Xanax, Valium, Ativan

9th Sunday after Pentecost – C (Proper 14)                                                  LSB #’s 610, 736, 771
Text – Luke 12:22
 
And He said to His disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on.” 
 
Xanax, valium, ativan
 
 
If you couldn’t tell from the sermon text,  you might have guessed from the title – this sermon has to do with anxiety.   In the United States,  over 40 million adults suffer from anxiety disorders.   Some experts believe it’s caused by how much information we receive on a daily basis.  We have trouble understanding what to react to  & what information to let go of. 
Research data from the year 2017 claimed that over 32 million Americans  were using some type of medication  for anxiety.  Other research claims that only 36% of people who suffer from anxiety  have sought treatment.  The numbers  be what they may,  Jesus  wants to help.  He knows that the brokenness of this world  is what tempts us to be anxious. 
There are so many things that go wrong in our lives,  & so many more things that could go wrong,  it makes for an endless number of things tempting us to worry.  Yahweh created a perfect world  but the sin of Adam & Eve brought it all  crashing down upon them.   It’s still crashing down  today,  upon you  & upon me,  & upon every living creature on earth. 
When you are struggling with anxiety, & people around you are not,  they are tempted to “help”  by freely  giving you their “advice.”  They put no time or effort into it,  & in their all-knowing wisdom  they just tell you what to do.  It’s likely, they have not experienced anxiety like you do,  yet,  if you listen to them,  you will live happily ever after. 
When someone says, “Don’t worry about it,”  doesn’t that echo  a lack of understanding, a lack of love,  a lack of care?  Jesus does not offer to help you in that way.  The Son of God  was sent to earth in human flesh  in order that He might experience the same temptations that you & I experience.  Jesus knows exactly  what it is like to feel anxiety.  Imagine how you would be tempted to worry if you knew  you were going to be nailed to a cross  & hung there to die.    In the Garden of Gethsemane, His anxiety was so great  that Jesus sweat drops of blood.   Still, He prays to His Father, “…nevertheless,  not as I will,  but as you will.”  (Matthew 26:39 ESV) 
Jesus did that  so that when you suffer the pressures of anxiety,  He would know exactly how you feel.   In that way, our perfect & holy God can help you struggle with the brokenness of our world.  Our Lord may not instantly  take away the stress  & the strain  & the worry,  but in Jesus,  you can find rest from your anxiety  even if you  are unable to “fix” it. 
Throughout God’s Word, the Holy Spirit encourages us not to be afraid.  That’s because our Savior knows from His experience on earth  that fear is a constant issue.  There are many things going wrong in each of our lives,  each & every day.  Clearly, God’s plan is not to instantly fix them all.  Rather, He uses the struggles  & anxiety  to shape & mold us.  
In the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus was being shaped & molded for you.  That’s why He turned to His Father in prayer, to confront the anxiety that comes with knowing He was going to be tortured first,   & then crucified.  Hopefully your life is not that bad,  but if it is,  your Savior has been there & done that.  There’s no amount of anxiety that Jesus does not understand. 
“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on.”  (Luke 12:22 ESV)   If you struggle with anxiety, Satan would use even those words of Jesus to drum up feelings of inferiority.  Satan loves to twist God’s Holy Word against us,  even though God’s Word is never against us. 
Our Lord challenges us  in order to strengthen us,  & to grow our faith in His promises.  Learning how to deal with our fears & anxieties,  is part of God’s plan for us here.  We can’t learn  if we never have to deal with it.  We won’t learn well,  or grow strong,  if the challenges are light & weak.  Due to sin,  we see many failures in everything we do,  but in God’s sight all things are being worked together for good.  Someday,  His children will see that with clarity & with a joy  we cannot begin to comprehend for now.  Until then, as Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane,  He also taught us to pray: “Give us this day our daily bread…”  
As Martin Luther sought to explain that petition, he wrote, “God certainly gives daily bread to everyone without our prayers,  even to all evil people,  but we pray in this petition  that God would lead us to realize this  & to receive our daily bread with thanksgiving.” 
All God’s children struggle with the effects of sin in this world.  For some that means dealing with anxiety.  When Jesus says, “…do not be anxious about your life…” He’s not trying to tear you down.  He’s trying to help you realize that in spite of anxiety,  & even through anxiety,  He is still at work  giving daily bread to you  even without your prayers. 
We cannot learn that truth  if we never struggle.  And once the Holy Spirit leads us to realize it,  then we can receive our daily bread,  & each of our other blessings,  with thanksgiving.  Anxiety can blind us to those blessings,  but the heavenly Father does not stop sending them to you  because you are anxious.  He sent His Son to pay for & erase our failures. 
Because of Jesus,  even in this broken world, Yahweh Himself is in the process of giving you, along with your daily bread, the kingdom of heaven.  It’s been happening every moment since the Holy Spirit began calling, gathering, enlightening & sanctifying you.  All the anxiety of this world cannot prevent our Lord  from giving us His Kingdom. 
When any of us have trouble understanding what to react to  & what information to let go of,  we can be certain that Christ Jesus wants us to let go of our guilt over our failures.  Hearing the words, “…do not be anxious about your life…” may highlight in your own mind  your failure to follow those words of Jesus.  But Jesus isn’t speaking those words to beat us into submission.  He’s sharing them to help us realize that He is in control & He is watching over us as our Good Shepherd.  Jesus never fails.  Even in His death on the cross, especially in His death on the cross,  Jesus was not a failure.  He was actually achieving victory over sin,  over death & over the devil.  God is also achieving victory in our suffering, whether from anxiety  or anything else. 
It is easy to say, “Don’t worry about it,” when you have no skin in the game.  Jesus, however, is God’s skin in the game.  And at the resurrection, Jesus brought a new, perfect & holy skin into existence.  It’s a skin that is now ours to live in for all eternity.  At the final resurrection God’s Spirit will recreate us in that skin, that flesh & blood as our own. 
Sometimes, people say, “Don’t worry about it,” as they are walking away.  It is their parting gift to us, a sometimes cheap word of encouragement,  as they leave.  Jesus, however, says this not as He is walking away  but as He is walking toward us.  That’s what makes Christmas so special.  It reminds us again & again,  that Jesus is always coming to each of us. 
He comes to rescue us from all our sorrow & He is leading to a place where there will be no anxiety, no more fear & no more tears.  “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”   (Luke 12:32 ESV)  Amen. 
 
 
Consider how the birds above  feed day by day with carefree ease – does God not keep them in His love?  Are we not worth  much more than these?     Set not your heart on food or drink,  nor be weighed down by worldly care;  about such things the godless think,  yet never thank the Lord in prayer.    Be not afraid to suffer loss  of all the things for which you pray.  For He who faced  for you the cross  will give you strength to live each day.    Seek first God’s reign, His boundless grace,  His holy name in all you do: Christ first & last in every place;  all else will then be given you.  Amen.  LSB 736:1, 3, 5-6.