“PEOPLE WHO THINK TOO MUCH”
Philippians 4:1-9
Faith United
October 12, 2008
We don’t talk about the Holy Spirit much
Maybe you’re like me
when someone mentions the Holy Spirit
I picture one of those crazy guys on those religious channels
who are talking to the camera
and gesturing and waving their Bible
or worse, the ones who are on a stage
and who walk up to people and push them on the forehead
and that person collapses in front of them
“slain in the Spirit,” they call it
Or we picture people who are a lot less reserved
that we are in church
people who dance and wave their hands
and mutter phrases over and over
the holy rollers, we might call them
So we don’t talk about the Holy Spirit much
It’s just safer to stick with God and Jesus
And how do you talk about the Holy Spirit, anyway?
Is it an it? or a He or a She?
Language can be a problem
Larry bought me a book a few years ago
called “Women Who Think Too Much”
He never said exactly why he bought that for me
But I admit I never read it
it’s still on my shelf
because I really don’t want to think about
how I might think too much
But I admit I do think too much
I’m not against thinking
I think that more people ought to do it more often
the problem becomes just what do we spend our time
and energy thinking about?
There have been many instances over the years
where someone has invited me to a 12 step group
So many times, in fact, that I started to get the idea
that maybe
Number one; it was a good thing
and Number two: maybe even God was trying to tell me something
From the Twelve Steps that originate with A.A.
and then are adapted for other groups
the first step is to admit that we are powerless over our lives
Obviously, in the case of an alcoholic or addict
they are specifically powerless over their addiction
but it’s also true of all of us
Ultimately and finally, we are powerless over our lives
and until we admit that, accept that
we cause ourselves a whole lot of pain
We don’t want to be powerless
Powerless sounds weak and helpless
But another thing I’ve learned in middle age
is that it is in fact true
I can work and work and work to get what I want
and I don’t always get it
In fact, probably most of the time I don’t get what I want
I can do things to be responsible
I can make good decisions that affect my life
I can make goals
I can do what I can to carry out those goals
but ultimately, I am not in control
And if nothing else teaches us that,
watching a loved one die
or getting a dismal prognosis ourselves
is a slap in the face
a wake-up call
that we are not in fact in control
We can exercise, eat right, avoid the obvious things
that aren’t good for our bodies
we can take steps to contribute to our health
but we can’t cheat death
I wonder if that’s one reason why
we get so ticked off with God
when we pray and pray and pray
for someone we love to get well
and they don’t?
We did our part, and it didn’t work, as far as we can see
Or God didn’t do what we told him to do…
We like to be in control
We do not want to admit that there comes a point
where we realize we are not in control
We can do everything in our power to do
to get and keep that job
to advance, to get raises
we can do our part
but finally, that decision is in someone else’s hands
Maybe we had a dream we went after
and finally we realized that dream wouldn’t come true
no matter what we did
We are ultimately powerless over our lives
Sounds depressing, maddening, even,
but I think that’s one thing Paul was getting at
when he wrote what is referred to
as his happiest letter
His letter to the Church at Philippi
is his happiest letter
In his other letters, you see a real grump
he can get really mad
and stop just short of using words that wouldn’t be printed!
Or maybe he did and somebody edited him…
In some of his letters, he appears unforgiving and rigid
impossible
and there are times, too, that Paul doesn’t seem to like women
very much
and yet at other times, he praises the women that are leaders
in his churches
But the letter to the Philippians is his happiest letter
It’s a love letter to the church
And what Paul have to be so happy about??
He says, “Rejoice! Rejoice in the Lord, always!”
He says, “don’t worry about anything, but with prayer and supplication
make all your requests known to God.”
Don’t worry, be happy, like the song says
Easy for him to say
I confess I’m not too fond of those Christian writers and speakers
who get on TV with their bleached white teeth
and expensive clothes
and tell us to be happy, praise the Lord!
Sometimes the religious language gets in the way
of our knowing the truth of God’s message
But Paul wasn’t a sunshiney, sparkling toothed evangelist
He didn’t just say the words
like a lot of people do
Paul is not writing this letter on his best day ever
He’s writing from prison
while he awaits execution
He’s not going to get out this time
the angels aren’t going to break open the door
and rescue him this time
He’s going to die
The government is going to kill him
The prisons of that time weren’t too comfortable, either
It was a dark, cement, cold dungeon
that he waited in
alone
anticipating his death anytime
A death that was unjust
He SHOULD have been rescued
He was a good man
He, like Jesus, just made the wrong people mad
And in the midst of that situation,
he writes a love letter to his favorite congregation
a little church in Philippi
a church struggling in the midst of an unjust, sometimes cruel society
A church in a community where Christianity is not the most popular
in fact, it’s often ridiculed
He writes to a little church
that doesn’t have a lot of money
a lot of prestige or media coverage
but a little church that is alive
Alive with the Spirit of Christ
alive with a passion to live and share the good news
of the Christ
Alive with the passion of helping the poor and needy
of worshipping God
despite the growing chaos of the world
despite ridicule and persecution
despite their founder being in jail
and awaiting certain death
And Paul writes to them,
“Don’t worry…”
and obviously, they had a lot to worry about!
but he says, “Don’t worry. in your prayers
give thanks, and offer God your requests…
and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding
will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
He doesn’t say
“ask God, and God will do whatever you want.”
