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Good morning, Christchurch.

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Can y'all hear me in the back?

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Good.

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My name is David, and I am 1

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of the priests in our d. I also

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teach theology a fuller earth theological seminary,

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and it is always a joy, of, a

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pleasure and honor to be with you all,

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worshiping with you and it's obviously an honor

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to be able to preach this morning.

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Title my sermon is blessed

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are the anxious.

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In a follow up to the massively

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successful 2015

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movie inside out,

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part 2, which released the summer explores a

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whole new batch of emotions for the

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newly turned

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13 year old protagonist named Riley,

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joining the pre teen emotions of joy,

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fear, sadness, anger,

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and disgust

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are the teen emotions, embarrassment, envy,

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on,

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and the star of the show,

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anxiety.

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Now, when we first meet anxiety

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in the movie, she is caring 6

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suitcases,

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her literal baggage.

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Now first, she's a helpful

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client

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emotion. She's spun and eager to help Riley

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to make it through puberty successfully.

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As she explains to joy with reference

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to fear.

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He, fear keeps Riley safe from things she

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can see. My job

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is to keep her safe from things,

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she can't see.

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Eventually, though, driven by an obsessive need to

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prevent Riley from experiencing any bad outcomes with

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her new friends at ice hockey camp. She

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bottles up Riley old emo,

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sends them down to the basement of Riley

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mind where fear ex claims,

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we're suppressed

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oceans,

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and where all of her darkest secrets hang

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out, and she enlist, anxiety and enlist, an

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army

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of of animators.

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Living in imagination land to imagine all possible

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worst outcomes for Riley so that and anxiety

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can prevent every single 1 of them.

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Incapable of doing this, however,

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anxiety works herself up into a catastrophic traffic

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fit

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until she becomes paralyzed

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at the console of Riley brain.

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A tornado of feelings rushes

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around

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anxiety.

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And up in the external world, Riley sits

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on the ice rink bench

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breathing heavily

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heart pounding sweating profusely paralyzed

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by

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indecision and tormented by a chaos

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of thoughts and feelings.

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It is the quintessential image of a panic

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attack.

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For Riley, anxiety in this movie is both

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a problem and an opportunity.

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It names a whole host of sensations, and

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it brings her face to face with her

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truce sense of self.

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Now we see something similar at work, I

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think in the way that Psalm 55

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describes the experience of anxiety.

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And for the purposes of my sermon today,

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I would like to focus on 3 aspects

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of anxiety.

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Anxiety as a physical thing,

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anxiety as a relational thing and anxiety as

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a

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spiritual thing.

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Let me mention 2 things briefly. However, before

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getting into the content of my Sermon.

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First, Psalm 55

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isn't really a sermon

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about anxiety.

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It's simply a psalm that resonates with what

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we today understand and name

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as

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anxiety. And it's for that reason that I

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think it lends itself to a fruitful

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operation of the emotion of anxiety as we

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continue to cry upwards in this marvelous

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summer sermon series on the emotions.

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Second thing, I'd like to define what I

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mean by anxiety so that we have maybe,

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like, a working understanding

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of anxiety for the purposes of this morning.

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Let me suggest to you that anxiety is

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the fear of harm

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that might come to us in the future

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and which at times, we feel to be

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terrible.

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Now psychologists define anxiety in a range of

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ways, but they usually include these basic components.

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It's a fear.

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It's a fear of harm of some sort.

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It's a fear of harm that lies in

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the future,

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and it's a fear of harm that we

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may worry will be too much for. To

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handle.

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Okay. Definitions done. Let's look

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first

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at anxiety as a physical thing in Psalm

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55.

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Immediately following the Psalm plea for help in

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verse 1, we get a description of his

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psycho somatic

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conditions.

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His thoughts, trouble him, his heart twists

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inside of his chest,

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his body shutters

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from terror.

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The message translates verse 5 by saying my

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insides

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are turned

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inside

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out.

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The psalm experience is a heart pounding body

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shaking 1 with a mine flooded

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by a noise of thoughts, And I can

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imagine that many of you here know exactly

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what that feels like.

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When my daughter b was little, she was

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young by a wash. And ever since, years

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and years later,

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she still experiences a

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reaction

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to w even if they're far far away.

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Or in the immediate aftermath of hurricane harvey

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when our family lived in Houston, Texas,

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my wife fade pleaded with me to get

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an Suv that would put us higher off

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the ground.

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Thought of driving a sedan, low to the

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ground even on a perfectly sunny day, flooded

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her body with a rash of anxious feelings.

