Philippians 4:4-9
“The Remedy for Anxiety”
by: Rev. Ken Sauer, Pastor of East Ridge United Methodist Church, Chattanooga, TN
What do you do to try and find some peace?
Some of us try and picture some tranquil place in our minds as a way of relaxing.
No doubt, we all have different images.
For some, it might be the serenity of a mountain cabin.
For others, it’s strolling on the beach.
Ah…that is peace…
Or here’s a good one.
You wake up and the alarm clock says it’s already past the time you usually wake up for work or school.
Panic sets in.
You dash to the bathroom, trying to brush your teeth, comb your hair, and get dressed all at the same time.
Then suddenly you remember: “It’s Saturday!!! I don’t have to go to work or school today.”
So, you crawl back into bed.
The sheets are still warm.
And you drift blissfully off to sleep.
Now, is that peace or what?
In our Scripture Lesson for this morning the Apostle Paul talks about a peace “which transcends all understanding.”
Paul has this peace…
…but Paul isn’t sitting in a mountain cabin or strolling down the beach…
…Paul is writing this from the solitude of a prison cell, and he had been there for a long time…
…his imprisonment dragged on for two years.
Yet, remarkably, Paul speaks of joy and peace!
“Rejoice in the Lord always, I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
It’s interesting that Paul actually uses a military term here to describe “peace”.
A more literal translation would be that the “peace of God will stand sentry watch”…like a guard over your hearts and minds.
In Paul’s mind, peace doesn’t mean a time when there is no hardship or hostility.
After all, you don’t post guards on the city walls just for decoration.
A guard in the watchtower is evidence that the danger of being attacked is very real.
It’s not the absence of struggle that defines peace for Paul; it’s the presence of love.
It’s not strolling on the beach at sunrise; it’s being able to walk through a dark valley unafraid—knowing that, with every step, the Almighty walks beside us and before us!
That is why we can truly rejoice, insists Paul, because God’s peace is on patrol!
Whatever troubles arise, whatever challenges await, the God Who neither slumbers nor sleeps is vigilantly standing guard.
That’s not to say that we won’t ever encounter adversity.
There is always the possibility of an unforeseen threat lurking out there in the shadows.
Paul isn’t naïve.
Nor is Paul insisting on a policy of casual indifference.
What he is saying is that we no longer have to tiptoe around, wringing our hands and nervously scanning the horizon.
We should be alert, yes; but not anxious.
Paul says, “Do not be anxious about anything…”
Paul is not talking here about the anxiety that many of us have to cope with due to some kind of medical condition or chemical imbalance in our brains.
Science has come a long way in helping us overcome inborn anxiety disorders through therapy and medication.
The kind of anxiety Paul is referring to comes to us needlessly when we take things into our own hands.
We are to have a constant conscious dependence upon Christ for everything!!!
And this means that we must be in the continual and intentional motion of surrendering all to God!!!
When a problem comes our way, seek God.
When we don’t have the answers, seek God.
When we are trying to figure out which way to turn, seek God.
When we are in a troubling situation, and we don’t know how to handle it—seek God—surrender to God!!!
When we have made a mistake…
…or if we don’t even know we have made a mistake…
…but we are not at peace…
…seek and surrender to God!!!
By prayer and petition…
…by prayer and petition!!!
During this Advent season we sing “Joy to the World,” but do we really believe it?
Wars rage.
The economy is causing many of us to wonder how we will pay for Christmas presents for our children.
Many of us worry about our health, or about where our next meal will come from.
Some of us worry about how we will “keep up with the Jones.”
Paul stresses that we can take everything to God in prayer!!!
As it has been beautifully put: “There is nothing too great for God’s power; and nothing too small for God’s care.”
When we pray, we ought to remember three things.
We must remember the love of God, which only ever desires what is best for us.
We must remember the wisdom of God, which alone knows what is best for us.
We must remember the power of God, which alone can bring about what is best for us!!!
When we pray with a perfect trust in the love, wisdom and power of God we will find God’s peace!!!
As Paul wrote to the Philippians from a dreadful jail cell he says in essence, “I know what I’m saying. I’ve thought of everything that can possibly happen to me. And still I say it—Rejoice!”
As Christians, our joy is independent of all things on earth because its source is in the continual presence of Christ.
We can never lose our peace, our joy because we can never lose Christ!
It’s about relationship isn’t it?
A personal relationship with God through faith in Christ.
Do we have that relationship?
In verse 5 Paul says, “Let your gentleness be evident to all.”
This “gentleness” is one of the most untranslatable of all Greek words.
The Greeks themselves explained this word as “justice and something better than justice.”
It’s not talking about the letter of the law kind of justice…
…rather it speaks of the mercy, love, forgiving and patient justice of God.
Christians, are people who know that there is something beyond justice.
When the woman accused of adultery was brought before Jesus, Jesus could have applied the letter of the Law…
…which would mean that she should have been stoned to death…
…but Jesus went beyond justice!!!
And as far as justice goes, there isn’t one of us who deserve anything other than the condemnation of God, but “Rejoice!,” God goes far, far, far beyond justice!!!
Therefore, in order to achieve peace, and walk in the footsteps of Christ, we must remember the incredible justice of God.
In her book: The Hiding Place, Corrie Ten Boom, a Christian who survived the German Concentration camps during World War 2 (but lost her family) is a person who had to walk in God’s justice in order to find the peace of God.
After the war was over, she spent much of her time speaking in churches.
After a church service in Munich, Germany Corrie recognized a former S.S. man who had stood guard at one of the camps.
Corrie wrote, “He came up to me as the church was emptying, beaming and bowing.”
“How grateful I am for your message, Fraulen,” he said.
“To think that, as you say, [Christ] has washed my sins away!”
Corrie continues, “His hand was thrust out to shake mine.
And I, who had preached so often to the people…about the need to forgive, kept my hand at my side.”
“Even as the angry, vengeful thoughts boiled through me, I saw the sin of them.”
“Jesus Christ had died for this man; was I going to ask for more?”
“Lord Jesus, I prayed, forgive me and help me to forgive him.”
“I tried to smile, I struggled to raise my hand. I could not.”
“I felt nothing, not the slightest spark of warmth or charity.”
“And so again I breathed a silent prayer.”
“Jesus, I cannot forgive him. Give me Your forgiveness.”
“As I took his hand the most incredible thing happened.”
“From my shoulder along my arm and through my hand a current seemed to pass from me to him, while my heart sprang a love for this stranger that almost overwhelmed me.”
That, is “the peace of God, which transcends all understanding…”
It doesn’t make human sense, but it makes God-sense!
Are you looking for peace?
Are you in a situation that is fraught with uncertainty?
If we ask Him, Jesus will stand guard over our hearts and our minds.
Writing from prison, Paul had no idea what he would be facing in the days ahead, but he knew that he wouldn’t be facing them alone.
Regardless of how bleak the situation may have appeared, Paul was confident that God was looking out for him.
Have you discovered a peace that is not determined by your external circumstances?
Just as we can be lonely in a crowd of people, we can be anxious and afraid, even in the most tranquil of places…
…like a beach or a mountain cabin.
It’s not our surroundings that make us secure.
It’s a sure and certain knowledge that whatever may come, God will never let us go.
Surrender everything to Christ.
Take all things to God in prayer.
What you read in the Scriptures, put them into practice, and…and…
…as we are promised in verse 9, “the God of peace will be with you.”
“Rejoice!!!”
