Grace Lutheran Church

Casting Your Cares on the Lord – Sermons Easter 7A May 4, 2008

+ In Nomine Jesu +
The Rev. Evan Gaertner
Easter 7A
May 4, 2008
1 Peter 5:6-11
“Casting our Cares”

My first year at Grace as pastor there were quite a few funerals. I remember asking my father how after so many years he continued to sound so fresh and purposeful with the gospel when he preached at funerals. He advised me to different passages of Scripture and how we found those passages to be foundational for his approach to different situations. The one passage that was especially important to me was the one that he referenced for when he believed he needed to speak about the burden of grief the family was carrying.

The passage that was suggested to me was 1 Peter 5:6-7 “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.” Some translations will put part of it this way, “Cast your cares upon the Lord for he cares for you.” I like the way the word care gets used for burdens and relief in the same sentence.

During my first year of ministry I struggled with preaching at funerals when I did not know the people as well as I thought I should. Interestingly, now my struggle is I know you all so much better that I don’t want to be preaching at your funerals.

There are many things that I care about and I care about them so deeply that they become quickly anxieties. Although I don’t want that to sound like my problem is that I care too much. My problem and I think a problem for a lot of people is not that we care too much it is that we do not know or forget what to do with these cares. To give some perspective I want you to consider how I have found myself before entering a grocery store and thinking that I am only there to pick up a few items. So instead of grabbing a cart and pushing that around I pick up just one of those small baskets. But without a doubt I find myself in not too long carrying an overflowing basket and I still have more shopping to do. I keep trying to put new items into that already too full basket and struggle as items that I need to get simply bounce out of that shopping basket.

Well shopping with that overflowing basket is a little bit like what my life feels like at times, especially that first year of ministry, first year at Grace, first year owning a home felt like. The worst part is that when in the middle of the grocery store I keep convincing myself that I am almost done and that it does not make sense to go back to the front of the store and get a basket.

In life I find myself the most tempted by the devil when I am foolish enough to try to handle my life on my own without seeking refuge, shelter, safety in the hands of my Lord God. The devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. In the African Safari it is the weak and slow ones that the lion gets. The healthy and the strong are able to stay with the pack and avoid the lion. Spiritually we fool ourselves into thinking we are the healthy and strong ones when try to carry everything on our own. There is a funny song called, “I’m not crying” by Flight of the Conchords, a group that describes itself as the fourth most popular folk parody duo in New Zealand. Some of the lyrics include, “I’m not crying / It’s just been raining/ on my face / These are not tears of sadness because you’re leaving me / I’ve just been cutting onions / I’m making a lasagna / for one / Oh, I’m not crying / No / There’s just a little bit of dust in my eye.”

It is a silly song that guys sings as one of them finds out his girlfriend is breaking up with him. The song points out the silliness of trying to pretend we are not hurt when it is plain to see we are struggling. But for some reason not only in this silly song, but in real life we are tempted to carry our burdens on our own and not seek the comfort that our Lord has come to offer us. It is indeed at that moment when we have refused to cast our cares upon the Lord and instead carry the burden ourselves that the devil finds us the easiest prey.

How do we resist our adversary the devil? We resist him by remaining firm in our faith, knowing that Christ who suffered for us on the cross, is the same Christ who desires to carry our burdens. That is what he came for. He died and rose again because we cannot stand on our own against the temptations of the devil. We should not be so foolish as to seek our own glory in our spiritual battles. To Christ be the glory because it is he himself that will “restore, confirm, strengthen and establish you.”

St. Peter reminds us, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you.” With repentant hearts, trusting in the mercy of God, we rely upon our Lord Jesus Christ to be the one that will carry us through. We trust in Jesus Christ because he carried that cross for us to Golgotha. We trust Jesus Christ because he not only carried that cross but he defeated that cross. He defeated your sin, he turned away the devil that seeks to attack us.

I want to take you for a moment back to me in the middle of the grocery store with my overflowing basket. What am I supposed to do? Do I just go to the front of the store and pick out a bigger grocery cart? Yes. That is where that story breaks down. In the grocery store I just keep going back to get a bigger grocery cart until I have gotten everything I need. But in truth in our relationship with God we are humbled knowing that he alone is the one that can carry the burden of our sin. No matter how many times I would try to go back to the beginning and do things all over again, I still would need my savior Jesus Christ. By God’s gracious mercy Jesus Christ is the one that has come to rescue us, so rely on him, turn to him, trust in him and he will lift you up.

 Soli Deo Gloria