8 Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. ⁹ Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.

As I look at the family lineages from which I come I can see two distinct trains of thought that have helped to craft who I am today. The thing is, they are so diametrically opposed to each other that it sometimes feels like there’s a fight going on inside my head. Here’s what I mean.

On the one side I have had people in my life who worry about everything, regardless of whether or not the issue before them has anything to do with them. They will dwell on an issue in such a way that they fret and moan, and fret and moan. I can remember so many conversations around various kitchen tables that talked about some person or event in such a way that it sounded like he world was coming to an end. Very little was done to counteract what was being worried about, but the worrying continued unabated.

9.999 times out of 10 (you get the idea), the world did not come to an end. In fact, most of the time, all of those horrible things that were talked about never actually showed up, but that didn’t mean that a whole lot of time wasn’t spent worrying about what never ultimately came. That’s part of my upbringing: the worry until you end up keeping yourself awake at night sort of mentality.

The other side of my upbringing is the complete opposite mentality. In it I learned that regardless of what comes at me, I am cared for by God and because I am cared for by God, then there is nothing, in all of this world, that should worry me to the point of distraction. This example has also shown to me that difficulties will inevitably come, but when they do, I should offer them up to God in prayer, and then respond as led by the Holy Spirit. In this model of thinking and living, worrying is a waste of time. It does nothing but drag you down and cause you to look down at your shoe tops instead of looking upward toward the gift of life and creation that you have been blessed with by the Almighty.

As I read this passage from Philippians, I get the feeling that the early Christians who were reading this letter were having much the same battle within themselves and within their ranks: they were having that battle between worrying because of the world and not worrying because of God.

And I can certainly understand why. To begin with the early church was still trying to figure out what it was. When we show up on a Sunday morning there are a whole lot of things that are expected, there are a whole lot of norms. We expect to have a sermon preached. We expect to sing hymns. We expect that an offering will be taken. We expect that we will be able to gather and lift praises to the God whom we worship without our society telling us that we are some sort of crazy heathen. Those are our norms.

They didn’t have those norms. In the first century they were in the process of creating what would ultimately become the foundations of the church. Because of the fact that they didn’t have those expected’s to fall back on, the church, which at that point were simply groups of people, different households, who are gathering together in each other’s homes, the church is left in a horribly precarious situation where tomorrow was, at best, a great unknown. The unknown, especially in an environment that is without a truly solid foundational structure, leaves people to worry, worry about what the future may hold, worry about if they are on the right track, worried that a wrong step may lead to the ruination of what they are coming to know as vitally important. That worry about what the world held was absolutely part of the mindset of the early church.

You can hear a reflection of that as Paul is saying, "stand firm in the Lord, learn how to work with one another and come to one accord in Christ, and then celebrate how Christ is at work in your lives." Those are the sorts of things that are said when it feels like the world is closing in around you. Those are the sorts of things that are said when it feels like the world is falling apart. Those are the sorts of things that are said when people are worried about what the future may hold. As I read this passage, I can see people who are worried, people who are so worried that they are beginning to become calcified in their fear of what may (or may not) be around the corner.

And yet, in the middle of that reality, what is it that Paul says? He says, "Do not worry about anything". Now I have no problems admitting that if that was all he said, it would be like the Bobby McFerrin song, "don’t worry, be happy." But thankfully it is not because Paul continues by saying, "but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God." What Paul is saying to those early believers who had so much to worry about, was, "I know that it is scary, but remember to whom you belong. Remember that the God who loves You is not a God who will leave You, so lift your eyes to the heavens. Stop allowing Your worry to freeze you in the difficulties that may be before You. Troubles will come! But always remember that you are children of the living God. So do not worry! Instead, offer whatever concerns you do carry up to God. This prayer filled action will remind you that you are not alone, and that regardless of what comes before you, you will be cared for. Don’t worry! Live in the Lord!"

This is one of those messages that we hear in a climate such as today’s and we say, "oh, come on!" The pictures of those stock brokers day after day after day shows me people who are worried and their worry is becoming infectious. People see worry in others and they start to think to themselves, "should I be worried too?" Worry can be like an avalanche where once it gets going the only thing that seems possible to stop it is the ground below.

But as Christians, as people of the world who are children who have been redeemed by the One who sits enthroned in heaven, we should not be bound by the worries of the situations that may come our way. We shouldn’t worry. Instead, we need to remind each other, and encourage one another to remember that in God we are not our own, that in God we should lift our eyes to behold the glory that God will reveal.

The world can be a very scary place. In it we will face days that will cause many to be burdened down with a sense of worry that is crippling.

What we hear in our passage is that as children of the Living God, we need not worry. Instead, we need to trust, trust to the point that we are able to offer those points of concern before God in prayer. Trust to the point that we no longer lower our heads in worry, but instead lift our eyes to see what glory is to come. You don’t need to worry. You belong to God. Never forget that! Always remember that!

God, remind us and help us to always remember that we are Your children, that we are precious in Your sight, and that in You there is nothing to worry about, that in You, regardless of what may come, we will be cared for. God, help us to trust in that promise. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.