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St. Paul urges the Philippians not to be anxious. He tells them,
“There is no need to worry”. This may seem an unreal piece of advice.
There is no way to avoid all worry. Good and sincere people are naturally
worried about many things. It is part of the burden they carry precisely
because they are people who care, who care about loved ones, and many
other things.
But Paul is not talking about normal concerns. He is talking about
anxiety. Nothing is more debilitating or fruitless than anxiety. Of itself it
does nothing to solve our problems. Rather, the opposite is the case. By
dissipating our energy, anxiety weakens us and makes it more difficult for
us to find a solution to our problems.
The root of anxiety is lack of trust – lack of trust in oneself, in others,
and especially in God. Hence, the first piece of advice Paul gives the
Philippians is to pray. They must learn to commit their cares to the Lord:
‘If there is anything you need, pray for it.’
He is not suggesting that prayer should take the place of action. Nor
is he implying that their prayers will always be answered. What, then, does prayer do? Prayer implies a willingness to do what we can, and then
to leave things in the hands of God. To accept what happens then as his
will, even though we may not understand it.
Then Paul tells his readers to think positively. People who are over
anxious tend to think very negatively. They imagine the worst scenario.
This is disastrous. We must concentrate on the good, not on the bad.
Many people devour the newspapers every day. It’s hard to read the
newspapers these days without coming away depressed, so full are they of
bad news. Instead of filling our minds with all kinds of trash, Paul says,
‘Fill your minds with everything that is true, everything that is noble,
everything that is good and pure, everything that we love and honor,
everything that can be thought virtuous and worthy of praise’. The power
of positive thinking is well known.
However, it is not just a question of thinking nice thoughts. We must
try to do these things. Thoughts alone will not suffice. We must pursue
goodness in our actions. Paul says, ‘Keep doing the things you have
learned from me’. In Jesus’ parable of the vineyard a lot of ugly things happened. But
evil does not have the last say. In the end good triumphs. This shows us that there is only one way to overcome evil, and that is with good. Jesus
didn’t answer evil with more evil. He triumphed over evil by good.
If we do what we can, and put our trust in God, then Paul assures us
that ‘the peace of God, which is so much greater than we can understand,
will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus’.
Peace comes, not from having an easy and tranquil life. We can have
peace even in the midst of struggle and turmoil provided we are on the side
of right. Then the God of peace will be with us

There are two important themes that are very clear to me in our gospel. I’d
like to share them with you.
First. Do what you say. Walk your talk. Connect what we do here in worship
with our words to our everyday lives and our actions.
A chaplain on a battlefield came across a young man who was lying in a
shell hole, seriously wounded. Would you like me to read you something from this
book, the Bible he asked? I’m so thirsty; I’d rather have a drink of water, the
soldier said. Hurrying away, the chaplain soon brought the water. Then the
wounded man said, “Could you put something under my head”?
The chaplain took off his overcoat, rolled it up, and gently placed it under
the man’s head for a pillow. Now, said the suffering man, if I just had something
over me, I’m cold.
The chaplain immediately removed his jacket and put it over the wounded
man to keep him warm. Then the soldier looked the chaplain straight in the eye and
said, “If there’s anything in that book that makes a man do for another all that you
have done for me, then please read it, because I’d love to hear it.
What affects people most is often caught rather than taught. Having God on
our lips is not enough we need God in our heart. Second Theme: Even if we have said NO to God it is never too late to say yes to
change.
A man turned to drink. He also turned from God and his family. One day while
walking along, thinking about how his life turned out, he saw a bent, rusty nail in
the gutter. It reminded him of himself and his life. So he picked it up and took it
home. Placing the nail on an anvil, he began to straighten it out and clean it up. An
hour later, it looked almost new again. Then it occurred to him. He could straighten
out and clean up his own life in the same way. That thought triggered his
conversion. He turned away from drink and back to God and his family. Today, he
keeps that nail, Straightened and cleaned, in his wallet. Was there a time when I
was almost like that bent, rusty nail? It is never too late to change.
I close with this story. Someone once called a pastor to say he wanted to join
the parish. He went on to explain, however, that he did not want to have to go to
Mass every Sunday, study the bible, be a lector or an usher, visit the sick, or help
out with CCD classes.
