 I applied my mind to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under the heavens. What a heavy burden God has laid on mankind! 14 I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

Life described as a “heavy burden.” Doesn’t go into a lot of detail as to what he’s exactly referring to. Certainly here in the opening chapters of Eccl, the writer generally describes the meaninglessness of life: “foolish” life is “a chasing after the wind.” Sense that nothing matters, everything sort of goes round and round. Rivers flow into sea, sea never full. The wind goes here and there. Sun rises and sets. Toil is useless. That’s the overall setting. He continues:

The New International Version Chapter 1

15 What is crooked cannot be straightened;

what is lacking cannot be counted.

16 I said to myself, “Look, I have increased in wisdom more than anyone who has ruled over Jerusalem before me; I have experienced much of wisdom and knowledge.” 17 Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom, and also of madness and folly, but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind.

18 For with much wisdom comes much sorrow;

the more knowledge, the more grief.

Besides all the generally futile nature of life, things that are crooked in life can’t be made straight. What is lacking “cannot be counted.” You can’t count all that you lack! Remember our definition of “stress”? You lack a lot! Beyond counting! And you think you can try to learn and study and grow and think and apply strategy . . . More understanding and wisdom = more sorrow and grief! Great. Where does that leave us?

"What a heavy burden”! We can’t fix (straighten) anything! We lack much! Life is futile anyway! Meaningless!

Let’s just all go back to bed!

Besides all this spiritual turmoil and anxiety, we know stress is disastrous to our health.

“When you experience stress, your body produces hormones that help you to respond to the stressor. Too much stress over time can raise your blood pressure, cholesterol and glucose levels, impact weight management and may contribute to chronic diseases such as heart disease and hypertension.”

When you experience stress, your body produces

hormones that help you to respond to the stressor.

Too much stress over time can raise your blood

Something I notice in my own life as well: stress causes me to think about me. It’s all about me and my whining, and all I have to do, and you just don’t understand, and the world is on my shoulders, and everything depends on me, and I’ll never get it all done, everything is a fail, and Pepperdine is going to fall into the ocean.

pressure, cholesterol and glucose levels, impact weight

management and may contribute to chronic diseases

And my vision to serve the world becomes blurred. My focus shifts to considering others more important than myself (Philippians) to just well, myself.

such as heart disease and hypertension.

Now certainly there are times when you need to focus on some self care and there may be times when you should pull back a bit. We all need someone to lean on and in times when we truly are overwhelmed it’s good to reach out for help. Maybe let something drop. Did you know you’re not the saviour of the world?

The Sabbath for the Jews began at sundown. The reason: the first thing the faith community did was eat and sleep. Share a nice family meal and go to bed. In this way Israel declared that the world was safely in God’s hands, not theirs. When they wake up, it’s in the middle of the day and they join God in what he is already doing in the world.

The New International Version Chapter 11

28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Inscribing the Text: Sermons and Prayers of Walter Brueggemann On Generosity

On our own, we conclude:

that there is not enough to go around

we are going to run short

of money

of love

of grades

of publications

of sex

of beer

of members

of years

of life

we should seize the day

seize the goods

seize our neighbor’s goods

because there is not enough to go around.

And in the midst of our perceived deficit:

You come

You come giving bread in the wilderness

You come giving children at the 11th hour

You come giving homes to exiles

You come giving futures to the shut-down

You come giving Easter joy to the dead

You come—fleshed in Jesus.

And we watch while

the blind receive their sight

the lame walk

the lepers are cleansed

the deaf hear

the dead are raised

the poor dance and sing.

We watch

and we take food we did not grow and

life we did not invent and

future that is gift and gift and gift and

families and neighbors who sustain us

when we do not deserve it.

It dawns on us—late rather than soon—

that “you give food in due season

you open your hand

and satisfy the desire of every living thing.”

By your giving, break our cycles of imagined scarcity

override our presumed deficits

quiet our anxieties of lack

transform our perceptual field to see

the abundance … mercy upon mercy

blessing upon blessing.

Sink your generosity deep into our lives

that your muchness may expose our false lack

that endlessly receiving, we may endlessly give,

so that the world may be made Easter new,

without greedy lack, but only wonder

without coercive need, but only love

without destructive greed, but only praise

without aggression and invasiveness …

all things Easter new …

all around us, toward us and

by us

all things Easter new.

Finish your creation … in wonder, love, and praise. Amen.