Message by Pastor Bob Laning
I Peter 5:1-7
1 So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: 2 shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; 3 not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. 4 And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. 5 Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. 8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. 10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. 11 To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
How did you feel when I played that song? Calm? Peaceful?
Chances are you felt nervous, uncomfortable, and chaotic. Peter recognized this feeling of chaos and worry when he wrote his letter to the Christians who were going through persecution. Our main concentration today will be on verse 7. “casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.” He recognized this by experience, and knew what to do about it. Peter wrote this letter to the Christians undergoing persecution, to encourage them in their faith and to help them stay strong. What he has to say might not be new, but it helps to be reminded.
We will always begin with emphasizing that God relates to us from love. No matter whether it feels like it, looks like it, or thinks like it. He related with His people at that time the same way. It certainly didn’t feel like it.
Peter acknowledged in this entire letter that life can be tough and unfair. Jesus never offered his people a bed of roses. Instead, He warned them to be prepared for danger, hardships, suffering, and even death, as they followed Him and rendered the service to which they had been called.
The people to which he was writing this letter were experiencing persecution in various forms, and it was getting more intense. There was opposition to their faith from the government, and socially. Peter recognized the chaos, anxiety, and fears of the Christians and wanted to encourage them in their faith. He exhorted them to throw their cares at Jesus. This included everything that was scaring them from the government, and socially. All their anxiety and worries. All their stress. All their fears for the future. All their fears for their families and friends.
Let’s see what Peter has to say to us today, bit by bit.
We might not be facing the same pressures from our government, but we have our own stresses. The principle remains the same. We are told to cast or throw or hurl our cares on Jesus just as the early Christians. They and we are told that life will have difficulties and won’t make sense some of the time. People also don’t make sense. Have you ever noticed that? But we can throw them (our issues with people) at Jesus because He cares for us.
We have had COVID 19 for the past 1 ½ years. We are fighting various illnesses. JWS has been wondering where they are going to meet. ZOOM is good, but not the same as physical meetings. The USA / world is chaotic. Politically, the US is very divided. Families and friends split because of the situation. Families have other problems. Spouses might not be getting along. Children cause worries. Their friends are bad influences. They might not be doing well in school, especially after a virtual school year. Work and jobs can be worrisome also. The loss of jobs and income. We don’t get along with co-workers. Supervisors can be hard to work with and for. Ever experience sleepless nights worrying about something/someone? Some illnesses are stress related. Friends and families can betray us and lie about us. Jesus understood this firsthand. In John 13:21, John says, “After saying these things, Jesus was troubled in his spirit, and testified, “Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” Students must find a job after graduating from university. Especially in Japan, this is a major concern.
These cares have effects on us and our world. It has been scientifically shown that stress has effects on us, both emotionally and physically.
David wrote, in Psalm 38:8, that “I am feeble and crushed; I groan because of the tumult of my heart.”
Solomon said in Proverbs 12:25 that “Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad.
David says again, in Psalms 31:9-10, “Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am in distress; my eye is wasted from grief; my soul and my body also. 10For my life is spent with sorrow, and my years with sighing; my strength fails because of my iniquity, and my bones waste away.
(This is not saying that all diseases are caused by stress).
OK, so we know that life can be difficult and unfair. It is full of difficulties. This is nothing new. Then Peter, in verse 6 tells us to be humble. He says, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you.” What does that have to do with throwing our cares at Jesus? Do you think you are in control of life?
Can you and I handle all of these problems by ourselves? We can’t. And it takes humility to admit this. We can’t handle all that worries us by ourselves. Family and friends can help, but at times they are the cause. Sometimes they simply won’t understand. By giving our worries to Jesus, we are admitting that we can’t handle all these things by ourselves. We must trust that He is able to help us and that He wants to. We must trust that He understands us. Ultimately, it is God who understands what we are going through. He is the one who can help us. He is strong enough.
