Nov 26th (2)

November 26, 2008

Thanksgiving Eve

Pastor C. J.

Jesus said “Do not worry saying what will we eat, or what will we drink or what will we wear, for your father in heaven knows that you need all these things. But strive first for the kingdom of God and all these things will be added to you as well.”  How do Jesus’ words “Do not worry” strike you? How do those words ring in your ears?  Do you hear them and think, yeah right, do not worry, wink wink, I got it.  Or do you hear them and think do not worry, hum yeah, I can’t not worry, I do it all the time and in fact right now I am worrying about not being able to not worry.  I would like to suggest a different take on those words this evening, consider for a moment Abram, at the age of 75, Abram was told by God that he would be the father of a great nation and that through him all the nations of the world would be blessed except there was one problem, Abram didn’t have any children.  And so time passes and more time passes and more time passes and more time passes and now it is 10 years later and Abram is beginning wonder what is going on.  You can almost hear the words “Do not worry”.  So how would you respond in that situation? What would you say in that?  If it were me, it would probably be something along the lines of “Do not worry”, what are you talking about, its been 10 years and I’m not getting any younger after all.  Do you know how old I’m going to be when this kid graduates from high school? And besides that my wife though she is growing in beauty is well beyond those child bearing years.  That’s not what happened, instead God takes Abram outside and shows him all the stars in the sky and He says “if you can count them, count them, but that is how many descendents that you will have.  You see Abram believed God and it was credited it to him as righteousness.  It is counted to him as the right thing to do, the way to be, to live our lives.  Even though that all the evidence around him was pointing against it: old bodies and a very long time without the promise being fulfilled, Abram still believed.  “Do not worry.”  Or consider Job, Job was a righteous man, successful man, he had a good family, he had a good business, he had good health, and in almost an instant it was all pulled out from underneath him.  And his children were killed and his business was destroyed and even his health was removed and he got sick.  “Do not worry.”  How would you respond in that situation?  You lose everything that you have.  If it were me it would probably be something like…Do not worry!  I’ve lost everything, my children, my business, my health, my friends can’t even come up to me and say; “well at least you have your health”.  But somehow, in some way, Job who responded with the words; “the Lord gives and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord.”  Somehow he knew that God is able to work through all circumstances in our lives.  No matter how bad they might be. 

“Do not worry.”  Or consider the children of Israel wandering in the desert for 40 years and not just because Moses refused to stop and ask for directions, but here they are, they are wandering; there is no food, there is no water.  “Do not worry.”  What would you say, what would you do in that situation?  The children of Israel actually said “Do not worry?  What did you bring us out here to die?  There’s no food, there’s not water.  We were better off as slaves in Egypt”. And yet even in the mist of that kind of response, God in his faithfulness and in his love and in his grace provided for them,  He gave them water, it even came out of rock when ever they needed.  He gave them manna every morning, bread from heaven; never too little, never to much but always exactly what they needed. 

“Do not worry.”  As we consider Abram who reminds us that we can trust in God’s promises no matter what.  As we consider Job, who shows us how God works through all the situations in or lives, both good and bad.  As we consider the children of Israel, where we see that God continually provides.  It is within this context that we hear Jesus’ words, “Do not worry,” and we hear those words not as some tripe platitude that is just empty and meaningless and not as some heavy condemnation that we can’t bear, but we hear his words, “Do not worry” as an invitation to go deeper in our relationship with our God, to trust in him above all things, to rely on him more than we rely on anything else.  “Do not worry.”  Now it is my guess that is all that is going on in the world around us and just the way life is in general, there are probably some of you out here tonight that have some kind of concerns, or worries or burdens that you are bearing in your hearts and on your minds.  And it is to you exactly tonight that Jesus’ invitation reaches down throughout the centuries to you.  “Do not worry by asking what will we eat or what will we drink or what will we wear, for your Father in heaven knows that you need these things.”  “Do not worry.”  When Jesus extends this invitation to us, it is an invitation that allows us to live our lives with God, without the burden of the things and worries that weigh us down and it is also through these things then that our God teaches us something.  And so the question to ask is; What is God teaching me right now in this moment.  Perhaps He’s taking something away in your life, could it be because He is asking you not to depend on something else more than him?  Could it be because He is challenging you through this taking away to take that next step, that leap of faith as you grow in your maturity of your relationship with Him.  Or maybe, maybe he’s taking it away in order to call you back to those glory days where you lived your life so much differently in your faith.  To remember your first love, so to speak.  But what ever it is, that invitation to “Do not worry”, is a gracious, loving invitation to enter into that deeper relationship and deeper trust with our God.  “Do not worry, for your Father in heaven knows what you need.  But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well.”  See this whole “Do not worry” thing, this freedom that comes from not having to be burdened by the worries and concerns that we bear because we know that our God gives us all that we need and provides for us.  The freedom that comes with that, is not just a perk of the Christian religion but it is something that allows us to live more fully in our relationship with our God, as we experience life in His kingdom, His kingdom which we are able to be part of because of Jesus death and resurrection.  Our sins forgiven, removed from us as far as the east is from the west.  His resurrection, the promise of life that never ends is so we get to live in relationship with our God.  We also get to live lives of love and service with one another, our brothers and sisters in Christ.  We also get to live lives of service for our neighbors and for the world around us so that through the way that we live our lives, through the things that we say, they might too hear the invitation to “Do not worry”, and the Holy Spirit will then work in their lives to give them that saving faith in Jesus Christ.  “Do not worry, asking what will we eat, what will we drink, what will we wear, for your father in heaven knows that you need these things but seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be given to you.”  As we live in those things and as we experience those things in our lives, we praise our God, we rejoice, we live in his peace and we give thanks.  May you live in that joy and peace and praise and thanks, now and always.  Amen