Classic Sermon: Do Not Be Anxious About Anything

As we have said in the past, everyone has a certain influence. Leadership is influence. At some point in your life, you are always exercising leadership, even if it is only by leading a line of cars down a street. And we are always exerting influence, and therefore there are certain rules and certain attitudes that we need to understand. There are certain principles of the Word that are important. And brothers and sisters, I tell you that every day I become more and more convinced that the frontier of Christian life and of humanity lies in our ability to maintain harmonious relationships with other human beings.

How difficult that is! How difficult it is to maintain harmonious relationships with one another, in the life of the church, in the home, wherever it may be! I become more and more convinced, brothers and sisters, that what distinguishes us, or what can distinguish this Christian religion, is the emphasis Christ places on the character of humility, meekness, love, mercy, patience, and tolerance toward one another.

Let me tell you that when that attitude is in people’s hearts, it is very difficult for conflicts or problems to arise when two people who have that attitude are dealing with each other. What most disfigures the Christian life is our inability, brothers and sisters, to express the gentle character of Jesus. And I raise my hand as the first to admit that I often fail in this.

But I know very well that this is what the Word of God calls us to, and that difficulties in the Christian life often arise there. Every day I feel more sorry for Satan, to a certain extent, scandalous as that may sound. What I mean by that is that we blame him for a great many things for which the poor fellow is not to blame. It is our failure, and we are continually blaming him for it. He has already done enough evil, and his condemnation will fall upon him—do not worry. But we make many excuses when, look, the problem lies with us believers. We are not applying the truths of the Kingdom of God.

And that is why this becomes more important to me every day, especially since lately I have seen so many supposedly anointed ministries fall into scandals and so many ugly things out there. I become more and more convinced that, ultimately, what saves us is the character of Christ. We must take on the character of Jesus as much as possible in the way we treat one another. Against such a thing there is no law, the Word says. The devil cannot overcome a man or woman who has been dealt with by the Holy Spirit and is expressing the fruit of the Spirit of God: goodness, meekness, love, patience, kindness, love, peace, and the joy of the Spirit. We have to fight to clothe ourselves with those things, brothers and sisters, and ask the Lord to give us wisdom for living life. Wisdom. Of all the things you can ask of the Lord, ask God for wisdom, because with wisdom you have power, you have anointing, you have everything else. But if you do not have wisdom, the anointing will do you no good. The devil can deal with anointing, let me tell you, but he cannot deal with a man or woman who has been dealt with by the Holy Spirit. It is very difficult. Let us make it our goal to acquire those qualities of the fruit of the Spirit. Let us fight for that. I put myself first among those who will try as much as possible to do this in my life. And that is why we have spoken about these qualities, because the people of God need prudence, brothers and sisters; we need prudence to know how to live life and how to relate to one another. We have to return to the ABCs of the Christian life. When we are able to live out those qualities, you will see that we can be happy with one another.

I want to speak about this passage because John’s attitude captivates me in this text we have just read, and I am using it as support and as a starting point for this reflection, which I have titled “Replaceable Servants.”

What I want to say, in summary, is that when we serve the Lord, we must serve without clinging to positions. That is where I want to remain for a while: not clinging to positions. And I am going to emphasize that word, clinging or worrying. In recent days, the Lord has repeatedly kept me focused on this. That is why I tell you that this has to do not only with leadership in the basic sense of the word, but also with very important principles of human life: He has had me meditating on anxiety, on clinging, and on becoming attached to things.

In Buddhism, one of the most important rules—and I believe that Buddhism, although it is a religion that is deeply flawed in many respects, has made some very important discoveries—is that the root of human pain, the root of human suffering, lies in attachment, anxiety, and clinging to things. And the antidote is detachment. Buddhism pursues total detachment from the everyday world: detaching oneself and acquiring a kind of complete indifference to the things of life. That is what it pursues. I do not believe we have to go that far. To me, that is an extreme position, but there is a very important grain of truth in it, and that is that, brothers and sisters, anything in life to which you become too attached and cling too tightly is harmful and is not from God.

