“God, as people infected with sinful desires, we know we often make poor choices. Show us how to avoid these bad behaviors and replace them with more of Your own qualities. Allow us to daily become more Christ-like. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.”
Welcome to the final week of our sermon series titled “Baggage”. As a brief recap of our first 2 weeks, let’s read together this one sentence…
“Let go of the baggage in your life and travel freely into a life filled with expectation and anticipation of all that God can do in and through you.”
I believe that sounds like some great words of encouragement, doesn’t it? Like a marketing headline designed to keep reading. Are you interested? Or, perhaps it makes you feel anxious?
So, let’s be honest for a moment about something. I suspect there are some of us here today who have been hearing for so long that there are greener pastures ahead, or that things are just about to turn a corner for the better. But the thing is … perhaps we are just tired of hearing the same old thing.
We want to believe, we know God is good and alive, we are just not sure where to begin anymore.
If that sounds like you today, thank you for being here because I truly have some continuing good news to share with you.
I am going to start by sharing a few scripture verses with you to get us into a mindset regarding our topic today.
“Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall.” Psalm 55:22
“…do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more important than clothes?” Matthew 6:25
“Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28
And finally…
“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”
1 Peter 5:7
God cares for you. He wants the best for you. He wants abundant life for you.
Let’s keep those truths in mind as we discuss “CASTING ALL OUR CARES” on God Almighty.
As we identify the baggage in our lives, we need to let it go, and trust God with our future. But there is an imperative ingredient that we must recognize … if we are going to be successful in casting all our cares onto God.
The secret ingredient for this action to be successful is… Humility.
We need to be willing to ask for help.
We need to seek out our blind spots, to get untangled from sin, in order to move forward.
In fact, the passage we read earlier from 1 Peter 6-7 indicates humility is a prerequisite for casting our cares on Jesus.
Listen again to what God is saying through Peter…
“Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:6-7
As you know, it is difficult to work with someone who is all puffed up with pride.
Do you think it is any different in your relationship with God? The answer of course is “NO,” it is not a bit different.
The whole of a life in Christ, a life of discipleship, takes an enormous amount of humility. This is something Jesus knew and modeled for us when He became one of us and sacrificed Himself on the cross for us.
I’ve heard it said, “Humility isn’t thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself, less.”
Here are 5 attributes of people who exhibit a healthy humility for us to think about … this morning …
1. Acknowledge don’t have it all together
2. Know difference between self-confidence and pride
3. Seek to add value to others
4. Take responsibility for actions
5. Filled with gratitude for what you have
Where did you see yourself in each one of these descriptions?
Where do you feel like you could grow in an attribute of humility?
Okay – so once you have got the humility thing lined up, and you know you need some help dealing with your baggage, here’s the BIG step… Give It All to Jesus.
Just pick it up and throw it on Him … sounds simple enough, right? But as think about what that means, let’s ask ourselves, what exactly would that look like? How would that work?
One example that comes to mind is found in our Gospel lesson this morning from Luke. You remember that Jesus visited two sisters Martha and Mary.
Martha was distracted with all her preparations and she even complained to Jesus … because her sister Mary was just sitting at Jesus’ feet.
The point I want to highlight from this passage is the example set by Mary. While her sister is worried and bothered by all kinds of business “things,” Mary is seated at the feet of Christ … sitting there out of devotion for Him as a form of worship.
What a beautiful picture, and what a powerful lesson for us to learn today.
MAKE time for Jesus despite life’s business. Sit with Him and His Word.
Pray, Read, and TELL Him about the things you are anxious about.
Tell Him about the things you are afraid of, and the things you are be “worried and bothered” by.
I suspect that if I was God, I would be tired of hearing prayers regarding our Covid-19 disaster and the recent elections fiasco. But God is God, and He never tires of hearing from us … He always listens … that’s His promise.
And prayer discipline was modeled so well by Christ while He was among us. We are told He would often go off by Himself to be with the Father in prayer.
And what did Jesus tell Mary? He told her that her time spent with Him, “shall not be taken away from her.” We can also have confidence that any time we spend with Christ is time well spent and will not be taken away from us.
What can you do this week to have more intentional time with Christ?
What areas of concern and baggage are you carrying around RIGHT NOW that you would like to give to Him?
You can give Him your baggage right now, if you but… Trust Him.
We ended last week’s sermon with a similar point, and we also talked about trust in week 1 as well. So, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that trust is a significant obstacle in this process.
Admittedly, I know trust can take time, and for some of us, it does not come easy.
In His book titled The Speed of Trust, Stephen M.R. Covey says this…
“Low trust causes friction…Low trust is the greatest cost in life and in organizations, including families. Low trust creates hidden agendas, politics, interpersonal conflict, win-lose thinking, defensive and protective communication – all which reduce the speed of trust. Low trust slows everything – every decision, every communication, and every relationship.”
I suspect EVERY one of us has experienced low-trust in our lives. And we have seen first-hand the damage it can do, particularly in our relationships.
Covey goes on to say, “Simply put, trust means confidence. The opposite of trust – distrust – is suspicion.”
Are you suspicious of God? Are you just waiting for Him to drop the hammer on you? Reprimand you? Take everything good from you?
Whenever we have those kind of thoughts, we should remember God’s counsel in Jeremiah 29:11…
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
We know that we all will experience trouble, adversity, and frustration in our lives. No one can avoid these things, which are an integral part of this broken world.
But the promise we get to enjoy as children of the Most High God is this…
“…we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28
Trust Him today. Cast your CARES on Him.
Toss your baggage onto Jesus and walk a little lighter today.
Just think about this for a moment … If God didn’t care, would He share His one and only Son with you?
If Jesus didn’t care would He have humbled Himself, to the point of death on the cross, for you?
Is Peter, who spent 3 years with Jesus and whom Jesus trusted to lead the disciples in His earthly absence … is this same Peter misleading you when he says, “cast all your anxiety onto Jesus, because He cares for you?”
Let go of any suspicion and doubt. Let go of the baggage in your life. TRUST Jesus with your life … not only today, but everyday. AMEN