Don’t be Anxious and Give Thanks
Philippians 4:6-20
Thanksgiving Eve, November 21, 2012
Immanuel Lutheran Church, Broadlands
Hear the word of the Lord: Don’t be anxious.
Do you hear me! Don’t be anxious! Knock off all of that anxiety. Quit worrying so much. You will
not be able to give thanks unless you quit worrying so much.
A person who is anxious focuses on those things which are being demanded from them and not
on those things that they have. When a person focuses on what others are demanding from them, they
are anxious. They do not know if they have the resources to meet the demands. If the demands are being
made by a situation it can be even worse. If the demands are being made by people in power it can be
even worse. Even if the demands are being made by powerful people, but the person from whom they
are demanding something believes that they are powerful, they will be anxious. There is no helping it.
A person who is anxious focuses on what they do not have. More precisely a person who is
anxious focuses on what they do not have that they wish they had. There are other people who have the
skills to deal with what they have to deal with. There are other people who have the resources to deal
with what they are dealing with. There are other people who have the gifts and abilities and frankly the
money to deal with their problems. But an anxious person believes that they have none of those things.
An anxious person wishes that they had those things. An anxious person covets. He covets the money,
the skills, the abilities, the situations of others. If only I had those things I could deal with the situation or
the people or the person who is demanding so much.
And while an anxious person is coveting what other people have, they are not giving thanks. It is
impossible to give thanks. It is impossible to give thanks while you are thinking about everything that
you do not have. If you are going to give thanks, you are going to have to quit being anxious. Here me!
Knock off all of that anxiety.
In everything by prayer and petition let your requests be made known to God. Do this with
thanksgiving. After all if you present your requests to God with thanksgiving your anxiety will go away.
Never mind trying to get rid of anxiety. Go ahead and pray instead and do it with thanksgiving.
There was a pastor that I knew who experienced severe teeth pain. All of his teeth hurt, not just
one or two. He went to the dentist. The dentist examined him. Knowing that his patient was a pastor the
dentist gave this prescription, “Pastor, I want you to go home and for the next two weeks before you go
to bed I want you to thank God for twenty things that he has given you that day. If that does not work
after two weeks come back and I will prescribe a pain killer.” The pastor fulfilled his dentist’s
prescription. He got down on his knees every evening before bed and thanked God for twenty things that
God had given to him that day. There were some nights where he really had to strain and focus on his
day to come up with twenty. Miraculously the pain in his teeth went away. He had been grinding them
every night because of his anxiety. He could not make his anxiety go away. The dentist had him pray and
thank God for things. When the pastor focused on what God had given to him the anxiety went away. He
quit grinding his teeth at night. The pain went away.
I can tell you to knock off all of your anxiety until the cows come home. I can preach to you not to
worry and give you all of the advice in the world. It is not going to matter. Never mind trying to quit
worrying. Do something else. Let your requests be made known to God. Do it with thanksgiving.
The reason that this works can be explained psychologically like I just did. The pastor’s focus was
changed from thinking about his anxieties all of the time to thinking about his blessings. That is a nice
psychological trick. But as long as it is a psychological trick it won’t really get rid of your anxiety. You
will know what you are up to when you pray and give thanks to God. If you try it this evening you may
become more anxious because you know that you are giving thanks only to get rid of your anxiety. That
may ruin the whole thing.
The only reason that it works and the only reason that it worked for the pastor in my little story,
which is a true one by the way, is because of the God to whom you pray. You pray to the God of peace.
You pray to the God of peace. You do not pray to the god of anxiety. You do not pray to the God who is
looking to increase your anxiety. You do not pray to the God who is ready to condemn you at a moment’s
notice because of your lack of faith. You do not pray to the God who is ready to add damnation to the list
of things that you have to worry about. I suppose He could. He could say, “Knock off all that worrying.
You want something to really worry about? I’ll give it to you.”
He is not that kind of God. He is the God of peace. He is the God upon whom you cast your
cares, not the One who casts cares upon you. He will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
He does not guard your heart and your mind any old way. He guards your hearts and your
minds in Christ Jesus. Christ Jesus rose from the dead. He took care of death. And what worse anxiety is
there in your life than death. And if Jesus has dealt with your death, really want can life do to you? What
can the people who demand from you do to you if you do not meet their demands? Fire you? Impoverish
you? Kill you? Embarrass you? Shame you? Jesus was all of those things and He rose from the dead. If
God is guarding you in Christ Jesus, then you will rise from the dead even if those things happen to you.
You have a hope and a future no matter what. Jesus Christ has defeated death. He has given you that
hope and that future. It is in Christ Jesus that God is guarding your heart and your mind. That is the God
to whom you praying. Let your requests be made known to that God and do it with thanksgiving.
Think about the true things. I doesn’t matter which true things they are as long as they are true.
Think about those things. Think about the honorable things. It doesn’t matter which honorable things you
think about. Think about them. Think about the just things. It does not matter which just things you think
about. Think about as many as you can, but think about them. Think about the praiseworthy things, the
lovely things, the pure things. If anything is praiseworthy or pleasing to God, think about these things.
Meditate upon them. If you need an example, follow Saint Paul’s example. Read the book of Acts over
Thanksgiving break and watch and learn how Saint Paul dealt with the things in his life. Understand that
he is a sinner like you. He is not perfect like our Lord Jesus Christ. And if God can bring such peace to
such a sinner as Saint Paul, just think what He will do with you.
Now people, I have not performed some kind of slight of hand up here. If you are feeling good
that is great, but remember after the Sacrament of the Altar you will have to go back to your lives. If your
anxieties are temporarily relieved because you are on Thanksgiving break just remember Thanksgiving
break will soon be over and whatever it is will be back or it will not have gone anywhere depending on
your situation.
You will leave this service. You will get back into your cars. There will be times when you will
abound. You will have plenty of whatever it is that you need. Your anxiety will relax. There will also be
times when you will lack. There will be times when you will not have whatever it is that you need. And it
will not be something that you want. Wants are easy. You can tell yourself, “I don’t need this. It’s just a
want.” That’s not how life works and you and I both know it. You are going to abound in your needs.
You are going to lack in your needs.
You can do everything through Him who gives you strength. The one who gives you strength is
the God of peace. He will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. If He is guarding your heart
and your mind in Christ Jesus, then He will give you strength. He has given you strength.
You have the brotherhood of believers. God does not call you to faith by yourself. He calls you to
faith with the brotherhood of believers. God does not save you by yourself. He saves you with the
brotherhood of believers. God does not give you the Sacrament of the Altar by yourself. He celebrates the
Sacrament of the Altar with all of you. Why did you think that God put you in a congregation? When He
put you in a congregation, He put you there with other people. He put you there with other people.
These other people who are in the congregation with you are your fellow believers in Jesus. God
gave them to you and God gave you to them. He will participate with you in the act of giving and
receiving through them. They will give to you and they will receive from you. And in the act of giving
and receiving from them, God will strengthen you for the facing of these days.
God will fulfill every need that you have. He will do it with the riches that are at His disposal.
And when you are then in an opportunity to give your gift to someone else it will be a fragrant aroma, an
acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. And God will be pleased with you. To Him be the glory forever and
ever. Amen.
In the Name of Jesus. Amen.