Joy in Anxiety
- Stephen Phelan
- Aug 23, 2009
- Series: Joy
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Joy in Anxiety
Philippians 4: 2-9 Mid-City Aug 23, 2009
On April 18, 2009, the World Health Organization presented their findings and here is what they found—when it comes to stress, no other country in the world can match the
And it crushes your health. Did you know that people with anxiety disorders are 3 to 5 times more likely to go to the doctor and 6 times more likely to be hospitalized for psychiatric disorders than non-sufferers. I’m stressing you out, aren’t I. You came here to get away from my stress, and you would rather just not talk about it. But that won’t help—it is called denial.
So what I want you to do is imagine that you have come to me for a counseling session and your problem is anxiety. And if you can’t go there, then imagine that “your friend” is coming for counseling and you are just there to take notes for him. If you or “your friend” came to my office, one of the places I would take you is to the text we just read. See in the text we just heard, you have a story about a group of people who were experiencing anxiety over a conflict that arose between 2 prominent leaders in the church (Euodia & Syntyche).
Paul planted the church in Phillippi. He was their pastor, then God called him elsewhere and he hadn’t been back to his beloved Philippian church in 4 years. He is in
So, in v2 Paul pleads with them to agree with each other. Then in v3-4 Paul says, “Get a mediator and work through your conflict in a Biblical manner.” So he doesn’t just ignore the problem, he confronts it head on and says, “Be reconciled.” It is critical.
Then he turns to the church at large and gives the first remedy to them for their anxiety that has crept in. He says in v4, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice.” Paul is like a broken record. Do you remember 3:2, “Rejoice in the Lord. It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard to you.” Well, if he had no trouble saying the same thing in chapter 3, I guess he figures it is no problem to keep saying it in ch. 4. Rejoice in the Lord. This is why our series is on joy.
Now, I don’t want you to misunderstand him. Paul is not commanding an anxious group to rejoice. Try that some time and see how well it works. Go up to a friend who is anxious and say, “Rejoice in the Lord.” If you do it, be ready to duck to avoid their right cross to your face.
So what does Paul mean here, because it sure reads like a command. Well, again I find myself indebted to NT Wright for helping take me back to the ancient world that Paul was writing to so that we can unearth the meaning.
Rather, rejoicing in the city of
Is that strange advice to give to someone who is anxious? Why is celebration the first remedy Paul gives to anxious people. What he is actually doing is helping reorder their affections. I do this as a pastor all the time. Let me give you an example. If someone says to me, “I am just stressed out.” I say to them, “Tell me why.” “Well,” they say, “because I am scared I am going to lose my job.” And I say, “Yes, but that can’t be the real source of your anxiety. And they look at me like I am being insensitive. Plenty of people who have anxiety come to me for exactly the opposite reason—b/c they hate their job and they feel stuck. They have a demanding boss or they can’t get away from work. See it isn’t the job.”
And they will respond, “Yes, but if I just get the right job. Friends, there are no perfect jobs. Why? B/c a job isn’t meant to be the center of your life anymore than a spouse is. If you are looking for the perfect spouse to build your life around, then you will always be looking. You’ll be anxious to get your spouse and once you get them you’ll be anxious to get rid of them.
When you are experiencing sinful anxiety (notice I say sinful anxiety b/c not all anxiety is sinful, which we’ll look at in just a minute). When you’re experiencing sinful anxiety, it is because something besides Jesus has taken over the center of your life. That thing—that job, that relationship—it was on the throne. And you reveled in it. You celebrated it.
And when something threatens to remove that center, then we get incredibly anxious b/c we’re afraid we’ll lose our sense of self. There will be no me if I am not X—employed at this place, married, considered a good mom by others. You name it.
So Paul says here—remember Jesus is the center. And one of the ways you remember this, or recenter yourself, is by celebrating him. Reveling in him. Delighting in him. Think about why this is such good advice. When you get married, you take a vow to your spouse to love them with all that you have. And every year that passes, you have what--anniversary celebrations. What are you doing--You’re remembering your first love. As you look back and celebrate together, you’re recentering on your love for each other. Such is it with Jesus—our center. As we celebrate Him, daily, we recenter on Him & what we’re to be about.
But don’t misunderstand me. The type of celebrating Paul has in mind here isn’t just a once a year anniversary celebration. It involves these small, ongoing, daily, hourly celebrations. Here is an example. Football season is a breath away. If you aren’t a football fanatic, work with me a second. Imagine that you have a fantasy football team or a favorite college or pro team. To love your team, to pull for them, to celebrate them involves ongoing celebrations of your players and team. You follow them. You get to know everything about the team. You watch or go to the games when possible to celebrate this player or this team that you love. And while that game is on, for the most part, your anxiety leaves you, doesn’t it. B/c for a few moments, you are caught up in the celebration of the team you love.
See the women here are saying—“Men are sick. I knew it. They really are sick.” True—but the point is this—in celebrating your team, for a few minutes, maybe hours, your anxiety is put aside. This is what Paul wants for you in Jesus. To get so caught up in the celebration of Jesus that your anxiety leaves. And the celebration, in many ways, mirrors the way you celebrate your favorite teams. You read up on Him just like you read up on your favorite team. You get to know Him just like you do your favorite team. You have these weekly gatherings on Sundays and in homes with your friends to celebrate Jesus much like you do to watch games together. You have ongoing, daily celebrations with him on smaller scales that recenter you just like you do in reading the sports section or the internet—only it is your Bible. And when you are celebrating Him, the anxiety leaves.