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Or when I get anxious at work, which

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happens frequently these days. My breath speeds up,

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and I often lose

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sleep.

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These physical reactions are the product of our

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body's natural fight or flight system, rights, Curtis

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Chang in his book the anxiety opportunity.

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God designed the system so that human beings

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could respond to real

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and present threats. And I have a few

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book resources here with me on the front

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row in this 1 it's a fantastic book

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if you're looking for a good resource on

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anxiety and spiritual information.

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Now he says that we get this sinking

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feeling in stomach because blood has been suddenly

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diverted

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away from the digestive system

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to the large muscle groups that we can

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make a quick escape

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or the heart pounds lightning fast

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to keep the body alert

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and prepared were fight or flight. Now this

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too is the Psalm instinct in Psalm 55.

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O that I had the wings of a

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dove. He said,

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I would fly away

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and be at rest. He says in verse

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6.

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And at verse 15, he cries sentence my

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enemies to death God and send them down

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alive to the world of the dead,

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a classic case of an imp or curse

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moment in the psa.

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In the more severe cases of anxiety, we

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find ourselves responding to a perceived future threat,

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not a real and present danger.

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We imagine the worst of what if

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and our bodies

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activate accordingly.

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Curtis Shane writes, while our anxiety hijack our

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mind into the future, it also hijack our

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body.

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Into the future.

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And in doing so,

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it exhaust us. I am worn out by

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my worries, the psalm says verse 2. And

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for good reason, worries

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sap us

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of physical

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energy.

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Now, in addition to being a thoroughly physical

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thing anxiety is also a profoundly

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relational thing.

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In Psalm 55, the Psalm describes the experience

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of harm that he has in endured from

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both

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close friends

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and from strangers or enemies.

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In verse 13 he talks about the betrayal

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of a closed friend

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while in verse 20, that same friend betray

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his own friends.

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Together they stir up a whirlwind

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of anxious feelings.

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It's similar perhaps to what Riley in inside

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out does with her best friends.

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She ditch them for a group of older

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kids. She shame her best friends in the

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presence of the cool kids.

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And she attacks them on the ice and

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her friends cannot believe what they're seeing in

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their friend.

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As the message puts it, this isn't the

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neighborhood bully mocking me I take that.

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It's you.

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We grew up together,

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you, my best friend.

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And I can imagine again, many of you

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here have had such an experience.

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Somebody thought was your friend turns on you

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or fails to stand up for you

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or makes fun of you in front of

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your peers, which happen happens often enough for

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kids in middle school I score even elementary

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or even as adults,

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or it turns petty

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or selfish or combative, and it causes you

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to pull back.

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You're anxious about what might be with people

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in your life.

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And the matter equally acute with strangers

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across the country or

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online trolls or members

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of your own search.

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And 1 comment notes how this psalm has

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this tendency to hop all over the place

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from topic, to topic from emotion to a

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motion from want

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to want. But he also says that this

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actually makes sense for the person who is

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experiencing an overwhelming

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anxiety

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hurt that he has experienced, not just from

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outsiders, but people close by.

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The comment cause this psalm an

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an emotional roller coaster

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of the person who is experiencing suffering or

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direct or hardship in some fashion.

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Curtis Cheng writes that when we don't deal

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with

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relational anxiety in a healthy way,

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we can

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overly critical

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or quick to irritate with the behavior of

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others that frustrate us

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or obsessive in our habits,

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alter blaming ourselves and blaming others for hurts

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real are anticipated

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or we withdraw

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or we hide

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or we lose ourselves down the rabbit hole

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of the Internet.

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Slowly, but surely,

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we find ourselves losing our capacity

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to fully

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deeply, openly trust other people.

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But it's not just others that we struggle

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to trust. It's. It's gotta himself.

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00:11:20,737 --> 00:11:22,891
As Psalm 55 as elsewhere in the salt

285
00:11:22,891 --> 00:11:23,211
shows us.

286
00:11:24,567 --> 00:11:26,802
It always comes back to God. Our experience

287
00:11:26,802 --> 00:11:27,735
of anxiety is now

288
00:11:28,575 --> 00:11:29,075
not

289
00:11:29,454 --> 00:11:29,934
about God.

290
00:11:30,654 --> 00:11:33,294
If we perceive the possibility of loss or

291
00:11:33,294 --> 00:11:35,110
harm in our future, and we don't think

292
00:11:35,308 --> 00:11:37,135
be able to bear it, then God is

293
00:11:37,135 --> 00:11:37,929
always in the mix.

294
00:11:38,803 --> 00:11:40,948
And within the context of Psalm 55 that

295
00:11:40,948 --> 00:11:42,457
comes in 3 movements.

