Mark 4:35-41; Roman 5:6-11 September 6, 2009
“Jesus’ Stress Solution, Part 3”
Rev. Meagan M. Boozer
Today is the final sermon in our series on solutions to stress. This week I found a couple of new ideas. First, I found this stress reduction kit on the internet. (It is a piece of paper with a circle drawn on it, and inside the circle is written: Bang Head Here.) The directions are as follows:
Place kit on firm surface.
Follow directions in circle of kit.
Repeat step 2 as necessary, or until unconscious.
If unconscious, cease stress reduction exercise!
Here’s another idea I read about:
When you have had one of those “I CAN’T TAKE THIS JOB ANYMORE” days, try this: On your way home after work, stop at your pharmacy and go to the section where they have thermometers. You will need to purchase a rectal thermometer made by *Q-Tip. Be very sure that you get this brand. When you get home, lock your doors, draw the drapes, and disconnect the phone so you will not be disturbed. Change to very comfortable clothing, such as a sweat suit and lie down on your bed. Open the package containing the thermometer and remove the thermometer and carefully place it on the bedside table so that it will not become chipped or broken. Take the written material that accompanies the thermometer and as you read it you will notice in small print the statement that *every rectal thermometer made by *Q-Tip is PERSONALLY tested. Now close your eyes and say out loud five times, ‘I am so glad that I do not work in quality control at the Q-Tip Company.’ There, there, your job isn’t that bad after all, is it?
All of us have stress in our lives. Every event in life brings stress. The challenge is learning how to manage the stress in such a way that we don’t lose God’s gift of peace within us and present a poor witness to unbelievers. We all have stress. Jesus had stress. Let’s listen again to our Gospel story in Mark 4:35-41:
On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”
As I read this passage, and re-read it over the past several weeks, I was struck over and over again by one phrase. I pulled out my Greek, I read commentaries, I prayed, “Lord, why are these words here? What do you want to show us in this story by inspiring these words to be included?”
Take a look with me at the second sentence – verse 36, “And leaving the crowds behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was.” There’s the phrase I’ve been pondering: “… just as he was.” What does that mean? Why is that there?
Recently, I read about an incident in LaCrosse, Washington. Apparently, deputies of the Whitman County sheriff were dispatched to a home in their community, and when they got there they found a 25-year-old man (Lee) all tied up outside the house and ready for transport. Police say that Lee took advantage of a 69-year-old homeowner, Larry Garrett, who had invited him inside his house for a meal after hearing his sad story about needing gas money. Though Garrett was prepared to give Lee some cash, Lee stole Garrett’s wallet and tried to escape out the front door. That’s where Lee ran into Garrett’s brother, who slowed him down long enough for Garrett and several other friends from inside the house to tackle and tie up the thief. One of the deputies is quoted as saying, “I find it a bit refreshing when our criminals are already under arrest and cuffed up for us when we arrive.” And so, they took Lee to the police station, “just as he was.”
Have you ever been to a store looking for something in particular, let’s say a washing machine? You’re looking them over, up and down the row, and as you read the price tags, you notice on one of them these words, “As is.” What does that mean? It means there is probably something wrong with it, doesn’t it? Sometimes what is wrong is glaringly obvious – sometimes it is nothing but a little scratch. But if you don’t mind a little imperfection, you can get a good deal if you take it “just as it is.” And leaving the crowds behind, they took Jesus with them in the boat, just as he was. “As is.”
What was Jesus’ condition at this moment? Well, we noticed in the first week of studying this passage that before this event, Jesus had been going full speed at teaching and preaching in large group settings, confronting some of the important religious leaders of the day, and then taking his disciples off to the side to give further insight. We noticed from the first verse of this section that it is at the end of the day.
Can you recall a day in your life when you felt like you just kept going and going and going without a break? Can you remember what your mind, your body, your spirit felt like in the middle of the day? At the end of the day? If someone came to pick you up and take you away from it all, they would get you “as is,” wouldn’t they? They would take you, “just as you were,” because that was what was real in that moment – you couldn’t fake being perky if your life depended on it!
