Again, we want to welcome all of you to Faith Church. If you are a family or friend visiting with us, a special welcome. We are honored that you are here and we hope that everyone will stick around after worship to enjoy some food and some time getting acquainted or reacquainted. This month, all of our sermons are exploring some of the different emotions we have been through during the past year because there have been a lot of them! With covid and economic shut downs came fear, doubt, and frustration. Even the joyful times we went through, like weddings and the birth of children, were tempered with sadness as we couldn’t be together, or we worried about people getting sick if we did get together.
If there is one emotion that has been common for many during this past year, it would be anxiety. Has anyone felt more anxious this past year? Anyone feeling more anxiety today? I know I have! Even though I know Jesus, and trust God for all that is going on, there have been times that the anxiety has been high. Are we doing the right things? Are we following the right protocol? Are we keeping people safe? It’s been an anxious time for all of us.
In 2019, 8.2% of the population showed signs of anxiety or said they were dealing with anxiety in significant ways. In 2020, 36% of the population said they were feeling anxious. This is a fourfold increase. It has taken a toll on all of us.
I want to start by saying that anxiety is a complex emotion. It touches us physically, emotionally, financially, relationally, and spiritually, which means we need a holistic approach to dealing with it. There are times when we need to talk to our medical doctor to discuss what is going on. Anxiety can increase blood pressure, blood sugar, and impact our heart, so it is important to share this with a doctor. We also might need to seek out some good counselling to work through all the emotions we are feeling. Sometimes it takes a trained person to help us make sense of our feelings and relationships. If our anxiety is coming from our financial situation, the “doctor” needed might be a good financial planner to give us both direction and some perspective.
Let me be clear, I am not a doctor, a trained therapist, or a financial planner, so what I want to talk about are the spiritual dynamics of anxiety. Today I want to share three practical steps we can take to help us walk through anxious times. Let me also be clear and say that these steps don’t come from me, they come from Jesus.
It might seem strange to hear this, but Jesus dealt with anxiety. That’s right, Jesus felt genuine stress and anxiety which tells us that it is NOT a sin to be anxious. While the Bible tells us not to worry, and to be anxious about nothing, we are not being unfaithful when worry and when anxiety comes, we just need to learn how to deal with it in faithful ways.
On the night that Jesus was arrested, He was worried and anxious in the Garden of Gethsemane. To set the scene a little bit, Jesus knows that He is going to die. He knows that in the next few hours He is going to be betrayed by a friend, deserted by his disciples, and tried by the religious and political leaders. He knows the end result will be His death on the cross - and He doesn’t want to do it. Jesus knows the physical, emotional, and spiritual pain that is coming and He is anxious about it. He wants to be faithful to God but He doesn’t want to suffer and die. Mark 14:32-42
They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” he said to them. “Stay here and keep watch.”
Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. “Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”
Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Simon,” he said to Peter, “are you asleep? Couldn’t you keep watch for one hour? Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
Once more he went away and prayed the same thing. When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. They did not know what to say to him.
Returning the third time, he said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Enough! The hour has come. Look, the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!”
This is an anxious time for Jesus. It says He is deeply distressed. Other translations say He was grieved and agitated, and in Luke’s gospel it says His sweat was like drops of blood. Jesus is anxious. He knows what is coming and while He wants to be faithful to God, He doesn’t want to have to carry a cross and go through the suffering that will bring. From this anxious time for Jesus, we learn the most important thing we can do when anxious is to TALK. Don’t ignore the anxiety, don’t push it down and hope it will go away, don’t pretend you are calm, cool and collected. Talk. Jesus talked.
First Jesus talked with His friends. Jesus had dinner with them and as they sat around the table they weren’t sitting in chairs socially distanced from one another, they would have been lounging on pillows and most likely leaning up against one another. They were close to each other and talking. There were questions and concerns as Jesus talked about his life, death, and betrayal.
Then they walked together to the Mt of Olives and that trip wouldn’t have been made in silence. They were talking, and sharing, and maybe even singing or quoting psalms as they walked. Once in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus invites His disciples to stay with Him, to be with Him, and to talk with Him. In His own anxious time - Jesus didn’t want to be alone.
