The Christian's View of Crisis

Jason M. Dickinson

Stand Alone • Sermon • Submitted 5 years ago

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The Christian's view in crisis is Christ

Notes

Transcript

Introduction

The world has certainly changed over a short period of time. If you had asked someone about their emotions as they watched the news you might have received any number of different responses. But over the past several weeks, the emotions people around the world are experiencing as they view the spreading crisis that COVID-19 has caused would be much fewer and more common. For many, their view of the world’s current situation has caused fear, dread, and most commonly, anxiety about the uncertainties we find ourselves in and the uncertainty about what lies ahead.

I’d like us to pause from our series in the Gospel of John for just this week and ask the question, “With so many people watching the spread of this virus around our nation and around the world, what is the Christian’s view in such a crisis?”

As we’ve said anxiety is the most common response to our current situation and can be felt from social media to Wall Street. But as Christians, our view is not to be one of fear or anxiety. In fact, more than 300 times throughout Scripture, God’s people are given the command to “Fear Not.”

Sometimes, that’s easier said than done, but I’d like to take at one of the times that Jesus calls us to view things differently than the rest of the world and He will see two things that Jesus calls us to do as followers of Christ as we view this crisis.

Read (Scripture Video)

So in this passage we see that Jesus gives us both something to avoid and something to pursue.

AVOID Anxiety

PURSUE Kingdom of God

WE NEED BOTH - it’s not always helpful to give the negative without giving the positive.

we need both

ILLUST - This past week I sat my kids down and told them that, during this season, we should NOT touch our faces — immediately two of them touched their faces. What I needed to then do was to give them a positive of what TO DO in place of what NOT to do. (incidentally, I’ll be telling them NOT to clean their rooms later today and we’ll see if that has the same effect.)

(ESV)

25 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious . . .

What we see here is that the command to NOT be anxious is directly connected to and logically flows from what Jesus had just previously spoken about.

If you look at the preceding verses, you’ll see that Jesus has just called out his followers from trying to live a duplicitous life where they split their allegiance between the things of the world and God.

Jesus says you can’t seek your satisfaction in life from both things in this world and from God — you can’t serve two Masters. Either your anchor of satisfaction is found in temporal things of this world or anchor of satisfaction is found in the eternal things of God’s Kingdom.

And by implication of the verses we read today, when you make the things of the world your master — your anchor is grounded in the things of the world — and it looks as though the world will not be able to satisfy — anxiety is the natural result.

Anxiety is the result of a shallow anchor.

Jesus calls us to deepen our anchor past the things of this world and into the Kingdom of God, so that when the waves of crisis or uncertainty begin to pound, we don’t find ourselves seasick with anxiety.

Avoid Anxiety

Jesus

Jesus calls us to avoid the common waves of anxiety in three areas:

physical needs

material possessions

future uncertainties

Areas to avoid anxiety:

Physical Needs (25-27)

(ESV)

25 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body,

Up until about a week ago very few Americans had any real anxiety about what we would eat or drink — we only had to concern ourselves with the many different options of food and drink.

But to the people to whom Jesus was speaking and, in some respects to some of us today, concern about daily sustenance and health (food, drink, and toilet paper) is a real issue and one that can cause anxiety.

So Jesus deepens the anchor and provides the remedy for this source of anxiety as he points to nature and uses a common form of speech in his day of arguing from the lesser things to make his point about greater things.

(ESV)

- God sustains

26 Look at the birds of the air: (they are fed)they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?

30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

If God would take care of the seemingly insignificant aspects of creation, how much more would he take care of his most significant part of creation — YOU.

Notice how when Jesus spoke about how God sustains his creation he speaks about God as “Your Heavenly Father”

(ESV)

1 Peter 5:7

7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.

ILLUST - I love my kids, I love my dogs, I love the trees and the grass - but there is an order of significance and care. If there is a shortage of water, I’m not sprinkling the ficas. So, my children can be assured that if dad is feeding the dogs, they’ll be enough food for them.

*Take a moment, Spring is coming, go watch the birds.

The second area Jesus calls us to avoid anxiety in is

Material Possessions (28-31)

28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, (they are clothed) how they grow:

Depending on where you live, clothing might be considered an absolute necessity. In my case, given my age, I assure you it is.

Jesus is moving from food and drink, the very basic necessities for health and life to the other things we need in order to interact with life.

Many are watching Wall Street with anxiety and wondering what kind of quality of life they will have once this is all over. Or many have been laid off, or are out of work for at least a season.