We should not pursue the things of this world and become psychologically attached to them. The word “grasp” contains a useful image: claws, as though we were sinking our claws into something and did not want to let go. Human beings can suffer greatly when they do that. Sometimes, for example, we cling to pain. How many people have we seen who cling to the memory of a loved one and do not want to let that person go? The person died years ago, yet they are still bleeding and visiting that grave in their minds, clinging to that dead body because they do not want to let it go. They do not want to release it.

I was saying that to someone—I cannot remember the exact conversation right now; it was not anyone from the church, just in case—but she arrived nervous, tense, and trembling, and I said to her, “What is wrong? Why do you feel this way?” She told me, “Today is the anniversary of my mother’s death, and every year when that day comes, I get this way.” I told her, “Look, my advice is to say goodbye to your mother. Release her; let her go.”

Because we cling to things, we attach ourselves to them, and it may be an attachment to a love that never came to be and simply did not work out, and we can live attached to that memory. It may be clinging to a position we want to attain in the secular world. I want to become the head of my office, and there are people willing to sell their souls to the devil to attain a position of authority. Yes or no? People make that transaction all the time, brothers and sisters. They become neurotic, get divorced, and their children hate them. Oh yes, but they reached the position—completely burned out and dried up, but they made it.

We must ask the Lord to give us sound wisdom so that we do not become attached to anything. If God has allowed something to be taken from us, brothers and sisters, then after crying for a while, let us bid it farewell; let us say goodbye to it. Let us be that way with everything in life, because nothing in this world requires us to become bitter or to live withering away inside over something we cannot resolve.

My father had a saying that I believe is used in several countries: If your trouble has no cure, why worry? And if it does have a cure, why worry? And I believe there is some truth in that regarding how we should conduct ourselves in life. That is, we must ask the Lord to give us a middle position between being healthily active, dynamic, and aggressive in a wholesome way, while also knowing when to say, “Enough. I am going to rest now and let things take their course, and I am going to mourn what I have lost, and then let God give it back to me later if He so desires.”

There is a poem somewhere that I wish I had been able to find, which speaks about that: if you have something and you love it, release it and let it go; and if it returns to you, then it was meant for you, but if not, bid it farewell—it was not yours. I believe there is some sound wisdom in that as well, brothers and sisters. Let us ask the Lord for that ability not to cling to anything in this world. That is why I believe the Apostle John says, “...do not love this world or the things that are in the world...” because everything in the world—the vanity of the eyes, the desire for things—is not from God. All of that is headed for the trash; all of that will come to an end one day. As Christians, we must walk lightly and gently through this life, allowing the Lord to give us whatever He wants and to take away whatever He wants.

Now, that does not mean that we should not mourn things for a while. When I lose something good and lovely that I have cherished deeply, I say, “I am going to shut myself away in my mind for a few days,” and I process it, work through it, and process it through the Word; and when it comes out all neatly packaged, I take it and throw it into the depths of the sea, say goodbye to it, and go on living. That is my spiritual philosophy: I am not going to allow anything in this world to eat me up inside. Anything that is a product of anxiety, agony, compulsion, or clinging to things is not from God. Christ has called us to peace; He has called us to freedom, brothers and sisters; He has called us to live life gently so that we may reach the finish line with at least a little juice still left in our brains and bodies.

So it is very important, and you may rightly be asking, “What could have happened to the pastor? Where is the subject in all of this?” But it is there, because I want you to take these lessons with you, brothers and sisters. Many times in serving the Lord—and here comes the application—I see many compulsive people, even in their service to the Lord, and this causes many conflicts in churches, not only in this church but in every church. We cling to positions, we cling to the ideal of a ministry, and we cling to something we have done and have now come to believe belongs to us. And so that territoriality which the people of God sometimes display in matters of serving the Lord causes terrible conflicts, distortions, enormous deformations of congregational life, suffering, and difficulties within the institution itself. It is not healthy, it is not good, and it is not from the Lord.