The disciples took Jesus with them in their boat, bone-tired, probably smelly, and ready for a break. They took him ‘just as he was,’ and yet in no time at all, they wanted him to be something else. In no time at all, they were yelling at him to ‘wake up’ and join in their panic party and ‘do something!’ This has really got me thinking. How often do we do what the disciples did to Jesus to people in our own lives? How often do we say, “I’ll take you ‘as is,’ but then we demand more? I see it in couples before and after their wedding day. Often in pre-marital counseling, honey and sweetie are willing to compromise, but a year or two later, all those differences have grown from mole hills into mountains! I see it in college roommates. At first it’s okay that my side is really neat and your side of the room is messy. But after a couple of weeks, “Why can’t you clean up your clothes?” “Why do you have to be such a neat freak?” I even see it in myself when I want Jesus to agree with me instead of me agreeing with him.
Folks, here’s the stressor: We say we can and do accept people “just as they are,” we welcome them on life’s journey with us, but the bottom line is that what we really are hoping for is that they will become “more like us.” And when they don’t change according to our standards, our frustration becomes a major stressor in our lives and the lives of the people around us.
Let’s say that someone we love is a smoker – everyone knows that smoking is bad for you. The smoker knows that smoking is bad their body. Yes, we want them to quit because we want them to be healthier and live longer. But is this decision really ours to make? Some of us are driven by these sorts of crusades.
The question is, is it our job to change people? No! When we take on that job description, we invite stress upon stress upon stress because it is NOT our job. That’s like me deciding I’m going to take the job of an auto mechanic. Now, I know how to check the oil in a car, and I know how to fill up the windshield cleaner thing. But, it would be incredibly stressful for me and everyone else if I was presented with a timing belt that needed to be replaced. In fact, no matter how much time I might spend reading the manual that explains how to do it, I would be so out of my league that no one would be able to stand being around me. Now that seems like an extreme example, but that’s to make this point: That’s how out of our league we are when we take it upon ourselves to try to change someone else’s behaviors, someone else’s character, someone else’s language, someone else’s goals, etc. When we do this, we add stress to our lives that is never, ever ending.
And this applies to the church as a group, too. Will we make the choice to accept others whom God might bring to worship with us, and seek spiritual truth with us just as they are? Or will we just say that we’re friendly and say that of course we “accept everybody” until it is someone so different than us that we are too uncomfortable? Way too often this is exactly what happens in the church – as expressed by the seating choices we make when we come in, by the stares we hold, by the “behind the hand” comments, and by the lack of compassion we show to those who aren’t like us. You’ve probably heard this story before, but it deserves repeating today:
It was a cold winter’s day that Sunday. The parking lot to the church was filling up quickly. I noticed as I got out of my car that fellow church members were whispering among themselves as they walked to the church. As I got closer, I saw a man leaned up against the wall outside the church. He was almost lying down as if he was asleep. He had on a long trench coat that was almost in shreds, and a hat topped his head, pulled down so you could not see his face. He wore shoes that looked 30 years old, too small for his feet, with holes all over them. His toes stuck out.
I assumed this man was homeless and asleep, so I walked on by through the doors of the church. We all gathered for fellowship for a few minutes, and someone brought up the man lying outside. People snickered and gossiped, but no one bothered to ask him to come in, including me.
A few moments later, church began. We all waited for the preacher to take his place and to give us the Word, when the doors to the church opened. In came the homeless man walking down the aisle with his head down. People gasped and whispered and made faces. He made his way down the aisle and up onto the pulpit. He took off his hat and coat. My heart sank. There stood our preacher. . . he was the “homeless man.” No one said a word. The preacher took his Bible and laid it on the stand. “Folks, I don’t think I have to tell you what I am preaching about today.”
This past week, Mark & Brenda Hart, Dawn Smith, and I delivered gifts to the 100 neighbors closest to our church who (as far as we know) do not attend church. Our team of Phyllis Ciarrocca, Joni Frey, Dawn Smith, Mark, Brenda, & myself worked together to identify our target families. In the packet was the Fall edition of “Our Daily Bread,” a photo of the inside of this sanctuary, a copy of a sermon entitled, “What is a Christian,” our mission folder, our worship information brochure, my business card, 6 homemade cookies made and packaged by Joni Frey and Ruth Frazier, and the following letter:
Dear Neighbors,
Sometimes we get used to having something so close to us that we miss seeing it altogether. When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was, he answered, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ At Upper Path Valley Presbyterian Church, we have been learning how to love God better, and we want to know how to love our neighbors better. You are our neighbors!
