Anxious for Peace Luke 12: 22-40 December 9, 2012 (2nd Sunday of Advent, Series Longing; Music Sunday)

Rev. Deborah Dail Denbigh Presbyterian Church Scripture He said to his disciples, Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. 23For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. 24Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! 25And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? 26If then you are not able to do so small a thing as that, why do you worry about the rest? 27Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. 28But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe youyou of little faith! 29And do not keep striving for what you are to eat and what you are to drink, and do not keep worrying. 30For it is the nations of the world that strive after all these things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31Instead, strive for his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well. 32Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Fathers good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 33Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

I have a refrigerator magnet that says: Worry is like a rocking chair. It will give you something to do, but it wont get you anywhere. Worry is prevalent this time of year. Some of us get knots in our stomachs just to hear that there are only 16 shopping days until Christmas. We worry if well get everything done in time. We worry if all of our family members will behave appropriately at the Christmas family gathering. We worry about having enough money to get the kids what they want. We worry about whether this will be our last Christmas with a special loved one. Our worries, of course, extend beyond these seasonal concerns. We hear daily about the fiscal cliff and worry about what may happen if we go over it.
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We hear about atrocities committed around the world and worry if war will break out yet again. We have our worries about children and parents. We have our worries about job security or finding a job. We have our worries about our health and what well do if our health fails. We worry about the past, we worry about the present and we worry about the future. Worry is the gift that keeps on giving. In our manger youll see a gift marked worry. It is beautifully wrapped. Its under your tree and mine at home. Its the gift we dont want but always seem to get . . . not only at Christmas but also throughout the year. Scholar Walter Brueggemann says that we live in a world of anxiety and worry, and this world of anxiety is rooted in scarcity. It is a world that is worried about running out, not having enough, not having done enough, not having been enough, not measuring up . . . When we live with this constant sense of scarcity, we tend to then embrace an ideology of greed. That greed then requires fatiguing overwork, endless 24/7 electronic connection, and insatiable multitasking, all in an effort to get ahead, or in an effort to stay even and not to fall hopelessly behind. Such an embrace of greed is, of course, an endless process, because limitless desire is never satisfied . . . (Psalms: Voicing a Counter-World by Walter Brueggemann in Reformed Worship magazine) In our Scripture lesson for today, Jesus says dont worry. Dont worry especially about the things you cant do anything about. Trust God. God has a good track record of taking care of things. Dont spend your time striving for stuff because youre afraid there wont be enough to go around. Dont live your life motivated by a fear of scarcity. Instead, spend your time striving for Gods kingdom. Dont be afraid. Give your life to pursuing Gods purposes, Gods priorities and Gods will. Worry is the gift that keeps on giving. Its the gift we dont want but always seem to get. It keeps showing up under our tree even though weve made it clear to everyone that its not on our Christmas list. We wish we could exchange this gift for another for the gift of peace. Jesus offers some remedies for worry: be generous to others and simplify your life. I was reflecting this week again on my experiences in Haiti. Here I am stressed out and worried about decorating my house for Christmas my house with many rooms. Then I thought about the Haitian home we visited on our trip to Haiti a year ago a one-room thatched house with a couple of kitchen type chairs. That was it. And Im spending my time worrying about decorating? Many of our worries are self-made. They come from our abundance and our continued
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pursuit of more and more. How strange it would be for the Haitian woman we visited to think that as she ekes out her daily existence wondering if she will be able to feed her children, we are fretting over garland, tree lights, shopping for presents, and whether we will get it all done in time. Amid the worries of this holiday season we would do well to focus more on the meaning of Advent. During Advent we remember that Christ has come, that Christ is coming to us now to reveal himself to us and Christ will come again to make all things new. Christ is coming again to bring Gods kingdom in its fullness a kingdom in which there is an abundance of love, peace, hope and joy, a kingdom in which the lion will lie down with the lamb in peace, a kingdom in which every tear will be wiped away, a kingdom where mourning and crying and pain are no more, a kingdom of restored relationships and a kingdom where worry and anxiety will be no more. We would do well to spend more of our time and energy focusing on how to get ready for the coming of Gods Kingdom. How do we get ready? We practice now! We strive for these kingdom ideals now. We strive for peace, we wipe tears away from the faces of the suffering, we care for those who are in pain and try as we are able to alleviate their pain, we strive for restored relationships in our families and we devote ourselves to showing and telling the good news of Jesus the one who will come again to bring love, peace, hope and joy in their fullness when he comes again. Worry is the gift that keeps on giving. We dont want it under our tree, but it always seems to show up. Its not on our list, but we always get it. Today, we can exchange this gift for something else. We can exchange it for peace, with Gods help. We can seek Gods kingdom first in our lives. We can live our lives striving for Gods kingdom. We can spend our time giving others glimpses of Gods coming kingdom through our generous acts of love. Worry is like a rocking chair. It will give you something to do, but it wont get you anywhere. We will not fully escape worry in this life; however, unlike worrying, seeking and striving for Gods kingdom will give us something to do and it will get us somewhere. This Advent, let us exchange worry for peace the peace that passes all human understanding.