And God wants us, brothers and sisters, to carry out our positions, offices, and responsibilities with a healthy distance. At the same time that we give, devote ourselves, make a commitment, and excel in what we do, He also wants us to do it with a measure of detachment, so that if, for one reason or another, that position is taken from us, disappears, or we are replaced, or whatever may happen, we do not fall into a defensive, distorted, or resentful attitude. Nor should we react as we sometimes do when someone comes into our sphere of influence and takes a position, and it seems that person might pose a threat to our security: we immediately growl at them, like little dogs when someone comes near while they have a bone in their mouths, and we begin... we bare our teeth and show them all sorts of things. That is not good. That is not from the Lord.

We have to carry out our tasks with simplicity, without clinging to anything in this world, because all of that is merely psychological; it is of the flesh, it is of the emotions, and it is not of the Spirit. And in serving the Lord, brothers and sisters, we have to do things differently. Christ’s words always ring in my ears: “...but it shall not be so among you.” The Lord liked to say that; He was continually saying it in one way or another. Among you, things will be different. And what the Lord was stating again and again was a basic principle of the Christian life: the principle of yielding. The greatest power a child of God possesses lies in yielding. We must learn to yield at the appropriate moment, before the situation becomes atomic, nuclear, and conflict-ridden. We yield knowing that the Lord defends our interests when we appoint Him as our advocate and defender. Against such a thing there is no law. Listen to some principles regarding this matter of not clinging to anything in the Kingdom or to anything in our service.

How must we serve the Lord with respect to this principle?

1. We must cultivate the awareness that it is God’s interests and the interests of the Kingdom that need to be advanced, not mine. It is the interests of God and the Kingdom that need to be furthered. I am simply a part, a nut in that machinery, which must function so that God may be glorified and the interests of the Kingdom of God may advance in the church or in the world at large. In reality, I am not important in that matter, except simply as a possible instrument whom God can set aside whenever He wishes.

I have thought a great deal about Elijah, when the Lord took him into the wilderness and revealed to him what was going to happen later in Israel and Syria and all of that, and told him, “I am going to place such-and-such a king over Syria, such-and-such a king over Israel,” and at the end He told him, “...And Elisha is going to replace you. Go and anoint him to be your replacement.” Elijah simply said, “Yes, Lord, amen. I will do it that way.”

Because that is how things are done in the Kingdom of God. Elijah had already reached the end of his time, and God realized that Elijah was already worn out in terms of his nervous and spiritual systems. Elijah needed to retire, so God found his replacement, Elisha. And He told him, “Now you go, anoint Elisha, and he will be your replacement.” There are no questions there like, “Elijah, what do you think if...?” No, this is how it is, and this is how it is going to be, period. It is time for it to be this way.... Elijah simply saluted and said, “Yes, Lord. So shall it be.”

What a beautiful example for us too, brothers and sisters, isn’t it! I see this here in John. When people come to John with gossip about the one whom he baptized, who has not yet revealed himself as the great Messiah that he is, they say, “John, do you know what is happening? The one whom you baptized is now baptizing more people than you are.” And what does John say to them? He says, “What is the problem? I am not the bridegroom,” using an illustration. “I am simply one of the friends in the wedding party, and all I do is serve as an intermediary. When I see the bridegroom and the bride come together, then my role is simply to rejoice, celebrate, and congratulate them, instead of becoming jealous and starting a fight over the bridegroom—for that is exactly what is supposed to happen: the bride and the bridegroom are to come together. I am nothing in this matter. I am simply an intermediary. So what is the problem?” John had the right perspective on what his position in the Kingdom was. His position was simply to baptize the Messiah, to be a herald of the Messiah, to announce him. He said, “I am a voice crying in the wilderness.”

