We concluded our “Sessions” at Gateway in Austin where we will sit down with the wisdom of Jesus – the ultimate Counselor – and dive into five of the most common emotional and spiritual struggles we face. Each week, we’ll explore a new “session,” not with a guru, but with the Savior who knows our hearts better than anyone else. Jesus doesn’t just offer good advice; He offers transformation.
This week’s topic is overcoming anxiety and worry. Perhaps you have gone to see your doctor, your counselor, your small group leader, your pastor and have said these words: “Why Am I So Stressed?”
Digging Deeper
Work through the following questions and scriptures on your own or get together with your group, spiritual
running partners, or family to talk through what you are learning.
Message Video:
Audio Message:
Message Notes from me and Carlos Ortiz, Jr.:
Have you ever found yourself doing something you really like doing, but that very thing is also a point of tension? Maybe it’s taking all of your time, or maybe it’s taking your money, or keeping you from other interests. It inevitably leads us to say the phrase no one likes to hear, and yet almost everyone uses, “I’m too busy!”
I grew up a huge sports fan. Growing up in Dallas/Fort Worth, I was a big Rangers, Mavericks, and Cowboys fan. My love for sports didn’t come from my Dad but from my Mom. She was raised by very competitive parents. Her Mom and her sisters (so my grandma and great aunts) would play Yahtzee, canasta, mah jong, and spades all the time. And these sweet little old ladies would use colorful language to express themselves – especially when they were frustrated. And there cards thrown a time or two. And often, my brother and I were right in the middle of it playing with them (not throwing cards or using colorful language. We would get in trouble for that even though the adults were doing those things).
And if when visiting my Mom’s side of the family, if they weren’t playing cards or some sort of game, it was because there was a baseball, basketball, or football game. In those days my grandpa had his recliner and no one could sit between him and the TV. And if they did, they would get yelled at usually something like: “Move! your Daddy wasn’t a glassmaker!” I never understood that phrase for the longest time. Ever hear that before? In other words, your Daddy didn’t make kids made of glass who were see through. My grandfather was an aspiring umpire although he never quite made it to the big leagues.
As a result, I really can’t do anything sports related half way, I’m either all in or all out. So my fantasy sports leagues were my band of brothers, we had so much fun together, but it was costing me something…time. All of the research, all of the games being watched, the trades being proposed, the monitoring of other people’s teams and their stats, waiting until the last minute to start my team just in case someone wasn’t playing that weekend. That’s when I realized I couldn’t continue to do fantasy baseball and fantasy basketball. Those games were daily whereas football is weekly. You see, I was telling my wife, my kids, my coworkers, my church that I was too busy, and I was, but what kind of busy was I?!
We live in a culture where being busy often feels like being important. And not being busy makes us feel lazy or that we are missing out on something we should not be missing out on. We keep ourselves busy with our bodies, our minds, our hearts, our emotions, our entertainment, our friendships, and maybe even living vicariously through others, like our favorite sports teams, podcasters, or our nieces/nephews, or our own kids and grandkids.
Even spiritually-minded busyness can leave us stressed out! We can serve on 2 or 3 teams, attend a bible study, join a group, and all the while still have a sense of being busy and overwhelmed. It can leave us longing for simpler times and days when we didn’t have so much responsibility or pressure. My son Max loves this song from 10 years ago, the year he was born, it has 3 Billion views on YouTube, and the bridge and chorus go like this:
Lyrics to 21 Pilots song from 2015:
We used to play pretend, give each other different names
We would build a rocket ship, and then we’d fly it far away
Used to dream of outer space, but now they’re laughin’ at our face
Saying, “Wake up, you need to make money, ” yeah
Wish we could turn back time to the good old days
When our mama sang us to sleep, but now we’re stressed out
Wish we could turn back time to the good old days
When our mama sang us to sleep, but now we’re stressed out
In this Sessions series we have looked at root issues that tend to rob us of joy and peace, things that create so many obstacles for our lives. We’re not trying to oversimplify how to live life, but we are looking to Jesus, our great counselor, for insight and wisdom in following His way. We’ve gone after root issues like our sexuality and how lust impacts our soul, we then dove into the root of judgement and condemnation and how we all have been recipients of it and that we have to admit we have also judged and condemned others. In week 3 we talked about being robbed and crippled by our anxiety, and then last week we spoke about our purpose and meaning in life. So as we close out these Sessions with Jesus, take a deep breath…
…and let’s go to Luke 10:38-42, and see how Jesus begins to address this issue of being too busy.