He never says that
If he believe that, he’d ask God to get him out of prison
and save his life
but it’s already past the time that he could hope for that
But he doesn’t spend his final days
in bitterness over what he didn’t get
over why God didn’t answer his prayers
and do what he told God to do
He tells them to keep praying
He tells them to surrender their lives to God
every day
because he knows that we can do it once
and then we’ll just take it all back again
As Christians, we need to realize that we are powerless over our lives
finally
That doesn’t mean that we don’t strive and seek and try
that doesn’t mean that we don’t pray and work
It means that finally, if we don’t get what we think is best
we need to surrender all our pain, our anger, our fears
all of it, to God
Surrender our lives
knowing that our lives are in God’s hands
That’s hard
That’s really hard
We try to control our own lives
we try to control other people’s lives
sometimes we consume ourselves with what other people should do
and then if they don’t do it,
we spend time being mad
We try to control our children’s lives
we worry, we stew
thinking, sometimes, that if we STOP worrying,
somehow something bad is going to happen
But other people are not going to do what we think they should do
especially our children,
our relatives, our parents
And worrying about that, stewing about that
doesn’t change it
Rejoice, Paul says
He is calling us to have joy
Joy that surpasses our circumstances
and that doesn’t mean we go around with sunshiney smiles
even if our hearts are breaking
it means that deep down, even when the world is falling apart
around us
we can have that peace, knowing that we’re in God’s hands
Even if we’re in prison,
even if it feels like we’re going to die from the pain
even when the rest of the world seems totally out of control
We can’t fix it
But we can surrender ourselves and the world
to God’s hands
and then let it go
Today
Then we’ll do it again tomorrow
Even Jesus said “don’t worry about what you will eat or drink
or what you will wear….
don’t worry about tomorrow for tomorrow has troubles of its own.”
In other words,
God wants to care for you
God wants to provide for you and all God’s children
Worrying doesn’t get you anything but ulcers and stress
Do what you can, offer it up to God
and then let it go for today
Do it again tomorrow
I do think too much
I often think what will happen if I do this or that
or I try to imagine what could happen
and then I try to prevent that from happening
It’s exhausting…
Ridiculous, even
I read somewhere this week
that Joy is life in excess
Joy is LIFE in excess
It’s abundant life
life that comes from within
and is not dependent on outer circumstances
And I believe that that kind of joy comes from the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit that was there at the beginning of creation
is also alive in us
working on us, shaping us, transforming us
and when we make it a habit
of surrendering every day,
lifting up the burdens on our hearts
lifting up the world in chaos
lifting up the uncertainty of the future
when we take this crazy life
just one day at a time
the Holy Spirit carries that and uses that
to re-create us every day
to give us the wisdom we need
the insight and the power and strength
Have you ever had the experience where you entered into
a conversation
and you knew what you wanted to say
and you were going to let somebody have it
but when you opened your mouth
you were much more gracious than you intended to be?
That’s the Holy Spirit
Or have you ever just gotten a strong feeling
that you needed to call someone
someone you may not call often
and when you go with it
it turns out that person needed an ear to listen…
That’s the Holy Spirit
Or do you ever look back on a time in your life
when you were so devastated
that you never thought you’d feel good again?
And yet here you are, strong again
with a little more insight, a little more openness to love?
That’s the Holy Spirit
In fact, I think Paul is trying to tell us
that the deepest, most lasting joy
comes after you have been to the bottom
after you have hit rock and you can’t go down any further
When you’ve experienced the deepest darkness
maybe even not wanting to live anymore
when your heart has been irreparably broken
and somehow, you get up again
somehow, someone loves you back to life again
Joy that comes after you’ve known absolute darkness
is a joy that surpasses understanding
Sometimes we have a lot of things getting in the way
of our truly knowing that joy
and sometimes we have to be emptied out
completely
before we can know that kind of life giving joy
a peace underneath it all
that sustains us when we’re hardest hit
And then we can fill our minds with the most beautiful things
instead of the constant what-ifs?
or stewing over what someone did or said to us…
Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just
whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing,
whatever is commendable, if there is ANYTHING
worthy of joy and praise,
think about THOSE things….
What can we think about?
What are the true and beautiful things
we can think about together
or the things that we can think about
as we go to sleep at night
instead of all the things we worry about?
When you toss and turn at night
worrying and stewing and fretting,
stop
get out of bed, pace if you have to
and talk out loud to God
tell God what is tearing you apart
what is making you crazy
and give it up, let it go
and think about what is good, what is beautiful
what is life-giving, what makes your heart smile
what brings a tear of joy to your eyes
Think about those things
We are powerless over our lives, finally
We need help
Clean out, get rid of all the garbage
and make room in your hearts and souls for JOY
No comments:
Post a Comment