The Bungee Cord 12-13-21

Hello,

Today’s Bungee Cord is my sermon from yesterday based on Philippians 4:4-7. Seems Bungee-able to me.

We hear this advice all the time:

Don’t worry, be happy.

Don’t worry, everything happens for a purpose.

Don’t worry, there’s nothing to worry about.

Don’t worry, President Schmoe is in charge now.

Don’t worry, you’re so strong.

Don’t worry, it’s all going to come to an end someday, anyway.

And today we hear the apostle Paul say to the people of Philippi and to us, “Don’t worry about anything.”

I don’t know about you, but when I find myself in a precarious or even frighten situation, to be told, “Don’t worry,” is like being on a steep black diamond ski slope, skies pointed down, my momentum and gravity taking hold of me and being told, “Don’t ski down that hill.” I know that I am well aware of my human limitations, and likewise the limitations of other humans, so I find myself easily prone to worrying.

Are you worried?

Have you watched the news and have seen how wobbly our world is spinning? We are told of rumblings in China, deception in Russia, unrest in the Middle East, and violence in South America. It seems like everywhere things are way out of balance and at any moment everything might spin out of control. Are you worried?

Have you looked at the Covid statistics in our country? Cases are still rising, with more cases now that there were last year at this time. Have you seen that Westmoreland County is considered to have a very high Covid infection rate. Have you heard of the latest in what seems to be a never-ending birthing of mutations, the Omicron mutation? Are you worried?

Have you taken a look at your checking balance lately? Gas prices going up. Food bills on the rise. Electric bills climbing. Medical procedures on the horizon.. The car is getting old and needs repairs. Income isn’t keeping up with expenses. Are you worried?

It is easy to fall into a snake pit of worry, filled with snakes slithering with the venomous poisons of impatience, fear, anger, panic, short tempers, despair. Worrying is exhausting. Worrying is life sapping. Worrying is corrosive. From my perspective I can see the turmoil that worry is causing all around the world, in our country, in our towns, in our homes, in this church, and in our hearts.

And today, we hear the Bible tell us, “Don’t worry about anything.” Right. As is said on the internet, “LOL”.

But in truth, the Apostle Paul’s word to the Philippians and to us, does not begin with the admonition not to worry. Immediately before those words, the Apostle Paul writes this, “The Lord is near.” The Lord God….the one who created all that exists, the one who holds it all in the palm of his hands, the one who cares about a single sparrow that falls from a tree, the one who knows the number of hairs on your head, the one who loves you so much that he took his place on a cross, the one who wrestled death to the ground and death breathed its last breath, the one who on Easter Sunday walked over every power that would try and wrestle you and me from him as if they were merely pesky ants….that one is near. The Lord is near….as near as the breath that fills your lungs….as near as the blood that flows through your veins….as near as the thoughts that churn in your mind….and in a few moments…as near as the molecules that make up every cell in your body when he comes to you in his body and blood. The Lord is near.

Before Paul tells us not to worry about anything, he sets our eyes on the one who is near to us: the Lord. “Look and see,” says Paul, “Look and see who is near to us. The Lord!”

I wrote once in one of my Bungee Cords about my cat, Miss Nicklebee. She and her buddy, Attaboy, are outdoor cats that live in their hutch in our garage. Miss Nicklebee is shy, preferring to spend much of her day hiding in the hutch, but every once in a while she’ll be sitting on a shelf, out of reach of our dog, but within my reach to pick her up. When she was young, my previous dog chased her down and had her in his jowls when we came to her rescue. She knows the danger of a dog, but she has also come to know the safety of our care. Anyway it so happened that one day when I came home and pulled into the garage, there she was on the shelf. So I went over to her, picked her up in my arms and started petting her, then suddenly from around the corner of the garage my current dog, who also likes to chase the cats, came bounding and barking.

She didn’t even flinch. She just stayed completely relaxed and purring. I was near…..she wasn’t worried about anything.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, here’s the thing that God would have us know today, that God would have us take into our hearts today, that God would have us rest in today…..the Lord is near. AMEN.

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