SHARING THE BURDEN
A Meditation by the Rev. Dr. James G. Kirk
Harundale Presbyterian Church
Text: “Cast all your anxiety on him.” (1 Peter 5:7)
First
Second
Last week, you’ll remember, we introduced the concept of life in God’s womb, using the text from Acts that says, we live and move and have our being in God. This week’s text from Peter continues to build on the metaphor. Peter writes how we’re to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God. Many times when people are in crisis situations they pray that they will feel God’s arms outstretched to embrace them. Whenever one of our children’s hurt or in need of comfort the first things parents do is pick them up and attempt to comfort them. A short time ago three-year old Samantha Remery was in hospital with pneumonia. Her first day in all she wanted was for her mother to hold her.
We all know when children are not themselves, when all they want to do is to be held. Life in God’s womb is bound to be a humbling experience when we consider the extent to which God goes to envelop us with God’s all embracing love and concern for us, whether we are in crisis situations or not.
Another example of God’s all embracing love was a moment ago when we baptized Mary Brown. Each time I dipped my hand in the water it was God’s hand working through mine. When I placed the sign of the cross on Mary’s forehead she was marked with the sign of Christ’s love for her. When the children sang for her it was a gift of the Holy Spirit, lifting their voices to God’s glory and honor. Mary couldn’t help but feel God’s love expressed in so many ways. The waters of life now surround her in a very visible and symbolic way as she continues her life in the womb of God.
So when Peter goes on to write how we are to, “Cast all (our) anxiety on him, because he cares for (us),” the extent of that care is the same as any mother has for the child she carries. God nourishes us so that we’ll grow into the person God intends us to be. God broods over our anxieties and our cares as any parent broods over their children’s growing pains. God would never do anything to harm that new life God has created and, in fact, has gone to great suffering in Christ’s death and resurrection. In that very act God assures that ultimately nothing will ever again get in the way of God’s intended plan for us.
Peter continues how we are to “stay
steadfast in your faith” through any present sufferings we may be experiencing.
Two things become apparent. The first is
that we are in the womb with our sisters and brothers throughout the
world. For example, there is no way that
we can witness the strife in
The second apparent reality is Peter’s conclusion, “And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, support, strengthen, and establish you.” In other words, God’s going to have the last word, for “to him be the power forever and ever.” On Scrubs the other night, amid all their clowning around, one of the patients made a very profound comment. “Everyone has a hold on hope. That’s the last thing that’s holding me.” It’s as though whatever befalls us we are tethered to God through that mystical umbilical cord we call hope. Through that hope comes time and again God’s promise that God will ultimately be the victor and that in time we will be restored, supported, strengthened and established. It may be the day when we are born into that life that has no end eternal in the heavens. Or, by God’s grace, it may be as soon as every day we awaken to God’s glory all about us. Whenever it is, know that as long as we dwell in the womb of God we are surrounded by that power that can never be ultimately defined and never totally destroyed. Remember, “your worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the reach of God’s grace. Your best days are never so good that you are beyond the need of God’s grace.” God’s reach and our need is what I call “sharing the burden.”
Thanks be to God,
Amen