Now, when the Messiah came and began to carry out his messianic functions, John’s function as a herald was then to step aside and let Him continue. John had a healthy view of himself. When God’s purpose has been fulfilled, brothers and sisters, we must always step aside. We have to discern that moment.

The problem, however, in churches, workplaces, and other situations in life is that we unconsciously inject our own agenda, our own emotional need to remain in a position. There is a false equivalence in this. We act as though the interests of the Kingdom of God were our interests and vice versa. Many times we are afraid to give way, for fear of being left without something we value and take pleasure in doing, and we put a spiritual veneer on this and call it zeal for the things of the Lord, but in reality it is zeal for myself and for my own interests.

God calls us to understand, brothers and sisters, that if I serve to advance the Kingdom of God, that is all that matters, and I will never stand in the way of anything. If another person glorifies God better than I do in that position, glory to God—let that person take it, and I will rejoice in it, because I am simply the bridegroom’s friend; I am not the bridegroom. It is very important for us to become conscious of this matter.

2. We must always be willing—and I have already pointed this out, but I am going to emphasize it more now—we must always be willing for someone else to take our position, and in our minds we must cultivate an awareness that this day may come and probably will come. We must always be willing for another person to assume our position. And this is sometimes very painful. I was saying that it is like seeing our wife marry someone else after years of living together. That position in which I served for so long, which I tended to so carefully, is now being filled by someone else. It hurts us, but that is how it is.

This came to mind because, at this stage in the life of the León de Judá congregation, where we are making administrative changes and the life of the church is continually becoming more complex, and other ministries and other things are emerging, this is a season of many changes and many adjustments. And in that kind of situation, brothers and sisters, each of us is required to have our papers ready, signing a letter to the leaders of the congregation that says, “Whenever you need this, whenever it becomes necessary, I am willing to give it up so that someone else, perhaps more capable than I am, may come and perform that function.” I do not hear many amens out there, but I believe it is important.

I believe, brothers and sisters, that in the life of any congregation, every mature and spiritual leader should be capable of making life easier for their pastors and other leaders by telling them, “My brothers, I am willing—if there is something else in which I can serve better, I am willing to do it.” There you see the fruit of the Holy Spirit. It is difficult, I am telling you.

Let me give you an illustration of this. I am going to use my brother Omar, without his permission, but something happened this week, and I was talking with Gregory about it, and I believe this exemplifies what I want to tell you. I am going to give you an example of how important the fruit of the Spirit is for avoiding misunderstandings, conflicts, problems, and so forth.

It is one of those everyday scenes in the life of service. During the week, I had called my brother Omar to ask him to preach this morning at nine o’clock because Gregory had to leave; he was going to California for the weekend, and so I thought he could not preach at nine. Well, I called Omar and left him a message on his cell phone. Then, when I arrived here at the church a little later, I was talking with Gregory, and it so happened that the office was open. I went into the office to say hello to him for a moment and realized that he was going to leave for California much later and could easily have preached at nine in the morning. So I said to Gregory out loud, “Oh, look, what a shame! Goodness, if I had known that, I would have asked you to preach at nine in the morning, because you have not preached for a while, and it is good for the congregation to hear you from time to time, and so forth.” And Omar’s voice came from behind me: “Don’t worry, Pastor. He can do it.” I felt a little embarrassed because I thought that perhaps Omar might think he was the second choice or that I was looking down on him, and so forth. Yes or no? Some people might have been offended upon hearing that. It could have become a huge mess. Then I would have had to explain myself, go dry his tears, and tell him that I love him and that he should not worry, and so forth. But what struck me was the spontaneous and genuine way he said, “Pastor, don’t worry.” And I point it out to his credit and also to give you an example. I felt so good, and I thanked my brother for his graciousness and maturity. You have to feel very secure to be able to have that attitude.

