God of the Worriers

2013-07-28

Luke 13:31-35

God of the Worriers

 31 At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, "Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you." 32 He said to them, "Go and tell that fox for me, 'Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work. 33 Yet today, tomorrow, and the next day I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed outside of Jerusalem.' 34 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! 35 See, your house is left to you. And I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, 'Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.'"

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Do we have anyone here today who's really, really good at worrying?

Like, if they had a Worrying Olympics, you'd be a gold medalist?

Because you understand;

you have this sixth sense for seeing the human head-ons before they happen, and it's up to you, and your skills, your spiritual gift of worrying to keep the world from spinning out of control and into chaos for all eternity?

God bless you.

Thank you.

Has anyone ever thanked you for worrying?

We should.

Where would we be without the worriers?

We'd all be in car wrecks without clean underwear.

We'd all have shot an eye out with those BB guns.

Worry just a the sign of a rich imagination.

Worry shows how much you care, even if other people just don't understand.

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In the scripture lesson today, some really unlikely people – the Pharisees – are worried.

They're actually worried about Jesus.

Imagine that.

The Pharisees are worried that he's heading toward Jerusalem, headfirst into trouble.

The Pharisees – usually they're the ones Jesus is castigating, calling hypocrites –

the Pharisees, these faithful, conservative fathers of faith –

the Pharisees – are worried about Jesus.

Good for them.

The Pharisees say, "Get out of here! Herod wants to kill you!"

They might not care about Jesus, personally, but they can see the human head-on coming around the corner. 

Not everything the Bible has to say about the Pharisees is bad.

And likewise, I want to take a moment to say a few good things about worry.

You know, everybody always talks about worry as if it's completely and totally horrible.

Bobby McFerrin had that song everybody remembers, "Don't Worry, Be Happy."

Like worry is the opposite of happiness.

And that's usually what we think – happy people don't worry about anything.

I don't believe that.

I think people are happy because they worry about the right things.

If you care, you worry.

 

Take Jesus, for example.

Jesus worried.

It says so in today's scripture. "Jerusalem, oh Jerusalem," he says.

"How often I would have gathered your children together like a mother hen gathers her baby chicks under her wing."

I think anyone who cared so much about healing people's bodies and souls would have worried.

Jesus worried; he worried a lot; and that's not what killed him.

Everybody worries.

We worry about our kids.

We worry about other people's kids.

We worry about the people's kids at the restaurant, jumping on the seat in the booth behind us.

We worry about the parents of the kids who are jumping on the seat in the booth behind us.

We worry about them, and their parenting skills.

We worry that we've wasted all this money on a dinner we're not enjoying at all.

We worry about kids.

We worry about parents.

Especially if our parents are getting older.

And who doesn't think their parents are getting old?

Teenagers, especially, worry that their parents are totally old and losing the ability to know what's fun and they just have to trust you.

It starts about the time you turn thirteen and never ends.

 

We worry because we care.

Ask yourself, where would the world be without the worriers?

Where would we be without you wonderful people who who keep a full pharmacy in your purse?

"Oh, sweetie, you need a band-aid?

What size?

Clear, character, or latex-free?"

Thank you, you worriers.

If it weren't for you, there'd never be batteries in the flashlight, gas in the car, or Purel in those little-tiny bottles on a keychain.

No restaurant inspectors.

No vaccines to prevent diseases.

The clueless rest of the world depends on the worriers.

So, worriers, even though you drive the rest of your family crazy, thank you.

Psychologists say that 90% of what you worry about never happens.

See?

Thank you, worriers!

Just 10% more and you'll fix everything.

 

Jesus worried.

Like a mother hen worries about her baby chicks, so Jesus worries about Jerusalem.

But you would think, of all people, Jesus would be able to shake off his worries.

But no.

The place, the people who are worrying him the most – that's precisely where Jesus is headed.

And that's kind of interesting.

Jesus is not standing on the sidelines saying, "Don't worry, be happy."

No. Jesus is heading straight toward the things that are worrying him the most.

The human head-ons, the self-destructive tendencies, the dangerous city streets – those are precisely the places God is headed.

And that's good.

Worry is good to the extent that it shows us that we care.

You want to know what's important to someone?

Find out what he or she worries about.

Worry is good because the right person's worry might even keep you alive.

But on top of all this, worry – scripturally understood – when we're thinking God-thoughts – worry gives us a big, big clue where God is, where God is heading, and, where God needs us to be.

