Bible Text:

“[The Gospel] is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith.”                                                                                      (Romans 1:16)

A colleague of mine who is now retired once began his sermon this way: “I saw a list of professions ranked according to the degree of stress that can be found in that vocation. I looked for ‘minister.’ It wasn’t there. I assumed there must be a mistake, so I looked under ‘clergy.’ It wasn’t there either. I looked under ‘pastor’ and  ‘priest.’  Not there. Later somebody told me that as a matter of fact, ministry is considered one of the least stressful vocations, which meant that all the worrying I’ve done for the past thirty years was for nothing.”[i] 

What about you? Are you anxious? Do you worry a lot? God knows opportunities for worry abound. 

You can worry about the world. Two years ago three planes flew into some buildings and a fourth one crashed in western Pennsylvania. They were flown by terrorists. Could it happen again? Might it happen again? Do you worry about that? Is the color elevation of your worry mostly “orange”? 

I heard a news commentary the other day that caught my attention. The commentator said that during the cold war the reason we didn’t blow ourselves up was because men valued life more than death. However, we now live in a new day, where some young men value death more than life. Do you worry about that? 

Do you worry about this country and our nation? What about the growing national debt? We are now told that the national debt will have a great impact upon our children, not our grandchildren. Do you worry about that? Or what about the crumbling infrastructure? We saw something of the fruits of antiquated power grids this past summer. Does that cause you to worry? 

Or do you worry about things closer to home, more at the personal level? Perhaps you worry about the massive increase in healthcare costs. That increase made headlines in the local paper this past week. It affects more and more of us. It affects the budget of this church, and it affects it a lot. Do you worry about that? Do you worry about whether or not you will have a job tomorrow, or what the doctor will say on your next visit this week? Will you have enough money to retire with dignity? There is plenty of opportunity to worry about these things. 

And this is only a starter list. You know that. Fifty years ago people pictured life in 2003. They pictured it as an easy life. Robots and computers would be doing most of the work. There would be almost nothing to worry about. 

However, you know that life today is anything but stress-free. I read about a 4-year-old and a 6-year-old who presented their mother with a houseplant. They had used their own money to purchase it. The mother was thrilled. The older boy said, “Mom, there was a pretty bow we wanted to put on it, but it was too expensive. It said, ‘Rest in Peace’, and we thought it would be perfect since you are always asking for a little peace so you can rest.” 

Worry, stress, fear, and fretfulness abound, do they not? So the question is, “Can I ever be fret free?” 

There was a sign once on a church bulletin board that read this way: “Don’t let worry kill you. Let the church help.” 

I’d like to help a bit with worry this morning. I’d like us to consider what it means to live the text, “We can say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can anyone do to me?’” How can we learn to do that? How can you live that text? 

THE WITNESS OF SCRIPTURE 

First, you can learn and respect the witness of Scripture. People of faith simply do not need to be afraid. Somewhere I read that life is not a “stress rehearsal.” That’s especially true in the Christian life. 

Jesus repeatedly said this to the disciples.

            “Do not fear, little flock…”

            “Why are you afraid…”

            “Do not be worried or upset…”

            “Do not let your hearts be troubled; do not let them be

                 afraid…” 

Someone once wrote that the phrase, “Do not fear” (or something very much like it) is in the Bible 365 times. That means there’s one for each day of the year. You may not know 365 texts on this theme, but you can know 2 or 3. 

The poet Robert Frost once said, “The reason that worry kills more people than work is that more people worry than work.” For the family of faith, worry is not a viable option. This is the clear and consistent witness of Scripture. 

OUR VULNERABILITY 

Secondly, you can learn to trust God in the face of your vulnerability. Faith does not mean that nothing will happen to you, or that nothing will happen to your world. We are human, and we can never be totally secure. 

As a nation we are desperately trying to find or to fund security. We want security so that 9/11 can never happen again. We want security so that terrorists can do us no harm. 

Then, this past week some guy ships himself in a crate from New York to Dallas by air! In addition, we find out that cargo ships enter the United States unchecked all the time. 

We are and always will be vulnerable. We cannot protect ourselves from everything. 

There is a hymn in our hymnal with words by Robert Grant. Verse 5 begins, “Frail children of dust, and feeble as frail.” That pretty much defines our situation. But then the next line reads, “In thee do we trust, nor find thee to fail.” 

As believers we have a new and different perspective on life. I read about a survey of 15 people who had survived airline crashes. They ranged in age from 31 to 67. The astounding thing was that they scored better on tests measuring anxiety, stress, and depression than those who traveled frequently without incident. Researchers speculated that they had a better perspective on life. 

Believers have a better perspective on life, and on death. 

I read about a 99-year-old Ethiopian woman. She had been a follower of Jesus since middle age. She was born blind. She lived in a little hut. In her hut she had two Bibles on the table. One was in her native Ethiopian language; one was in English. When people came to visit her she asked them to read to her from the Bible. Over time some passages were committed to her memory. If her visitors couldn’t read, she’d recite to them from memory. 

The story continues this way: “People would come from far away just to visit her. Why would they make the journey for an elderly, illiterate, blind widow? Because somehow in her presence, through her voice, the words ‘The Lord is my shepherd’ ceased to be just words. Those thoughts had washed over her mind so deeply, so often, that there was simply no way that anxiety-producing thoughts could survive. In purity of heart, she willed one thing. People flocked to her because it was impossible to hear her say those words without being filled with the hope that perhaps one day the words would be as real to them as they were to her.”[ii] 

As believers, we can know that kind of security. We can know that death is not the enemy. Rather, death is the doorway to God. 

CAN I REALLY BE FRET FREE? 

So the question continues: can I really be fret free? Can I be without worry? Can I have no anxiety at all? Can I have no fear? Maybe not completely. After all, we are human. And I would even hasten to say that some stress in life can be healthy. I believe that. 

But if you will lean into God, there will be a marked difference in the level of your worry. In most of our covenant groups, one of the first things in the covenant is this: “I will try to make God the center of my life.” That is a worthy goal for each of us.

Joan Webb writes, “Years ago, after I asked God to fill my cup, it seemed instead that God ate my lunch…Now, as I reflect back, I wonder if God could not fill my cup because I already had it full with my personal agenda.” 

She then adds these words: “When we admit our need and ask God for help, it is like emptying our life cups. Emptiness, though uncomfortable at times, is a necessary prerequisite to filling. Our overflowing cups yield anxiety. God’s portion produces security.” 

Remember that wonderful word from I Peter 5:7 in the Phillips translation: “You can throw the whole weight of your anxieties upon God, for you are God’s personal concern.” Some of you know this text better in this form: “Cast all of your anxieties upon Him, for He cares about you.” But it’s a great memory verse either way. 

Ignatius of Loyola once wrote, “It is characteristic of the evil spirit to harass us with anxiety that disturbs the soul. It is characteristic of the good spirit, however, to give courage and strength, consolations, inspirations, and peace.”[iii] 

A man was on a congested freeway trying to get to work. Traffic was snarled and moving at a snail’s pace. He became tense, angry, upset, and nervous. 

He then spotted a billboard. This is what it said: “Good morning, this is God. And I’ll be handling all your problems today and taking care of all your concerns. And I’ll not need your help either, so please don’t worry about a thing. Relax. Enjoy. And have a great day.”[iv] 

Can you really be fret free? “Do not be anxious,” says Jesus. “It is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” (Luke 12:32) 

Can you be fret free? Free from anxiety and pesky worries? Faith’s answer is simple and yet profound: “Uh huh. Yes. You bet!”