Now, if he had wanted to make a fuss there, in a sense he would have had the right to do so. And every day I see this more and more, brothers and sisters: many times the problems of life are resolved not on the basis of what you have a right to or what others owe you, but because there is a higher law—the law of love, the law of mercy, the law of the fruit of the Spirit, the law of the cross. If we use that wonderful rule, a great many conflicts in marriage, friendship, and the church can be avoided.

Brother, listen to people’s hearts; do not listen only to their words or look only at their actions. There is a deeper, more profound law—the law of love—which allows you to enter people’s hearts, read their spirit, attune yourself to their intention, and judge them as God judges humanity. That is why there will be many people in heaven whom we will be surprised to see when we get up there, because God sees human beings in a much deeper, more fatherly, more loving, and more generous way than we do. And if we could judge our neighbor in that way, how many conflicts in human life would be avoided!

Let us be generous. Let us be generous and, if necessary, allow others to take our position. And if they took it unjustly, heap burning coals upon their head, the Word says.

There is no tool more powerful than the cross. There is no heavier hammer than the cross, if you use it as a weapon of power in your life. Yield actively; yield in the spirit, and you will see what power that action has to unleash forces in your favor. It is a great secret.

This week I thought about Mephibosheth, a figure whom many of us do not know from Scripture. Mephibosheth was one of Saul’s sons, and his feet were crippled in a fall he suffered as a child. And David spared Mephibosheth’s life. I believe he was Jonathan’s son and a descendant of Saul. And out of love for Jonathan, David gave Mephibosheth a favored position in his kingdom and gave him land and many other things. And when David’s son Absalom attacked his father and drove him into exile, Mephibosheth’s servant slandered Mephibosheth and told David that Mephibosheth had betrayed him. And when David was restored to the kingdom, Mephibosheth came to see him, and David said to him, “Mephibosheth, what happened to you? Why did you betray me like that?” and so forth. And Mephibosheth told him, “I did not do it; rather, my servant betrayed me.”

At that time David had given Mephibosheth’s servant all his master’s land, and Mephibosheth explained to David what had actually happened. And notice that David did not behave... That is why David was not so wise. David was a man whose heart was very genuine toward the Lord, but he was not a very wise man. And so David said to him, “Well, look, I really do not have much time to deal with this situation. I have already made the decision, so the two of you divide the land.” When what he really should have said was, “All right, take back all your land.”

Mephibosheth told him, “Look, my lord, what matters is that you are back in the kingdom. Let him keep all the land.” What beautiful conduct that is! That has impressed me about this man, Mephibosheth. And many times, brothers and sisters, that is what we have to do.

Here it is: “...and Mephibosheth said to the king, ‘Let him take it all, since my lord the king has returned safely to his house.’”

And that is what we have to do, brothers and sisters. If someone else is undermining you, do not worry. Defend yourself if you can, but do not do it too passionately either, especially in the Kingdom of God, because in the Kingdom of God things are resolved differently. Use the cross; yield. Make room, and you will see how God then gives you what you need at the proper time.

Always tell yourself, “This position is not mine. This ministry is not mine; it belongs to the Kingdom of God and to my church. I will use it for as long as I am allowed to and for as long as it is useful. I will hand it over as soon as it becomes necessary.” That is the covenant we should have in our minds regarding any office, any position, anything having to do with the Kingdom of God. May we never be found fighting or contending over a position.

Brothers and sisters, I see that, and my pastoral eyes suffer when I see it among us here. And be careful about saying amen, because perhaps the one who says amen is the first to do it. What the Lord wants is to see that generosity, that meekness, that fruit of the Spirit within His church.

When they tried to draw John into controversy and came to stir him up—“Hey, look at what that man over there is doing. Go and call him to account”—he refused to get involved in controversy. “Relax, that is his. That belongs to him.” Never let yourself be found in controversy or fighting over anything having to do with the Kingdom of God. This is very important: be prepared for someone else to take your position if necessary.