Many people have grown up in the church and have stepped away from it for one reason or another. Some have never known the power of the connection with a church family. At UPVPC, you will find people who understand both places. We are a very diverse congregation – young and old, from those trying to figure out what we believe to those who are certain that Jesus is all that matters.
Perhaps in these tough economic times you’ve been praying more. I know I have been. Perhaps someone close to you has recently died and you’ve been thinking about eternal things more than usual. Perhaps you are lonely and want healthy life-giving companionship. At UPVPC, we believe that God has called us together to ask the hard questions, to seek the answers together, and to encourage one another to press on in the strength God wants to provide. We’re not perfect; no one is even close. God alone is perfect. But we have discovered that the closer we get to the Lord and to each other, the more we understand His perfect love for us, and the more peace we have in our lives.
We invite you to come and spend time with our congregation. We know how hard it is to walk into a church for the first time – especially in a small community like ours. What will people say? Well, we hope we all say, “Thank you, Lord!”
On Sunday, September 13th, we return to regular “school hours.” At 9:45 a.m. we have wonderful, important conversation & teaching of the Bible for preschoolers through senior adults. Whether you know anything about the Bible or not, this is a great time to get to know what God has said in his love letter to us – and it is a fantastic time to ask questions you’ve been wondering about for a long time. There is no greater gift you can give your children than the gift of discovering God’s love for them. We have three different adults classes to try, too, until you find the setting that works for you. At 11:00 a.m., we gather to pray, to sing, to listen to God’s Word being preached, to confess, and to encourage one another by sharing in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. We have a message just for the children, and then preschoolers through elementary age students have places to go to continue to learn at their level.
Won’t you join us at UPVPC to begin or re-enter your journey of faith? On September 13th, I will begin a new series of sermons called The Power of the Blessing. I trust God will draw you to come and receive whatever He has stored up to give you as you join us in learning to love Him with all our heart, soul, & mind – and then reaching out to love your neighbors.
If you have questions, or would like to talk to me about this invitation or our congregation’s mission & ministry, please call the church at 349-2603. We have already prayed for you, and hope that God might connect us in common purpose, love, and joy. Rev. Meagan M. Boozer, Pastor
There was not one person we handed our gift pack to, who tossed it back in our faces. There was not one person who didn’t say, “Thank you” with a slightly bewildered look. I don’t know if any of our neighbors will come here next Sunday, or the next, or the next, but I certainly pray that if they do, that we will take them on our journey with us, ‘just as they are,’ imperfections and all. After all, that’s what Jesus does with us, isn’t it? Listen to these words from Rom. 5:6-11:
We can’t round up enough containers to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit! Christ arrives right on time to make this happen. He didn’t, and doesn’t, wait for us to get ready. He presented himself for this sacrificial death when we were far too weak and rebellious to do anything to get ourselves ready. And even if we hadn’t been so weak, we wouldn’t have known what to do anyway. We can understand someone dying for a person worth dying for, and we can understand how someone good and noble could inspire us to selfless sacrifice. But God put his love on the line for us by offering his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to him.
I pray that we can extend even a portion of this kind of acceptance to others. I pray we can let go of our need to make everyone in “our image” instead of trusting God to show us all his image within? We’d live with a whole lot less stress if we could all be like this with each other and with our neighbors. So, let me wrap up these three messages on Jesus’ solution to stress:
Our solution to stress is to make sure we take time to rest, recharge, and review where we are and why;
our solution to stress is to fill our minds not with all the ‘what ifs’ that feed our worry, but to fill our minds with thanksgiving for what God has done in the past and trust in him for our futures;
our solution to stress is to stop trying to change everyone around us so that we’re more satisfied – choosing to let God change people (including us), and love them through the process – for that’s just what he has done for us!
With the help of the Lord and each other, we do not have to live stressed-out lives, no matter how big the wind and the waves!
Let us pray: Loving God, Sovereign Lord, you are the giver of all things good. You are the answer to our questions. You are the One who knows what we need, when we need it, and then provides for us according to your will. May we be teachable. May we be gracious & generous. May our mouths remain shut to criticism while our arms stay open in compassionate acceptance. Thank you for accepting us, for loving us, and for patiently molding us into beautiful reflections of your image. This is only by your grace, and we are grateful – in Jesus’ name, Amen.
