Thanksgiving 2012 (Matthew 6:25-33) Do not be anxious.

Do not be anxious? How do we do that? How can we simply make a decision not to worry about the future? After all, with all the uncertainties in life, the un predictabilities in nature, government, institutions and human frailty how can we simply not be anxious?

Jesus gives us two means by which we can actually choose not to be anxious. These means come to us within two categories: attitude and action. The attitude is to trust in God’s sovereign Love. The action is to seek God’s sovereign love.

The principle underlying these choices is faith.

Faith is not the same thing as belief. Belief can come from bias, desire, need and self-deceit. Many atheists claim that faith in God is self-deceit through wishful thinking.

The Bible is very clear that people believe all sorts of things based on the self-deceit of wishful thinking. Sometimes these beliefs turn out to have some basis in truth. Sometimes these beliefs are clearly not based in truth.

Faith is different than belief. Faith is grounded in human experience, observation, and reason. Belief, as modern atheists point out, requires none of those things. Belief only requires a stubborn will. Such belief produces anxiety.

And so Jesus asks us to observe the natural world. Consider the lilies of the field. Consider the birds of the air. Observe and consider. Think.

And so Jesus asks us to ponder our human experience of food, clothing and shelter, three of four basic human needs. Observe and consider. Think.

Modern scientists have discerned that the human brain is in many ways a threat assessment mechanism. There is a section of our brain that actively seeks out danger and prepares strategies for survival. That section of the brain does not understand the difference between real and imaginary threat. It specializes in one narrow area of threat assessment. Other parts of the brain evaluate the threat and decide on a response or reaction.

Jesus speaks to the whole person when he says do not be anxious. He speaks to the place of threat assessment, threat response and the higher cognitive function Based on that data and that of the brain. He invites us to observe, evaluate and engage rational analysis. process he asks us to set aside anxiety as a survival strategy. He asks us to adopt faith in the sovereign love of God as a survival response.

Jesus sets forth an hypothesis: do not be anxious. Then he asks us to engage our reason to observe nature and human experience. He offers an explanation of human experience based on these observations. Finally, he offers a new way of responding to that threat assessment mechanism in our brains.

Instead of reacting to threat, real or imagined, through anxiety Jesus offers us the pattern of a faith response. Seek ye first God’s sovereign love.

God’s sovereign love is God’s Kingdom and God’s righteousness. God’s sovereign love manifests in an active dynamic creative rational and personal relationship with Jesus Christ. This is not wishful thinking. It is active transforming faith. Do not be anxious. Observe. Ponder. Think. Choose the new way of living that is free from anxiety. Choose the new life through faith in Jesus Christ.