A third principle:

3. Seek to find your place of service, but without anxiety. Not anxiously. I see, brothers and sisters, people who arrive at the congregation, or who have already been here for some time, and God is already working in their lives. They are taking discipleship classes; they know that God has given them gifts; they have a sense of calling in the Kingdom. And sometimes I see, brothers and sisters, that many insecure people are compulsively searching for their place in the Kingdom. They are like a young woman who is afraid of remaining single and is compulsively and constantly putting herself in situations where she can try to find the partner she is looking for. Then sometimes her behavior becomes unbecoming, and she grows insecure. In the same way, there are sometimes people looking for their place in the Kingdom, but they do so in an inappropriate manner.

And notice that there are some very negative consequences to that kind of attitude: i). Many times they put pressure on the church system and on the pastors and leaders to find them a position in which they can serve. And sometimes we pastors are there with our tongues hanging out, racking our brains: “What can I find for this brother or this sister to do so that they will not leave my church?” And they distort things; pressure is applied.

ii). Another thing is that we often see them going frantically from one place to another, as though trying to fit into something, and they do not fit. The harder they try, the more entangled they become, the more difficult it gets, the more frustrated they become, and the more of a burden they are to themselves and to others. Listen to me, how good it is when there is holiness and there is joy as well. And sometimes holy people are the most boring and bitter people I know in life.

But Paul says, “...it is a good thing when the two come together. For we brought nothing into this world, and without a doubt we can take nothing out of it. So, having food and clothing, let us be content with that.” You see the attitude of contentment to which I have been referring since the beginning of the sermon. Now look at what it says: “For those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which plunge men into destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evils, which some, coveting, have strayed from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”

Paul is saying that people who go around loving money so much, clinging to money, get themselves into tremendous trouble and into dangers and sufferings, and sometimes it is the same with service: the person who is very attached to the need to serve God in some way and to find his position in the Kingdom sometimes falls into so many temptations and so many dangers, and sometimes into the danger of creating his own ministry when God has not called him to that. And afterward they are blaming the Lord because the blessed ministry failed. God did not call you to that. He is not going to support you, because He did not place that burden upon you. God supports you when He calls you, but many times we are creating artificial fantasies and expecting the Lord to bless them, honor them, sanctify them, and give them life. It cannot be done.

Brothers and sisters, seek to serve the Lord, but always with that contentment in your heart. Do not let anything take away the peace of the Lord. God has called us to peace, the Word says, to enjoy life. On this Labor Day—which is wrongly named; a day for resting is called “Labor Day,” do not ask me how they came up with that—rest, enjoy yourself, enjoy life, but do not be anxious about anything, because God often takes His time in giving things.

Another very important fourth principle:

4. Understand that God’s employment department has no limits. God’s employment department has no limits. The employment department of Massachussets does have limits, but God’s does not. In God’s employment department there are always many positions.

Christ said, “...in My Father’s house are many dwelling places.” And I believe that if we understand this, it will help us. There will always be something useful that we can do in the Kingdom of God; that is why we do not have to fight over one particular position. Because there are many things in which we can serve the Lord; if something closes, other doors open. We must understand that if God has taken one job away from us, there are others we will be able to fill. God is the one who employs, not man, my brother. And God has infinite job possibilities. I work for God, not for men. That has always helped me. Always, in my work for the Lord, the one who employs me is God. I work for God through this church, but my boss is my Heavenly Father.

And that means, brothers and sisters, that He is the one who put me to work here, and when He wants something else, He will take me somewhere else. I do not have to be fighting or worrying over a position. And it is important for this truth to occupy our minds with regard to service, because sometimes people are searching and maneuvering and manipulating in the flesh and in human ways because they think that people are the ones who have the power to give them the position. In the Spirit, it is God who puts the servant to work at whatever He wants. God is always the one who calls. And so what you have to do is make sure that you are in tune with God, that He is the one calling you.

