"God, The Ultimate Safety Net" Sermon Delivered By Reverend Richard E. Stetler –
February 27, 2011 Centenary United
Psalm 131; Matthew 6:25-34 This morning we are
going to be looking at the Gospel of Matthew and discuss a portion of
Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.
One of the consistent themes of Jesus’ teaching was how his
listeners could live spiritual lives while remaining intimately
connected to the material world.
Even for the most sophisticated spiritually-minded people,
remaining fully alive in both worlds is a constant
tug of war. I suspect that one of the more frightening
lessons of Jesus concerning this struggle is when he said, “Go through
the narrow gate, because the gate to
hell is wide and the road
that leads to it is easy. There
are many people that travel it.
The gate to life,
however, is narrow and the way that leads to it is challenging.
There are only a few people who ever find it.”
(Matt. 7:13f)
He also taught, “What good will it do, if you gain control over
the entire world and in the process lose your life?”
(Matt. 16:26) What do we think Jesus’ intent was with these
lessons? Was he praising
the world of spirit and condemning our material world?
The answer has to be no.
After all, we all know the passage in Genesis where God looked at
all that he had made and found that it was very good.
Jesus wanted his
listeners to be wise in their understanding of both worlds because
either world can enslave us.
We remember well the episode when Jesus praised
the wisdom of the servant who invested five talents and doubled them.
With today’s valuations, ten talents of gold would be equal to
fifteen million dollars. What Jesus was teaching in our lesson this
morning had little to do with
the
value of either world.
We often become so preoccupied with the distinctions of the two worlds
that we neglect the message of our lesson.
Jesus was concerned about one thing -- the role that worry plays
in either world. People can become a slave to the world of spirit
by worrying about whether or not they are
saved.
Some Christians make a big deal about this issue as though we
have to earn God’s love by
something we do or believe.
Such an assumption does not leave much room for considering God’s
unconditional love for each of us.
People can also become a slave to worry when it
comes to their material lives by dwelling on such questions as: “Is my
job secure? Whatever will
happen to us if we lose our home to foreclosure?
Will my retirement account be enough to live on?”
People can become so
concerned about such things that they do not take time to enjoy either
their relationship with God or their experiences in the material world.
As you may recall, Jesus was also dealing with
the topic of worry while using the Parable of the Talents.
Remember what happened to the servant who was given one talent?
He was so filled with worry about what his master might do if he
lost it, that he buried it. Here is the thrust of our lesson for today:
Jesus said, “Do not be worried
about anything.
Can any of you live a little longer by worrying about it?
God knows your needs.
Look at the birds and how God takes care of them.” Yes, God provides for the birds, but God does not
throw bird seed into their nests.
This was an insightful
illustration because birds do not fly around worrying about their lives.
They just deal with whatever their environment presents to them.
Jesus knew, however, that his listeners were the ones filled with
worries. If we are not careful, worry can become an energy
pattern that enhances every illness; it can block our ability to
experience love coming from others including love coming from God. Worry
turns us into our own worst enemies.
We withdraw into misery because our fears have replaced God with
intense feelings that have the power to chase smiles from our faces. Once when Lois and I were flying to As the aircraft lifted into air, the mother began
to white-knuckle both of her armrests. Her face revealed her inner world
that “We are all going to die!” as she listened to the strange noise
coming from the landing gear being folded under the fuselage.
The daughter, who was unaware of her mother’s fears said, “Mommy,
look at how tiny everything is!”
Mommy did not look.
Only the little girl was thrilled with the adventure and joy of having
the new experience of flying.
As some of you know, Monday was my driving test
through the streets of I knew I could drive the car, but I began to
think of what our lives would be like if I failed.
It would mean that for another month, other people would have to
shuttle us back and forth to church on Sundays as well as other places
where buses do not go. Then there were the tedious regulations that the
TCD officials look for, that are completely foreign to me.
For example, each time I approached a traffic light that was red,
I had to remember to pull up on the emergency brake.
