“How’s the
Old Complaint?”
Philippians 4:1-9
October 13, 2002
St. Paul United Methodist Church
Rev. John Fleming
If I asked you to, could you remember a time in your life
before there was stress and anxiety and trouble? Could you do that? The
other afternoon, Susie, Annie Grace and I were running some errands. We were all in the car. Susie and I were in the front seat and Annie
Grace was in the back, snuggled safely in her car seat. Through the rear view mirror, I looked back
at her to make sure that she was all right.
I do that often when she is in the car.
There she was, fast asleep in her chair. I said to Susie, “Annie doesn’t have a worry or a care in the
world. I would love to be seventeen
months old again.” To which Susie said,
“Well, that is fine, but you would have to live your thirty-four years over
again.” I opt not to do that! This morning I would like for you to think
about a time in your life when living was not so hectic, troublesome, or full
of worry.
When I think about a time like that, I think about growing
up in my neighborhood in Jackson, Tennessee.
I do not think that I have shared memories of my neighborhood with
you. The Fleming family lived on Laurie
Circle from the time I was five years old until this past February when my
parents moved to Conway. On Laurie
Circle, there were ten to fifteen children who were about my age and station in
life. There were nine or ten boys and
there were four girls. Five of us boys
had the same first name. The name, of
course, was “John.” When someone’s
mother called out, “John, it is time to come home for supper,” whatever game we
were playing was over because five of us had to go home. I remember these days as carefree and worry
free. Behind all of our houses ran a
ditch and a wooded area that we loved to play in. There was a fort that we had built way back in the woods, and to
get to it, you had to cross the ditch.
There were two ways to do that.
You could run down one embankment (which was no small feat), cross the
muddy water, and run up the other embankment.
Usually you sank knee deep in the mud if you ran across the water and
the ground beneath it. Or, you could
cross the ditch by using a black pipe that ran from one side of it to the other
side of it. The black pipe was just
behind Tasha and Tanya Curtis’ house.
You could run across the pipe, balancing yourself as you ran. I was never good at walking much less doing
that on a thin pipe, and so I usually opted for the second choice. Usually I scooted across the pipe. I am sure that you have had a little
experience with scooting. I remember
these days. My mother and father are
here this morning and they may be hearing some things, some confessions, that
they have not heard before. I can
remember that when it rained, we liked to play in the gutter system underneath our
houses. I do not know if my mother knew
that her children played there. I
suspect that she did know. On rainy
days, the older boys would lift the gutter grates and the rest of us would
climb down into the gutters to play. I
knew that I would get wet. I knew that
my mother would ground me when I arrived at home, but it was worth it! When I was five years old and Tanya Curtis
was four years old, we had chicken pox together. I thought that Tanya and I would one day marry. After all, having chicken pox together is a
big deal! Back in those days, my
biggest worry and concern was getting home on time for supper. How did that one worry transform into so
many other worries and concerns now that I am thirty-four years old?
I heard about a woman who was having an especially hard week
at work. She decided that she would
treat herself to a night out. She loved
hockey, so she decided that she would go to a professional game. She went to the ticket counter and bought a
ticket. She said, “I want the best seat
in the house.” She paid top dollar for
it, but she had a wonderful seat. She
went to the refreshment counter and bought several things to snack on. Her seat was a ringside one. It was one of the best seats in the
house. Her seat was so close to the
game that only a rail separated her from the action. About half way through the game, two players skated near
her. One rammed the other into the
rail. While no one was looking, one of
the players assaulted the other. The
two had been skating into each other all night. The one against the rail was hit with the other’s hockey
stick. Half of his body hung over the
rail. The woman was sitting right there
next to this. Blood was gushing from
his body. The hockey player looked up
at the lady and said, “Lady, I will change jobs with you.” With a glimmer in her eyes, she said, “I
teach the sixth grade.” He said, “Never
mind” and then he skated off. How does
life get so difficult for us? That is
what I want us to think about today.
There was a minister who had trouble with names. It is not a good thing to be a minister and
have trouble with names. But this
pastor was terrible with names. He did
everything in his power to memorize names and faces. He had the pictorial directory in front of him and he studied the
pictures of his church members. He
tried word association. In fact, he
tried everything. He had been at the
church for several years, but still there were those people whose names he
could not call. Every once and a while,
he would come up to someone whose name he should know, but could not call
it. When this happened, his plan was to
ask them this: “How is the old complaint?”
He knew that that was safe because everyone had a complaint. One day a lady came up to him and she said,
“How are you, preacher?” He said,
“Fine. How’s the old complaint?” She thought to herself, “Now isn’t that
nice? He remembered. He really knows what I am dealing with.”
If there was anyone who had a right to complain, it was the
apostle, Paul. In our lesson this
morning, we meet him in a prison cell in Rome.
He is there for doing the right thing.
I think that he has four reasons to complain. The first is the fact that he is in jail. Wouldn’t you complain if you were in
jail? The second reason that he has a
right to complain is that he is there for doing the right thing. He took the offering that he had collected
back to Jerusalem. Paul knew that it
was risky. He knew that there would be
some people who wanted him arrested.
Which leads us to the third reason that he could complain. There were people who were out to get
him. And finally, Paul is old and tired
and sick. He could complain about that,
too. But what does the apostle say to
his favorite church. He writes,
“Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice.” He had every reason to complain and yet he did not do that.