We are told to cast. The word here means throw, hurl, cast. Sort of like a baseball pitcher throwing a pitch at a batter. He/she winds up, to prepare for the throw, then throws the ball as fast as possible. They get rid of the ball as fast as they can. We are told to throw our cares. To hurl them. To get rid of them as fast as we can. Don’t hang onto them. Treat them as objects we want to get rid of as soon as possible. The pitcher throws the ball as fast as he/she can, straight at the batter. We are to throw our anxieties as fast as we can, straight at Jesus. Our families and friends can help to a certain extent, and can be sent by Jesus to help us. Ultimately, however, we need to give them to Jesus.
John 12;27 says about Jesus the Son of God, to God the Father, “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour? But for this purpose I have come to this hour.”
David said in Psalm 77:2, “In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord; in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying; my soul refuses to be comforted.” This shows the conflict we often feel between giving cares to Jesus, and trying to hold onto them ourselves.
So we know that we have stress in our lives. We know that we need to be humble and admit to ourselves and to God that we can’t handle them alone. We know to throw our worries to God as fast as we can and as hard as we can.
How? How do we do this?
The key here is prayer. Communication with God. It can be by words. I can be in tears. It can be silent. Ever pray in your mind? It can be loudly. It can be calmly. Jesus prayed to the Father with loud cries and tears. God listens to our prayers, in whatever form they take. He can hear our hearts when we don’t know how or what to pray.
Firstly, as Philippians 4:6 says, “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
Hebrews 5:7 says, “in the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence.
Praise and thanksgiving is also important.
Philippians 4:6 says, “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
Praise!? Thanksgiving!? In the middle of hard times!?
That’s what the Bible says! Not praise because of whatever is going wrong. But praise in the middle of it. Thanksgiving and praise, with prayer and supplication (requests). They go together. Praise and thanksgiving are a part of the humility that we talked about earlier. When we praise and thank God, we acknowledge that God is in control and that we trust him in the middle of our situation. Praise and thanksgiving is a form of fighting spiritually.
What happens when we throw our concerns to God?
Matthew 11:28 says, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” REST. The inner turmoil of worry goes down.
Psalm 107:6 (ESV) — 6 Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. DELIVERANCE-God brings us through the trials
Psalm 107:6 (ESV) — 6 Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. DELIVERANCE from our troubles. Sometimes God changes the situations, and sometimes He doesn’t. He will help us through our distress.
Isaiah 43:1-2 says
43 But now thus says the LORD,
he who created you, O Jacob,
he who formed you, O Israel:
“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name, you are mine.
2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.
God carries us through the hardships. He will bring us through to the other end. He does not promise that we won’t go through the waters or the fire.
John 14:27 (ESV) — 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. PEACE WHICH IS DIFFERENT FROM REGULAR, NORMAL PEACE. This peace shouldn’t be there.
Philippians 4:7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. PEACE WHICH DOESN’T MAKE SENSE.
2 Corinthians 4:8–10 (ESV) — 8 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; (Paul also had hardships) ABILITY TO KEEP GOING.
Someone once said, “When the hardships of life come to God’s people, they find in Him strength to endure and grow. It is not what happens to a person but how he/she reacts to it that counts. Valuable violins are not made out of soft pine that has known only warm showers and gentle breezes. They are made out of wood that has endured the cold and storms of many winters. Such wood has character in it. Christian character is not formed by lying on flowery beds of ease, but is the product of treading rough highways in life.
STRENGTH AND CHARACTER
SOOOO…
At the beginning of our discussion, we heard a song which was free jazz. This was like life is sometimes. Maybe now.
The song we are going to listen to now, represents life during and after we hurl, cast, throw, our hardships at Jesus. And trust him to carry us through them.
We know that we can expect hardships in life, like the people Peter was writing to. Sometimes it will be persecution. Sometimes it will be rejection by friends. Other times it will be betrayal or family or work stress. Or consequences of our own unwise decisions and actions.
As we learn (it isn’t instant, but learned) to cast, hurl, throw, our cares upon the Lord, we will learn to trust Him more and become more comfortable in doing this.
And as we learn to do this, we will experience more and more the peace that doesn’t make any sense, in the middle of difficult circumstances. We will learn to trust that He is bringing us through to the other side of the hardship. It will become easier to praise Him in the middle of anxieties.