I had to have knowledge of the 138 traffic signs However, once I realized what I was doing to
myself with such thoughts, I walked out on our patio in the evening and
said out loud, “God, I am letting go of the outcome of this driving
test, and I will face peacefully whatever happens.
It will not be the end of my world if I need to be retested.”
That night I slept very well.
The next day, I got behind the wheel and passed the test.
What may give us great comfort is the discovery that Jesus was caught in the same vice that squeezes the rest of us. Frequently, even he forgot that God was the ultimate safety net when his world was not the way he wanted it. During one episode Jesus was so frustrated with his listeners that he said, “How ignorant you people are! How long must I stay with you? How long must I put up with you?” (Mark 9:19) There was another occasion when his sermon was so
difficult to understand that scores of his followers walked away from
him, just like some people can do today when they disagree with what is
coming from their pulpit. After experiencing such abandonment, Jesus
turned to his chosen disciples and asked, “And what about you?
Are you going to leave me as well?”
(John 6:66f) I suspect that
the granddaddy of all
examples is when Jesus completely lost it emotionally.
He was so angry with the
religious bureaucrats of his day that he delivered blistering verbal
attacks to the Teachers of the Law and the Pharisees.
These judgments were so plentiful that Matthew devoted the entire
23rd chapter of his Gospel to this tirade. Even though Jesus instructed his followers never
to judge other people, even he found this skill of spirit elusive.
Jesus knew that
it is far better to know about
our potential for living in the Kingdom of God, even though we fail to
do so repeatedly, than to live in ignorance of its existence.
Jesus was not worried about how many times we
miss the mark. He was
concerned that we might get to the point where we fail to trust God any
more.
When we learn to let go of
worries generated from living in our world, we are free to enjoy
the ride caused by whatever
comes. It was the wonder of her new experience that caused the little
girl on the airplane to say, “Mommy, look at how tiny everything is.”
Jesus said, “Do not worry about tomorrow because
tomorrow will create enough worries of its own.
There is no need to add to the troubles each day brings.”
He knew there would be geo-political troubles with All of us are confronted with each newspaper we
pick up and with each newscast we experience with scores of issues that
can stir the coals that
easily evoke our fears. We
can also be dealing with very personal issues that have us so
preoccupied that we forget that God is our ultimate safety net.
Once I visited a woman in the hospital whose
cancer had metastasized to most of her internal organs.
She was in her 80s and knew that the time she had left in her
physical form was very limited.
She had been spending hours rehearsing her life in her mind. As I sat down beside her she asked, “Dick, what
is going to happen to me when I die?
I have not always been a
good girl. I have not
been very loving toward people who have irritated me. I’ve not been as
active in church as I should have been.
I don’t think I’m going to make it to Heaven.”
I put my finger over her lips and said, “Stop, just stop!”
I said to her, “I want you to know that I love
you very much and I don’t care where you’ve been, what you’ve done or
how you have treated people.
If I feel this way about you, how much more intense will God’s
love be for you?”
Then I said, “When it is my time to leave my body, I will come to
wherever you are. Do you
know what I’ll find? I will
find that you have perfectly adjusted to your new environment.
You will see. I
guess you’ll just have to trust God more than your thoughts of how badly
you believe you have failed.”
God is our ultimate safety net! While watching the news on Friday, I thought
about this sermon and more particularly the question Jesus asked his
listeners, “Can any of you live a bit longer by worrying about it?” We
have no crystal ball. We do
not know what the next day will bring.
Jesus made no promises
about the quality of our experiences in this world. Lois and I listened to the story about the Amish
family in Such things happen out of no where and for no
reason whether in The message of our
lesson for this Sunday is very clear -- Do not sabotage your life by
worry. Learn to live the
adventure life can be by remembering that God is the ultimate safety net
for every one of us even when death is
the result. During
the Last Supper, Jesus said, “Do not be worried and upset, believe in
God and believe also in me.”
It is best if we joyfully experience this world and all that it
has to offer while trusting in our minds, hearts and spirits that God
will always be there as our ultimate safety net.
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