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There are implications for our lives, and how we live our lives - because of Easter!

So in the weeks following Easter, we take a good look at life and ask ourselves  -  What difference will this make? – the fact that Jesus is alive today!

Last week Charmaine focused our attention on the difference between being a celebrity and a hero.  A Hero is one who follows the example of Jesus Christ, and who makes a sacrifice for the benefit of others., -  whereas a Celebrity is famous because of some achievement or fame or notoriety which primarily concerned only themselves. Today we think about an aspect of life which we all face, we all have to deal with, and for some can be totally consuming and debilitating. It is that thing called Worry!     Worry can rob us of enjoyment, deprive us of sleep,  ruin our health,  dispossess us of  friends, strip us of hope , shrivel our souls and in the end make our life, and the lives of those around us, totally miserable. It can destroy our lives if we allow it – or we can find through surrendering our lives to the Risen Christ that we have a way whereby we can rise above it.

.   The gospel reading sums it all up in a few words. And its important to note that when Jesus is speaking to his disciples about worry – that he is not in a context which is totally devoid of worry – as if he were out fishing with the boys  for a day of relaxation, on the calm waters of the lake, with a rod over the side waiting for a bite. -  neither is he stretched out on the grassy hillside on a lazy summer afternoon enjoying a picnic with his friends.   The words which address this matter of Worry were spoken by Jesus to his disciples on the very night of his betrayal – the night before his death. The night when all the forces and powers of sin and hell would be gathered against him.   The very time when we might expect Jesus Himself to be extremely worried , we see him,  instead, reassuring his disciples ,and reminding them of the better way.  In John chapter 14:1,  Jesus said “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me!”  In that one small verse we find two imperatives – “Don’t let your hearts be troubled, and ‘Believe in God- believe also in me.”

The word ‘troubled’ is the same word which means anxious, or even agitated. I think we have all experienced that feeling of anxiousness and agitation. Maybe you are caught up in that state at this very moment? When I was a young boy, the house we lived in had an old copper in the laundry. And every Monday and Thursday I think, mum would light the fire under the copper and boil up the clothes for washing. From time to time she would stir the clothes around so that the soap could do its work.  But later on there was developed the washing machine – and the one which made the major breakthrough was known as the ‘agitator washing machine’. And I think nearly all our present day washing machines are based on that same principle where the central part in the bowl – the agitator - moves backward and forwards, ‘agitating’ the washing, sloshing the water and the clothes around., -  and those early machines did it at great cost to the clothes. It accelerated their wear and tear.   So to be troubled, worried or agitated, is to be tossed backward and forward in our minds and hearts – having no peace and being worn out with constant turmoil.  We know what its like, don’t we?    Jesus said to the worried disciples when he shared with them what was about to happen – “Do not let your hearts be troubled, or agitated.( Don’t let it happen!)  Believe in God, believe also in me.”   Jesus didn’t just tell them not to worry!  He told them the answer to their worry and anxiety! It was the second imperative, the second command - “Believe in God, believe also in me.” James Bond liked his martini’s stirred but not shaken; but how can we live our lives in such a way that even though we may be  shaken, we won’t be broken?  I am sure we have all thought about that question in one form or another, especially in this last week, as we have felt deep sorrow for the families of the students and teacher from Elim Christian College who were drowned in the Mangaptepopo river. It was a tragic loss of life.  And perhaps as you watched the heart-rending interviews with the Principal and the other students you may have noticed something different about how those people all handled that tragedy. They didn’t try to deny the reality of what had happened, neither did they try to blame God.  Instead there was a deep underlying conviction  that even in spite of what had happened, God was the One in  whom they could trust; God was the Rock and the anchor who would hold them firm and give them the strength and peace for each day.

They didn’t just have a blind ‘faith’ in God – whatever or who-ever they imagined Him to be like!  It was because they knew the nature of God as revealed through Jesus Christ that they could look to Him for strength and comfort , and not be disappointed.   

William Barclay, the famous Bible teacher and writer from the last century said these words, commenting on Jn 14. He said – “There comes a time when we have to believe where we cannot prove, and to accept where we cannot understand. If, even in the darkest hour, we believe that somehow there is a purpose in life, and that somehow that purpose is love, then even the unbearable becomes bearable, and even in the darkness there is a glimmer of light.  If we believe that God is as Jesus taught Him to be, - if we believe that in Jesus we see the picture of God, then, in the face of that amazing love, it becomes, not easy, but at least possible, to accept even what we cannot understand, and even in the storms of life to retain a faith that is serene.”   That’s the kind of faith that goes down deep beneath the ranging seas and storms of life and rests firm and secure on the solid rock of God.

That’s what Jesus meant when he said ‘Believe in God’. We see that same faith in action in the second reading today – where St.Paul, writing a letter of praise and thanksgiving from his dungeon cell  in Rome, not knowing when or if his life would be taken from him at any moment , tells his readers not to worry, not to be anxious about anything! How could Paul do that?  

 It was surely  because he had placed his own life in the hands of God, and committed himself unreservedly to His care.  Paul had already surrendered his old life to Christ, and so he could say  with absolute confidence – mindful of the Easter message -  “The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving  let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Phil 4: 5-7)  That’s the answer to our worry, isn’t it! When we have surrendered all to God – THEN the PEACE of God will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

The Risen Jesus was and is alive!. He was there at hand with Paul; He is there with those families and school community at Howick - and He is here at hand with you and me today. 

Today we can choose to Believe in God, to trust Him, and choose NOT to let our hearts be troubled, because the Lord is near, and He knows our needs. Whatever it is that you might be worrying about today- your health, your sickness, your finances, your debts,  your children, your parents, your work, your home, your past, your present or your future  - surrender that cause of worry to God, and trust Him and His goodness to be with you and guide you.

            In an early Greek manuscript the name of a man Titedios  Amerimnos appears. The first name – Titedios – is a proper name, a bit like the name Titus.     The second name – A-merimnos - is made up of the word which means  “To worry”, - a bit like an added nickname. So his name would be something like Titus the Worrier!  But with the Greek letter “A” or alpha prefixed to it, this makes the word mean the opposite of what it formerly meant.  It is thought that this man was a pagan Greek who was a real worrier! , but  who, after being converted to Christ , stopped worrying. So he was called “Titedios, the Man who Never Worries.”   Can we write our name and add to it – “The One who never worries”?

As William Barclay said – “If we believe that in Jesus we see the picture of God, then, in the face of that amazing love, it becomes, not easy, but at least possible, to accept even what we cannot understand, and even in the storms of life to retain a faith that is serene.”  

            So I would like to introduce you to a new song this morning – and I invite you to receive it and sing it as a creed for your life – a creed that will help you when worry comes your way.  The words of the song affirm our faith in the risen Christ:- “In Christ alone my hope is found, he is my light, my strength, my song; This cornerstone, this solid ground,  firm through the fiercest drought and storm.”