Gloria Dei Evangelical Lutheran Church
Helping our community experience a new life with Jesus
		Peggy’s WELCA Sunday Reflection Gloria Dei Lutheran Church – Reflection – October 12, 2008 Philippians 4:1-9 About a month ago, when I was first asked to share my reflections on today’s readings, I read the Scripture passages for the day and felt pretty certain that I was going to focus my comments on the Gospel story about the king’s wedding banquet for his son. After all, I would be attending the wedding of my niece the first weekend of October, it seemed like it would be a perfect fit. But then this week, when I sat down to actually write out my thoughts, it didn’t fit any more. The world has changed a lot since a month ago. All of a sudden that story about the wedding feast didn’t feel right anymore. Let me explain. I had Thursday off of work this week; it was a much needed day off because I was really weary. When I woke up Thursday morning, before I even got out of bed, I noticed that I was really down. I wrote in my journal a little later than morning that I wasn’t really sleep deprived, but I was weary, feeling burdened, anxious and a little depressed. This isn’t like me, so I decided to do a little reflecting on why this might be. I knew that part of it was that I had been way too busy this past week. Last weekend I traveled to Baltimore for my niece’s wedding with my daughter, Megan, her husband and their three little boys. Mike had traveled there the day before, and I had volunteered to travel with Megan and Luke to help out with the boys. The boys were great travelers, but it was an exhausting trip, as you might imagine. The wedding was beautiful and seeing all of my family was wonderful, but it was emotionally tiring as family gatherings often are. The trip back, again with my daughter and her family, was uneventful, but long, and again, exhausting. We got back Sunday evening, and the very next day I left for a retreat with 42 freshmen, 8 senior leaders and four other adults. We traveled down to Brown County for two days and two nights. The experience was wonderful, everyone enjoyed it and got something beneficial from the retreat, but I, once again, came away very tired. It isn’t the work that tires me out as much as having the responsibility for all of those young souls in my hands. I take that responsibility very seriously and I have a hard time resting during retreats. Well, I realized that all of this activity was why I needed some time to regroup and relax Thursday, but it didn’t explain why I woke up feeling anxious and down. After writing in my journal and reflecting for awhile I realized pretty quickly that what was bothering me was the same thing that has, no doubt, been bothering many of you the past few weeks. Our world is a mess! The economy, the election, the environment, the bitter divisions between different segments of society and different ideologies … it’s enough to make anyone depressed! For the first time in my life I’m hearing that the people who are the experts on the economy don’t have a clue what is happening or how to fix it. That worries me! I feel the pain of the people who are losing their jobs, unable to pay their mortgages, afraid they won’t have enough money to support themselves in their retirement. It is a scary time. And don’t get me started on the election. I hate negative campaigns – you’d think I’d get used to them, but I don’t think I ever will. The half-truths and posturing from both sides is distressing, and I can’t seem to get away from it – it’s everywhere! And once I head down that road of worries, I usually drift from one right into another … like the dire predictions about our environment that get more numerous every week, violence in movies, video games and on tv, concern about my father’s upcoming surgery, terrorism, even whether the Colts will ever win in Lucas Oil Stadium. It is like a snowball rolling down a hill that keeps getting bigger and bigger. Living in the world can be very depressing and very scary. Ok, back to Thursday morning. I was sitting in our sunroom, writing in my journal, getting myself more and more worked up, and then I remembered. Wait. What the heck am I doing to myself? I’m not a worrier. I hate to worry. What can I do to shake off this feeling of gloom and doom? First I went for a walk; that usually helps. But it didn’t. Then I decided to pull out the Scriptures and read this Sunday’s readings again – honestly, just to get my mind off of the woes of the world. And there it was, the answer to my unspoken prayer. For the umpteenth time in my life Jesus was there for me, helping me see the light (with a little help from St. Paul). In his letter to the Church at Philippi that we heard a few minutes ago, Paul writes, Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious 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. 