296
00:11:43,649 --> 00:11:44,975
First, there is

297
00:11:45,413 --> 00:11:45,653
plea.

298
00:11:46,451 --> 00:11:48,127
That's how the song itself begins. In fact,

299
00:11:48,526 --> 00:11:49,505
with 4

300
00:11:50,122 --> 00:11:50,521
imperatives.

301
00:11:51,240 --> 00:11:53,370
There is no being around the bush. There's

302
00:11:53,489 --> 00:11:54,546
just a visceral

303
00:11:55,001 --> 00:11:56,831
and immediate cry for help.

304
00:11:57,707 --> 00:11:58,503
Listen to me.

305
00:11:59,378 --> 00:12:00,253
Don't ignore me.

306
00:12:01,049 --> 00:12:01,606
Hear me.

307
00:12:02,721 --> 00:12:03,371
And for me.

308
00:12:04,798 --> 00:12:07,018
Open your ears and don't pretend you don't

309
00:12:07,018 --> 00:12:09,160
hear me as the message puts it. It's

310
00:12:09,160 --> 00:12:12,116
how the psalm models prayer for us from

311
00:12:12,116 --> 00:12:12,435
the gut.

312
00:12:13,551 --> 00:12:14,907
As I right in my own psalm book

313
00:12:14,907 --> 00:12:17,938
open and afraid, the psa is full of

314
00:12:17,938 --> 00:12:18,417
imperatives.

315
00:12:18,975 --> 00:12:20,865
It's the way we get god's attention at

316
00:12:20,984 --> 00:12:21,222
seems.

317
00:12:21,938 --> 00:12:23,609
And in every case, it's a sign of

318
00:12:23,609 --> 00:12:25,597
an active faith, a healthy faith,

319
00:12:26,313 --> 00:12:28,240
not a passive or unhealthy faith.

320
00:12:29,519 --> 00:12:31,600
Second, there's a call to action. Right at

321
00:12:31,600 --> 00:12:33,279
the very heart of the psalm, the psalm

322
00:12:33,279 --> 00:12:36,240
does something because you can't just churn inside,

323
00:12:37,039 --> 00:12:38,487
but I called to you, he says, and

324
00:12:38,487 --> 00:12:40,953
the Lord saves me evening morning and noon.

325
00:12:41,589 --> 00:12:43,499
I cry and distress and he hears my

326
00:12:43,499 --> 00:12:43,817
voice.

327
00:12:44,692 --> 00:12:47,651
There's a persist sense to his prayer that

328
00:12:47,651 --> 00:12:51,154
has less perhaps with pie or virtue,

329
00:12:51,791 --> 00:12:53,462
than with a dogg ness.

330
00:12:54,115 --> 00:12:56,195
To just not give up.

331
00:12:59,075 --> 00:12:59,475
Evening,

332
00:13:00,434 --> 00:13:00,835
morning,

333
00:13:01,634 --> 00:13:01,955
noon.

334
00:13:02,995 --> 00:13:03,807
He keeps at it,

335
00:13:04,764 --> 00:13:05,401
doesn't give up.

336
00:13:06,357 --> 00:13:09,704
He continues to press his case to the

337
00:13:09,704 --> 00:13:11,394
almighty. Like a prime executor.

338
00:13:12,514 --> 00:13:14,914
The companion activity to this initial act comes

339
00:13:14,914 --> 00:13:15,875
in verse 22.

340
00:13:16,434 --> 00:13:18,688
Cast your cares on the Lord and he

341
00:13:18,688 --> 00:13:21,472
will sustain you or as eugene Peterson translated

342
00:13:21,472 --> 00:13:24,336
it, translates it, pile your troubles on God's

343
00:13:24,336 --> 00:13:24,734
shoulders.

344
00:13:25,291 --> 00:13:26,417
He'll carrier load.

345
00:13:27,289 --> 00:13:28,162
He'll help you out.

346
00:13:29,114 --> 00:13:31,517
Put pull all the anxieties

347
00:13:31,969 --> 00:13:33,969
that are stuck inside of your head in

348
00:13:33,969 --> 00:13:35,027
heart and

349
00:13:35,405 --> 00:13:37,798
throw them over to god. It's in fact

350
00:13:37,798 --> 00:13:39,974
how 1 comment titles his commentary

351
00:13:40,511 --> 00:13:42,044
on psalm 55,

352
00:13:42,524 --> 00:13:44,144
how to throw things

353
00:13:44,524 --> 00:13:45,085
at not.

