A reading from Philippians chapter four:

“The Lord is near.  Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

The Apostle Paul teaches us in his letter to the Philippians to not be anxious about anything.

In life there are so many reasons for why we might be anxious.

So many cares at hand to worry about.

Anxiousness often leads to long-term anxiety where the worry is continuous – it just keeps going.

The word anxiety comes from the Greek word:  ankho.

That Greek word refers to a tightening or a compressing feeling – it is a choking feeling.

Just talking about this is giving me anxiety!

With anxiety we do not fear what we have already lost.

With anxiety we fear what is still to be lost.

The Apostle Paul wants to calm our anxiety here.

He wants to encourage us and to bring us back to the truth that in the midst of our anxiety that God is near.

And more than that… that God gives us a peace that is beyond our understanding.

It is a peace that calms our anxiety and the storms in our lives.

Last year I led a Bible study on the book of Revelation.

It was the second time that I led a Bible study on that book.

This time though as I read through it during the anxious time of a pandemic a key insight that kept coming to me was how much the writer, John wanted to give the people hope and peace in the midst of trials.

In Revelation chapter twenty-one John paints a beautiful vision of God’s kingdom.

He is giving hope to a people that are being greatly persecuted.

He writes:

“I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.”

John continues:

“I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.”

This new city has none of the things in it that cause people mourning and crying and pain.

The world that the first Christians knew and that we know today with its violence and suffering – is gone.

The world that the first Christians knew and that we know with its pain and grief will be wiped away.

Now in this text John does not explain why there is suffering.

He does not teach us how we should interpret the suffering in life only that it will be wiped away by the very presence of God.

John has a different agenda here.

He wants people to know this:

God has made all things new!

This text gives us one of the greatest pictures of heaven from the Bible.

I often will read this Revelation reading at a funeral service especially at a graveside service in the cemetery.

These words speak to the hope that we carry inside as people of faith.

The book of Revelation and in particular this text from Revelation speaks to our deep human longing and need for peace and for rest in the Lord.

We long even now for the new Jerusalem – the place where God dwells with God’s people.

We long for the place where we are free from the old order of things.

We want God to make all things new and we want to speed towards its coming.

For the early Christians to have faith in Jesus and to do ministry in his name meant that they were speeding forward to the new day of God’s coming.

It’s like this:

You know when you are watching a video and you push the fast forward button.

That’s how the early Christians saw their ministry.

Living in holy ways and having faith in Jesus pushed forward the day when God would restore and renew all things.

Having faith in Jesus would quicken the day where we would be with God and all of God’s people in the New Jerusalem.

This is why when you read the New Testament there is always this great sense of urgency.

For the first Christians they believed that the coming kingdom of God was just around the corner.

They even believed that the day of Christ’s coming again would happen in their lifetime because they believed that with faith and in living a life in Christ, they hastened the day when Christ would make all things new.

In 2 Peter chapter three we hear of both warning and promise.

The writer of 2 Peter writes:

“The day of the Lord will come like a thief.  The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.  Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be?  You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.  The day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat.  But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.”

These past two years, I think has created a sense of urgency among us.

Our collective anxiety and worry and fear at times has been intense but this time has also caused us to lean more deeply into our faith – in order to speed and to hasten the day of Christ’s coming.

This time has caused us to reevaluate things, to get our own house in order meaning to resolve and to face our fears and our anxiety, to make amends and to seek reconciliation where it is needed, and to return in faithful living to God.

The pandemic has taught us that life is short and that we don’t have a lot of time here on earth.

Even if we live to be ninety – time always goes so much faster than what we ever imagined.

We don’t have a lot of time to live in the ways of God’s love and so the present moment is always the best time to seek the Lord and to come to him laying aside our anxiety and trusting in his peace.

And so, I leave you all with a promise from Scripture from 2 Corinthians chapter five:

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold all things have become new.”

In Christ we are freed from that which holds us captive and we are free to live into the peace that passes all understanding.

And so, when we feel that choking feeling of anxiety may the peace of God be even greater.

May we all come to rest more deeply in the presence of God for God is making all things new.

And may the grace and peace of God our father and from our risen Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ be with us now and always.  Amen.