When we are feeling anxious, we need to talk with friends. Don’t walk through anxious times alone. Find those trusted people who can listen to you without judgement and offer support and love. One of the reasons that anxiety may have risen 4 fold from 2019 to 2020 was due to our isolation. People couldn’t get together to talk, and let’s be honest, it’s hard to really share our anxiety and pain on facetime or zoom. We need to see one another and feel the support that only comes in being physically together. During anxious times - talk to friends.
None of us should try and go through life alone. God even said that it is not good for man to be alone - we need friends and family. In many ways that is the power of today and the power of the church. The real blessing of being a member of a church isn’t that your name is in a book. It’s knowing that you are part of a community that is willing to be there for you.
There really is power when we are with others. We are stronger when we are with one another than when we are apart. We can do more, and be more, and love more when we are with others. The power of with can help us walk through and overcome anxiety, so like Jesus, talk with friends.
After Jesus talked with His friends, Jesus talked with God. He prayed, not once or twice, but three times. If you think about it, anxiety is the sign that something is not right, and if something isn’t right then we should pray. Let’s go back to Philippians 4:6-7 where it says we should not be anxious.
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Maybe it should say, when you are anxious about anything, present your request to God, PRAY, because when you do, God will give you peace. So if we are anxious, we need to talk with God.
At our last Blessing of the Backpacks we had a prayer tent with a sign that says, If it matters to you - it matters to God. And it does. Your anxiety matters to God and the causes of your anxiety matters to God and we know this because the #1 emotion God has for us every time He sees us is compassion.
In love, God will listen to us when we pray. In love, God will sit with us in the silence of our anxiety. In love, God will fill us with strength and peace if we will talk with Him. Too often we tell ourselves that we need to work through our anxiety on our own when God is just waiting for us to share it with Him. If you are anxious about anything, talk with God.
The third kind of talk we see in Jesus is that He talked to His emotions. Jesus didn’t want to carry the cross. He didn’t want to die. It wasn’t His will to suffer. So after talking with His friends and talking with God, He talked to His emotions and said, I know you are there, but I’m not going to let you win. It’s not what I will, but what God wills. Jesus didn’t follow His emotions. He didn’t follow or trust His feelings, He told them to get in line behind the will of God.
This doesn’t mean our emotions and feelings aren’t real - they are. They are important for us to work through so we understand them well, but our emotions don’t have to guide our decisions. In fact, anxiety and fear should never be what leads us and when those feelings become strong we need to find ways to talk to our feelings.
One of the most powerful ways to talk to our feelings is to tell them what the word of God says. To our fear we need to say, if God is for me, who can be against me. To our doubt we need to say, God is the way, the truth, and the life. To our anxiety we need to say, the God who is peace is with me and will shield me from you. Talk to your feelings. Don’t let them overcome you - overcome them with God’s word of truth.
When you start feeling anxious, start talking. Talk with friends. Talk with God. Talk to your feelings, and let the God of peace protect you and fill you. Jesus talked with His friends, He talked with God, and He talked to His feelings, and when He was done, He got up and left not with anxiety, but with peace. Jesus walked out of the garden with a power that allowed Him to not just carry the cross and endure it’s pain, but to overcome sin and death for us all.
So when you get anxious - talk - and as you do, the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Next Steps Emotions - Anxiety
When have you struggled with anxiety during the past year?
What makes you anxious today?
Read Mark 14:32-42
What was causing anxiety for Jesus? How do we know He was feeling anxious?
One help for anxiety is to TALK
1. Talk with Friends
● Read Genesis 2:18, Ecclesiastes 4:9-12.
● How do these scriptures help us understand our need to talk with others and the power that comes with community?
● What trusted friends can you confide in when anxious?
● How can you make yourself available to friends who might be anxious?
2. Talk with God
● Read Philippians 4:6-7
● Where does peace come from?
● How can prayer ease our anxiety?
3. Talk to your Anxiety
● How did Jesus talk to His anxiety?
● What anxious situation do you need to talk to today?
● What promise of God can help you overcome that anxiety and fear?
● How can these scriptures help you talk to your anxiety:
○ Romans 8:31-39, Romans 15:13.
○ Psalm 23, Psalm 27,
○ John 14: 25-27, John 16:33,
○ Deuteronomy 20:4, Ephesians 6:10-20