354
00:13:46,284 --> 00:13:46,605
Why?

355
00:13:47,245 --> 00:13:49,184
First Peter 5 7 tells us

356
00:13:49,565 --> 00:13:52,920
because the actually gives a f rip about

357
00:13:52,920 --> 00:13:53,158
you.

358
00:13:53,794 --> 00:13:54,588
He cares.

359
00:13:55,383 --> 00:13:57,154
He actually cares

360
00:13:58,243 --> 00:13:59,133
So throw them.

361
00:14:00,011 --> 00:14:00,569
Throw them.

362
00:14:01,207 --> 00:14:02,802
Don't gently hand them over.

363
00:14:03,360 --> 00:14:03,759
Chuck them.

364
00:14:05,355 --> 00:14:07,029
Third in final movement comes in the form

365
00:14:07,029 --> 00:14:07,747
of a resolve.

366
00:14:08,306 --> 00:14:11,034
It's deceptive simple, and you might miss it

367
00:14:11,034 --> 00:14:13,110
if you rust by too quickly. In the

368
00:14:13,110 --> 00:14:16,622
very last moment of the psalm, he says,

369
00:14:16,861 --> 00:14:17,554
but as for me

370
00:14:19,193 --> 00:14:21,431
I trust in you. The past has hurt

371
00:14:21,431 --> 00:14:23,109
me and I don't know how the future

372
00:14:23,109 --> 00:14:24,627
will turn out, but here and now I

373
00:14:24,627 --> 00:14:25,027
trust you.

374
00:14:25,826 --> 00:14:28,391
I don't know how you will intervene,

375
00:14:29,579 --> 00:14:31,322
but I trust you. I don't know if

376
00:14:31,481 --> 00:14:33,541
I'll see or even hear you in the

377
00:14:33,541 --> 00:14:35,622
future, but I trust you. Or to put

378
00:14:35,622 --> 00:14:36,680
the accent differently.

379
00:14:37,616 --> 00:14:38,334
I trust you.

380
00:14:40,647 --> 00:14:43,199
Friends the answer that psalm 55 offers to

381
00:14:43,199 --> 00:14:45,449
us is not necessarily a what or a

382
00:14:45,449 --> 00:14:45,768
how,

383
00:14:46,727 --> 00:14:47,366
but a who?

384
00:14:48,645 --> 00:14:50,402
Yes, it tells us the truth about anxiety.

385
00:14:50,562 --> 00:14:52,181
Yes, it names and validates

386
00:14:53,054 --> 00:14:54,591
experiences of anxiety

387
00:14:54,969 --> 00:14:56,804
even here in corporate worship.

388
00:14:57,283 --> 00:14:59,836
It doesn't ignore or dismiss them. And yes,

389
00:14:59,995 --> 00:15:02,259
there are of practices and disciplines

390
00:15:02,791 --> 00:15:04,458
that we can adopt in order to face

391
00:15:04,458 --> 00:15:05,593
anxiety fruitful,

392
00:15:06,443 --> 00:15:07,419
persistent prayer

393
00:15:07,872 --> 00:15:10,586
or saying things out loud that our hearts

394
00:15:10,586 --> 00:15:11,086
forget

395
00:15:11,618 --> 00:15:13,443
or being honest with God about the pain

396
00:15:13,443 --> 00:15:14,237
of anxiety.

397
00:15:15,507 --> 00:15:17,689
Yet had ultimately psalm him 55

398
00:15:17,745 --> 00:15:18,484
gives us

399
00:15:18,938 --> 00:15:19,574
a who.

400
00:15:20,369 --> 00:15:21,584
It gives us us someone

401
00:15:22,197 --> 00:15:22,912
that we can trust.

402
00:15:23,707 --> 00:15:27,000
When anxiety surges in our bodies and overwhelm

403
00:15:27,134 --> 00:15:28,719
our hearts and minds.

404
00:15:29,195 --> 00:15:31,438
The Psalm tells us not to look first

405
00:15:31,652 --> 00:15:34,047
inward and I outward, it tells us to

406
00:15:34,047 --> 00:15:35,896
look into the very face

407
00:15:36,349 --> 00:15:38,492
of our God. And to discover they're the

408
00:15:38,492 --> 00:15:41,325
only 1 who we a trust to keep

409
00:15:41,444 --> 00:15:42,794
a safe and secure.

410
00:15:44,303 --> 00:15:46,369
And yet, thanks for God. The psa isn't

411
00:15:46,369 --> 00:15:47,957
only spiritually minded.

