finding freedom from the prisons of the soul: the prison of worry Tom Cowan Interim Lead Pastor English Congregation Vancouver Chinese Baptist Church Vancouver, British Columbia Sunday Sermon for 17 July 2011 Series on Philippians Scripture Passage Philippians 4:6-7
Many of us would be familiar with the work of Alcoholics Anonymous which helps people whose lives have been trapped in the addiction of alcohol. The meetings begin the same way. My name is ____ and I am an alcoholic. In Christian terms we call this confession, which means facing up to something for what it really and not running away from the truth. No more excuses. No more rationalization. This is a vital step in any healing. In an AA meeting it means that everyone who sits in that circle shares the same struggle. They are all in the same space. There is nothing to hide. Confession brings us to honesty and honesty leads us to change. Some of you may have known the grace of God and the power of the cross in setting you free from such addictions. I rejoice with you in that! But I have been thinking that it is time to start a new organization called WA = Worriers Anonymous. This morning I have something to confess to you. My name is Tom and sometimes I am a worrier. I know what the Bible says about trusting God but there are times I still worry. I can sing about the peace of God but there are times I still worry. There are many times in which our family has experienced the faithfulness of God. I do not doubt God for one minute, but to be honest there are times I still worry. This is the paralysis of worry. I do not think I am alone. I think many of you could sign up this morning to join WA, Worriers Anonymous, we could state our names and confess. My name is ___ and I am a worrier. So we can stop hiding from each other. We all share the same struggle. We all need help. What do we worry about? In our spiritual and emotional lives, worry is like a blood clot. Some years ago I struggled through one evening in hospital when I threw a blood clot after surgery. It almost killed me. I do not recommend the experience. Worry is like a spiritual cardiac arrest. It brings our spiritual and emotional systems to a halt. Care and worry are different. The Bible understands that there are things about which we should have genuine care and thoughtful diligence. We are not to live in an attitude of carelessness. We do need to pay proper attention to some things. In fact to many things. I care about you deeply as a church and congregation. We should be diligent about our work, but that is not the same as worry. I care about our children and grandchildren, and sometimes I also worry about them. Worry is like carrying an invisible 100 pound weight on your back everywhere you go. You never put it down. It is like ball and chain that is strapped to your ankle, locking you in what we will call the prison of worry. This morning we will see how God can set us free from that prison, unlock the ball and chain and we feel new freedom. This is the 5th study in this short series we are doing in Philippians. Remember the context, Paul is under house arrest in Rome, but as he writes this warm letter to the church in Philippi which is a Roman colony, a garrison city very familiar with seeing Roman soldiers on every street corner, he is free in his spirit. We have identified the prisons of self-pity/depression, the prison of selfishness, the prison of pride, the prison of mediocrity. Next week, our last study will look at the prison of discontent. Today he wants to set us free from the prison of worry. Here is our key passage. Phil 4 6
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. In the phrase, stands guard, you obviously get the picture of a Roman soldier standing guard. Remember that Paul is under house arrest so he sees this soldier standing guard over him. Philippi was also a Roman colony and so this was a normal scene for them. So he begins: Do not be anxious … 2 FINDING FREEDOM FROM THE PRISONS OF THE SOUL: THE PRISON OF WORRY
The way that this phrase is written in Greek means, do not allow worry to become a constant attitude. A habit. A way of life. Jesus uses exactly the same words in what we call the Sermon On the Mount. Matthew 6 "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? 28 "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. 25
Worry splits our minds, forcing our minds and hearts try to be at two places at the same time, trying to do two things at the same time, trying to think of two things at the same time, and in this state of emotional suspension, we end up paralyzed. All of us can accomplish a great deal. Frankly an enormous amount, when we are focused, when we concentrate on one task and see it through. But worry distracts us. Worry divides our minds. Worry breaks up whatever single vision we have. And in doing so renders us useless. Worry suspends us in mid-air, leaves us dangling, our feet unable to touch the ground and so we lose the vital traction that would get us moving. Here are several ways in which worry suspends us, leaving us dangling helplessnessly. WORRY SUSPENDS US BETWEEN THE UNCHANGEABLE PAST AND THE UNKNOWN FUTURE. Matthew 6:27 Who is you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? The Greek word can be translated one of two ways 1. We cannot add an hour to our lives 2. We cannot make ourselves any taller. In either case the point is the same. There are things in life we cannot change no matter how much we may worry about them. No amount of worrying will make a difference it is all a waste of spiritual and emotional energy. THE UNCHANGEABLE PAST: We all know that one of the things we cannot change is the past. But worry will do its best to rob us of the joy of today. Worry plunders our hearts. Worry is a robber and a rapist, dragging us back and chaining us to some event. There is only one way to deal with the unchangeable past, and that is through the power of forgiveness. We are released from the past as we ask for forgiveness and as we extend forgiveness. We free others 3 FINDING FREEDOM FROM THE PRISONS OF THE SOUL: THE PRISON OF WORRY
