STRESS MANAGEMENT EXPERTS TELL US THAT ONLY 2% OF OUR "WORRYING TIME" IS SPENT ON THINGS THAT MIGHT ACTUALLY BE HELPED BY WORRYING… ONLY 2 %!
EXPERTS ALSO TELL US THAT THE OTHER 98% OF OUR WORRYING TIME IS DIVIED UP IN THE FOLLOWING WAYS:
ONLY 2% OF OUR “WORRYING TIME” IS ACTUALLY SPENT ON THINGS THAT MIGHT BE HELPED BY WORRYING…(Ralph Milton -Rumors)
AND YET WE KNOW THAT OUR LIVES ARE FULL OF THINGS THAT BOTH WORRY US & FRIGHTEN US… LIFE IS FULL OF CHALLENGES FOR EACH OF US… AND WE KNOW THAT THERE ARE MANY DIFFERENT WAYS WE COPE WITH LIFE’S CHALLENGES… LIFE IS FULL OF STRANGE & UNPREDICTABLE THINGS AND WORRYING IS ONLY ONE OF THE WAYS WE COPE…
IF WE WERE TO CREATE A LIST OF COPING MECHANISMS WE USE TO FACE THE CHALLENGES LIFE DEALS US, I BET WE COULD MAKE QUITE A LIST! THAT LIST OF WAYS WE HANDLE ALL THAT LIFE DEALS US IT MIGHT INCLUDE THINGS LIKE: PANIC, FEAR, AVOIDANCE, DENIAL, WORRY, NEGATIVE THINKING, OVEREATING, OVER DRINKING, OVER MEDICATING, COURAGE, SPUNK, DUMB LUCK, CONFIDENCE, CONTROL, PREPARATION, TRUST, OPTIMISM, AND YES, HOPEFULLY, OUR FAITH IN GOD!
WE HAVE TWO AMAZING BIBLICAL STORIES TO CONSIDER THIS MORNING…
WE HAVE THE STORY OF THE YOUNG SHEPHERD, DAVID, WHO ARRIVES TO VISIT HIS SOLDIER BROTHERS… DAVID FINDS EVERYONE IN A PANIC BECAUSE OF THE THREATS FROM A GIANT SOLDIER, GOLIATH… AND WHAT DOES DAVID DO? HE OFFERS TO TAKE ON THE GIANT GOLIATH SINGLE HANDEDLY – WITH JUST A SLINGSHOT, SOME STONES, AND HIS FAITH! NO TIME FOR WORRY IN DAVID’S LIFE… NO TIME FOR FEAR OR PANIC OR EVEN MUCH PREPARATION!
WE ALSO HAVE THE STORY OF JESUS & HIS DISCIPLES CAUGHT IN A VIOLENT STORM ON THE SEA OF GALILEE AT NIGHT & AT THE END OF A LONG, LONG DAY... HERE IN THIS STORY WE SEE DISCIPLES SO FULL OF PANIC & FEAR THAT THEY AWAKEN JESUS & PLEAD FOR HIM TO DO SOMETHING TO SAVE THEM!
TWO STORIES… TWO STORIES ABOUT HOW LIFE’S CHALLENGES HAPPEN WHEN WE LEAST EXPECT THEM AND HOW FOLKS RESPOND IN THOSE MOMENTS OF CHAOS & FEAR & PANIC!
THE YOUNG BOY DAVID COMES TO THE BATTLE FIELD WITH NO INTENTION OF FIGHTING – HE’S JUST COME TO BRING FOOD TO HIS SIBLINGS… DAVID INSTEAD FINDS THE ARMY OF THE ISRAELITES TERRIFIED BY GOLIATH & NOT REALLY KNOWING WHAT TO DO! IN AN INSTANT DAVID DECIDES THAT WITH GOD’S HELP HE WILL TAKE UP GOLIATH’S CHALLENGE!…
THE KEY TO THIS STORY IS, OF COURSE, THAT DAVID IS A YOUNG MAN OF GREAT FAITH… DAVID TRUSTS THAT GOD IS ON HIS SIDE AND HE DECLARES TO GOLIATH IN VERY CLEAR TERMS,
“I COME TO YOU IN THE NAME OF THE LORD OF HOSTS, THE GOD OF THE ARMIES OF ISRAEL. THIS DAY WILL THE LORD DELIVER YOU INTO MY HAND, AND I WILL STRIKE YOU DOWN.”DAVID BELIEVES WITHOUT A DOUBT THAT GOD WILL SUSTAIN HIM EVEN IN THE FACE OF INCREDIBLY BAD ODDS… DAVID DOESN’T WASTE ANY TIME WORRYING, HE SIMPLY WAITS FOR THE RIGHT MOMENT & WIELDS HIS WEAPON IN SUCH A WAY THAT HE IS ABLE TO DEFEAT GOLIATH IN ONE ACCURATE TOSS OF A STONE, EVEN BEFORE GOLIATH TAKES UP HIS WEAPON TO STRIKE… (THIS IS THE SAME DAVID WHO LATER BECOMES KING DAVID – THE POET & THE MUSICIAN - FROM WHOM JESUS’ LINEAGE IS CLAIMED.)
