Originally preached 10/28/12.

I ended last week’s sermon by saying: “In closing I want to say that I purposely depicted a rather graphic description of the excruciating agony Jesus endured on His cross because of His incomprehensible love for sinners such as me and you. The magnitude of the pain Jesus suffered was a zillion times less than the pain which will be experienced in Hell by folks who refuse to believe in Him and accept The Gift Of Everlasting Joy.

I’m sure that there have been times when you did not do everything you possibly could to lead an unbeliever to Christ before he or she died. You may be tempted to worry if you will be tormented by those feelings for the rest of your life. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus addressed the issue of worrying.

25 “If you decide for God, living a life of God-worship, it follows that you don’t fuss about what’s on the table at mealtimes or whether the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. 26 Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds. 27 “Has anyone by fussing in front of the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? 28 All this time and money wasted on fashion—do you think it makes that much difference? Instead of looking at the fashions, walk out into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop, 29 but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them. 30 “If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? 31 What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. 32 People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. 33 Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. 34 “Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes. Matthew 6:25-34 (MSG)

Chronic worriers don’t know our awesome Creator as well as they could and ought to. I’ve been prayerfully hoping that this sermon will help you to overcome the temptation to worry. Commenting on last week’s sermon, my daughter-in-law Veronica wrote: “Your sermon about ‘The Gift of Everlasting Joy’ is such a blessing for me. In the beginning of your sermon it caught my attention when you were explaining the existence of God and the whole Universe. It’s because a few days ago little Michael Harley took me by surprise with many questions. He started asking me where did we come from? Why people get older? Where are we going when we die? Who is God? And, where did God come from? I answered him with my best knowledge in a simple way and he gave me a big smile and just said oh, ok. I thought he must have been fascinated with the existence of God and the Universe and he has so many questions in his little mind that makes him wonder about everything.”

In his June 2012 newsletter, Dr. Andy Selle of Christian Counseling and Mediation said: “On Tuesday we rigged up a pair of binoculars to view a refracted image of the Venus transit-the slow moving shadow of the planet as it traversed between Earth and Sun. If you missed it, you can watch the videos or wait until the next on in 2117(Ha-ha). Just as in our day, the ancient world was full of astrologers eager to explain how the stars control the conditions of our lives. Today many go the opposite route of atheistic pop-science with its flat and empty post-modern materialism, which mocks in unbelief: “How could any God (if there is one) who created and controls the cosmos know or care about you, a speck of dust in a vast, meaningless Universe?” Even Christian believers are tempted at times to doubt: Does He Know? Does He care? Can He do anything about it?”

“Against this cynical unbelief, Isaiah presents a radically different and life-changing view of the cosmos for believers in every age: The God who created it controls it absolutely in every detail. He moves us to wonder and worship. And He invites us to trust. In fact, the prophet turns the unbelieving argument on its head: Because God designed and controls the Host of heaven, and He knows each star individually, you can believe that this same all-powerful, all-knowing God knows your circumstances and designs them. He cares for you personally. Isaiah leaves unanswered the “Why” of suffering; he will get there in the Suffering Servant of chapter 53. For now, just look to the heavens and see behind it the One who commands this breathtaking vastness in every tiny detail so that everything is in its proper place, nothing overlooked, and nothing lost. That includes you. You can trust Him. You must trust Him.”

In his excellent step-by-step guide away from fear and anxiety “When I Am Afraid,” Edward T. Welch says: “To be human is to be afraid. We are small; the world is big. Though we make plans, follow through on decisions, and feel like we have some say-so, we cannot control even the most trivial events. P. 5 “Fear and anxiety both live in the future. Fear and worry are prophecies. P9 “Fear and worry say something about our relationship with God”. When we listen to fear and worry, we can usually notice that we are predicting the worse, and we can often detect the connection with things or people we love.” “You can see how God is connected to everything when a little child keeps asking “why” questions. Start anywhere: “Why do I have a nose?” “Why do I have to go to bed?” “Why do I have to eat peas?” “Why is the sky blue?” Before the fifth why, your answer has probably become, “Because God made it that way.” P.9-10

“All of life is connected to God. Our fears and worries are no different. We are God’s offspring who either run from Him or run to Him. Those are the only two possibilities, even when we are afraid. When we are on the fence, trusting God a little and trusting ourselves a little, we can feel like we are going neither away from Him nor toward Him. But a closer look at our faith reveals that in our vacillating we have already made our decision: we have decided to turn from Him and put our trust in ourselves or something else.” “The task at hand is to practice turning to the Lord when you are afraid-so it becomes natural and instinctive to turn to Him. The psalmists, of course, were experts.”