In the Bible, brothers and sisters, most of the great people whom God called were not seeking to serve the Lord. The angel took Gideon by surprise, and when he said to him, “Mighty man of valor,” Gideon said, “Who, me?” He practically had to kill Moses to get him to do what He asked. Moses offered Him every kind of excuse. They had to go and get David out of the sheepfold, where he was tucked away, because no one even thought he could do it, and he was out there playing his harp and killing lions, completely carefree.

He called Abraham when he was 75 years old and had to tell him what he needed to do, and so forth, and lead him along an entire winding path so that he would arrive and fit into his calling. They practically had to fight with Esther to get her to assume her role. He called Paul when Paul wanted to kill Christians. He truly was far from service. Why? Brothers and sisters, for that very reason: because God is the one who is always looking for people. God is the one who chooses, for reasons that only He knows. The important thing is that you say to God, “Here I am; send me. I am available.” And that you raise your hand and say, “Lord, look, here I am.”

Pray to the Lord; seek His attention. Do not go maneuvering on an earthly, human, and often Machiavellian level in order to obtain a position. Deal directly with the Father, because the Father has thousands and millions of positions He can give you. And if He takes one away from you, He gives you another and opens other paths for you, and He will always be moving you and leading you to better things. And sometimes you yourself can miss the opportunity God has for you by clinging to something that is no longer what God wants at that stage of your life. So let the Lord be the one who employs you. Let the Lord be, and you get His attention. Make sure that your life is pleasing to Him.

The final principle is this: the important thing is for God to be pleased with you and with your heart. Why do I say this? Because if this happens, if God is pleased with you and with the configuration of your spirit, of your person, when God looks inside your soul, if He finds something there that pleases Him, you will never lack something to do in the Kingdom. If God is pleased with you, my brother, He will use you. He will not allow your life to be idle.

Listen to what Second Chronicles, chapter 16, verse 9 says. It says: “For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the whole earth to show His power on behalf of those whose hearts are perfect toward Him.”

I have underlined that verse; I have it there in my Bible, and I always look at it: Chronicles 16:9. Because in my mind I always have that image of God ranging throughout the whole earth, poetically speaking. Looking, searching. God lives yearning to find men and women whose hearts He can be pleased with. There are very few.

That is why, when it came to David, for example, David had such a tender heart toward God; he loved God. To some extent, he was like a boy. A dangerous boy who would cut off anyone’s head, but a boy who greatly loved the Lord, who was very tender toward God, very zealous for God’s glory, and very quick to throw himself to the ground when God accused him of something and to acknowledge that he had sinned. And that is why God forgave David so many things, defended him so much, raised him so high, loved him deeply, and gave him the greatest privilege of all: a kingdom that would never end through his descendant, Jesus. Because David had a heart like that, pure toward God; it was not a scheming, calculating heart, but a transparent, clean heart toward God. And that is why God called him from the sheepfold, from the deepest part of the countryside, to be king of His people, because God is neither foolish nor clumsy; His gaze penetrates to the deepest place. And that is why many times there are people who want to serve the Lord and have gifts but are never placed in a position, because their heart is not pleasing to God.

Make sure that your heart is pleasing to God, that your motives are pleasing to the Lord, that you have a clean and pure heart, innocent toward God, because God loves people with innocent hearts and forgives them many sins. But God repudiates the scheming and calculating heart. The proud heart. And therefore, if your heart is pleasing to God, do not worry about positions; God will find what you need to do, and God will be eager for you to serve Him.

Second Peter 1:5–7. It says: “...you also, giving all diligence for this very reason, add to your faith virtue; to virtue, knowledge; to knowledge, self-control; to self-control, patience; to patience, godliness; to godliness, brotherly affection; and to brotherly affection, love, because if these things are in you, if these things are in you—the virtues the passage has just mentioned here—if they are in you and abound, they will keep you from being idle or unfruitful.”