412
00:15:48,434 --> 00:15:50,284
The salt is also refreshing

413
00:15:50,976 --> 00:15:51,967
side ecological

414
00:15:52,341 --> 00:15:52,818
intelligent.

415
00:15:53,612 --> 00:15:56,790
It understands how God has hardwired human beings

416
00:15:56,790 --> 00:15:57,607
and it knows

417
00:15:57,981 --> 00:16:00,205
what we need in the face of anxiety.

418
00:16:00,603 --> 00:16:02,290
So in I may draw on the wisdom

419
00:16:02,290 --> 00:16:03,804
of the entire book of psalm,

420
00:16:04,760 --> 00:16:07,311
allow me to recommend 3 practices. A physical

421
00:16:07,311 --> 00:16:08,879
1, a relational 1

422
00:16:09,876 --> 00:16:10,913
and a spiritual 1.

423
00:16:11,950 --> 00:16:15,162
First then, when anxiety tempt us to obsessively

424
00:16:15,779 --> 00:16:16,279
fear

425
00:16:16,736 --> 00:16:19,464
the negative consequences that our future might bring

426
00:16:19,464 --> 00:16:19,623
us.

427
00:16:20,342 --> 00:16:22,600
The psalms encourages us

428
00:16:23,618 --> 00:16:24,097
to breathe.

429
00:16:25,136 --> 00:16:28,050
Breath and fact is everything

430
00:16:28,509 --> 00:16:29,230
in the altar.

431
00:16:30,670 --> 00:16:33,524
Slow, purposeful breathing is the way that we

432
00:16:33,644 --> 00:16:34,382
remain present

433
00:16:35,073 --> 00:16:35,788
to the present.

434
00:16:36,423 --> 00:16:39,680
Breath grounds us in god's solid reality,

435
00:16:40,394 --> 00:16:41,427
the birds of the air.

436
00:16:42,380 --> 00:16:42,880
Lilly

437
00:16:43,189 --> 00:16:45,489
of the field they're right there, consider them,

438
00:16:46,599 --> 00:16:48,027
sunrise and sunset,

439
00:16:48,819 --> 00:16:49,319
breathe

440
00:16:50,088 --> 00:16:50,881
and stay present.

441
00:16:51,934 --> 00:16:54,890
The body, brothers and sisters isn't only the

442
00:16:54,890 --> 00:16:55,390
victim

443
00:16:55,849 --> 00:16:58,667
of anxiety attacks. It is also the way

444
00:16:58,886 --> 00:16:59,366
out of them.

445
00:17:00,659 --> 00:17:02,730
So the next time you feel overcome by

446
00:17:02,730 --> 00:17:04,243
anxiety, small, or large,

447
00:17:05,517 --> 00:17:06,336
try pausing

448
00:17:06,951 --> 00:17:08,782
what you're doing and take a breath.

449
00:17:09,832 --> 00:17:10,388
3 times,

450
00:17:11,183 --> 00:17:13,988
slow and steady, or you could take advantage

451
00:17:14,203 --> 00:17:16,984
of Dea Nancy Lewis is wonderful sermon that

452
00:17:16,984 --> 00:17:18,335
she preached a few weeks ago.

453
00:17:19,542 --> 00:17:20,177
To breathe in,

454
00:17:21,289 --> 00:17:22,425
the goodness of God

455
00:17:23,037 --> 00:17:25,103
and the breathe out all the stuff that

456
00:17:25,103 --> 00:17:27,821
rob us of sensing the goodness of God

457
00:17:27,821 --> 00:17:28,458
in the moment.

458
00:17:29,573 --> 00:17:32,122
Second, Psalms would also encourage us to bear

459
00:17:32,122 --> 00:17:32,622
witness

460
00:17:32,998 --> 00:17:34,909
to each other of God's goodness.

461
00:17:35,705 --> 00:17:38,350
When the brain gets stuck on an endless

462
00:17:38,350 --> 00:17:40,263
loop of doom day forecasting,

463
00:17:40,900 --> 00:17:42,733
imagining all the ways that things could go

464
00:17:42,733 --> 00:17:45,383
wrong, a job in interview, a test, a

465
00:17:45,383 --> 00:17:47,161
hard conversation, a public

466
00:17:47,540 --> 00:17:51,695
presentation, a move cross country, a new rec

467
00:17:51,695 --> 00:17:52,470
of a church

468
00:17:54,182 --> 00:17:57,131
The psalms encourage us to say out loud

469
00:17:57,131 --> 00:17:58,724
to 1 another the truth that God is

470
00:17:58,724 --> 00:17:59,224
faithful

471
00:17:59,999 --> 00:18:01,593
that we're going to be okay no matter

472
00:18:01,593 --> 00:18:01,832
what.

