“Just keep your eyes closed”, Valorie whispered in my ear as I dozed in the back of the crowded taxi. We had been travelling to Northern Iraq for about 48 hours without any significant sleep. From the airport our host had told the taxi driver to “drive fast” for the two hour trip to get me to the church in time to preach. I opened my eyes long enough to see our driver passing the car in front of us at 140 kph on the LEFT shoulder, and decided Valorie was right. We weren’t going to die in a plane crash, or a terrorist attack, but this taxi driver just might do it!
What did Jesus mean when he said, “do not be worried…”? Today there are a lot of things we COULD be worried about – the economy, news reports of growing tensions with super power nations around the world, and divisions and mistrust in our own country. In our own lives there can be problems and tensions with family and friends, pressures from work and school, or just the everyday pressures of life. It can all add up to plenty of reasons to be worried or anxious.
This Sunday we’re starting the “He Gets Us” series. When Jesus said, “Come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest…” he was talking to us. All of us. This offer isn’t for those who have it all together and are managing everything perfectly. On the contrary, he made this offer to people who were willing to admit they need help. That includes people who are anxious or get worried.
For the next four weeks we’ll be looking at various Scripture verses that show how Jesus came to seek and to save people who were lost – separated from God and without hope. He can do that because he understands what it means to be faced with the temptation just like we are. Last weekend we saw a graphic example of how he faced suffering and admitted that he was “deeply distressed” and that his soul was “sorrowful to the point of death…” But Jesus never sinned and found the strength to face his accusers and submit to them willingly and without violence, knowing that his death would further spread his message of radical love.
In Matthew 6:25 to 34 Jesus shares how he did it and how we can overcome anxiety too. I look forward to seeing you on Sunday.
In Christ,
Kurt Jones
P.S. I took my wife’s good advice and went to sleep. We arrived at the church with 10 minutes to spare and got to worship the Lord with the family of God in Arabic. Needless to say we slept well that night!