OPEN: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltaFMO3BaNQ (a video clip from the TV series: “This Is Us”)
It’s a dark and stormy night.
It’s scary and Kevin is all by himself. His brother and sister are nowhere to be found and so he does what any little boy would do in that case… he goes to his parents bedroom hoping to get into bed with them. But when he gets there, his brother and sister are already in bed, and there’s no room for Kevin. He doesn’t fit. He’s alone… he’s afraid … and he’s looking for comfort. And as he grows older - things don’t change all that much. Kevin may “look like” a guy who has it all together… but he doesn’t.
ILLUS: In the clip we saw, Kevin’s mother admits that “I remember Randall clinging to my leg and Katie crying. But you… you just waltzed right in. And you didn’t even look back. And your father and I were like ‘Wow. Look at our brave little boy.’ And I remember telling the other two ‘Now, you have to learn to be just like Kevin.’ (PAUSE) I never worried about you. Because I didn’t think that I had to. But now I realize I was wrong.”
She was wrong. Even when grown up, Kevin was still that same little boy - a little boy who’s insecure and filled with doubts and fears and anxieties. And he’s just like everybody else. Just like the series title declares: THIS IS US.
Henry David Thoreau observed that “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.”
And that’s still true. There’s a lot of people out there who are still filled with insecurities and doubts and anxiety.
ILLUS: Max Lucado once observed that “we fear being sued, finishing last, going broke; we fear the mole on the back, the new kid on the block, the sound of the clock as it ticks us closer to the grave. We have sophisticated investment plans, create elaborate security systems, and legislate a stronger military” and yet – with all that – we’re still insecure… we’re still anxious. (The last words, outside the quotes, are mine).
That has ALWAYS been true. That’s why the Bible is so filled with God telling us not to do that. There’s over 140 different verses in Scripture telling God’s people: Not to worry; Not to be anxious; Not to be afraid.
• Back in the Old Testament when Israel was trapped between the armies of Egypt the impassable waters of the Red Sea, and facing certain death - Moses says ‘Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again.’ Exodus 14:13
• Later, in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus was preaching to the crowds at the Sermon on the Mount: “do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?” Matthew 6:24-27
• And, of course our text today says: Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:7
Someone once observed that “NOT ONCE does the Bible say “Worry about it.” “Stress Over It.” Or “Figure It Out!” But over and over it clearly says: “Trust God.”
(Pause) Well, that sounds simple enough. I think I could do that. How about you? Do you think you could do that? Of course you could. But if it’s that easy, WHY are so many people so filled with doubts and fears and anxiety? Well, here’s what I think is happening: I think that when people get overwhelmed by anxiety, and they are faced with scary situations they can’t control - they believe that no one is there, and they believe there’s no one who cares.
ILLUS: Did you notice in the video clip this morning? There’s a terrible thunderstorm outside. Kevin wakes up … and he’ scared. Why is he scared? Because there’s no one there. He’s all alone! So, what’s his solution? He goes to find someone. But not just any someone. He goes looking for Mom and Dad. Why go looking for his parents? Because he KNOWS he’ll be safe with them.
ILLUS: When I was a boy, my favorite pet was our dog Trixie. Trixie was a beautiful white terrier with a brown saddle and brown ears and she was almost always a happy dog. Now, I don’t know how you deal with your pets, but Dad had a rule – Trixie was not allowed in the house. She could stay in the basement… but not in the house. If she tried to come upstairs Dad would punish her if she came upstairs and shoe her back down to the basement. So, Trixie was afraid of Dad and never ventured into the house itself… until one night.
That night, there was a terrible thunder storm. It was the kind of storm that shook the timbres of the house, and Trixie was afraid. She raced up the basement stairs… and she didn’t go looking for me, or my brother Jack, or my sisters Donna Mae or Barbranne. No... instead Trixie raced into my folks' bedroom, jumped up on the bed … and nestled right down beside dad. And Dad put his arm around her and held her all the rest of the night.
But why? Why would Trixie seek out Dad? Well, because in her mind, only dad was big enough to protect her. The only thing that was going to control her fear of the storm was knowing that Dad was there.
Psalm 4:8 says “In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone Lord make me dwell in safety.”
Ps 127:2 declares: “It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.”
And the 23rd Psalm is so loved by so many because it declares exactly that same thing: “Yea, though I walk through the valley of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.” Psalm 23:4
What’s the Bible saying? It’s saying that when the STORM is outside… God is INSIDE --- with you.
Back in the Old Testament we read about Israel preparing itself to enter into the Promised Land. And as they stand there before God, God made them this promise: “Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.” Deuteronomy 31:6
That was the promise God made to His people in the Old Testament… and in the New Testament God repeats the same promise to you and me: “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Hebrews 13:5
God will never leave us. He will never forsake us. And as I got to thinking about that truth, it occurred to me that THAT’S why Church is so important. Church is where we’re constantly reminded that God is always there for us. Church is where we are constantly reminded about our God.