38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”
41 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” – Luke 10:38–42
Martha was serving Jesus—doing something good and worthwhile—but still became anxious and distracted. Look at this passage, Martha is highlighted first, she is the one who invited Jesus in the first place. And then she took on that responsibility with preparing for him and more than like the food and drink that came with being a good hostess. It left her busy and overwhelmed to the point that she began to resent her sister for not doing the same thing.
Then we have Mary, who chose to sit at Jesus’ feet—prioritizing presence over productivity. She knew the importance of time with Jesus, what it means, and she was relishing every single moment by sitting at his feet. Don’t forget that in these times, Jesus was referred to as a Rabbi, a Jewish teacher. And to sit at the feet of a rabbi was a sign that you were under their authority, their teaching. Mary is doing just that, sitting under the authority of Jesus. Why was she doing this?
Ann Spangler, author and theologian, would remind us from her book Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus, “Don’t forget that you are standing in the presence of God himself.” Mary was well aware of that fact.
Now, Jesus didn’t rebuke Martha’s work and effort, he didn’t rebuke her invitation and eye for excellence, but he did point out her worry, her distraction, her presence from what matters most. It’s the epitome of Jesus saying, “Your busyness is actually keeping you from me!”
Let’s ask ourselves: What is distracting me from sitting with Jesus? A clear focus, slower heart rate, eyes on Him type of sitting at the feet of the Rabbi. It’s carving out space to listen, rest, and be still.
We would hope you know this, but for clarity’s sake, we have to know that our value doesn’t come from how much you do—but from being with Him. Yes, there’s an overflow of that time, yes, we are compelled to go into the world and work and make a difference, but it is ensuring that this is all taking place in the right order and context.
We prioritize being over doing
Being Doing
Interior Exterior
Abiding Serving
Solitude Engagement
Intimacy Activity
Invisible Visible
Rest Work
So if Jesus starts off with asking us to search our hearts and to realize we are being with him and prioritizing that over doing things for Him (or ourselves), then let’s take it up a notch. How do we look at the time we do have and use it well?
15 Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. – Ephesians 5:15–17
These verses in context are primarily about being aware of how to live, morally as unto God as opposed to immorally like the world around us. So we are to make the most of our opportunity:
Opportunity – Kairos (greek) – time, appointed times, proper time
Example(s) – when you have an employee, a friend, a child, and you want them to do something that is potentially challenging, are you walking in awareness? If you’re getting married, are you asking your friends to spend time and money that they may not have to make your wedding experience perfect?
If you are a manager and you want your team to do an off-site, are you aware of the personal things your team is experiencing that might hinder their full engagement?
If you are asking a friend to help, are you aware of the burdens they currently carry and they may or may not be able to help?
It’s this kind of awareness that Jesus asks us to have about our own lives. Do we know the times?
But to build on that, if we are going to “be very careful, then how we live, not as unwise but as wise” then it would behoove us to actually audit the time we have and how we are using or misusing it.
I don’t want us to all get into work mode, but most of us have heard of the tool known as the Time Audit. For those of us who think we know, or maybe have never heard of it, I found this definition from Microsoft Corp:
Time Audit – a time audit is a meticulous examination of how you spend your time. It’s a candid look revealing patterns and habits that often go unnoticed. Time audits analyze your daily tasks and activities to determine their impact on your overall productivity. They involve taking a closer look at your schedule to identify areas where you can improve your efficiency and effectiveness.
