A Sermon by Pastor Tom Lacey . . .

Way of Peace

Philippians 4:4-8, Preached at Congregational Church of Boca Raton, June 7, 2009

A grandfather was delivering his grandchildren to their home one day when a fire truck zoomed past. Sitting in the front seat of the fire truck was a Dalmatian dog. The children started discussing the dog's duties. "They use him to keep crowds back," said one child. "No," said another. "He's just for good luck." A third child brought the argument to a close. "They use the dogs," she said firmly, "to find the fire hydrants."

A second grader came home from school and said to her grandmother, "Grandma, guess what? We learned how to make babies today." The grandmother, more than a little surprised, tried to keep her cool. "That's interesting," she said, "how do you make babies?" "It's simple," replied the girl. "You just change 'y' to 'i' and add 'es'."

A husband and wife are shopping in their local Wal-Mart. The husband picks up a case of Budweiser and puts it in their cart. 'What do you think you're doing?' asks the wife. 'They're on sale, only $10 for 24 cans,' he replies. 'Put them back, we can't afford them,' demands the wife, and so they carry on shopping. A few aisles further on along the woman picks up a $20 jar of face cream and puts it in the basket. 'What do you think you're doing?' asks the husband. 'It's my face cream. It makes me look beautiful,' replies the wife. Her husband retorts: 'So does 24 cans of Budweiser and its half the price.' On the PA system: 'Cleanup needed on aisle 25, we have a husband down.'

From the sound of our scripture passage, anxiety and its companions worry and stress were a problem for people twenty centuries ago. There’s no doubt it’s a major problem today. Typical polls nowadays indicate that two-thirds of all Americans say they feel “stressed out” at least once a week. Nearly 20% say they feel stressed out every single day. And this was before our recent economic downturn. I read in a recent Ladies Home Journal article that anxiety isn’t just an adult problem, it’s become a major risk for our kids, too. A survey of children aged 9 to 12 indicated that almost one third said they “worried a lot” about school, family, and world events. Forty-three percent of 13- and 14-year-olds say they’re “stressed out” every single day. Fifty-nine percent of those 15 to 17 agree with the statement, “I’m stressed out every day.” We already know that anxiety, worry, and stress are the number one cause of emotional fatigue. It can contribute to high blood pressure, ulcers, migraines, depression, and a compromised immune system. Anxiety and worry can affect our ability to make wise decisions. Our inability to manage stress can compromise our relationships, especially on the home front. Now stress and anxiety aren’t themselves behaviors; they are emotional states. When we say and do things under the influence of these states that’s when we miss the mark. So get control of your anxiety. Lower your sense of discontent with the situation or persons around you. Stop trying to control others and instead control the dark imaginings of your own heart.

Many of us are good at being worried and so we rationalize it: “I’m just a worrier.” “That’s the way I am.” “That’s how I’m wired,” or even, “That’s how God made me.” And so we choose to “live with” being worried, anxious, stressed-out people. But it’s not a good feeling or a good way of living. We need to seek the way of peace, and leave behind the path of panic. The Greek word translated “anxious” means “to be pulled in different directions.” Isn't that what happens when you're anxious and worried? You feel as if you're being internally pulled apart. “Shalom,” the peace of God, is just the opposite. It’s the sense of being together, whole, complete, and at rest.

Our passage gives us two ways to manage anxiety and instead encourage the gift of God’s peace in our lives. The first is to think. Proverbs 23:7 rightly says, “As a man thinks in his heart, so he is.” The battle for peace is often won or lost in our minds. Many people assume anxiety is the result of too much thinking. Actually, it’s just the opposite. Anxiety is the result of too little thinking about the right things. Someone once said, “The essence of worry is the absence of thought, the failure to think.” David Martyn Lloyd-Jones 

We are great at thinking things won’t turn out well. We are adept at prophesying at how the worse will happen rather than the better. Too often we don’t give the benefit of the doubt, but hold someone accountable, rush to judgment, and find her guilty when she isn’t. Mother Teresa used to say, “If you judge people, you have no time to love people.” We assume the worst rather than the best. Paul says this is wrong and we must choose a better way. We need to think better thoughts, holder higher ideals in mind, and think positively—to say the least.

 Of course the object of our negative thoughts may not be someone else, or other people in general. It may be ourselves. If we have ourselves in the crosshairs of negativity, there is no missing the target. We’re sitting ducks, easy pickin’s. And there is nobody to protect us from ourselves. We are the wolf in lamb’s clothing, the fox in the henhouse. Too many people are their own worst enemies. Paul said, “Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things.” This goes for thinking about ourselves as well. We have much more power to do God’s work and accomplish the Lord’s will than we give ourselves credit for. But we first have to see ourselves as someone God would entrust with such important work.

St. Francis prayed in this vein in his famous "Peace Prayer." "Lord make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, Let me sow love; Where there is injury, pardon; Where there is error, truth; Where there is doubt, faith; Where there is despair, hope; Where there is darkness, light; And where there is sadness; joy. O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console. To be understood, as to understand; To be loved, as to love. For it is in giving that we receive, It is in pardoning that we are pardoned, And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life."

The second way to manage stress and is to pray. Verse six says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests to God.” If it’s true that the essence of anxiety is the failure to think, it’s even more true that the source of anxiety is the failure to pray. One of the clearest benefits of prayer is that it focuses us on God and takes our focus off of ourselves. There is not a time when I return to prayer that I am not surprised to find how much I have been leaning on my own strength. The relief that comes from turning to God is immense, always. We get so wrapped up in what we have to accomplish and what has to be under our control that we remove God completely out of the picture. Wouldn’t it be great if we had as much control as we continually fantasize we have? I’m sure we would use our power for good….

The truth is of course that worrying doesn’t bring us more control. Worrying doesn’t give us the answer. Worrying doesn’t help the other person. Worrying hurts the worrier. Now I’m not saying we shouldn’t be concerned about someone else. I’m not saying we shouldn’t devote ourselves enough to someone that it doesn’t matter what happens to them. In fact, the opposite is true. When it comes to children or spouse, there is really no choice in the matter. They are us and we are they. Their happiness is a large part of ours. Being concerned is one thing. Being alert to possible troubles is the right thing. But here’s the thing: we have gone too far when we cannot find enough time or no longer hold the right perspective to get ourselves to pray. A person who focuses on his or her strength, and no longer rests on the Lord, has probably been overwhelmed. First Peter 5:7 says, “Cast all your anxiety on God, because he cares for you.” Take anything and everything to God. Err on the side of caution. After all, it’s normally the little things piled one on top of the other that cause us anxiety, robbing us of our joy and peace. With God, there’s nothing too great, and nothing too small. And as Paul said, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.” Even when times are toughest and days darkest, the Lord is our strength and shield, our help and home, our power and our peace. May this peace, which passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Return to Sermons (table of contents)

Return to Homepage of the Congregational Church of Boca Raton