473
00:18:02,804 --> 00:18:04,183
That possible failures

474
00:18:04,641 --> 00:18:05,780
need not have

475
00:18:06,319 --> 00:18:08,396
the final word in our lives.

476
00:18:10,885 --> 00:18:13,916
Which is of course, only possible if we

477
00:18:13,916 --> 00:18:16,250
believe that God is trustworthy.

478
00:18:17,425 --> 00:18:20,150
And this question friends lies at the heart

479
00:18:20,150 --> 00:18:21,127
of the altar

480
00:18:21,820 --> 00:18:23,728
because it lies at the heart of the

481
00:18:23,728 --> 00:18:24,683
human condition.

482
00:18:26,034 --> 00:18:26,853
Can I

483
00:18:27,863 --> 00:18:28,341
trust god?

484
00:18:29,136 --> 00:18:30,049
Can and I

485
00:18:30,824 --> 00:18:31,324
really

486
00:18:32,100 --> 00:18:32,578
trust god.

487
00:18:33,535 --> 00:18:36,586
The psalm in Psalm 55 leans and hope

488
00:18:36,883 --> 00:18:37,383
towards

489
00:18:38,094 --> 00:18:38,332
yes.

490
00:18:40,641 --> 00:18:42,653
Why shouldn't we worry then brothers and sisters

491
00:18:42,710 --> 00:18:44,779
because we have a father in heaven who

492
00:18:44,779 --> 00:18:45,416
knows our needs,

493
00:18:46,849 --> 00:18:47,700
because he knows your

494
00:18:48,932 --> 00:18:49,648
you can trust him.

495
00:18:50,603 --> 00:18:51,557
Why shouldn't we worry?

496
00:18:52,114 --> 00:18:54,126
Because our good shepherd offers to us

497
00:18:54,501 --> 00:18:55,314
not answers,

498
00:18:56,672 --> 00:18:57,631
not solutions,

499
00:18:58,590 --> 00:19:00,748
not guarantees of a painless life.

500
00:19:01,946 --> 00:19:02,686
He offers

501
00:19:03,225 --> 00:19:04,115
is very self.

502
00:19:05,544 --> 00:19:07,530
He's offers himself as a source of rest

503
00:19:07,530 --> 00:19:08,244
for our souls,

504
00:19:08,880 --> 00:19:11,024
come to me all yee who are weary

505
00:19:11,024 --> 00:19:13,270
and heavy with worries. He tells the people,

506
00:19:13,748 --> 00:19:14,865
and I will give you rest.

507
00:19:15,583 --> 00:19:17,337
Brothers sisters. You can trust this gone.

508
00:19:18,773 --> 00:19:19,730
Why shouldn't we worry?

509
00:19:20,527 --> 00:19:22,079
Because we have a divine comfort

510
00:19:22,452 --> 00:19:25,389
whose business it is to comfort us when

511
00:19:25,389 --> 00:19:26,842
we feel the disappointment

512
00:19:27,295 --> 00:19:30,074
of hardship, the pain of loss, the fear

513
00:19:30,074 --> 00:19:30,605
of our.

514
00:19:31,758 --> 00:19:34,462
The spirit does not shield us from all

515
00:19:34,462 --> 00:19:36,372
future harm. Only God knows why,

516
00:19:37,008 --> 00:19:39,518
but the spirit does secure our hearts

517
00:19:39,977 --> 00:19:41,256
and minds in peace.

518
00:19:42,135 --> 00:19:44,053
The spirit helps us to be at home

519
00:19:44,053 --> 00:19:47,030
with God in the face of an unpredictable

520
00:19:47,342 --> 00:19:48,928
future, brothers sisters.

521
00:19:49,562 --> 00:19:50,593
You can trust this God.

522
00:19:51,624 --> 00:19:54,162
I love how the En priest Jim Carter

523
00:19:54,162 --> 00:19:57,284
back in the seventh these renders this last

524
00:19:57,284 --> 00:19:57,784
verse

525
00:19:58,401 --> 00:19:59,678
of Psalm 55.

526
00:20:00,555 --> 00:20:01,034
He says,

527
00:20:02,311 --> 00:20:02,924
my heart

528
00:20:03,602 --> 00:20:05,037
has been so constrict.

529
00:20:05,835 --> 00:20:07,132
My affection

530
00:20:07,748 --> 00:20:08,705
so easily hurt.