“Jesus’ Stress Solution, Part 3”
Rev. Meagan M. Boozer
Today is the final sermon in our series on solutions to stress. This week I found a couple of new ideas. First, I found this stress reduction kit on the internet. (It is a piece of paper with a circle drawn on it, and inside the circle is written: Bang Head Here.) The directions are as follows:
Place kit on firm surface.
Follow directions in circle of kit.
Repeat step 2 as necessary, or until unconscious.
If unconscious, cease stress reduction exercise!
Here’s another idea I read about:
When you have had one of those “I CAN’T TAKE THIS JOB ANYMORE” days, try this: On your way home after work, stop at your pharmacy and go to the section where they have thermometers. You will need to purchase a rectal thermometer made by *Q-Tip. Be very sure that you get this brand. When you get home, lock your doors, draw the drapes, and disconnect the phone so you will not be disturbed. Change to very comfortable clothing, such as a sweat suit and lie down on your bed. Open the package containing the thermometer and remove the thermometer and carefully place it on the bedside table so that it will not become chipped or broken. Take the written material that accompanies the thermometer and as you read it you will notice in small print the statement that *every rectal thermometer made by *Q-Tip is PERSONALLY tested. Now close your eyes and say out loud five times, ‘I am so glad that I do not work in quality control at the Q-Tip Company.’ There, there, your job isn’t that bad after all, is it?
All of us have stress in our lives. Every event in life brings stress. The challenge is learning how to manage the stress in such a way that we don’t lose God’s gift of peace within us and present a poor witness to unbelievers. We all have stress. Jesus had stress. Let’s listen again to our Gospel story in Mark 4:35-41:
On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”
As I read this passage, and re-read it over the past several weeks, I was struck over and over again by one phrase. I pulled out my Greek, I read commentaries, I prayed, “Lord, why are these words here? What do you want to show us in this story by inspiring these words to be included?”
Take a look with me at the second sentence – verse 36, “And leaving the crowds behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was.” There’s the phrase I’ve been pondering: “… just as he was.” What does that mean? Why is that there?
Recently, I read about an incident in LaCrosse, Washington. Apparently, deputies of the Whitman County sheriff were dispatched to a home in their community, and when they got there they found a 25-year-old man (Lee) all tied up outside the house and ready for transport. Police say that Lee took advantage of a 69-year-old homeowner, Larry Garrett, who had invited him inside his house for a meal after hearing his sad story about needing gas money. Though Garrett was prepared to give Lee some cash, Lee stole Garrett’s wallet and tried to escape out the front door. That’s where Lee ran into Garrett’s brother, who slowed him down long enough for Garrett and several other friends from inside the house to tackle and tie up the thief. One of the deputies is quoted as saying, “I find it a bit refreshing when our criminals are already under arrest and cuffed up for us when we arrive.” And so, they took Lee to the police station, “just as he was.”
Have you ever been to a store looking for something in particular, let’s say a washing machine? You’re looking them over, up and down the row, and as you read the price tags, you notice on one of them these words, “As is.” What does that mean? It means there is probably something wrong with it, doesn’t it? Sometimes what is wrong is glaringly obvious – sometimes it is nothing but a little scratch. But if you don’t mind a little imperfection, you can get a good deal if you take it “just as it is.” And leaving the crowds behind, they took Jesus with them in the boat, just as he was. “As is.”
What was Jesus’ condition at this moment? Well, we noticed in the first week of studying this passage that before this event, Jesus had been going full speed at teaching and preaching in large group settings, confronting some of the important religious leaders of the day, and then taking his disciples off to the side to give further insight. We noticed from the first verse of this section that it is at the end of the day.
Can you recall a day in your life when you felt like you just kept going and going and going without a break? Can you remember what your mind, your body, your spirit felt like in the middle of the day? At the end of the day? If someone came to pick you up and take you away from it all, they would get you “as is,” wouldn’t they? They would take you, “just as you were,” because that was what was real in that moment – you couldn’t fake being perky if your life depended on it!