4:4-7) Let me read that last part again, And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Phil. 4:7) Isn’t that a wonderful phrase? Isn’t that a wonderful, liberating thought? I cannot stop myself from worrying, I cannot pull myself out of the depths of despair, but I don’t need to. Jesus promises to do that for me. All I need to do to get the peace of Jesus, that “peace which surpasses all understanding,” is to bring my cares and concerns to Jesus, to bring my focus back to Jesus. To rest in his care. I tell you, once I read that, and then spent a few minutes with my eyes closed, taking a few nice, deep breaths, it was like the weight of the world just evaporated from my shoulders. I stopped worrying, I stopped fretting; I stopped trying to figure out what the future would bring. In that moment I had the peace of Jesus. And it was wonderful. When I read that St. Paul wrote this letter while he was in prison, it became an even more meaningful testimonial. When he wrote this he was locked up in a bleak jail cell, not in a sunroom on a beautiful Fall day as I was, yet he wasn’t depressed or worried, instead he wrote, “Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say, Rejoice!” He could write this because his focus was where it ought to be – on Jesus Christ. These words, written almost 2,000 yeas ago jumped right out of the Bible and challenged me to do the same. Paul is writing to the Christians at Philippi, encouraging them to live their lives, as he has, focused on the peace of Jesus Christ, not on whatever argument is plaguing the leadership of that church, not on which politician is right and which is wrong, or whether the stock market will take another plunge. Sure, Paul and the church at Philippi had worries, as we all do; both endured much suffering and persecution as they lived their lives as Christians in a hostile world. But Paul called that church to carry on together, in unity; “toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus” as he says in chapter 2, verse 14 of this same letter. And he calls us to do the same. I think, for Paul, it is all about focus. Where do we choose to focus our attention? What is more important to us, worrying about the economy and the election and what is going to happen tomorrow, or living our lives focused on Jesus Christ and his promise of “peace that surpasses all understanding?” When we allow our focus to wander, we can become worried, anxious and depressed. When we focus on Jesus, we find peace. Sounds so simple, doesn’t it? But, of course, it isn’t simple. We must live in this world of ours every day. I cannot excuse myself from my life and sit in my sunroom contemplating Jesus every moment of the day, although that does sound nice. No, Jesus doesn’t want me to live a life isolated and removed from everyone and everything. So, how exactly am I to keep my focus on Jesus as I go through my life? Well, St. Paul helps us out again in this letter. He tells the Philippians that there are wonderful things in the world around them that will remind them of the peace of Jesus Christ. Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. (Phil. 4:8) Paul urges us to live our lives in a manner worthy of the Gospel of Christ, and in doing so we are able to live in the world yet remain focused on Jesus. So what does this look like practically? Well, for me, it means that instead of sitting on the couch dwelling on what is worrying me, I can stop and watch the birds at the feeders out the window – that‘s pretty lovely. It means I can spend time in quiet, prayer and mediation listening to what God has to say to me. It means I can spend time hanging out with my one-year-old grandson, Jack, and making him laugh – there is nothing more true and pure than that. It means that I can listen to a CD of hymns by Amy Grant or Sandy Patti or one of my praise CDs in the car on the way to work to which helps me begin my day praising God instead of getting anxious by listening to the news. It can mean that instead of watching TV I can choose to read an inspirational book or magazine or watch a movie about people who are living or have lived lives of faith and honor. It can also mean that I spend some of my time doing something nice for someone I love or even strangers in need, writing a note of cheer to someone who is ill, or simply calling my parents, mother-in-law or daughters to let them know I’m thinking about them. And it always helps to come here to Gloria Dei and hang out with all of you wonderful people. The list can go on and on, and I know each of you has a list such as this of your own – those things we all do that helps us live as Christ calls us to live; ways we stay focused on what is important in life. It helps me to surround myself with that which is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable and excellent whether that is in music, reading material, the people in my life or my own actions. When I find myself straying off this path that Jesus wants for me and to which St. Paul calls me I end up feeling burdened, anxious and depressed. And when I feel this way I do not enjoy the peace of Christ, nor can I be a blessing to those around me. On Amy Grant’s cd, Legacy, she speaks the following prayer after the hymn, Be Still My Soul. I think of it often when I am troubled and in need of a little peace of Christ. I would like to leave you with this thought: Delight yourselves in the Lord; Yes, and find your joy in Him. Be known for your gentleness, And never forget the nearness of our God. And don’t worry, whatever is going to come, Just tell God every detail; And the peace of God, that no one understands, Will come to you. No, don’t worry, just tell Him every detail, And His peace will come to you. Amen. Gloria Dei Lutheran Church is a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) For comments or problems with this website: webmaster