Don't Be Anxious

THE FIFTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY

The Rev. Michael K. Templin, Assisting Priest

“Therefore I say unto you, Be not anxious for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than the food, and the body than raiment?” In the name.

We live in an age of extreme anxiety - every little political thing - whether conservative or liberal,

is treated like the end of the world. We are expected to be locked into global politics, media,

finance, and even wars! We’re told who’s the enemy and who’s the victim without even knowing

anything other than headline narratives. Every week we’re called to prepare for some kind of

market collapse. Or to expect some coming shortage. Every disease is now a “pandemic,” and

everything is presented as a crisis. Think about the depression, the despair, and the anxiety you

feel every time you turn on the tv, or radio, or look at social media - now, can you imagine how your

children and grandchildren are feeling? I don’t know who else feels this but, but I often feel like

everything we come into contact with is made to cause us dread and panic.

Beloved, no matter what may come, whatever next crisis, manufactured or natural, is placed

before us, listen to these words from Jesus: “Therefore I say unto you, Be not anxious for your

life.” Who has power over our lives? Jesus. Who has power over death? Jesus. Who has power

over every little thing, from the birds to the flowers of the field, but our gracious and holy God.

We confess that Jesus is King of kings and Lord of Lords. To him every knee will bow. But it

sometimes feels like we’re being crushed in the meantime. The Psalmist wrote those comforting

words in Psalm 21:1: “The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: he

turneth it howerever he will.” Do we believe that today? The Psalmist also wrote those

comforting words: “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.” You

see when Jesus says, “ALL AUTHORITY has been given unto me” he means it. Our Lord is not

a liar - he has conquered the enemy of us all - sin and death - he is also in control of all the

other things that seek to harm. So “Be not anxious for your life.”

I want to extend a challenge, perhaps mostly to myself, but also to everyone here - unplug and

turn it all off. Think about how many issues your own family has. I can’t be stressed about the

world economic forum, when I need to pay my own bills. There’s already enough stress. I can’t

worry about every single issue facing the youth today, if it causes me to neglect my own family's

needs and discipleship, or helping the children in my own parish. I can’t worry about what the

Catholic church is doing, the baptists, the methodists, the Russian Orthodox, or even the

Church of England and neglect the communion of saints at my local church. You see these

anxiety-ridden distractions are useful tools of the enemy, Satan himself, to take our focus off the

things most necessary, immediate, and requisite to our faith, our family, our household, and our

local community. That doesn't mean we become ignorant though, or eventually address them,

but we cannot be consumed by the gross amount of information and outrage we’re expected to

be worried about. Remember Jesus tells us: Be not anxious for your life. We have to let go, and

let him take care of it.

In our Epistle today, St. Paul tells us the one key thing we must worry about, the one thing that

our church, our family, our community, and all our dealings must be centered in - the one thing

we must truly glory in, and that is the Cross of Christ. Paul writes to the Galatians:

“But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God. From henceforth let no man trouble me: for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus. Brethren, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.”

The Judaizers were compelling Gentile converts to be circumcised before they could come into

fellowship with the church. Part of the reason is they were trying to avoid persecution from Jews

who rejected Jesus’ messiahship - they wanted to save face with the community, rather than

follow Jesus and let the Gentiles follow Jesus without incumberance or restriction. They

advocated for the Gospel plus Judaism.

We know, once they were circumcised then gentiles were compelled to keep the Jewish Dietary

Laws, Sabbaths, Feasts, therefore they were being saved by faith plus works of Torah or works

of the Old Covenant Law. Simply, to become a Christian you first had to be a Jew and once you

were a Christians you had to keep the Old Covenant according to the Judiazers. This is what

put a fire in St. Paul! Jesus never indicated that one must be Jewish to be a Christian - No he

fulfilled the act of circumcision with Holy Baptism as we read in Colossians 2:11, the food

sacrifices of the Temple and Passover all culminated into the Holy Eucharist as we read in 1

Corinthians 5, and Confession to a priest no longer required an animal sacrifice, rather a

humble and contrite heart. Jesus kept the law and in doing it fulfilled it.

In Galatians 6:14-15 we see St. Paul proclaim: “But may it never be that I would boast, except in

the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to

the world. For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.” St. Paul

can boast in nothing but the Cross of Jesus - the pharisee of Pharisees does not boast in his

Judaism par excellence, his circumcision on the 8th day, his academic career, nor his zeal for

Torah. No, he glories in Jesus’ Cross in which his entire world has been crucified - leaving

nothing but the New Creation of Jesus Christ.

Paul then assures his readers with this Hope and challenges the claims of his opponents in V.

16, “and those who will walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of

God.” The “rule” here is the principle of Christ alone, without circumcision, which he just

expounded upon - to those who follow the teaching of the Cross of Christ - Peace and Mercy

will be upon them and upon the Israel of God. Now you might see the phrase “Israel of God”

and think of Israel according to the flesh - but this is not what Paul is saying, rather he is saying

“those who boast in the Cross of Jesus Christ” are indeed the Israel of God, not those who have

forsaken the Messiah by adding to the Gospel nor those who rejected the Messiah outright. St.

Paul is not worried about Jewish ethnicity or religion, rather, he claims those who are in Messiah

Jesus are the true Israel.

Beloved, we don’t really live in the battle of the Galatians and the Judiazers anymore. But, the

principle of burdening ourselves with unnecessary things or letting others do so, is completely

still the case today. You see, Paul wants us to trust in the Cross of Jesus because in it alone,

there is peace and mercy. It is that same peace and mercy that connects us to Christ, so that we

can leave the anxiety of the world, the burden of the flesh, and the dominion of the devil. It's

through the cross we can truly trust in the reality of what Jesus said: “Be anxious not for your

life.” Today, you're going to leave the church and you're going to once again face trials, hardships,

and dilemmas, and you need to take a deep breath, trust in the Cross of Christ, and be anxious not for

life.

KEEP, we beseech thee, O Lord, thy Church with thy perpetual mercy; and, because the frailty of man without thee cannot but fall, keep us ever by thy help from all things hurtful, and lead us to all things profitable to our salvation; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.