This morning, as we approach the
communion table, I would like to reflect on three topics that arise from 1 Peter 5:7 which tells us “Cast all your cares on Him, because He cares for you.” That text speaks of Caring, Carrying,
and Casting.
CARING
Everybody cares about something. Cares can be self-focused or self-motivated. Cares can be
about anything… from the threat of terrorism to what’s cooking for dinner. We all care.
However the word used for ‘care’ in this passage is one that relates to ‘cares’
in the sense of anxieties, burdens, worries and troubles. It had a particular application to the community that Peter writes
for because they were under the threat of persecution. They were already suffering. Our passage begins with the words “Do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that is taking place among you.” (1 Peter 4:12).
A particular thing that worried them was that it felt like God
had abandoned them. If Jesus had died for their sins, and God had raised Him from the dead, and He had sent His Holy Spirit
to be their counselor and comforter… how come life was so hard? Weren’t they supposed to be courageous and victorious
and overcoming and spreading the gospel to all the world? How come they were
just struggling to survive?
Isn’t this just the dilemma that we face as a traditional
denomination in a declining uptown area, with a building that has seen better days? As a church in which people come and go,
and sometimes get bent out of shape and often times suffer from a lack of confidence and an abundance of unanswerable questions?
Isn’t this the anxiety that can take over our personal
viewpoints? “Lord, I believed… but how come things haven’t turned out as I believed they would? How come
all those promises have yet to be fulfilled? Why all this striving? What’s
going to become of us?”
It is the easiest thing in the world
to allow our anxiety to shape our attitude. When things don’t go according to our plan, when we don’t think we
get treated fairly, when it seems that we can’t do right for doing wrong, or just for no reason everything starts going
pear shaped, it is no big jump to conclude that God has left the building.
The Message Bible puts it like this: “Friends, when life gets really difficult, don't jump
to the conclusion that God isn't on the job.” When we do reach such
a position we have moved from a position of ‘Caring’ to a position of ‘Carrying’.
CARRYING
If we see somebody walking along, shoulders down, head bowed, bent down under their troubles
we often use an expression like, “Look at that poor person, carrying the weight of the world upon their shoulders.”
I’ve sometimes watched those “World’s Strongest Man” competitions
on the television, and seen those guys with the huge necks and shoulders doing crazy stuff, lifting and pulling things that
would give Samson a run for his money. I’ve noticed something. And it’s not the fact that half of them seem to
be Norwegians or Swedes. “My name is Borg Shmegglehlhson and today I am going to pick up a building.”
It’s this. Boy… they look relieved
when they lay their burdens down. “Daat was very very heavy. Pheww!!” I
have nothing but admiration for them. Part of my admiration is that I’m not built like that. There’s more in their
arms than all of me put together. The other part is the fact that they are so in control. They know their limitations. They know when to pick up and when to let it go.
When it comes to our problems and anxieties we are not as disciplined. There are times we
have to carry burdens in order to work through them. We have issues that we need to work out, not lay down. We’d like
to put aside some of the challenging things about ourselves. That habit we don’t like to talk about. That temptation
we keep saying - “Not going to do that again” - knowing full well we will do it again because we have not dealt
with the underlying issues.
We need to be aware of our human-ness! Peter writes to his readers “Discipline yourselves, keep alert. Like a roaring lion your
adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour. Resist him,
steadfast in your faith…” (1 Peter 5:8-9).
During the Second World War countries such as France were overcome by the Nazi war machine. It looked like all was lost. But in
France, and many other European nations, there were those who refused to give up
the fight and became part of Resistance Movements.
When the enemy seems all around… and even if it looks like the battle is lost…
Peter tells us, “Christian… Come and join the Resistance!” He pictures the devil, the adversary, the enemy
of faith and Christ-like living, as a hungry lion after its prey. Such is the nature of genuine evil. It takes control. It eats up. It consumes. It destroys.
Never under-estimate the power of evil. If we
can learn anything from history, it is that we are just as capable to sink to the lowest levels of barbarianism and darkness
as any generation that has ever gone before us. That modern humanity is just
as base and gross and able to choose the wrong over the right as were our ancestors. There are some things we have to deal
with. There are some things we have to carry!
When Peter speaks of ‘laying aside our burdens’ he is not suggesting that Christian
people should play a game of “Let’s pretend everything is going to be fine.” He’s not advocating for
‘Optimists Anonymous’. He’s not preaching “Don’t worry, Be Happy, Everything’s gonna be
all right.”
Everything wasn’t all right. People were being persecuted. Christians were carrying
these overwhelming concerns about their church, about their families, about their future, about their very survival. ‘Don’t
Worry, Be Happy’? They had a lot to carry! And they felt about as capable of carrying it all as you and I would feel
if we had ended up entered into the ‘strongest person in the world’ competition. What were they to do with these
cares that they carried? Let’s return to the text with which we started.
1 Peter 5:7 “Cast all your cares on Him, because He cares for you.”
The third strand in this text is…
CASTING
The Greek word we translate as ‘Casting’ (or ‘Loading’ or ‘Throwing’
as some translations have it) is related to the word humility. Peter is suggesting
that a way through the dilemma his readers were facing was to humble themselves before God in such a way as they recognized
God’s strength and purpose for their lives.
To humble themselves, not in some passive act of self-denial… or as though they were
throwing in the towel… but to embrace active dependence on God as the way to travel through whatever life may hold for
them around the next corner.
Their motivation for so doing is that God is far more anxious about our lives than we are. To
say that ‘God cares for us’ is to affirm that God has a personal interest in what we are going through, an active
concern, a burden to see that we make it! The word we use for the love of God is the Greek word ‘agapế…
a word that expresses the self-giving of God affirmed in John 3:16… “God so loved the world that He gave…”
Matthew Henry, a Bible commentator of a previous generation, puts it like this: “Peter’s advice is to cast all care of themselves, upon God. "Throw your cares, which are so cutting and distracting, which wound your souls and pierce your hearts,
upon the wise and gracious providence of God; trust in Him with a firm composed mind, for He careth for you. He is
willing to release you of your care, and take the care of you upon Himself.”
As we meet around this table laid with bread
and wine, we do well to remind ourselves that these elements are symbols of God’s anxiety, care, desire, and heartfelt
longing that our lives should not be out of relationship with Him.
This table calls us to come with all our burdens and lay them down. To here cry out, “God,
without You I cannot make it through” and see/hear God’s reply, “I’m here. I’m with you. Christ
died that you may live. He was raised that you may walk in His light. His Spirit is given that you may be enabled to carry
through Him what you can never carry on your own. I am.”
I invite you to this table with Peter’s words, “Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:7).