I will have to tell you that there are a lot of different
directions that our sermon could have taken this morning. A preacher could preach several sermons
using these nine verses. I won’t try to
preach all of those sermons at one time today.
One sermon might be about the conflict that was happening between two
women in the Philippian church. The
good news is that they have been immortalized in scripture. The bad news is that their names are there
because of a fight. That is one sermon,
I guess, but I do not think that such a sermon is fitting for St. Paul. I have not witnessed many fights here. We could preach a sermon using the words,
“Let your gentleness be known to everyone.
The Lord is near.” I like
that. Paul believed that Jesus would
return in his lifetime. We are still
waiting for such a return. Acting in a
gentle way while we wait would be a good sermon. Or, we could use the words of the fourth, fifth, sixth, and
seventh verses for our sermon. There
Paul writes, “Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and
supplication with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God. And the peace of God will guard your hearts
and minds in Christ Jesus.” That is the
sermon that I would like to preach this morning. I do not know if it applies to you. I do not know if worry is a part of your story, but it is a part
of mine. I am going to preach to myself
today and if the words happen to apply to you, then that is great. I want to admit to you today that I am a
worrier.
If you are not married and are thinking about it. Even if you are young and marriage is a long
way off, please listen to this piece of advice. If you are a worrier, do not marry a worrier. Two worriers being married is not a good
thing. Susie and I both worry about so
many things. I worry that you won’t
like me or that you won’t like the sermons that I preach. Paul says, “Do not worry about anything, but
in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests
be made known to God. I do not think
that the word “worry” is strong enough.
I looked up the word “worry” on my computer and it offered me these
synonyms. All of them, I think, are
better than worry. Paul could have
said, “Do not agonize, do not brew, do not be bothered, do not fume, do not
fuss, do not stew, do not fret about anything.” I want to know, “Paul, how can I not worry about anything?”
There was a woman who was plagued by worry her entire
life. Suddenly she quit worrying. It was wonderful. Do you know what happened?
Soon she said, “I have quit worrying and that worries me!” I know the statistics. I know what people have said about
worrying. I know that people have
compared worrying to a rocking chair.
They have said, “It will give you something to do, but it will not get
you anywhere.” I know the
statistics. I know that the average
person worries forty percent of the time about things that will never happen,
thirty percent about things that have already happened, twelve percent about
things that aren’t true (lies), ten percent about health issues (worry will
help you with your health issues) and eight percent about real problems. Paul says, “Do not worry about anything.” And I say, “How can I not worry about
everything?”
The problem with worry is this, soon it gets out of hand and
out of proportion. Soon worry gets away
from you. Charlie Brown was sick one
day and went to see his school’s nurse.
He observed, “Here I am. The
nurse will probably take my temperature and look down my throat.” Then he worries, “Maybe she will take a
blood sample. Maybe she will weigh
me. I don’t want her to weigh me.” Finally Charlie Brown agonizes, “If she
mentions exploratory surgery, I think I’ll scream!” That is the problem with worry.
Before long, it gets away from you and it is out of proportion.
So our question this morning is this. How do we, as Christians, handle worry? Three summers ago, Susie and I were in
Atlanta for a short vacation. We were
there to see a Braves game or two. We
were on our way to visit with some friends of our’s who live there when we
passed the OK Café. The sign on the OK
Café said, “Come in for a worry free life.”
We were running late, but I wish that we had gone inside. I would have liked to have seen what was on
their menu. Do you remember Bobby
McFerren? He once sang the song, “Don’t
Worry Be Happy.” The words go like
this, “The landlord says the rent is late.
He may have to litigate. Don’t
worry. Be happy.” Is that how we handle worry? The bills are mounting up, but don’t
worry. Hum this tune and everything
will be all right. Is that how you
handle worry? No. We read a book. We go to a seminar. We
buy Pepto Bismol at Sam’s Club because it’s cheaper when you buy it that way.
Is that how we are supposed to handle worry? No.
The Bible talks about how we are to handle worry in at least two
places. There is a wonderful passage in
Matthew’s gospel where Jesus says not to worry and then there is this word from
Paul, “Do not worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and
supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.” How do we handle worry. Did you hear the answer in Paul’s
letter? The answer is to pray. The Message is a contemporary
paraphrase of the Bible done by Eugene Peterson. Mr. Peterson translated our verses this way: “Do not worry or
fret. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries
into prayers, letting God know your concerns.”
Could it be that the answer to anxiety and prayer is trust? Every once and a while, worry will wake up
Susie. When it happens, Susie usually
wakes me up. When this happens, I
gently remind her that the Lord is up at this unusual hour and that she should
talk with Him about what is bothering her.
That usually does not go over well.
But it is good advice. The Lord
wants to know our concerns and our cares.
God never leaves us alone.
I did not appreciate the old hymns of the church until I
went to Harmony Grove as her pastor.
There is an old hymn that I love.
The words go like this: “Many things about tomorrow I don’t seem to
understand. But I know who holds
tomorrow and I know who holds my hand.”
That is the answer, knowing that God is with us. “Do not worry” says Paul. And I say, “I will try not to.” Let us pray.
(Special
thanks is due to the children who grew up with me on Laurie Circle in Jackson,
Tennessee. Special thanks to Charles
Schultz for giving us Charlie Brown and his view of life. Special thanks also goes to Bobby McFerrin
and his song which helped with this sermon.
And special thanks is due to Eugene Peterson and his paraphrase of the
Bible. The Message can be found
in most Christian book stores.)