Moods of Advent: Anxiety

What we must do is sort out the different kinds of anxieties, so that we are not overwhelmed by faithless anxieties, and deal appropriately with other kinds.

If we want to have anxiety about something cosmic, read about the menace of a comet or asteroid crashing into the earth and causing an ice age such as may have been the cause of the extinction of the dinosaurs.

There have been various movies playing with the theme of trying to redirect such an asteroid away from the earth.

If we would rather have something personal rather than cosmic for our pet anxiety, let's go have some blood tests done.

It doesn't matter if we just had annual physicals, we're talking about anxiety here!

That was then, this is today; things might have changed... weight, body mass index, blood pressure numbers, cholesterol readings... colonoscopy anyone?

But these are not the kinds of anxieties that got Paul agitated when he was writing to the new church in Thessalonika.

He knew that the tension for that little band of new converts was the ways in which the new congregation members were cut off from the social and cultural fabric of their community.

They were ostracized from their friends and neighbors now that they had a new value system associated with their conversion to the Christian faith.

So the anxiety that concerned Paul and his companions was something real and close at hand to the new Christians in Thessalonika.

It was more than persecution from hostile arguers from the local synagogue.

[We read about those troubles in Acts 17 and elsewhere.]

It is the hardship that occurs when a group of people adopt the standards and values of the crucified and risen Lord Jesus.

Paul says, As you know, we dealt with each one of you like a father with his children, urging and encouraging you and pleading that you lead a life worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.

...a life worthy of the kingdom of God.

But it is so easy to fall back into the old ways.

Walk down the street in Thessalonika or the main street of any ancient city, and see the temples to every god lined up competing with one another.

There are the prostitutes and the like, some of them connected with the fertility cults in the temples.

There are pan-handlers and the flim-flam sort.

Greed, wrath, sloth, pride, lust, envy, and gluttony; line up the seven deadly sins and they are all active right there.

And we can walk down the street in our own day and see much the same thing.

Oh, we may dress it up differently, but it is the same game.

I'm thinking right at the moment of a particular commercial running these days on television.

In this commercial, we are supposed to be caught up in anxiety about gift-purchasing, which can only be alleviated by following the example of “The Gifter.”

Plying the viewer with a blend of greed, envy, lust, and pride, “The Gifter” strides through three department stores snagging just the right expensive and unnecessary items which she can then deliver gift-wrapped with a smirk at a stylish cocktail party.

I haven't figured out how this is supposed to lessen my anxiety.

It's the same old line that hucksterers have been pushing since a cave man threw out one wife in favor of another who could cook a better pot roast.

Our hymn-writer today observes:

Sin's dreadful doom upon us lies;

Grim death looms fierce before our eyes.

[LBW#38.3]

So what is this “worthy life” of which Paul speaks?

In essence, it would involve the opposites of the deadly seven sins, wouldn't it?

Toward the end of his letter to the Thessalonians, Paul makes some pointed recommendations that use imperatives.

They are within the territory that we need to inhabit, the life worthy of the kingdom of God.

Let's listen to Paul:

But we appeal to you brothers and sisters, to respect those who labor among you and have charge of you in the Lord and admonish you; esteem them very highly in love because of their work.

Be at peace among yourselves.

And we urge you, beloved,

to admonish the idlers,

encourage the faint-hearted,

help the weak,

be patient with all of them.

See that none of you repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to all.

Rejoice always,

pray without ceasing,

give thanks in all circumstances;

for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Do not despise the word of the prophets, but test everything;

hold fast to what is good;

abstain from every form of evil.

Now even if the church in Thessalonika or the church in Williamsport were able to keep every part of Paul's advice carefully and fully, would all of our anxiety be gone?

No, there are still additional things to concern us.

The Thessalonians were worried about those who died before the second coming of Christ Jesus; what happens to them?

These days, we are wondering if there is a God who cares, or are we dealing with a god of some sort of scientific determinism which would be nearly the same as no god at all.

For us all, Paul has this prescription:

“...do not grieve as others do who have no hope.” [1Th.4:13]

He reminds us that the day of the Lord will come at a time we cannot calculate, so remove it from the anxiety-list.

God intends us for salvation through Jesus, Paul says in chapter 5, and our job is to remind and build up each other with this knowledge.

Hold onto these things.

A wise observer has noted that perseverance is not one long race but many short races, one after another.

We will not conquer our anxieties all at one time; only Jesus does that.

But we can appropriate and use his gifts a little bit at a time, fighting one little fight today, meeting another little challenge tomorrow:

by a gift of the Spirit, we can overcome a particular temptation today,

whichever one of the deadly seven is chasing us the hardest,

by a gift of the Spirit we can lay aside a particular pre-Christmas anxiety today,

by a gift of his grace we can grasp his promise in our hands and hearts today,

we can anticipate today in song and prayer its final fulfillment.

What a relief and delight it is to say... Amen.

Please note: The preceding sermon is provided as a resource for the thought, prayer, and meditation of the members and friends of St. Mark's. It is the residue of a verbal event, and thus it does not have academic footnotes and other details that would be expected in a written document. The writer gladly acknowledges the prior thought and work of many Christians before him.