BROADCASTS.com

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 (Philippians 4:5b-7).

Many Christians have lived this text. You may know some of them. However, you may struggle with the guilt induced by too much anxiety. You feel that you do not measure up because of those anxious thoughts. Please believe me when I say you are not alone. Many Christians find the things of this passage beyond our reach. So, it\u2019s a good place to spend a day or two.

Let\u2019s begin with a story of a couple who did live within \u2018the peace of God.\u2019 You may know the hymn that arose from one of their experiences. It\u2019s called, \u201cWhen Peace like a River\u201d.

Horatio Spafford was a businessman and lawyer who invested in the growing town of Chicago in the mid 1800s. However, the great fire of 1871 destroyed much of what he owned. About the same time, his son died. After these tragedies, his wife needed a vacation, so the family decided to spend some time in Europe. At the last minute, Horatio was detained by business concerns and stayed behind.

His wife, Anna, and their four daughters left on a luxury cruise ship. However, mid-Atlantic it was rammed, and the daughters died. Anna was picked up unconscious from the water and transported to England. She sent a telegraph to Horatio, \u201cSurvived alone. What do I do...\u201d While he was crossing the ocean to be with Anna, Horatio composed his famous hymn.

A decade later, Anna and Horatio led a small American contingent to Jerusalem to form the Christian society known as the "American Colony." This society engaged in philanthropic work amongst the people of Jerusalem regardless of religious affiliation, gaining the trust of the local Muslim, Jewish, and Christian communities. During and immediately after World War I, the American Colony played a critical role in supporting these communities through the great suffering and deprivations of the eastern front by running soup kitchens, hospitals, orphanages, and other charitable ventures.

It\u2019s a remarkable story. Again, I don\u2019t tell this story to make any of us feel guilty or to suggest that we ought to aspire to be like the Spaffords. God led them to do what they did, and he leads each of us along our own paths. I tell the story to encourage your faith in God, that he is near, and that he does quiet our anxious hearts. We can trust him in this.

As Pastor Anthony said yesterday, we need to receive this good news repeatedly in our hearts. He spoke of joy, while today\u2019s text offers prayer as an antidote to anxiety. But before we reflect on that, we need to hear again the little sentence Paul inserts between joy and anxiety. \u201cThe Lord is near.\u201d

There are two ways in which we can read this text. On the one hand, we can read it in light of Jesus\u2019 final promise to his disciples, \u201cSurely I am with you always, to the very end of the age\u201d (Matthew 28:20). Before that, he also said, \u201cI will ask the Father. And he will give you another friend to help you and to be with you forever\u201d (John 14:16). The Heidelberg Catechism says, \u201cIn his human nature Christ is not now on earth; but in his divinity, majesty, grace, and Spirit he is not absent from us for a moment\u201d (A 47).

On the other hand, we can hear Jesus\u2019 promise in Revelation, \u201cLook, I am coming soon! ...I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End\u201d (22:12-13). In this sense, we hear Paul telling us that Jesus will be returning any day. His return will bring all the suffering of this world to an end. This promise has long encouraged Christians to persevere in their suffering. It will not have the final word.

As we reflect on prayer and engage in it, we ought to meditate on both these readings of the text. Remembering is one of the central disciplines of the Christian. To move forward, we must remember what we have already learned and experienced.

In the next two days we will take a deeper dive into this text, until then, go with God\u2019s blessing.

[Now] may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. (Hebrews 13:20-21).