1 The LORD is my light and my salvation– whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life– of whom shall I be afraid? 2 When evil men advance against me to devour my flesh, when my enemies and my foes attack me, they will stumble and fall. 3 Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then will I be confident. Psalm 27:1-3 (NIV)

“Sound impossible? Confidence even when the enemy is already in the house? At this point, it is enough to know that fear is about trust, love, and prophecies of the future, and the most important task is to learn the knack of turning quickly to the Lord. Read Psalm 56, and notice how quickly King David moves from fear to faith:

1 A David psalm, when he was captured by the Philistines in Gath. Take my side, God—I’m getting kicked around, stomped on every day. 2 Not a day goes by but somebody beats me up; They make it their duty to beat me up. 3 When I get really afraid I come to you in trust. 4 I’m proud to praise God; fearless now, I trust in God. What can mere mortals do? 5 They don’t let up— they smear my reputation and huddle to plot my collapse. 6 They gang up, sneak together through the alleys To take me by surprise, wait their chance to get me. 7 Pay them back in evil! Get angry, God! Down with these people! 8 You’ve kept track of my every toss and turn through the sleepless nights, Each tear entered in your ledger, each ache written in your book. 9 If my enemies run away, turn tail when I yell at them, Then I’ll know that God is on my side. 10 I’m proud to praise God, proud to praise GOD. 11 Fearless now, I trust in God; what can mere mortals do to me? 12 God, you did everything you promised, and I’m thanking you with all my heart. 13 You pulled me from the brink of death, my feet from the cliff-edge of doom. Now I stroll at leisure with God in the sunlit fields of life. Psalm 56:1-13 (MSG)

“Does this discourage you or arouse hope? If it discourages you because the psalmist seems like a spiritual superman, remember that he is just like you-except you have more of God’s Word [the New Testament] and more of the Spirit. He [King David] might be a few years ahead of you, but this psalm can be your own. “Do Not Be Afraid.” Would you believe that this is the most frequent command in the Bible? More than three hundred times God commands His people to not be afraid. Pgs. 10-12.

In their insightful book, “The Cry of the Soul,” (Drs) Dan Alexander and Tremper Longman write: “We could list an entire spectrum of feelings under the heading fear,” in ascending order of intensity…nervousness…worry…anxiety…terror…horror. The difference between them has to do with the intensity of the feeling, not necessarily the seriousness of the problem that evokes the fear. The two do not always match. One woman feels very anxious if her kitchen floor is dirty. Others survive quite well with an entire house in disarray. Some of my (Tremper’s) students can’t sleep the night before an exam. They worry that I’ll ask a question they can’t answer. Other students don’t even give it a second thought. They study as much as they can and then sleep deeply. Interestingly, the grades don’t reflect the amount of worry they put into it. Worry and fear are first cousins. They vary in intensity but are both forms of the same emotion. What causes them?”

“Different people fear different things with different levels of intensity, but all of us fear what we cannot control. Fear is our response to uncertainty about our resources in the face of danger, when we are assaulted by a force that overwhelms us and compels us to face that we are helpless and out of control. Fear is provoked when the fear of danger (physical or relational) exposes our inability to preserve what we most deeply cherish.” Pgs. 80-81.

Bible verses such as those about Jesus command to forgive someone who has, and perhaps still is, wronging you greatly, will disturb a Christian; especially if the Christian actually hates the person and doesn’t want to forgive him or her. Consider the following warning from Jesus.

14 Your heavenly Father will forgive you if you forgive those who sin against you; 15 but if you refuse to forgive them, he will not forgive you. Matthew 6:14-15 (TLB)

Now that is something to really be worried about. Christians do a number on themselves by worrying about losing their salvation. Why? They have convinced themselves that it’s impossible to forgive a certain person. I hope the following article from the Washington Post columnist, William Raspberry will help.