Where was Jesus headed?

Straight into the middle of the place that worried his heart the most.

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The next time you're really worried, try something.

Instead of getting mad at yourself because you're worrying too much…

or instead of getting mad at the people you're worrying about because they're not as worried as you are…

try this: Take a deep breath, and then ask yourself, 

"What is this worry teaching me about God?"

Ask, "Where IS God in this situation I'm so worried about?"

I'm not asking you to let go of your worries;

Because I know people, and I know that's not going to happen.

Heck, it didn't even happen for Jesus.

I'm not asking you to give up worry.

I'm asking you to learn from your worries.

And that's not something most of us ever do.

For most of us, worry is an end unto itself, isn't it?

But if we think of worry as a lesson, as a sign of concern and compassion, it can even bring us closer to God.

 

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But what if you can't stop the human head-on?

What if all your care, all your prayers, all your wishing and hoping can't stop the disaster you (alone, it seems) can see from five miles away?

 

Jesus wrestled with this one.

He starts out saying, "How often have I desired to gather your children together as a mother hen gathers her chicks under her wings… and you were not willing!"

I can just imagine his shoulders drooping.

"See," he says, "your house is left to you."

Jesus tried.

He worried.

He yearned to see God's children come to him, but they wouldn't.

"Your house is left to you."

He couldn't stop the head-on.

 

The Pharisees wrestled with this one.

All along, Jesus has been their nemesis, this irritatingly smart young preacher who drives them crazy, and even they can see what's coming.

"Get out of here!"

No. Not even their worry can stop what's coming.

Think about your own worry.

Has your worry, you exhausting, consuming worry, really changed the person you're worried about?

Maybe. Sometimes. 

But a lot of times, no.

 

While worry can be a warning light, while worry can show us what's important to people, while worry might even teach us about God –

in the end – worry really isn't that strong.

Worry has limits.

The force of will – the force of other people's wills – the force of God's will – in the end – is always going to be stronger than worry.

 

All through the New Testament, people worried about Jesus.

Not just the Pharisees, but the disciples, Jesus' friends and family – they all worried about him.

Imagine where we'd be if their worry had been stronger than the will of Jesus.

Imagine what kind of a Savior we'd have if Jesus had said, "OK. You're right. 

"I won't go to Jerusalem. 

"I won't talk about suffering and the cross. 

"I won't say anything more about resurrection and eternal life. 

"From now on, I'll keep a low profile and stay out of trouble."

 

Worry loses its usefulness at the point when we start thinking it's stronger than the force of will.

Worry gets in the way when it stops people from doing what they really need to do.

Worry gets in the way when it stops YOU from doing things you OUGHT to be doing.

Worry becomes its own human head-on, an obsession, a way of existence that sucks the spirit out of us.

If all you do day and night is worry, you're sinking your energies into a very limited power.

If this is where you are, then your spiritual gift may be a sign of a physical illness, and you really should talk to somebody about it.

Maybe your doctor, or a therapist.

 

In the Bible, worry ALMOST became a horrible, incurable, pandemic spiritual illness when it threatened to stop Jesus from doing the things he needed to do to save the people he cared so much about.

Praise God that the force of will was stronger than the strength of worry.

Praise God that God's care and concern for worried, self-destructive, sinful people like us –

praise God that Christ's love is stronger than our misguided worries.

 

Something else I want to ask you to think about when you find yourself worrying is this:

Ask yourself if – by your worries – you're standing in Jesus' way.

Ask yourself if by your worrying, are you acting like of the Pharisees, telling Jesus, "Get out of here!"?

Are you saying, "Get out of here, Jesus! For your own good, go! 

"It just isn't safe here in my life!"?

Do you really want Jesus to do what you tell him?

Or are you, in your own way, showing him precisely where he needs to be?

 

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Jesus' final word to Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it – Jesus' final word to this dangerous place is this.

After telling the city, "See, your house is left to you," Jesus gives them one more word of hope in verse 39.

He says, "And I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, 'Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.'"

He's telling them that there will come a day when they'll see things differently.

He's telling the city that there will come a day when they'll be glad he has willfully walked right into their troubles.

He's saying that the city's threats and worries, and even its murderous intentions, will reach their limit.

And the threats and worries, and even its murderous intentions, will bow down to the power and presence of God.

Even in a world – even in a heart – consumed by its own worries, God is there.

And God is stronger.

And God's will prevails.

You don't have to worry about that.

Let's pray...