My brother, my sister, if those qualities of the fruit of the Holy Spirit are in your heart, it is impossible for you not to find something to do in the Kingdom of God. People will come knocking at your door; people will come looking for you and begging you to be king over them, as they did with Jesus. What the world needs most is wise people, people who have been dealt with by the Holy Spirit, people who can give counsel, people who can model the character of Christ. Such people will always be in demand; they will always have offers of employment in the Kingdom of God. What happens is that sometimes we are lazy and want to go ourselves, like the disciples who wanted Christ to put one of them at His right hand and another at His left, using other means. And Christ told them, “No, those positions are reached through the cross.” They must be reached legitimately. The more you want to do in the Kingdom of God, make sure that the work of the cross goes deeper in your life. The only way to have glory and greatness in the Kingdom of God is through the cross, through being cut and pierced by God’s knife. But the person who is willing to do that will always be happy and will always have things to do in the Kingdom of God.

Let us bow our heads. I want to confess to the Lord that the first one who needs to take that medicine is me. Many times we fail the Lord with attitudes that are not fitting in His Kingdom, and God wants a church of love, a genuine church, a crucified church, a church that displays the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Against such things there is no law; against such things, the tragedies of life have no power. Ask the Lord right now to help you rid yourself of all anxiety, of all clinging to artificial things, and surrender everything to the Lord. Sign a blank letter to the Father that says, “Father, I give it all to You, and You give back to me whatever You want. If You want to give something back to me, give it back to me; if not, everything is Yours.”

And surrender what you love most, just as Abraham surrendered Isaac, and very possibly God will give it back to you and give you much more. Let that be the motto of your life; let that be the way you walk in the Kingdom of God. Let go right now of every dream and every desirable thing. Let go of your ambitions. Let go of what you love most and give it to the Lord, and love others and be generous toward others. Let go of everything and give it away; give it to the poor, and you will have treasure in the Kingdom of Heaven. Then you will be happy.

You will know what the Lord’s approval is; you will know what God’s pleasure in your life and in your service to the Lord is, and then your service will be a burnt offering with an aroma pleasing to the Father. Every time the Father sees you expending your energies in the work, He will say, “There is My servant, in whom I am well pleased. To him I give authority.” Serve with that heart. Love and serve your children that way; serve your husband or your wife that way. Serve your colleagues at work that way. Serve your fellow students that way.

Be a person who lets go, who is generous, who does not cling to things, who loves as Christ loved, who gives everything because you have everything in your Heavenly Father, and you will see that you will never lack anything and will never cease to be happy. The joy of the Lord will fill you, and you will be content every day of your life. Life’s storms will come, and you will remain firm and secure, sleeping in the boat like Jesus, because they cannot take from you anything that you have not already given away anyway. That is the secret of happiness. Do not cling. Do not agonize. Do not be anxious. Do not hold on to things. We are pilgrims on our way to a heavenly homeland, and we are only passing through. Meanwhile, we celebrate the little or the much that God gives us and enjoy it, and we leave the rest to Him.

Father, that is our desire, that is our confession, that is our request this afternoon, Lord: to be that way as a church. Father, we ask that positions and the cares of service may never be a cause of conflict and bitterness in this place, and that the name of Christ may never be dishonored by carnal people, Lord. We want the fruit of the Spirit to reign in this place and in our lives, in our homes, and in our workplaces. We want to be messengers of a kingdom of love and light and harmony, as the Kingdom of God is. Forgive us, because many times we fail in this. Help us find rest in You on this day.

Give us Your peace tomorrow, Lord, to those of us who are not going to work. Help us to rest in You and thus, symbolically and physically, to find our rest, our eternal inheritance that no one can take away from us. Thank You, Lord. Thank You, God. Hallelujah. Amen.