531
00:20:09,741 --> 00:20:11,710
Your arms are wide and welcoming

532
00:20:12,145 --> 00:20:14,626
and your presence, we are relaxed

533
00:20:15,473 --> 00:20:17,850
and feel most strangely at home.

534
00:20:19,054 --> 00:20:20,664
It most strangely

535
00:20:21,354 --> 00:20:21,910
at home.

536
00:20:24,211 --> 00:20:26,511
In the movie inside out too, Riley feels

537
00:20:26,511 --> 00:20:27,359
far from home

538
00:20:27,956 --> 00:20:29,627
in her pub best self.

539
00:20:30,502 --> 00:20:33,047
Everything inside is a jumble of conflicting thoughts

540
00:20:33,047 --> 00:20:33,865
and warring,

541
00:20:35,212 --> 00:20:37,207
and her behavior causes her to be at

542
00:20:37,207 --> 00:20:38,722
odds with everybody around her.

543
00:20:39,600 --> 00:20:43,037
Joy an anxiety fight for control of Riley

544
00:20:43,037 --> 00:20:44,728
brain and neither

545
00:20:45,180 --> 00:20:47,481
can imagine the other being good for this

546
00:20:47,481 --> 00:20:48,512
new le into teenager.

547
00:20:49,483 --> 00:20:51,397
It's only when they both let go and

548
00:20:51,397 --> 00:20:53,709
let all the parts of Riley, both the

549
00:20:53,709 --> 00:20:55,065
good and the bad,

550
00:20:55,623 --> 00:20:56,681
both the brave

551
00:20:57,617 --> 00:20:58,390
and the coward

552
00:20:58,988 --> 00:21:01,402
both the kind and the very selfish

553
00:21:01,939 --> 00:21:04,752
to define Riley true self that she becomes

554
00:21:04,810 --> 00:21:05,049
integrated.

555
00:21:06,565 --> 00:21:08,375
Having left her home in the first move

556
00:21:08,653 --> 00:21:10,509
and struggled in the second

557
00:21:11,046 --> 00:21:12,561
to find our sense of home in the

558
00:21:12,561 --> 00:21:14,873
face of both internal and external challenges.

559
00:21:15,511 --> 00:21:17,425
I think Riley story is all of our

560
00:21:17,425 --> 00:21:20,225
stories it's your story, it's my story. We

561
00:21:20,225 --> 00:21:21,759
all want to be at home

562
00:21:22,214 --> 00:21:23,089
and ourselves.

563
00:21:23,725 --> 00:21:25,793
And anxiety often makes it difficult to be

564
00:21:25,793 --> 00:21:27,960
at home in the face of a future

565
00:21:27,960 --> 00:21:29,257
that scares us

566
00:21:29,634 --> 00:21:31,171
with a possibility of

567
00:21:31,628 --> 00:21:33,462
unbearable loss or harm.

568
00:21:34,738 --> 00:21:37,619
But brother sisters anxiety can also be an

569
00:21:37,619 --> 00:21:38,813
opportunity by God's grace.

570
00:21:39,609 --> 00:21:41,439
It can be an opportunity to cast our

571
00:21:41,439 --> 00:21:44,644
cares upon the 1 who loves us an

572
00:21:45,194 --> 00:21:45,830
applicable love.

573
00:21:46,626 --> 00:21:48,637
It can be an opportunity to be present

574
00:21:49,171 --> 00:21:52,057
to the 1 whose presence is worry quell

575
00:21:52,369 --> 00:21:52,688
peace.

576
00:21:53,566 --> 00:21:55,161
It can be an opportunity to trust our

577
00:21:55,161 --> 00:21:56,996
heavenly father who knows what we need to

578
00:21:56,996 --> 00:21:58,831
look him in the face and to say

579
00:21:58,831 --> 00:22:01,805
out loud the company of fellow pi, including

580
00:22:01,805 --> 00:22:02,684
this Psalm,

581
00:22:03,484 --> 00:22:04,205
I trust you,

582
00:22:05,085 --> 00:22:07,140
or with that father in the gospel

583
00:22:08,138 --> 00:22:09,177
help me to trust you.

584
00:22:10,776 --> 00:22:12,374
And the final scene of inside out too,

585
00:22:12,533 --> 00:22:15,890
the director places the camera straight on Riley

586
00:22:15,890 --> 00:22:16,105
face

587
00:22:16,860 --> 00:22:17,599
Her phone,

588
00:22:18,133 --> 00:22:20,360
letting her know that a decision has been

589
00:22:20,360 --> 00:22:20,599
reached,

590
00:22:21,474 --> 00:22:23,872
whether she's made the high school a hockey

591
00:22:23,872 --> 00:22:24,506
team or not.