ILLUS: About 10 years ago, there was a study done at the University of Toronto that was reported on in a magazine called “Psychological Science”. According to their research the psychologists concluded that, when faithful religious people thought about religion and God, their brains responded in a way that let them take setbacks in stride and react with less distress to anxiety-provoking mistakes. (Association for Psychological Science 8/4/10)
In other words… just thinking about God helped people relax. Just thinking about God reduced their stress. And that’s what Church is all about - thinking about God. Everything you experience in worship should focus your mind on God and His love for you – from the songs, to the prayers, to the Lord’s Supper, to the sermon. It all should remind you of who God is and who much you mean to Him. Actually, even in the worst of churches, you can still get that benefit. Because you shouldn't be here to focus on me or some other person in church - you should be here to focus on God.
As Isaiah 26:3 says – “(God) You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.”
So being in church is important, and thinking about God is important! But it’s not enough to just THINK about God. And it’s not enough to just BELIEVE He’s there… In order to be freed of our anxiety, we need to realize that He cares for us. 1 Peter 5:7 tells us to “Cast all your anxiety on Him because He CARES for you.”
Years ago, I heard this little poem: (Elizabeth Cheney)
Said the robin to the sparrow, “I should really like to know, why these anxious human beings rush about and worry so.” Said the sparrow to the robin, “Friend I think that it must be, that they have no Heavenly Father, such as cares for you and me.”
Simply put: if you don’t believe you have a Heavenly Father who cares for you and believes you are worth His time, then you WILL be anxious, and you WILL rush about, and you WILL worry.
That’s why Jesus put so much emphasis on God being our heavenly Father who cared for us: “… which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him! Matthew 7:9-11
In other words: God cares so much for you that He wants to give you what you need. He wants you to know that He will never leave you nor forsake you. So you don’t have to be afraid in this world.
In the TV clip we saw earlier, Kevin goes into his parent’s room, and you can sense his sadness when he realizes there’s no room in the bed for him. So he gets a pillow and blanket … and he lies down on the floor. He figures - being close to his parents is better than going back to his lonely room.
CLOSE: And that’s how a lot of people view life. They feel scared some times and they just don’t think they fit in anywhere. It’s like - there’s no room in the bed for them. There’s not even any room near to God for them. They don’t feel they can get close to Him… and so they lay down someplace hoping that somebody will notice them and care what happens to them.
But the Bible paints an entirely different picture of how things can be. The Bible tells us about a God who is a lot like what we from Kevin’s mother in the video. Kevin is lying down on the floor thinking nobody cares about him. But then his mother does that all good parents would do - she gets out of bed and goes over lies down beside him.
She does something she DOES NOT have to do - she gives up her comfort. Have you ever slept the night on the floor? It’s not comfortable, believe me. But Kevin’s mother does that. She gives up a warm, comfy bed to lay on a hard cold floor next to her son. Why would she do that? Well, she did that so that she could give him the comfort he needed: She gave him the knowledge that she was there… and that she cared.
The Bible tells us that that is what God did for us. Romans 5:6 & 8
“while we were still weak (lying on floor someplace) at the right time Christ died for the ungodly… God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners (we didn’t deserve to get into the bed and find comfort) Christ died for us.”
God didn’t have to do that! He didn’t have to love YOU (or me). He didn’t have to come down out of heaven, and (if you will) He didn’t have to lie down on the floor beside you. And He didn’t have to die for us on a cross for you.
BUT HE DID! He did all that because He loves you and cares what happens to you. “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him may not perish but have everlasting life.”
That reminds me of a simple little song we sing here once in a while. If you know it, why don’t sing along with me:
“Oh, how He loves you and me, Oh how He loves you and me. He gave his life, what more could he give? Oh, how He loves you; Oh, how he loves me; Oh, how he loves you and me.”
God loves us so much that He wants us to be with Him. And He knows how hard it is for us to even believe He cares for us – so He doesn’t ask to understand some deep and mystical theology to become Christians. All He asks is that we BELIEVE that He loved us enough to lay down beside us and care for us. And we have to ACCEPT the fact that we don’t deserve the safety of being in the same room with, but that if we DECIDE we don’t want to live like that anymore and determine to MAKE HIM the Lord of our lives, and allow ourselves to be BURIED in the waters of baptism and rise up a new creature… that’s all He asks.
Our God is not some uncaring, unfeeling, and indifferent being. He loves you and He cares for you.
As we watched the video this morning, you may have noticed that the words were “closed captioned”. Maybe you even noticed the words to the song that was sung lightly in the background: “Everybody hides. Everybody bleeds. Everybody wants, everybody needs… Love.”
That is the message the Bible repeatedly drives home to us: God loves us and wants us lay down beside you and give you His comfort. That’s why we give an invitation at the end of every service…
INVITATION
