Are You Worried This Christmas there isn’t enough?
We are professional worriers. We worry about anything that we set our minds to. Fundamentally, we worry that we won’t have enough—enough money, enough protection, enough strength, enough courage, enough faith, enough love.
We are kind of like Gus the mouse in the movie “Cinderella.” If you remember, while all the other mice take only enough corn for that day, Gus tries to take as much corn as he can get his hands on and ends up with a stack of corn up to his chin.
Ultimately, Gus loses all the corn as Lucifer the cat chases him down. And if not for Gus’ friend Jack, Lucifer the cat would have had Gus for breakfast. In an effort to try and preserve his life, Gus almost lost it all. Sound familiar?
Those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who want to lose their life for the sake of the gospel will save it. This is the gospel paradox. This is the message that God is trying to send us if we trust in the way of Jesus Christ. This is the message that has the power to free us from worry and anxiety But do we trust this message of salvation? Do we trust that God has given us enough?
God knows that we have a hard time trusting that there is enough. No matter if you have too much or too little, we all have a hard time believing that there is enough. For this reason, on the night before our Lord died for us, he gathered with his closest friends around a table, gave thanks, and reminded them there will always be enough with God.
Around that table, God reminded the disciples that he has given them enough through the body and blood of Jesus. Around that table, Jesus told his friends to remember the works of the Lord. Jesus told his friends to remember that when you are a part of God’s story there is always enough.
On that night Jesus told his disciples, remember that yours is a God who brought your people out of slavery and into the land of promise. Remember that yours is a God who breathed new life into the dry bones and made them rattle.
Remember that yours is a God who was willing to give his only Son for the life of the world. Around that table, Jesus gives us reason to trust God’s message of salvation because we have a God who knows our deepest fears and speaks to them through our crucified Lord.
This week many of you will gather with family and friends around a table or two. You will gather and give thanks for the many blessings of this life, and by giving thanks I hope you will remember that God has given you enough. Remember also that Jesus is making enough room for everyone at the table so invite someone who might not have any other place to go.
If you are looking for enough in money and things and power and status, you will never find it there. Instead, Jesus promises you enough if you believe in the message of salvation. When the world around you is falling apart, the promise of Jesus’ word has the power to give you life.
Even when there is nothing else in this world that you can trust or hold onto, you can trust in the saving embrace of our Lord.
When you pray, remember all that the Lord has done for you. Give thanks for family and friends that surround you on every side. Remember those who do not have enough food or warmth or love. Above all else, remember to give thanks for Jesus Christ who gives us reason to trust that no matter what happens through the varied changes and chances of this life we have a God who whispers, “Do not worry. I am with you always.” Amen.
Author Jack A. of St. Paul’s Church
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