(The lilies) they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

- God provides

Comparing the beauty of a flower to the wealth of Solomon doesn’t mean that somehow following God will somehow guarantee our wealth.

The beauty of a lily — it’s brightness and colors attract the butterflies and bees which aid in it’s pollination to allow the lily to do what it was intended to do.

Jesus is saying that if God can provide the flower with what it needs to do it’s intended purpose, He can provide for you what you need to accomplish his intended purpose through you.

Whenever I think of my need for God’s provision I always think of my father-in-law who, in referencing would say something to the effect, “God owns the cattle on a thousand hills so to provide for me, he simply needs to sell a bull.”

32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and [For} your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.

The third area of anxiety Jesus calls us to avoid is:

We don’t because they do. We don’t because He does.

Future Uncertainties (34)

(ESV)

34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Honesty, at first this is not a very comforting verse. In order to help me avoid being anxious today Jesus notes that tomorrow will have it’s own troubles.

I think the point that Jesus is trying to make is a crucial one if we are going to release anxiety.

YOU ACTUALLY ARE NOT IN CONTROL OF ANYTHING. You were never meant to be.

Because:

- God reigns!

(ESV)

24 The Lord of hosts has sworn:

“As I have planned,

so shall it be,

and as I have purposed,

so shall it stand,

Anxiety assumes God has less control than he really has and you have more control than you really should.

Anxiety is not a positive action, it’s a negative emotion — it doesn’t actually DO anything, it only does something TO YOU.

This is not the way we as believers should live and view crises in the world.

2 ‘fors’

32 For the Gentiles (unbelievers) seek after all these things, and [For} your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.

We don’t because they do. We don’t because He does.

So, Jesus gives us a positive action to replace the negative emotion:

Pursue the Kingdom

Deepen our anchor past the things in this world. Stop looking for something in this world to anchor to and PURSUE GOD’S Kingdom.

Kingdom of God is that place where God reigns as king. The Kingdom of God is alive and real In that God still ultimately reigns over all things and should reign in the hearts of believers, and one day his kingdom will be a physical reality for all eternity where all the sin, sickness, disease and viruses will be gone. And those who have trusted in Jesus — what he has done for them on the cross and who have made Jesus Lord of their lives, will one day live forever in the Kingdom of God and so can anchor their hope in the promise of the Kingdom.

Seek first the Kingdom of God (33a)

(ESV)

33 But (in contrast) seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Gentiles (unbelievers) seek after things (to satisfy) — We as believers are to seek the Maker of things - A person is always greater than a THING.

Seeking first the Kingdom means to seek the King first.

As we seek the King first, we are seeking the One who is called our heavenly Father

When your eyes are on the “THINGS” you tend to see their lack.

When your eyes are on the GIVER OF THINGS you can focus on their abundance.

Really, what is it that you are worried about that God cannot solve, provide, or redeem? If you can see something that God cannot do than you are not really seeing God.

This is why worship is so important.

We say worship is to reorient our hearts and minds back to who God is and who we are in relationship to Him.

Kingdom priority in all your life.

To live is Christ and to die is gain

**Anxiety is the echo of Fear, Peace is the echo of Worship**

James S. Stewart.

Don’t let less time in church mean less time in God’s Word

You cannot seek first the Kingdom of God if you have not first sought the King!

Just because you are not praying in a group doesn’t mean you stop praying.

Trust me - test it - the more your heart worships, the less anxious it will be.

And his righteousness (33b)

33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

How do we pursue God’s righteousness?

There is nothing we can do be righteous like God is righteous - that’s the whole point of the gospel. The problem of sin in each of our lives has separated us from God and We cannot become truly righteous by anything that we do — it’s only be cause of what Jesus has done by paying for our sin on the cross and rising back to life in victory that He can give us God’s righteousness when we trust and follow him.

Because of what Jesus has done in us we can pursue God’s righteousness (rightness) to be worked out in our own lives and in the lives of our communities.

Pursue God’s righteousness (rightness) for our own lives and for our community

Happens in two ways:

Live as ambassadors of the King

According to this passage, we live (or should live) differently than the rest of the world in view of a crisis. We don’t respond with anxiety as citizens of THIS world, we respond with a settled peace, an anchored peace beyond this world as ambassadors of the King.

As ambassadors our lives display the values of the Kingdom of God.

Begs the question: If someone were to track your response to the crisis at hand (or any crisis) would they see the King and his Kingdom?