But the celebrations are also different than football celebrations. v5 he follows this command to celebrate Jesus up by saying, “Let your gentleness be evident to all.” Your not exuberantly celebrating in such a way that squashes those around you. This isn’t just a keg party to watch a football game. No, as you recenter yourself in Jesus and celebrate Him, he is filling you with His gentleness. B/c as, v5 says, “The Lord is near”—See gentle people are usually not anxious. As we celebrate Jesus, His gentility becomes ours.
TRANS: So the first remedy Paul gives us for anxiety is to celebrate Jesus so much so that His gentleness becomes ours.
Remedy #2--PRAY: v6, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition” So the second remedy is pray—talk to Jesus about it. Now before we get to the remedy of talking it over with Jesus, let me take just a minute to address a problem. (1) Do not be anxious about anything—Ok, does that mean all anxiety is a sin?
First, we’ll use logic. Think about it. There are some forms of anxiety that are good. Any athlete about to compete in a big game or big presentation is anxious. But a good anxious. You can’t wait for the game to get here. And what that anxiety does physiologically is that it gets your adrenaline flowing. And it actually allows you to maximize your performance.
So, logically and physiologically, it makes sense that not all anxiety is sinful or wrong. But let’s think Biblically. Paul, in chapter 2 tells the Philippians that he himself is anxious and has no apparent problem with it. Listen to 2:28, “Therefore, I am all the more eager to send him, so that when you see him again you may be glad and I may have less anxiety.” He loves the Philippians so much that he is anxious for them to be properly pastored. He isn’t in sin, but he is in love. And when you love, you get anxious.
Or just in case you think Paul was in sin for having anxiety, in Lk. 22, Jesus is about to enter the biggest stage of his life. And He is sweating drops of blood according to Lk. 22. According to medical experts, there actually is a very rare condition called hematidrosis where people sweat blood. which means you experience such high levels of anxiety that the blood vessels around the sweat glands dilate to the point of rupturing. The blood goes into the sweat glands.” As the sweat glands are producing a lot of sweat, it pushes the blood to the surface - coming out as droplets of blood mixed with sweat.
Jesus was anxious. And the Bible says repeatedly that Jesus was sinless. Why was his anxiety sinless? B/c Jesus was centered on His Father. Was he anxious about experiencing the most intense suffering imaginable—sure. But his deeper love for us and for His Father drove Him through anxiety. Anxiety didn’t control him b/c he didn’t lose his center like you and I do. So, I think you can see that logically, physiologically, and Biblically, not all anxiety is sinful.
So that is the 1st question you ask yourself—is this anxiety I am feeling something that I need to repent for b/c it is sinful, decentering anxiety. If so, then you know how to begin your prayers—in repentance. “Jesus, I have put something else at the center of my life. Something other than you has become more important to me and, as a result, I am freaking out about it. It has control over me, not you.”
But, on the other hand, if you have a healthy anxiety that comes out of a rightly ordered love and concern for someone or something, then the remedy is the same in v6—“prayer & petitions”. “Rather than being anxious, just pray. Instead of stressing, talk to Jesus. What did Jesus do with his sinless anxiety in the Garden? He talked to his Father. Relentlessly, through the night. Until it was better—he just kept praying.
Let me illustrate how a sinless anxiety leads to prayer and petition. We recently had one of our scariest moments in parenting when we went to a concert in the park at
I don’t just tell you that story b/c there is a happy ending. I know that lots of times the ending isn’t happy to your feverish petitions. But the remedy is still the same—take your anxiety to Jesus. Take your pain to Jesus. Have a conversation with Him.
See, my friends, Jesus is the remedy for your anxiety. Going to him over and over again when it surfaces. This is why Jesus says in Mt. 11:28 "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” You don’t just come to him once, but you come to him all day and just hand him your burdens. I Pet. 5:7 says this same thing and it couldn’t be any more clear—“Cast all your anxiety on Him, because he cares for you.” Jesus stands ready to take your anxiety, and to give you joy and peace & rest. Good deal, isn’t it.
My mentor, whom some of you go to meet recently, told me a story that Bradford and I retell to each other all the time when anxiety surfaces. It is a story about when he was working construction. There was a man on the ground level and he was up on some scaffolding. And then there was a man above him. They were laying bricks and they had to get the bricks up to the man on the top level. So they took these bricks that were pretty heavy and the man on the ground floor would toss them to my mentor. He would catch them and then toss them to the man above him. Now, if my mentor decided to hold onto the bricks rather than tossing it to the man above him, he was in huge trouble. B/c there were more bricks coming and they would just pile up on top of him.
For the rest of your life you will have bricks of anxiety being thrown at you. Does that depress you. Do not be anxious—translation—don’t hold on to the bricks. But in everything, by prayer & petition. Take it to Jesus. Toss the bricks of anxiety up. if you do, over and over again, then v7—“The peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your mind in Christ Jesus.” He gets your worst, you get His best—His peace, his joy. Amen!
