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Philippians 4:4-9; Matthew 6:25-33
This week one of our former students was murdered. Major Heath Kelly was only 35 years old and serving in the National Guard and in a senseless killing spree he was shot down. When we went to visit with his grandmother she said, "I feel sorry for the shooter. He had no life."
While she had every right to be angry and bitter at her loss, she displayed a living testimony that only Christ can make happen in a heart. Lots of people say they are following Christ but in this situation, I saw Christ being lived out through a most terrible situation. How can a grandmother rejoice when she has lost her grandson? This is only possible because she has allowed Christ to fill her heart. She said she is happy she had him in her life for 35 years.
How does this woman minister to me when I was supposed to be ministering to her? She is living out what Paul is teaching here in this passage. Verse 4 says, celebrate God and verse 5 says to be aware that God is near. He is right here, right now to comfort, lead and love you in the right direction.
Bible scholar, Eugene Peterson, says that Philippians is Paul's, "happiest letter." Joy and happiness is a signature trait of Christians. And, since worry is a huge thief of happiness Paul takes time to make it clear that a Christian has no business worrying.
Verse 6 says don't worry or fret about anything. He goes on to tell us to substitute a worry with a prayer. This is excellent psychology since our mind is busy and the worriers can train themselves to replace worry with something rather than trying to empty that mind space. The next time a worry floods your mind, say, "Lord, please take this problem. I can't handle it but I know you can. Thank you."
We are pretty sure that Paul never heard Jesus preach since Paul was running around trying to kill the Jesus followers. In Matthew 6:25-33 we can read what Jesus said about worry and much later Paul writes a similar sentiment. The topic must be so important we need a double dose.
Jesus says, just look at nature and see that it doesn't worry. The birds and the flowers do their thing while we humans get confused and fill our minds with needless worry. Matthew 6:33 says that God will give us whatever we need for this day. My father used to say, don't borrow trouble. This means that if we live one day at a time and trust God just for today, we'll stay in the sweet spot of joy. This frees us to do the only two things Jesus told us to do: love God and love our neighbor.