I BELIEVE THAT THIS STORY IS TOLD SO OFTEN –ESPECIALLY WITH CHILDREN: IT REMINDS US THAT ‘WITH GOD ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE!’ AND THAT IS NEWS WE LOVE TO HEAR! NO MATTER OUR AGE WE NEED & WANT TO KNOW THAT IN THE FACE OF LIFE’S CHALLENGES WE HAVE THE POTENTIAL & THE POWER (WITH GOD’S HELP) TO CONFRONT THE CHALLENGES WE ARE DEALT. IF DAVID COULD DO IT, THEN PERHAPS SO CAN I!
OUR GOSPEL STORY GIVES US ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF HOW LIFE’S STORMS CAN THREATEN TO OVERWHELM US, HOW LIFE’S STORMS CAN FRIGHTEN US, HOW MUCH WE NEED THE PRESENCE OF GOD TO ASSURE US!…
WE HEAR HOW THE DISCIPLES FREEZE UP IN A PANIC WHEN A SUDDEN STORM BLOWS IN UPON THEM AS THEY CROSS THE SEA OF GALILEE… WE MAY WONDER HOW THESE MEN, WHOSE LIVES HAD PREVIOUSLY BEEN SPENT AS SAILORS ON THE SEA EVERY AS FISHERMEN, COULD BE SO FILLED WITH FEAR & TERROR THAT THEY SEEMED INCAPABLE OF HANDILING A SUDDEN STORM… YET, WE HEAR & WE UNDERSTAND HOW THESE MEN SUDDENLY FIND THEMSELVES OVERWHELMED AND FROZEN WITH FEAR! AFTER ALL THE WIND WAS POWERFUL & THE FAST MOVING SQUALL THREATENED TO SWAMP THEIR BOAT & EVEN THESE SEASONED SAILORS GOT OVERWHELMED & IN A PANIC! THIS STORY AFFIRMS THAT WE ALL HAVE OUR TIPPING POINTS, DON’T WE?
THEY WAKEN THE TIRED JESUS & WHAT DO THEY DO? THEY ACCUSE HIM 1ST OF INDIFFERENCE! YOU CAN JUST HEAR THE PANICED MEN SCREAM AT JESUS OVER THE SOUND OF THE HOWL OF THE WIND & THE TORRENTIAL DOWNPOUR & THE CRASH OF WAVES COMING OVER THE SIDES OF THE BOAT, “DON’T YOU CARE THAT WE ARE PERISHING?
THIS IS FEAR TALKING… THIS IS THE FEAR FACTOR AT WORK! THESE DISCIPLES ARE FRIGHTENED FOR THEIR LIVES!… AND AT THAT MOMENT, AS STRANGE AS IT MAY SEEM, THEY NEED TO KNOW THAT SOMEONE CARES ABOUT THEM! THEY WAKEN JESUS WITH AN ACCUSATION - THEIR FEAR HAS FROZEN THEIR SENSIBILITIES & THEY CAN’T FIGURE OUT WHAT TO DO IN THEIR PANIC!
AND I THINK WE CAN ALL UNDERSTAND THAT KIND OF OVERWHELMING FEAR, CAN’T WE? WHEN OUR LIVES OR OUR LIVELIHOODS ARE THREATENED… WHEN OUR FAMILIES OR OUR SAFETY ARE PUT IN JEOPARDY… WHEN THE STOCK MARKET GOES SOUR AND OUR PENSIONS OR 401K’S TANK WE TOO CAN FIND OURSELVES FROZEN IN PANIC! WHEN WE ARE IN THE MIDST OF CHAOS OR PANIC, FEAR OR DESPAIR - WE CAN NOT ALWAYS SEE A WAY OUT! WHEN WE FIND OURSELVES OVERWHELMED WITH FEAR WE WANT TO KNOW THAT SOMEONE CARES!