592
00:22:25,615 --> 00:22:27,200
She looks down at the phone and then

593
00:22:27,200 --> 00:22:29,101
looks straight at us, the viewer smiling,

594
00:22:29,973 --> 00:22:31,815
smiling at herself in the mirror of her

595
00:22:31,815 --> 00:22:32,451
school locker her.

596
00:22:33,485 --> 00:22:35,393
We don't see what she sees,

597
00:22:35,950 --> 00:22:37,086
but we do see

598
00:22:37,461 --> 00:22:38,415
if she's gonna be okay.

599
00:22:39,621 --> 00:22:42,028
And I think there's something instructive for us

600
00:22:42,243 --> 00:22:43,355
in this final frame.

601
00:22:44,626 --> 00:22:47,661
When anxiety overcomes us our usual instinct is

602
00:22:47,661 --> 00:22:50,604
to fix it to escape it or to

603
00:22:50,604 --> 00:22:50,922
fight it.

604
00:22:52,195 --> 00:22:53,092
But let if

605
00:22:53,786 --> 00:22:56,213
what what if our instinct was instead

606
00:22:56,749 --> 00:22:57,488
to pause

607
00:22:58,900 --> 00:22:59,958
to take a breath

608
00:23:01,051 --> 00:23:02,739
and to look thought in the face and

609
00:23:02,739 --> 00:23:03,615
to say out loud,

610
00:23:04,491 --> 00:23:07,199
I trust you with whatever faith you can

611
00:23:07,199 --> 00:23:07,517
must.

612
00:23:08,473 --> 00:23:10,145
That at least, I think is the invitation.

613
00:23:10,718 --> 00:23:12,471
Not just of Psalm 55,

614
00:23:12,869 --> 00:23:15,338
but of the entire altar and of the

615
00:23:15,338 --> 00:23:16,534
gospel as well.

616
00:23:17,251 --> 00:23:18,388
To throw your cares

617
00:23:19,083 --> 00:23:21,567
upon your heavily father, to keep your eyes

618
00:23:21,567 --> 00:23:22,067
fixed

619
00:23:22,522 --> 00:23:24,137
upon the shepherd of your soul

620
00:23:24,991 --> 00:23:26,742
and to find yourself by the grace of

621
00:23:26,742 --> 00:23:28,255
the holy spirit at home.

622
00:23:29,230 --> 00:23:31,309
With god here and now at least.

623
00:23:33,070 --> 00:23:34,430
Let me end my sermon if I may

624
00:23:34,430 --> 00:23:35,869
with a prayer that I've included in my

625
00:23:35,869 --> 00:23:38,204
book prayers for the pi which also includes

626
00:23:38,204 --> 00:23:40,444
a bedtime prayer for anxious children, which I

627
00:23:40,444 --> 00:23:42,605
wrote in the immediate aftermath of the pandemic.

628
00:23:43,484 --> 00:23:45,577
This prayer is titled a prayer for the

629
00:23:45,577 --> 00:23:47,487
anxious of heart, and I pray it for

630
00:23:47,487 --> 00:23:48,124
you and for me.

631
00:23:49,636 --> 00:23:51,148
Well, lord, you who tell us to be

632
00:23:51,148 --> 00:23:53,296
anxious for nothing. I confess that I am

633
00:23:53,296 --> 00:23:54,625
anxious for many things this

634
00:23:55,781 --> 00:23:58,355
especially for things that I fear will hurt

635
00:23:58,892 --> 00:24:01,125
or disappoint me beyond anything that I could

636
00:24:01,125 --> 00:24:01,364
bear.

637
00:24:02,481 --> 00:24:04,236
Speak your word a peace to my mind

638
00:24:04,395 --> 00:24:05,229
I pray

639
00:24:05,604 --> 00:24:08,490
of safety to my heart and of comfort

640
00:24:08,547 --> 00:24:09,183
to my body,

641
00:24:09,899 --> 00:24:11,983
so that I might know the truth even

642
00:24:11,983 --> 00:24:13,977
now that I am in the care of

643
00:24:13,977 --> 00:24:14,297
another.

644
00:24:15,174 --> 00:24:16,530
I pray this in name of the 1

645
00:24:16,530 --> 00:24:17,965
who daily bears my burdens,

646
00:24:18,763 --> 00:24:20,518
Jesus Christ himself, all amen.

647
00:24:21,475 --> 00:24:24,024
But others may this be so for you

648
00:24:24,024 --> 00:24:25,924
and for me. And the name of the

649
00:24:25,924 --> 00:24:26,320
father the