“I never really understood my friend W. W. Johnson, who died last week. I have trouble understanding people who routinely live up to the principles they espouse, quietly bearing the cost (financial and otherwise) of their choices and expecting not an earthly thing in return. All I know is that I adored the man and admired particularly his commitment to the children we sometimes describe as: “at risk.” I met W. W. (for William Warner) a decade ago when he was a 45-year old D. C. policeman increasingly frustrated and discouraged by the violence he encountered, particularly among young black men in his Northeast Washington precinct.”

“He asked to be assigned to Woodson Junior High School, where he immediately set up an after-school program, donating his own set of weights and begging and borrowing whatever else he needed. Shortly after that, he retired from the department and began working with troubled youngsters virtually full time-at first on his own, then with the Boys and Girls Clubs and finally as an ordained minister.”

That doesn’t tell you what I think you ought to know about this remarkable man. Maybe the best way to do that is to tell you the story of Elijah. The two met when Officer Johnson was called to Woodson one day to take care of a 14 year-old who was wrecking the principal’s office. Johnson, over 6 feet tall and pushing 250 pounds of weight-trained beef, grabbed the scrawny boy and threatened to throw him out the second story window. The boy, Elijah Harris, calmed down right away. They next met on one of Johnson’s frequent unofficial pastoral visits to Oak Hill, a city facility for youth offenders. Elijah told Johnson he was tired of the macho life he’d been leading and was ready to straighten himself out. He started spending his weekend furloughs at Johnson’s home-and church-and on his release, became a foster son to the Johnson’s. Even the hard-nosed Johnson told me he was amazed at what followed.”

“The boy who was used to staying out for days at a time willingly accepted Johnson’s tough discipline, including a 10:30 p. m. curfew. He apparently translated the discipline as love, and responded to it with enthusiasm. He joined the church, came within a tenth of a point of making the honor roll at school, and became a recognized school leader. Not bad for a former incorrigible with straight F’s for three consecutive grading periods. Then some guy who had a beef with Elijah-apparently from the days before he strengthened himself out-shot Elijah dead.”

“Johnson had to call Elijah’s mother with the awful news-the hardest thing he’s ever done in his life, he told me at the time. The mother’s response, however, made it seem a lot less awful. “Officer Johnson,” he said she told him, “you made the last two years of my son’s life great. He always brought me D’s and F’s. I never could get him to go to church or stay out of trouble. If it hadn’t been for you, he probably would have been dead sooner. Would you take my other son, Lamont?”

“He did, of course, and now maybe you understand what a special kind of man W. W. was. If not, let me tell you about Shawn Ragland, the youngster convicted of killing Elijah. At the sentencing hearing, Johnson asked the court for permission to speak and offered this proposition” Sentence the 20 year-old gunman to 15 years and order him to earn his high school diploma and a college degree. If he accomplishes those things in, say six or seven years, “then let him out at that time to do 1,000 hours of community service with me.”

“Maybe you won’t be too surprised to learn that Ragland, after serving just two years for killing Johnson’s “son” was released to Johnson’s custody, moving into his home. Elijah’s mother, Oletha Harris, admitted she had mixed feelings about that move. “Sometimes I feel for Shawn,” she told a reporter, “and other days I want him to die too.” “That’s probably where most of us are. Listen to Johnson, in a speech to students at Anacostia High School: “It’s just possible that if Shawn Ragland gets another chance in life, he’ll reach back and help a brother. If I can forgive a guy who killed my son, you can forgive a guy who bumped into you.” “That’s where a lot of us wish we could be.”

And I might add, that’s exactly where Jesus commands us to be.

14 Your heavenly Father will forgive you if you forgive those who sin against you; 15 but if you refuse to forgive them, he will not forgive you. Matthew 6:14-15 (TLB)

You can and you must overcome the temptation to worry. In closing, I strongly suggest that you ponder the following words of wisdom from the Apostle Paul. I have and I’ve been blessed by them.

4 Always be full of joy in the Lord; I say it again, rejoice! 5 Let everyone see that you are unselfish and considerate in all you do. Remember that the Lord is coming soon. 6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything; tell God your needs, and don’t forget to thank him for his answers. 7 If you do this, you will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will keep your thoughts and your hearts quiet and at rest as you trust in Christ Jesus. 8 And now, brothers, as I close this letter, let me say this one more thing: Fix your thoughts on what is true and good and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely, and dwell on the fine, good things in others. Think about all you can praise God for and be glad about. Philippians 4:4-8 (TLB)

Lord willing, next week….