and we free ourselves, so that we can stop living in the pain of the past and enjoy the fresh air of the grace of God today. THE UNKNOWN FUTURE: If we are not prone to worrying about the past, worry will try to paralyze us into worrying about the future. A thousand “what ifs” raise their ugly heads in our minds. What if I get cancer… What if I lose my job… What if I have a heart attack… What if our house burns down… What if something happens to one of our children… When we think about the countless things that can go wrong in life. When we imagine all the unforeseen catastrophes that might take place, we will easily live lives that become suspended in mid air. We are catapulted ahead into the future and we imagine all the giants that are lurking in the land ahead. Just waiting for us. We become a prisoner of the invisible chains of the future. So Jesus taught: 34 Therefore
do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. There are times we might think we want to see the future. I have thought for a long time that one of the great expressions of the love of God towards us is that in fact, for our sakes, he does not let us see the future. Imagine if you knew that a diagnosis of cancer was round some corner waiting for you and you could not change that, or that some accident or tragedy would happen to one of our children and we were helpless to avert that. How could we live? That unalterable and unchangeable news would paralyze us. Tomorrow may have fresh pain and struggle and it probably will, but tomorrow will also have fresh grace and strength. We may think that the future is entirely out of control and that we are its helpless victims. That is not so. There may be many things we cannot control, but there are many things we can control. They way we control the unknown future is by making promises. We promise to love someone, in sickness and in health, no matter what life throws at us, and when we do that we are controlling the future. We may not know what will happen but when we make a promise we say no matter what happens I will be there. But when we make promises in every area of life, we can walk into the unknown future with less fear and more confidence. We will learn that God already has tomorrow’s grace stored up for tomorrow’s problems. WORRY SUSPENDS US BETWEEN APATHY AND PANIC. Worry can force us into one of two opposite reactions. One is apathy. Why bother. Who cares? We throw our hands up in despair. Things are so bad that there is nothing we can really do. That is the paralysis of apathy. The other reaction is panic, which is activity without thought or without preparation or homework. It often makes the situation worse. When we make either of these opposite responses, apathy or panic, worry whose source is Satan, the master of lies, has done its deadly work in our lives. 4 FINDING FREEDOM FROM THE PRISONS OF THE SOUL: THE PRISON OF WORRY
Paul has the key that will open the door to this prison of worry. 6
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. This is a window into a vast cosmic truth. Like staring out into the vastness of the universe. Here are a few glimpses of what we must see. Paul say, Why worry when you can pray! Here are some ways to see how prayer can set us free. WHEN WE PRAY – WE ARE BRINGING OUR NEED TO THE CREATIVE RESOURCES OF GOD. A major part of our struggle is that worry locks us into a box with our problem, and it feels as though the box keeps getting smaller and smaller. We are locked into a world with no windows. One of the things that happens when we commit a problem to God in prayer is that we open our situation and struggle to the heart and the resources of God. We invite God to solve the problem in His unique and creative way. One day Jesus saw a crowd of people, around 5,000 or so. It was getting late and he knew that they would be getting hungry. He knew what he was going to do but he gave his disciples a test. How will you feed them? In one account their answer is we don’t have enough money! In another account, they say, send them home. Well, frankly, we could have thought of that. Their solutions are closed to the creative resources of God. In contrast, Jesus lived in a universe that was open to the power and resources of God. So he lifted up a couple of loaves and fishes to the creative power of His father and started to feed people. Who knows his God will meet a need? But if we never invite him into our struggle, we will never know. Prayer is where we give God that opportunity. Paul says we are to bring our prayers with a spirit of thanksgiving. One reason is that bitterness blinds us into seeing how a situation might be changed. My wife Harriet often says, nothing in life is wasted provided we are not bitter. Ephesians says to us that God is able to do more. Much more than we could ever ask or think. Sometimes our problem is that we do not give Him the opportunity to do that. We do not invite him to solve our problem in his creative way. How might God answer? 3 brief headings: 1. Sometimes God does change the situation Food is provided. A job comes open. 2. Sometimes God says Go do it yourself. Prayer is never a substitute for work. He gives us the strength and abilities that we are to use. 3. Sometimes God changes us. The circumstances remain the same, but we are changed. We may not be healed but fresh strength comes to our spirit. Think of what you are worrying about – right now. Even as you sit in church, and ask, how can I open this situation to the creative resources of God?