We are in unprecedented times where people are desperately looking for a place to anchor their lives, and we as ambassadors of the King (if we are pursuing the Kingdom first) have the responsibility and the privilege tot point them to Jesus.

“Let us live as people who are prepared to die, and die as people who are prepared to live.”

James S. Stewart.

Not only do we Live as ambassadors of the King , but we

Love as agents of the King

Sometimes the greatest thing you can do for yourself is to do something for someone else. This is especially true when it comes to anxiety.

Anxiety only arises when we believe that somehow or in some way we create or control our health or our wealth.

Because our hope is anchored in real life beyond this world we, as Christians, are free to use and spend everything in this life to love and reach others for the King.

Scottish preacher, James S. Stewart once said,

Let us live as people who are prepared to die, and die as people who are prepared to live.

James Stuart Stewart

This is the mentality of the Christian who is pursuing first the Kingdom of God apart from the things of this world. This is the mentality of many Christians who have faced crises before.

Historians have pointed out how the care and action of Christians during past epidemics and crises has actually promoted the spread of Christianity.

In writing about the church’s care and compassion to those in need during a crisis, church historian, Eusebius, wrote, “the deeds of Christians were on everyone’s lips,”

Now is the time for us to love as agents of the King. To offer help to our neighbors to share with them the hope of the gospel and cure for their anxiety.

Conclusion

In 2017, two young boys were playing in the water along Panama City Beach when they suddenly became caught in a rip current. As they screamed for help, the boys’ mother jumped into the water to save them only to be caught in the current herself.

One by one, family members entered the water to save the growing group only to face the same predicament.

After just a short time, the spectacle and shouts had attracted a number of onlookers.

One witness stayed safely on shore, realizing that if he went into the water he would be caught himself. With some quick thinking, one woman, Jessica Simmons, gathered everyone she could find around her and began instructing them to grasp arms and begin wading into the water as a human chain that was still anchored safely to shore.

Soon, as many as 80 people were linked together, and even as they were pushed and pulled by waves and currents they were able to successfully pull the swimmers to safety.

The key was to remain anchored beyond the crisis. And people were saved as those were anchored reached for those who were sinking.

Looking back on the writing of the hymn, Chisholm recalled in 1941, "My income has not been large at any time due to impaired health in the earlier years which has followed me on until now. Although I must not

Beachgoers along the shores of Panama City Beach in Florida recently found themselves witness to an event as dangerous as it was inspiring. While playing in the water, two boys suddenly became caught in a rip current and started screaming for help. Understandably, the boys' mother jumped in the water to try to save them, only to get caught herself. One by one, more family members came in after the group, only to face the same predicament. After just a short time, the spectacle and shouts had attracted a number of onlookers. "There was a guy in the water, saying, 'Man, they're all stuck out there, the riptide's pulled them out. I tried to go out there; if I go any farther, I'm going to get stuck,'" said witness Derek Simmons. But luckily, Simmons' wife Jessica did some quick thinking, gathered the help of those around them, and began instructing people to grasp arms and wade into the sea as a human chain, anchored to the safety of the shore. As many as 80 people worked together in this fashion, and after a stressful few minutes successfully pulled the swimmers to safety. "It was the most remarkable thing to see," Jessica Simmons told reporters. "These people who don't even know each other and they trust each other that much to get them to safety."

"There was a guy in the water, saying, 'Man, they're all stuck out there, the riptide's pulled them out. I tried to go out there; if I go any farther, I'm going to get stuck,'" said witness Derek Simmons. But luckily, Simmons' wife Jessica did some quick thinking, gathered the help of those around them, and began instructing people to grasp arms and wade into the sea as a human chain, anchored to the safety of the shore. As many as 80 people worked together in this fashion, and after a stressful few minutes successfully pulled the swimmers to safety. "It was the most remarkable thing to see," Jessica Simmons told reporters. "These people who don't even know each other and they trust each other that much to get them to safety."

Potential Preaching Angles: Christians in the past have noticed how "Christianity is one beggar telling another beggar where he found bread." One of the most beautiful parts of the gospel is how after God saves his children, he does not tell them to sit idle but allows them to join him in the precious work of taking the good news to the remainder of the world.

This is the church’s view of a crisis — remaining anchored in the kingdom of God so that together, we can reach and save others.

fail to record here the unfailing faithfulness of a covenant keeping God and that He has given me many wonderful displays of His providing care, for which I am filled with astonishing gratefulness."