October
25, 2015
Stetson
Memorial UMC
Inspired
by Marcia McPhee’s Series:
“Moving out of Scare City”
Philippians 4:6-7
Genesis 6:1-9
“Building A Life of Comfort…?”
Philippians 4:6-7New International Version (NIV)
6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every
situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to
God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard
your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Let us pray:
Loving and Gracious God, we come before You as Your
people who want to do Your will and trust in You alone. Speak to us we pray so
that we would hear the word You have for us this day. May we leave Your house
today with a renewed trust in You and Your goodness. May the meditations of our
heart, mind and Spirit be pleasing to You our God, our Rock and our Redeemer.
Amen.
I will come to
you in the silence
I will lift you
from all your fear
You will hear My
voice
I claim you as
My choice
Be still, and
know I am here
Chorus:
Do not be
afraid, I am with you
I have called
you each by name
Come and follow
Me
I will bring you
home
I love you and
you are mine
What are you
afraid of? What makes you so afraid that you may even be unable to move? You
know those things that we try to hide from but they always seem to find us any
way. I think we all have some kind of fear within us. I believe that there is
at least one thing that is we give into the fear our whole world could come
apart.
Some of the
things that we may fear are things that you can see. Things like someone
breaking into your house and robbing you of the things you hold dear. How about
things like flying…some of us are afraid to fly…or how about being afraid of
our loved ones because they are far away and we are afraid that if we are not watching
over them something may happen. We hold these fears within us and some are real
fears but some are fears of what might happen.
Things that
might happen…have you ever been afraid of something that might happen? Now
these scenarios that we rehearse in our heads may or may not happen can really
grab a hold of us and not let go. They are so real to us that we are even
afraid of not being afraid because if we are not on our guard well it may
happen…
What about the
fear of scarcity? Have you ever been afraid of not having enough? Have you ever
been afraid that though God has promised to be with us always and He will give
us peace about all things that we bring to Him as the scripture I just read states?
But you just can’t stop worrying about not having enough. We all the sudden
realize we have moved from the town of Trusting God to a place called “Scare
City”.
The sense that
there is not enough drives greed, fear and exclusionary behavior. We begin to
live in "Scare City" where it seems that death, starvation, feelings
of being overwhelmed and swallowed up can lurk around every corner. The Good
News is that this is an illusion. A spiritual journey into the truth of
abundance of all that we need offers us an alternative vision of where to live
our lives. This fall, we are going to be trying to rethink those fears we may
have. This series will have us "Moving out of “Scare City" and traveling
to the vast, open habitats of God's grace.
So how do we
react to living in Scare City? One way is found in Genesis 11 verses 1-9 which
read:
Genesis
11:1-9New International Version (NIV)
The Tower of Babel
11 Now the whole world had one language and a
common speech. 2 As people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and
settled there.
3 They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks
and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for
mortar. 4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower
that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise
we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”
5 But the Lord came down to see the city and the
tower the people were building. 6 The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the
same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be
impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they
will not understand each other.”
8 So the Lord scattered them from there over all
the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9 That is why it was called
Babel—because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From
there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.
The people had a
nice place that they settled in. Then perhaps out of the feeling of scarcity…of
not having enough…they decided that they would build a tower…not made of the
usual stuff but made of stronger material so that it would last. They allowed
their fear to take over and when that happens…well let’s just say that a lot of
times…bad decision are made out of fear…out of greed… as we see the consequence
that occurred in this situation…
More, more,
more! Like skyscrapers that begin to loom over us casting a shadow below, our
quest for "more" power, prestige, wealth, and domination have created a culture of
oppressive "not enough-ness." We are overwhelmed, overworked and
overstressed. Our perspective of how much we actually have is skewed by the
immensity of images of what we "ought to have." In order to have a more Godly vision we must begin to confront
the myth of scarcity and focus on abundance.
What does having
enough truly mean to us? I know the
answer is different for each of us but what causes you to have comfort in what
you have? What is it that forms our feeling of being content? What are the
messages that are running around in our head as we begin to think about the
word “enough”?
God wants us,
His Children, to have an abundant life, a life of blessings and contentment. He
will meet our needs according to His riches in Christ Jesus. We need not be
afraid of what will come tomorrow because God has already been there, paving
the way for us. But this wanting more and fear of scarcity seems to get in the
way. But God still holds out His hand, offering us a life of abundance. But we
need to change our thoughts from the world’s view of abundance, which never satisfied with what it has
always wanting more and afraid to lose what it has already gotten, to God’s
promise of abundance. Which would you rather have?
I would like to
end my sermon with a prayer written by John van de Laar. I would like for us
take in these words of confession and hope as we move out of Scar City into the
world of abundance found in and through our Risen Lord, Jesus Christ:
Worry and stress
are not hard for us, God,
we do them
without thinking.
There is always
the potential of threat
to our security,
our comfort,
our health,
our relationships,
our lives,
and we foolishly
think that we could silence the fear
if we just had enough money,
enough insurance,
enough toys,
enough stored away for a rainy day.
It's never
enough, though;
the voice of our
fear will not be dismissed so easily.
But, in the
small, silent places within us is another voice;
one that beckons
us into the foolishness of faith,
that points our gaze to the birds and the flowers,
that, in unguarded moments, lets our muscles
relax,
and our hearts lean into loved ones;
In unexpected
whispers we hear it,
calling us to
remember your promises,
your grace,
your faithfulness;
And, suddenly,
we discover
that it is
enough.
Amen.