The disciples took Jesus with them in their boat, bone-tired, probably smelly, and ready for a break. They took him ‘just as he was,’ and yet in no time at all, they wanted him to be something else. In no time at all, they were yelling at him to ‘wake up’ and join in their panic party and ‘do something!’ This has really got me thinking. How often do we do what the disciples did to Jesus to people in our own lives? How often do we say, “I’ll take you ‘as is,’ but then we demand more? I see it in couples before and after their wedding day. Often in pre-marital counseling, honey and sweetie are willing to compromise, but a year or two later, all those differences have grown from mole hills into mountains! I see it in college roommates. At first it’s okay that my side is really neat and your side of the room is messy. But after a couple of weeks, “Why can’t you clean up your clothes?” “Why do you have to be such a neat freak?” I even see it in myself when I want Jesus to agree with me instead of me agreeing with him.
Folks, here’s the stressor: We say we can and do accept people “just as they are,” we welcome them on life’s journey with us, but the bottom line is that what we really are hoping for is that they will become “more like us.” And when they don’t change according to our standards, our frustration becomes a major stressor in our lives and the lives of the people around us.
Let’s say that someone we love is a smoker – everyone knows that smoking is bad for you. The smoker knows that smoking is bad their body. Yes, we want them to quit because we want them to be healthier and live longer. But is this decision really ours to make? Some of us are driven by these sorts of crusades.
The question is, is it our job to change people? No! When we take on that job description, we invite stress upon stress upon stress because it is NOT our job. That’s like me deciding I’m going to take the job of an auto mechanic. Now, I know how to check the oil in a car, and I know how to fill up the windshield cleaner thing. But, it would be incredibly stressful for me and everyone else if I was presented with a timing belt that needed to be replaced. In fact, no matter how much time I might spend reading the manual that explains how to do it, I would be so out of my league that no one would be able to stand being around me. Now that seems like an extreme example, but that’s to make this point: That’s how out of our league we are when we take it upon ourselves to try to change someone else’s behaviors, someone else’s character, someone else’s language, someone else’s goals, etc. When we do this, we add stress to our lives that is never, ever ending.
And this applies to the church as a group, too. Will we make the choice to accept others whom God might bring to worship with us, and seek spiritual truth with us just as they are? Or will we just say that we’re friendly and say that of course we “accept everybody” until it is someone so different than us that we are too uncomfortable? Way too often this is exactly what happens in the church – as expressed by the seating choices we make when we come in, by the stares we hold, by the “behind the hand” comments, and by the lack of compassion we show to those who aren’t like us. You’ve probably heard this story before, but it deserves repeating today:
It was a cold winter’s day that Sunday. The parking lot to the church was filling up quickly. I noticed as I got out of my car that fellow church members were whispering among themselves as they walked to the church. As I got closer, I saw a man leaned up against the wall outside the church. He was almost lying down as if he was asleep. He had on a long trench coat that was almost in shreds, and a hat topped his head, pulled down so you could not see his face. He wore shoes that looked 30 years old, too small for his feet, with holes all over them. His toes stuck out.
I assumed this man was homeless and asleep, so I walked on by through the doors of the church. We all gathered for fellowship for a few minutes, and someone brought up the man lying outside. People snickered and gossiped, but no one bothered to ask him to come in, including me.
A few moments later, church began. We all waited for the preacher to take his place and to give us the Word, when the doors to the church opened. In came the homeless man walking down the aisle with his head down. People gasped and whispered and made faces. He made his way down the aisle and up onto the pulpit. He took off his hat and coat. My heart sank. There stood our preacher. . . he was the “homeless man.” No one said a word. The preacher took his Bible and laid it on the stand. “Folks, I don’t think I have to tell you what I am preaching about today.”
This past week, Mark & Brenda Hart, Dawn Smith, and I delivered gifts to the 100 neighbors closest to our church who (as far as we know) do not attend church. Our team of Phyllis Ciarrocca, Joni Frey, Dawn Smith, Mark, Brenda, & myself worked together to identify our target families. In the packet was the Fall edition of “Our Daily Bread,” a photo of the inside of this sanctuary, a copy of a sermon entitled, “What is a Christian,” our mission folder, our worship information brochure, my business card, 6 homemade cookies made and packaged by Joni Frey and Ruth Frazier, and the following letter:
Dear Neighbors,
Sometimes we get used to having something so close to us that we miss seeing it altogether. When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was, he answered, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ At Upper Path Valley Presbyterian Church, we have been learning how to love God better, and we want to know how to love our neighbors better. You are our neighbors!