IN OUR MOMENTS OF PANIC WE TOO WANT TO KNOW THAT JESUS CARES… AND OF COURSE HE DOES! AS SOON AS JESUS AWAKENS HE SHOWS HIS LOVE & CARE - HE SPEAKS TO THE WINDS AND TO THE WAVES AND HE SIMPLY SAYS, "PEACE! BE STILL!"
AND SUDDENLY THOSE WAVES ARE STILL AND THE WIND STOPS…ALL IS QUIET AND CALM AGAIN…
JESUS IS STRONGER & CALMER THAN THE CHAOS OF LIFE… GOD’S SON CLAIMS HIS AUTHORITY OVER THE CHAOS OF THE NATURAL WORLD AS WELL AS THE CHAOS OF THE HUMAN WORLD… THE WIND SUDDENLY CEASES AND THERE IS DEAD CALM…
LIKE DAVID IN HIS CONFRONTATION WITH GOLIATH, JESUS FUNCTIONS OUT OF THE CERTITUDE OF HIS FAITH & THE TRUST IN GOD’S POWER…
IN THE QUIET CENTER OF THEIR BEING, BOTH DAVID & JESUS COULD TAP INTO THE STRENGTH OF THE CREATOR & BE CALM…
HAVE YOU EVER HEARD ABOUT THIS UNIQUE BRITISH NAVAL CUSTOM?
IN THE EVENT OF A SUDDEN DISASTER ABOARD SHIP, THE "STILL" IS BLOWN.
NOW THIS PARTICULAR STILL IS A WHISTLE… THIS WHISTLE IS BLOWN TO CALL THE CREW TO A MOMENT OF SILENCE IN A TIME OF CRISIS. WHEN THE STILL IS BLOWN, PEOPLE ABOARD KNOW THAT IT MEANS, "TAKE A MOMENT & PREPARE TO DO THE WISE THING."
OBSERVERS OF THIS SYSTEM ABOARD SHIP NOTE THAT THIS MOMENT OF CALM HAS HELPED AVERT MANY A CATASTROPHE… BLOWING THE STILL PREVENTS MANY SCATTER-BRAINED ACTIONS & ASKS FOR A MOMENT OF STILLNESS AS A RESPONSE TO THOSE MOMENTS OF PANIC & CHAOS… WHEN THE STILL IS BLOWN IT INVITES FOLKS INTO A QUIET PLACE WHERE THERE IS TRUST, CONFIDENCE, AND FAITH…
IT IS AMAZING WHAT WE CAN DO WHEN WE TAP INTO THAT QUIET PLACE OF POWER WHERE THERE IS TRUST, CONFIDENCE, & FAITH… WHEN WE REST IN THAT PLACE OF STILLNESS WHERE WE SENSE THE PRESENCE OF JESUS, THE POWER OF GOD, THE STRENGTH OF THE HOLY SPIRIT WE TOO CAN DO MANY AMAZING THINGS!
SOMEONE HAS SAID, "WE HAVE WITHIN US, EACH ONE OF US, SO MUCH MORE POWER THAN WE EVER SPEND… SUCH MISERS OF MIRACLES ARE WE, SUCH PINCH-PENNY GUARDIANS OF GRACE." (Frederick Buechner)
WHEN WE FACE LIFE’S CHALLENGES WE NEED TO CLAIM THAT QUIET CENTER WHERE WE HEAR JESUS SAY, "PEACE! BE STILL."
WHATEVER STORMS ARRISE IN OUR LIVES, & THEY CERTAINLY WILL OCCUR… WHENEVER PANIC & FEAR COME OUR WAY & THREATEN TO OVERWHELM US… LET US TAKE A DEEP BREATH & TAP INTO THAT STILLNESS WHERE THE STRENGTH OF GOD’S GRACE RESIDES…
DAVID AND JESUS BOTH UNDERSTOOD THAT FAITH COMES FROM INSIDE GOD…MAY WE CONTINUE TO GROW OUR FAITH …MAY WE CONTINUE TO MEET LIFE’S CHALLENGES RELYING ON GOD’S HELP... MAY WE TRUST THAT JESUS IS ALWAYS WITH US IN THE STORM!
AMEN
(Resource for this sermon - "In Over Our Head” ~ Rev. Dr. Stephanie Weiner)