Sermon, May 28, 2017 1 Peter 1:5:6-11 & John 14:18-21; 25-27 The Tomb is Still Empty: A New Peace Reverend Cheryl Foulk For many years, the tales of Winnie the Pooh, a lovable bear and his friends, has been popular with children and adults. Of all the characters in the stories, my heart is drawn to Piglet who is, as he will tell you, a Small Animal. Piglet is afraid and uncertain about the unknowns in his life. He is afraid of the dark, and the wind blowing, and that Tigger the tiger might pounce upon him. He is leery of bees, which is a stressful thing when your best friend (Pooh) eats honey all the time. When Piglet is anxious, his ears will twitch and he sometimes stutters. He openly shares his
fears with others and tries to be brave. Piglet, even with his anxiety, is a loyal friend. This is our last Sunday in the Easter season (Pentecost is next Sunday). We have been looking at the effects of the resurrection of Jesus upon our lives. Our Scriptures today speak about casting our cares upon God and about receiving God's peace. I think that each of us yearn for that: we want to be less stressed, and less anxious. We don't want to be worry warts. We would like a sense of peace and calmness. And yet, like Piglet, we find ourselves stewing about what will happen. We concentrate on the what ifs? We think about how a situation could go wrong and then what would we do! I am not the best one to be preaching on this topic because there are times I am a lot like Piglet. But I hope that what I share with you today will be helpful for you and for myself. There is a story about a little girl named Wemberly who is going to school for the first time, and she is pondering some questions within herself: What if no one else wears stripes? What if no one else brings a doll? What if the teacher is mean? What if the room smells bad? What if they make fun of my name? What if I can't find the bathroom? What if I hate the snack? What if I have to cry? I think we ask these kinds of questions our whole lives as we face change and new challenges. We still have monsters under the bed that make themselves known when we cannot sleep: those pesky cares and worries. My list and your list of what concerns you would probably include similar items. We worry about our health- about money- about children, family and relationships, our jobs, the future. We are concerned about the end of life for loved ones and for ourselves. We worry that we won't be able to handle what is ahead. We don't know if we can cope. There are valid reasons to worry because there are things that are uncertain in life and things that are dangerous. Many things happen which we are out of our control. Consider this quote: Worrying won't stop the bad stuff from happening. It just stops you from enjoying the good. In our worries, we are creating a picture of the future that is primarily negative. If we only look through the eyes of fear, we will miss seeing God's gifts of goodness, wonder, beauty and hope. The good news is that God understands us very well and knows that we can be anxious. To be distraught is described frequently in the Psalms. Psalm 4: Give me relief from my distress- be merciful to me and hear my prayer. Psalm 94:18-1: When my foot is slipping, when anxiety was great, your consolation
brought joy to my soul. There is also in the Scriptures 300 occasions where God says to his people Don't be afraid. It appears that we need to be reminded of this often! In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus has us look at the flowers and the birds, and He says: Consider the ravens: they neither plant nor harvest, they have no silo or barn, yet God feeds them. You are worth so much more than birds! 25 Who among you by worrying can add a single moment to your life? 26 If you can t do such a small thing, why worry about the rest? Jesus was speaking about our mistaken belief where we feel that if we worry, it will give us some protection, or affect the outcome. Edward Welch, a psychologist, tells of when a close friend of his was diagnosed with cancer. As he thought about his friend, his first response was to worry. (Would the treatments be effective, and were there side effects? Would he be able to work? Most fearful question: would he lose his friend? ) But his friend responded to the diagnosis by saying that nothing has changed! God's presence was with him and God was still good. He would keep doing what he believed he should do: hold on to the Scriptures and pray with his family; do the best he could at his job and continue to love others. To me, his trust and focus on God was amazing. For him, God's hands would not let him go. We hear the invitation to cast all cares upon God, but how do we do this? Even when we realize that our worries are not productive and are harmful, it is difficult to change our habits I would like to offer four guidelines for our spiritual health: 1. When we are concerned about what might happen, our primary response will be to turn to God and know that God is near. As much as we can, we want to pay attention to how God is faithful. Psalm 56:3 When I am afraid, I will trust in you. This is a good affirmation to say when you cannot sleep or are worried: God is here with me. God has been faithful to me today. God's grace will be there tomorrow. God will not abandon me.
A woman who was having memory problems was frightened, and she said to her caregiver: I am afraid that someday I will forget Jesus. And the caregiver responded Even if you would forget Him, Jesus will never forget you. Try each day to focus on God's faithfulness. 2. Keep a gratitude journal. Write down: Today, I am grateful for. If we remember our blessings, then we begin to see what is good in our lives, instead of all that could go wrong. To express appreciation can take the edge off of fear. A man said that for years, he focused on the sadness of losing his wife, and he seldom counted the blessings he still had. By writing them down- how precious his grandchildren were, his good health, he was able to realize the good things that were part of his life. 3. Never worry alone. When we talk with someone else, we get a new perspective. A friend may help us to see if our concerns are valid or if they are exaggerated. In a Winnie the Pooh story, Piglet says Supposing a tree fell down, Pooh, when we were underneath it? Supposing it didn t, said Pooh after careful thought. Piglet was comforted by this. By sharing your cares, you may find that you are not alone and that others have worries and can share how they deal with them in healthy ways. 4. Show some kindness to someone else. What has been evidenced in times of tragedy/crisis is that our own fears can be relieved when we reach out to someone else. Showing care and compassion directs our minds in a new direction. After his heart surgery, a man I knew was in a group that would go and talk with patients who were preparing for heart surgery. These visits not only were a comfort to those in the hospital, but they also helped him in his own healing and with his worries. Some of us automatically think of the worst outcome when we worry. (For instance, if someone is late coming home, then we are concerned they were in accident.) Psalm 46 describes such a worst case worry scenario : the mountains are crumbling, the earth is giving way beneath our feet, waters are roaring onto the shores, and there is no safe place. The Psalmist adds this comeback to the picture of doom: Yet, we will not fear, God is our refuge and strength, our help in time of trouble. God's message of encouragement is seen throughout the Scriptures. Turn away from the storm
and look to the Lord who can calm the seas. I worked in a summer camp in Connecticut when I was in college where we lived in tents with no electricity. Our high school campers were from urban neighborhoods. One night, there was a tremendous storm with lightning strikes and pouring rain. The director of the camp had us all come to the lodge. A few lanterns gave some light. It was crowded in the lodge with a sense of uneasiness. Our director and his wife had a little girl Katie who was three. She began to cry in the midst of the thunder and the flashes. She could not be consoled. Then she spotted Freight Train. Freight Train was a young man from the Bronx whom no one messed with, a quiet giant. Katie made her way thru the crowd to him; she crawled up into his lap and soon fell asleep. I will never forget that image of peace. To me, it has been a picture of how we are meant to rest in God's care for us even when the winds are still howling and the roof may come off. The world is a place that can frighten us; we can be overwhelmed by all that could go wrong. I may always deal with being a worry wart, but there are ways I can respond. Each day, I want to fill my heart with words of hope from Scripture, and concentrate on the good that I have known in the past and in the present. I want God's promises to speak louder than my fears. I want to realize that there are people who understand and will listen. I want to do what I can to address my fears and trust that God is with me and is working for my good, 24/7. I want to believe that it is possible for even piglets to know God's wonderful peace. So do not fear for I am with you- do not be dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you and I will help you.