Many people have grown up in the church and have stepped away from it for one reason or another. Some have never known the power of the connection with a church family. At UPVPC, you will find people who understand both places. We are a very diverse congregation – young and old, from those trying to figure out what we believe to those who are certain that Jesus is all that matters.
Perhaps in these tough economic times you’ve been praying more. I know I have been. Perhaps someone close to you has recently died and you’ve been thinking about eternal things more than usual. Perhaps you are lonely and want healthy life-giving companionship. At UPVPC, we believe that God has called us together to ask the hard questions, to seek the answers together, and to encourage one another to press on in the strength God wants to provide. We’re not perfect; no one is even close. God alone is perfect. But we have discovered that the closer we get to the Lord and to each other, the more we understand His perfect love for us, and the more peace we have in our lives.
We invite you to come and spend time with our congregation. We know how hard it is to walk into a church for the first time – especially in a small community like ours. What will people say? Well, we hope we all say, “Thank you, Lord!”
On Sunday, September 13th, we return to regular “school hours.” At 9:45 a.m. we have wonderful, important conversation & teaching of the Bible for preschoolers through senior adults. Whether you know anything about the Bible or not, this is a great time to get to know what God has said in his love letter to us – and it is a fantastic time to ask questions you’ve been wondering about for a long time. There is no greater gift you can give your children than the gift of discovering God’s love for them. We have three different adults classes to try, too, until you find the setting that works for you. At 11:00 a.m., we gather to pray, to sing, to listen to God’s Word being preached, to confess, and to encourage one another by sharing in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. We have a message just for the children, and then preschoolers through elementary age students have places to go to continue to learn at their level.
Won’t you join us at UPVPC to begin or re-enter your journey of faith? On September 13th, I will begin a new series of sermons called The Power of the Blessing. I trust God will draw you to come and receive whatever He has stored up to give you as you join us in learning to love Him with all our heart, soul, & mind – and then reaching out to love your neighbors.
If you have questions, or would like to talk to me about this invitation or our congregation’s mission & ministry, please call the church at 349-2603. We have already prayed for you, and hope that God might connect us in common purpose, love, and joy. Rev. Meagan M. Boozer, Pastor
There was not one person we handed our gift pack to, who tossed it back in our faces. There was not one person who didn’t say, “Thank you” with a slightly bewildered look. I don’t know if any of our neighbors will come here next Sunday, or the next, or the next, but I certainly pray that if they do, that we will take them on our journey with us, ‘just as they are,’ imperfections and all. After all, that’s what Jesus does with us, isn’t it? Listen to these words from Rom. 5:6-11:
We can’t round up enough containers to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit! Christ arrives right on time to make this happen. He didn’t, and doesn’t, wait for us to get ready. He presented himself for this sacrificial death when we were far too weak and rebellious to do anything to get ourselves ready. And even if we hadn’t been so weak, we wouldn’t have known what to do anyway. We can understand someone dying for a person worth dying for, and we can understand how someone good and noble could inspire us to selfless sacrifice. But God put his love on the line for us by offering his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to him.
I pray that we can extend even a portion of this kind of acceptance to others. I pray we can let go of our need to make everyone in “our image” instead of trusting God to show us all his image within? We’d live with a whole lot less stress if we could all be like this with each other and with our neighbors. So, let me wrap up these three messages on Jesus’ solution to stress:
Our solution to stress is to make sure we take time to rest, recharge, and review where we are and why;
our solution to stress is to fill our minds not with all the ‘what ifs’ that feed our worry, but to fill our minds with thanksgiving for what God has done in the past and trust in him for our futures;
our solution to stress is to stop trying to change everyone around us so that we’re more satisfied – choosing to let God change people (including us), and love them through the process – for that’s just what he has done for us!
With the help of the Lord and each other, we do not have to live stressed-out lives, no matter how big the wind and the waves!
Let us pray: Loving God, Sovereign Lord, you are the giver of all things good. You are the answer to our questions. You are the One who knows what we need, when we need it, and then provides for us according to your will. May we be teachable. May we be gracious & generous. May our mouths remain shut to criticism while our arms stay open in compassionate acceptance. Thank you for accepting us, for loving us, and for patiently molding us into beautiful reflections of your image. This is only by your grace, and we are grateful – in Jesus’ name, Amen.