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WHEN WE PRAY – WE ARE SEEKING GOD’S STRENGTH FOR THE TASK. Sometimes we feel exhausted. We are spent. We have given all we have to a problem. We have nothing left. So in our physical and emotional fatigue we finally turn to prayer. We find in prayer the peace of God, and even more, we may new strength to keep on. It is doing the Lord’s work in the Lord’s way. Runners and athletes sometimes talk about getting their second wind. A fresh surge of energy. As Christians prayer can give us our second wind in the breath of the Spirit. WHEN WE PRAY – WE ARE ASKING FOR GOD’S PEACE. Remember what Jesus says about peace. John 14 27
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives.
Most people are driven by external circumstances in most of the areas of their lives. For life to be good, things outside them must be good. For life to be peaceful, things outside them must be peaceful. Jesus calls us to live differently. Jesus calls us to live lives that are always lived from the inside out. The outside might be in turmoil. The outside might be stormy. But if we have the inner peace of God, we will know what it is like to live from the inside out. Prayer is where we invite God to bring a different kind of peace on the inside. We know when we are there when people see and are aware of the storms we may be in: storms of health, or family, external struggles, and look at our inner spirit, and ask, how can you be at peace in the midst of this chaos? We can only know that when we have asked God to bring his peace into the chaos. God’s peace is always an inner experience no matter how turbulent the circumstances may be. The testimony of Christians before a watching and skeptical world is not to be found in the false impression that when you accept Jesus all your problems disappear. I reject the testimonies that say, life was terrible then I accepted Jesus and all my problems ended. That is not reality. That is not authentic! Rather our testimony before the world is that we live in the same rough and tumble of the world as everyone else does, but in the midst of the storms and the rain, we can ask for and we can receive the peace of God, which is nothing like the peace we find in the world. That is the promise of Jesus. It is that kind of peace that unlocks the prison of worry. I believe that all of us can handle all kinds of work. In fact for type A/’s like me, work is actually fun! But if you inject a grain of worry into our spiritual/emotional bloodstream, we come to a halt. Prayer is asking for this inner peace of God to stand as a sentry over our hearts and minds, keeping worry at bay so that in peace we can get on with the work. When this inner peace comes, we are now free to tackle the problem with creativity. We can face the challenge with fresh hope. Prayer is never a substitute for work. Prayer brings peace so that we can work. A line of an old hymn, What a friend we have in Jesus O what peace we often forfeit O what needless pain we bear All because we do not carry Everything to God in prayer. WHEN WE PRAY – WE ARE RECEIVING THE PEACE TO ACCEPT GOD’S TIMING. One of our struggles is that we live in a society that wants everything instantly. Everything comes fast. Fast food. Faster computers. The result is that we do not know how to wait for anything. Never mind waiting on the Lord. 6 FINDING FREEDOM FROM THE PRISONS OF THE SOUL: THE PRISON OF WORRY
The bread of life. The word and truth of God at work in us, is not fast food. You cannot microwave spirituality and get it fast. It takes time. One of the things we have to learn in prayer is that God may take time to resolve a situation, and we will need his peace to allow that to happen in His time. Prayer is asking for the peace to wait. Not to force a solution. But as someone said, God is always faithful, but it seems that sometimes he’s so slow! We need the wisdom to understand the two words for time. There is CHRONOS. Time as it is right now. Then there is KAIROS. This means the season. The right time. When CHRONOS and KAIROS intersect, I believe both inner peace, and also power to act. Victor Hugo, nothing is as powerful as an idea whose time has come! So this morning, ask yourself, are you honestly experiencing a situation right now in which worry has robbed and plundered your mind, worry has raped your soul. Has worry suspended you in midair between the past and the future, or left you hanging between apathy and panic? Has worry locked you in its dark stinking prison and left you alone and afraid? This morning, in just a moment, you can open heart in prayer to God. Ask Him to send peace to your life and unlock the door of the prison of worry. You can come out of the darkness of that solitary confinement into the light of peace. You can ask that armed warrior of God called PEACE to stand guard over your heart and soul. Someone once said about prayer: Prayer pulls the rope and the great bell of heaven begins to ring in the ears of God. Some people never ring the bell. Others give only an occasional jerk of the rope. But those who want to communicate with heaven grasp the rope boldly, and pull on it with all their might! For whom today are you ringing the great bell of heaven? Worry is a liar and says, there’s no one really there! Don’t bother ringing the bell anymore. You are only wasting your time. In fact there is no bell ringing at all. You are only imagining it! But the Spirit says, don’t listen to the voice of worry. Hear the bell ringing. There is someone home in heaven. God is at home in heaven, and make no mistake. He hears the great bell of heaven ringing right now! When he hears the bell, he says, there is someone ringing the bell on earth who wants to be free! There is someone ringing the bell on earth who wants the peace of heaven! Stand and listen to the great bell of heaven ring in the ears of God!
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