I know this is a corporate way of looking at how we use our time, but this is the same essence that God calls us to live by. An intentionally lived life, not a reactive one. To live with Wisdom, not so we are much more efficient in what we do, but instead that we are doing the very things that actually matter.
But in order for us to truly understand how we spend our time, how we should spend our time, and how God sees us as we use our time, we have to STOP. Literally STOP! I was tempted to say slow down, catch your breath, take it all in, but I’m not sure that truly encapsulates God’s heart. No, he wants us to STOP!
Now that we’ve stopped…we have some questions to ask ourselves:
- Does my weekly schedule include times that allow me to be with Jesus?
- Does my weekly schedule account for time needed with those I care for and for those in need
- Does my weekly schedule reflect intentionality in the way I work?
- Does my weekly schedule allow for time in community – growing in my faith and helping others grow in their faith?
- Does my weekly schedule expose blindspots of inefficient living/working?
“Never be so busy as not to think of others.”
-St. Teresa of Calcutta
But Carlos, does God really care how I use my time? Let’s find out…let’s go to the OT book of Haggai, chapter 1. Some quick context: The Israelites have been in exile away from Jerusalem. They’ve been in Babylon for 70 years, and upon their return, many of them are quickly wanting to, and for good reason, rebuild their own family homes, all the while God’s temple was left in ruins. Let’s see if God cares about the priorities those returning to Jerusalem have put into place:
5 Now this is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. 6 You have planted much, but harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.”
7 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. 8 Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build my house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored,” says the Lord.9 “You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?” declares the Lord Almighty. “Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with your own house. 10 Therefore, because of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth its crops.
Here’s the bullet point version for quick reference:
- God asks us to carefully examine our ways
- Our work, our toil, can be futile and never enough
- Put first things first (God’s house)
- When we don’t, we become our own obstacle
Ok, so let’s all acknowledge that busyness is a symptom of something deeper, a lack of intentionality that we must address. So what are some practical things we can do to combat it:
- Sit at Jesus’ Feet First
- Build a Sabbath Rhythm
- Track Your Time
- Filter Decisions through “One Thing” – “Will this pull me toward Jesus or distract me from Him?”
- Cultivate Stillness – Commute in silence, take a walk on your lunch break, etc…
- Prioritize being in community – growing as a disciple of Jesus and making disciples of Jesus
- Ask Others for Insight – Let others speak into your time use and priorities—sometimes they see what you don’t.
I know we’ve talked a lot about examining our time, our schedule, the efficiency of our life and where there is room for the things that matter, especially spiritual matters. But this isn’t merely a suggestion, no it’s a mandate, and not just a mandate of our time, but truly a mandate to search our heart and motives.
As we prepare to take communion today, just know that all who believe and have made a profession of faith in Jesus, are welcome to take communion with us today. If you are here, and still exploring who Jesus is, you will refrain from taking the elements, but please be very present with us as we do break bread today.
We read in 1 Corinthians a challenge by Paul, who wrote much of the NT. He’s talking about the Lord’s Supper, communion, and how the effectiveness and power of the breaking of bread is not present in that particular church. People began to focus on themselves, the food, the drink, and it has lost the mystery of Christ’s work because of this. It was merely drink and food, it was no longer the Lord’s Supper. So he then gives instruction that lines up to what we’ve talking about today:
Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. 29 For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves. 30 That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. 31 But if we were more discerning with regard to ourselves, we would not come under such judgment. 32 Nevertheless, when we are judged in this way by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be finally condemned with the world. – 1 Corinthians 11:28-32
What does this mean? The cup you hold in your hand is merely a cup and a wafer. What makes it more than that is when we examine our hearts, consider Jesus, his work on the cross and his resurrection into this very moment, and we collectively do this as a church body. When we have this communal approach to this moment, the power and mystery of Christ’s death and resurrection is alive in us, and we share it with others.
23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” – I Corinthians 11:23-24
25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.