13 Pentecost 07 C Proper 16

The theme today seems to be “do more and do it faster.” One restaurant I heard about promises a lunch in 15 minutes or it is free. An emergency room promises treatment 20 minutes or it’s free.

In the late 90s people were reading the 59 Second Employee, a book about staying ahead of the One Minute Manager. We have e-mail, text messages, instant messages, pagers, overnight delivery, voice mail, and cell phones. One guy told me to fax him on his cell phone. Can you do that? Doesn’t he have to pull over or something? Our world is into fast.

I’m trying to get organized. Experts tell me that I should handle a piece of mail only once. I’m afraid to touch anything. My secretary tries to hand me some mail and I say, “Hold it a minute, what are you giving me?” My computer doesn’t understand me. Stuff goes in but it never comes out again.

I’ve discovered that when life is going 100 mph you can’t control it, you can only aim it. I’m trying to go faster. I put my DVD player in my microwave so that I can watch movies in 20 minutes. Every time I turn around, it’s “do it faster,” “push the envelope,” “raise the bar.” I feel like a juggler at the circus, except I’m juggling hand grenades instead of balls.

It’s not just me, it’s everybody. I realized out society was in trouble when I saw a woman get on a plane and put her laptop in her lap and her child in the overhead compartment.

Well, I’m trying to slow down. I’m tired of desktop dining and informational hell. I don’t want to be reached at www.doitfast.com. I find that the faster I go the more anxious I become and the more worrying I do. I think I will take my mother’s advice. If she said it once, she said it a thousand times, “Roger, be still.”
Have you ever felt that way? I’m sure that you have! All of us have had days of anxiety and stress and frayed nerve endings, and we need to learn how to deal with them.
As I read the scriptures I find no instant formula for spiritual maturity. A lot of people are searching for one. They just want to have an experience or say a prayer, and have instant spiritual maturity. But it doesn’t come that way! Growth comes through stress and strain and struggle as we endeavor to live the Christian life.
A few years ago Thomas Hobbs of the Univ. of Wash. and some fellow sociologists published their research on Human Stress. They listed many of the common experiences of life, evaluated their impact on our mental and emotional well-being, and rated them according to the stress they produced in our lives. This stress rating was expressed in what they called "Life-Change Units, or LCUs." The worse the stress rating, the higher the LCUs.
For instance, getting a divorce is 73 LCUs. Being pregnant is 40 LCUs. Remodeling a home is 25 LCUs. The stress of Christmas is rated as 13 LCUs. On and on went their list of life’s stresses, each one rated in LCUs. Sometimes for me golf is about 95 LCUs.
When we learn of a friend, maybe our own age, who is dying of cancer; or when we go to a doctor and he tells us there is something questionable in our X-ray; or when our children grow up and move away; or we sell our home and move someplace else; or we change jobs, or we retire. These are all LCUs!
We are constantly being bombarded by LCUs, and their conclusion was that, if within a year’s time, we experience a cumulative total of more that 300 Life Change Units, most people will not be able to handle it.
They concluded that if we experience that many LCUs in one year’s time that most of us will have either a physical or mental or emotional breakdown because, humanly speaking, we just can’t cope with that much change. But notice that I said "humanly speaking," and I emphasize the word "humanly," because our trust in God can make all the difference.
Now with that in mind, turn to Psalm 46 in our bulletin insert. This Psalm was evidently written in that kind of stressful environment. There must have been times when the David felt like he was in a pressure-cooker and couldn’t get out. So he wrote the words of this Psalm as he sought to deal with the stresses of his life.
Listen to the first verse, "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." The Hebrew word "trouble" that he used means "pressed in." Do you remember the old saying, "Between a rock and a hard place?" That is the kind of pressure the Psalmist is talking about.
When you are "between a rock and a hard place," then turn to this Psalm, because it ministers in a most amazing and significant way.
When Martin Luther was surrounded by enemies he read this Psalm and then wrote the great hymn, "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God." He saw the tremendous power of God as "a bulwark never failing." Regardless of what happens in the world there is still the strength and power and might of God.
Let me give you a brief overview of this Psalm and then we’ll look at it in a little more detail. There are 3 Sections.
Verses 1-3 deal with changes in nature, and the Psalmist says, "I will not fear! God is my refuge and my strength, and even though the world around me may be shaking, I will not fear!"
Verses 4-7 speak of changes taking place in society. The Psalmist says, "I will not be moved! Even though nations are falling apart, and even though society is deteriorating, because God is my refuge and strength I will not be moved!"
Finally, in the last few verses, 8-11, it’s almost as if the Psalmist sits back after everything he has seen in society and in nature and says, "I will not let stress ruin my life anymore! I’m going to relax, transform my life, change gears, and get on with it in keeping with God’s Will."

I. I WILL NOT FEAR!

So let’s look at verses 1-3. "God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way, and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar & foam, and the mountains quake with their surging."
It almost sounds as if David was familiar with the headlines in our modern day scientific journals, doesn’t it? Worrisome things are happening in our world today. During the past 20 years, earthquakes seem to have increased at a phenomenal rate. Geologists point to the San Andreas Fault, and predict that one day a large chunk of western California will fall off into the Pacific Ocean. They say that the Pacific Rim volcanoes are ripe for a major eruption.

