The following is an excerpt from the commencement address at Kenyon College in 2005.
In the day-to-day trenches of adult life, there is actually no such thing as atheism. There is no such thing as not worshipping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship. And an outstanding reason for choosing some sort of God... is that pretty much anything else you worship will eat you alive. If you worship money and things... then you will never have enough. Never feel you have enough. It’s the truth. Worship your own body and beauty and sexual allure and you will always feel ugly, and when time and age start showing, you will die a million deaths before they finally plant you...Worship power — you will feel weak and afraid, and you will need ever more power over others to keep the fear at bay. Worship your intellect, being seen as smart — you will end up feeling stupid, a fraud, always on the verge of being found out. And so on.
The Graduation speaker that day was the award-winning author David Foster Wallace. He was not religious. But note that he sees that as a problem. Given that the speaker had struggles with substance abuse, obsessive behavior, and depression he saw in his own life what it meant to be “eaten alive” by misplaced worship. The only choice we get is what to worship. And an outstanding reason for choosing some sort of God... is that pretty much anything else you worship will eat you alive. Just over 2 years after he delivered this speech he committed suicide.
This life is not a game. It feels more like a battle. Every day presents new challenges. As we grow from children into adults responsibilities pile up. We need food. Shelter. Love. We will have bills to pay and mouths to feed.
Unexpected tragedies grab us by the guts and give a good twist. A life-changing sports injury. Cancer hits home. A house fire. A death in the family. Love turned to hate. Home turned to battleground.
We want to feel less lonely. Time slips through our fingers and regrets pile up. We want to know that we are worth something. We seek our purpose. We seek relief.
Because of sin, this life seems to attack us. It’s only natural to get a little anxious. Some days it can all feel like too much. Some weeks we only hope to survive. For some, the darkness lasts for years.
What to do? Change your focus. Life will keep coming. That’s the way it works. It changes and moves. We get ourselves all worked up when we expect life to be easy. But a sin-filled reality doesn’t deliver easy. Entertainment and fantasy tell us that easy is a reality. But that’s a lie, a that bubble pops so quickly. “Happily ever after” is such a misleading concept. Change your focus.
Adam brought this on us. God told him the consequences of his sin,
“Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground,”
Constant difficulty is what we will get in this life. No one escapes it. Being famous doesn’t help. Being rich doesn’t help. Being smart, talented, beautiful, or healthy doesn’t get anyone out of the “painful toil”. No matter how hard anyone tries they cannot get back into the Garden of Eden. Not during this life. The gate to Eden is blocked. That life of ease and happiness, of uninterupted contentment was thrown away. Adam and Eve were tempted by the thought of an existence even better than what God had provided. They were led to want more, just as we are led to want more. After the fall, they got anxious. What had they done? What have you done?
What will you do with all the mounting anxiety? What Should you do? The answer is radical and surprising. Change your focus. God tells us to just throw it. Chuck it. Launch your cares. Punt them. Hurl them. Jettison your worries. Give them to God. Because as tough as this life gets, your God is tougher. When you feel unlovable, God loves you. When you get lost, God finds you. When you make a mess, God bends down to clean up.
The apostle Peter had problems. His impulsive nature caused Jesus to call him Satan. He should have been arrested for assault when he cut off a man’s ear. He screamed curse words to emphasize that he didn’t even know Jesus. Peter wanted to get it right, but sin kept tripping him up. Later in life he wrote the words of our text for today, “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” (1Peter 5:7) CAST your anxiety on Jesus. Throw them. Peter knew about anxiety. He loved Jesus enough to follow him full time. Peter made some of the most beautiful testimonies about Jesus recorded in scripture. Yet he had denied knowing Jesus when things got dangerous. After Jesus gave him the look, Peter went and cried his eyes out. What had he done? What kind of man was he?
Well he was just like us. A flawed sinner who gets in his own way. And as he was wrapping up his broadcast letter to “the strangers in the world”, Peter gave some advice especially to young people. He told young people to be humble before elders, before each other, and before God. Be humble. Peter’s pride had gotten the worst of him a few times. And then he says “Cast all your anxiety on God because he cares for you.” Peter gave this message to young people. I think he knew that life would attack you. He knew that Eden was lost. He knew that people can get worked up and want this world to be so wonderful. And as young people you can learn from Peter’s experiences.
So this doesn’t make much sense. Life hits you hard. Peter wants you and I to just shed the worry. It doesn’t make sense. You still will have bills to pay and mouths to feed. You’re still going to get blindsided by tragedy. This life will still be daily painful toil. We’re supposed to just relax about all that? Well yes.
This life may be a battle, but we don’t have to lose. All these troubles are actually mild annoyances. Change your focus. Keep your eyes on the prize. Heaven awaits you and I. Why? Because he cares for you. Why does God care for you? God cares for you because of who he is...not because of who you are.
The apostle Paul put it this way, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” (Romans 8:18 NIV) WHAT? yep. This is all like a mosquito bite compared to your heavenly home. You and I are just passing through. And because of Jesus’ perfect life, death and resurrection the troubles of this life can be seen as a temporary annoyance. Amen.
Hymn 385 Verses 1, 4, 5 “Chief of Sinners Though I Be”
Prayer: Almighty Lord we trust your loving care. Work real changes within us so that we can see outside of us. Help us help others. When we get worried, change our focus to our heavenly home. We, the strangers here on earth, look forward to coming home to you. Amen