The pastor commended him for his desire to be a member of the parish, but
told him that the church he wanted was located across town. The man took the
directions and hung up. When he arrived at the address the pastor gave him, he came face to face with his own apathetic attitude. For there stood an abandoned church and several other buildings, all boarded up and ready for demolition.
1) Walk your talk 2) It is never too late to change 3) Live your faith

Listen – One and All. Salvation is a gift. There are no first or
second-class citizens in the kingdom of God. We are all God’s children
and God loves us all the same. And isn’t that the way it ought to be?
There are enough ways of measuring status in this world without having
first and second-class citizens in the world to come.
Every society, from the poorest to the richest, has some way of
measuring status. Back in the days when the stagecoach was the
primary means of transportation in the American West, one sign of
status was the class of stagecoach ticket you bought.
It was common for a stagecoach to breakdown, or to get stuck on a
rocky or muddy path. Passengers with a third-class ticket were required
to get the stagecoach going again. They removed the rocks or tree limbs
that blocked the path, they cleared the mud from around the wagon
wheels, they unloaded the heavier items from the stagecoach. If the
stagecoach load was too heavy for the horses to pull up the hill, second-
class passengers had to disembark and walk up the hill. First-class passengers were not expected to do any work. No matter how messy the
situation was, no matter how stuck the stagecoach was, a passenger with
a first class ticket was under no obligation to help on the journey. He or
she simply benefited from the work of others.
Friend, forget such distinctions in the Kingdom. God plays no
favorites. And that’s good. It would be my luck to go into the Kingdom
right behind Mother Teresa or Billy Graham. But, here’s the good news,
it won’t matter at all. My robe will be just as white as Mother Teresa’s,
because it has been washed in the blood of Jesus Christ. And my crown
will be radiant – though it may slip off a little to the side. Whether
we’ve served seventy years or seven minutes in the fellowship of Christ,
the reward is the same – the presence, and power of perfect love. We
shall see Christ face to face.
There’s an old story told about a little church west of Winchester,
Virginia. One Sunday morning their minister was rather preoccupied.
His sermon did not make as much sense as it usually did. As the
congregation listened, they became concerned about him. At the close of the service, before he pronounced the benediction, he said, “You know that my wife and I have a daughter that we haven’t
seen in awhile: She was leading another kind of lifestyle, one that we
didn’t exactly approve of. She left  home and we hadn’t seen her….
“Until we found her the other day. She was in apartment with no
heat, no warm water, and no electricity. We also found her with our
grandson, three months old. We asked her if she wanted to come home,
and she said that, yes, she would.
“Many of you in our congregation will not approve of someone
like that living in your parsonage. But she’s our daughter and we love
her.
“There are two doors to our church. I feel that some of you won’t
be able to shake my hand this morning. And that’s okay. I’ll
understand.” And with that, he went to the back of the church,
pronounced the benediction, and waited.
You know how it is on Sunday. For one reason or another, people
are always slipping out the other door so that they can get away quickly.
But, that Sunday morning, every member of that church went out the front door to shake the minister’s hand. And it went further than a handshake. The people opened their
loving arms wide, and accepted the young mother and child in their
congregation. Clothes seemed to materialize out of nowhere. A job was
found so that the young lady could make her own way. Babysitters just
seemed to appear out of the congregation so she could go to work. In
short, this congregation began to take the Lord Jesus Christ’s message of
forgiveness seriously.
There were those in the community who began to talk. “Did you
hear about the minister’s daughter who is going to church now? And
they are letting her in! Sinners worship in that church!”
Yes, sinners did worship in that church. In fact there were people
who were members of that church who had not been seen in years, but
now began to attend services. They had not felt good enough to attend
before. But now they realized that not being good enough was exactly
the reason they ought to attend. And attend they did. A church and
community were changed forever when a lost daughter and her child came home.
I close with this. I wonder how the people in this community think about this church? Do they see this as a place of grace? Or do they see
us as a people who play the same kind of meaningless games that the
world outside plays. I hope they see this place as more than that
cathedral on Church Street in Monterey. I hope they see us as a place
that welcomes sinners in the same way that Christ welcomes sinners. I
hope they know that regardless of where their feet may have traveled
through the years –even if — no, especially if they have wandered, there
is a home for them here. Hear this one more time and pass it on – to at
least one more person today – this week. It makes no difference if you
came to Christ seventy years ago, or if you come to Christ today. He
loves you just the same. Do you know anyone who needs to come
home? To this home? Let them know they are welcome here!