The theme of global warming has become very popular in our day. And what about the hurricanes that lash our coasts, the tornadoes that sweep across our states, the blizzards that paralyze our cities, the drought that shrivels up and cracks our farm land, and the floods that wash away bridges and homes? Some are beginning to cry out, "What is happening in our world today?"
But as Christians, how are we to react to all this? The Psalmist says, "I will not be afraid. My Lord is still in command of the winds and the waves and the sea, and all of the elements of nature. Therefore I will not fear. God is my refuge and my strength."

II. I WILL NOT BE MOVED!
Now look at verses 4-7. "There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day. Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; He lifts His voice, the earth melts. The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress."

Here he pictures nations in an uproar, kingdoms falling, of great changes taking place. It sounds like today, doesn’t it?
For some of us who are a bit older, it is hard to read this passage without thinking of Elvis Presley. He started out making $14 a day as a truck driver. On a fluke he made a recording that caught the ear of a promoter. The next thing you know he was the highest paid male entertainer in the world.
When Elvis Presley died, the airlines were clogged with people trying to get to Memphis, TN. Five tons of flowers were sent to his funeral. People lined the streets just to catch a glimpse of his coffin.
Elvis Presley once said, "I would give a million dollars for one week of peace." He recorded a song that probably described his life, and maybe ours, "All Shook Up." "I am all shook up."
So is our world. Nations are in an uproar. Mankind seems to be falling apart. Our church denomination is on the brink of a split. But we, as Christians, don’t have to be falling apart. We can stand steadfast because God is our refuge and our strength, and because Jesus is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And as Christians we stand strong in the faith and commitment that we have in Jesus, who is our Lord.

III. I WILL NOT BE FILLED WITH STRESS ANYMORE!
Then it seems that the Psalmist sits back & looks at all the changes that have taken place and he reflects on them with these words in verses 8 and 9, "Come and see the works of the Lord, the desolations He has brought on the earth. He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth; He breaks the bow and shatters the spear; He burns the shields with fire."
Then in vs. 10 he says, “‘Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.’ The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress."
Do you realize what he is saying? He is saying, “In the midst of it all I have decided that I will no longer let my life be filled with stress and anxiety." Why? Because "God is my refuge and my strength."
I wonder if we have forgotten how to relax? How long has it been since you sat down with your family and ate a meal together, and then after the meal just talked and visited and had fun? How long has it been since you took off your shoes and walked barefoot and felt the blades of grass beneath your feet?
How long has it been since you took a long walk in the evening, and watched the sun set? Or sat in a hot tub of water and read a whole chapter of a book without interruption? How long has it been since you just leaned back and relaxed and listened to some good, wholesome music? How long has it been?
How long has it been since you just spent a day and got away from it all? You took your wristwatch off and forgot what time it was and did what you wanted to do, when you wanted to do it?
Someone said that 3 words can summarize how most of us spend our lives - hurrying, worrying, and scurrying. It’s time for us to take the Psalmist to heart, to "Be still, and know that I am God."
IV. THREE GREAT TRUTHS WE CAN DRAW FROM THIS PSALM:
Now let me close by pointing out 3 great truths that we can draw from this Psalm:
First, God is always near and available to us. God never puts us on hold. We may be on hold on the telephone, on hold at the red light, on hold at the bank as we deposit our money, on hold in the post office line, and on hold at the supermarket.
But God is always available and anxious to hear us whenever we want to speak to Him. Some of our problems may be superficial, but others are deep, and God can help us. So talk to Him!

B. Secondly, God’s power is greater than anything in all this world. Greater than winds or storms, or earthquakes, or volcanoes. There is no greater power. God’s power is sufficient to win the victory over all the enemies that come our way. The Psalmist tells us again that "God is our refuge, our strength in times of trouble." So don’t be afraid to ask for His help.
C. Finally, God’s help works even when we can’t help ourselves. Have you felt weak lately? Have you felt like there are too many stresses, too many LCUs in your life, and that you’re about ready to explode? God’s help is available, and all you have to do is reach out for it, and grab hold.
If you’re here this morning without Him as your Lord and Savior, You might remember what our gospel lesson said today, there is a narrow door into the kingdom of God, and it is through Jesus Christ. Many will say, “Lord, we went to church, Lord we helped the poor, Lord, we did some good things, Lord, we want to come into your kingdom.” Jesus will say, “Do I know you (in other words, do I have a relationship with you?). If not, he will say “depart from me.”

Please realize that He wants you to come to Him, accepting His love, receiving His forgiveness, and becoming a part of His family. Will you give your life to Jesus Christ today? Will those of you who are believers in Jesus think about ways this week that you can make God your refuge and strength? Will you think of ways you can be still and know that He is God?

One of my favorite songs was written by Chuck Girard. It is entitled, “Slow Down.” I’d like you to close your eyes, relax and listen to these words and allow yourself to slow down.

In the midst of my confusion. In the time of desperate need.

When I am thinking not too clearly, a gentle voice does intercede.

Slow down, slow down, be still. Be still and wait, on the Spirit of the Lord.

Slow down and hear His voice, and know that He is God.

In the time of tribulation.

When I'm feeling so unsure.

When things are pressing in about me,

Comes a gentle voice so still, so pure.

Slow down, slow down, be still.

Be still and wait, on the Spirit of the Lord.

Slow down and hear His voice,

And know that He is God.

And know that He....is...God