Matt Tuckson - Faith & Anxiety - Class 3 - Exhortation

Automatically transcribed. Accuracy is good but not perfect, and words are sometimes wrong. Trust the audio over the text.

1. 0:01

   All right. So yesterday was a really good day. I really had a really good time being able to have good discussions with you all. Thank you. I had a really good time chatting with you all about different aspects of anxiety, which sounds odd, but I did. We started off by establishing in our first class yesterday, what Christ was getting at in Matthew Chapter six, one of the relationship between faith and anxiety, and how the connector between the two is values.

2. 0:28

   Essentially, anxiety, like many other temptations, changes our values in the moment. It tells us what should be important, and often times that importance doesn’t match God’s values, God’s levels of importance. And with that we then thought about, well, what are the implications on guilt and implications on kind of the moral framework of how we understand anxiety.

3. 0:50

   We saw that anxiety in and of itself shouldn’t make us feel guilty, but it is a temptation, and like other temptations, we have a responsibility to work through that temptation, just like anger or lust. In our second class, we got into the actual process of How do I Work Through it? And we saw the four steps of how to work through anxiety.

4. 1:11

   Starting off with talk to God about what you’re currently feeling, figure out what that internalized belief is. Figure out what it is that you’re putting at the top of your values in those moments of anxiety, and then talk to God about it and be honest with him. Step two was Recognize what God might feel in this situation. How does he view this?

5. 1:30

   What do we know about God and his truth, and how does it relate to our current situation? Step three was to think about our past relationship with God and to draw on that and use that history in our current situation to say, well, what? What might God think here? What has he done for me in the past, and does that change how I might view this current situation? And lastly, it was the hard step. Act in accordance with the God’s truth, God’s values. Even if we don’t feel like it at the moment. Even if our values aren’t quite there, even if we don’t believe the things that we know are true. Even if we don’t have that internalized emotional belief yet, when we choose to act that way, and eventually the internalized belief will change, it does eventually get there. And then our discussion groups, we had some really fun conversations, some hard hitting questions as well as some good conversations to try to really and still all this theory that we dealt with in the first two classes and bring it into practice, actual steps.

6. 2:26

   And what does that look like for you as an individual sharing in our stories and our life experiences to try to help each other out. There was some really awesome discussion rooms. I’m really glad we had those. And for this morning what we’re going to do is we’re we’re going to look at our Lord Jesus because believe it or not, he struggled with anxiety too. It’s not just a David thing.

7. 2:44

   It’s not just nothing. It’s even our Lord, Lord Jesus. We’re going to look primarily in two different places. We’re going to start off in the Garden of Gethsemane, and we’re going to see how Jesus dealt with anxiety there, and the exact same way that David dealt with it in the Psalms, and in the exact same way that we’re thinking of how we need to deal with it now and he doesn’t get on the cross.

8. 3:04

   And the really beautiful thing that we’re going to see you in these two different stories, these two different events where Christ deals with anxiety, is it gets easier. It got easier for Jesus, and we’re going to see how it gets can get easier for us as well. So we’re going to go ahead and get started in Matthew 26 and we’re going to bring ourselves to the Garden of Gethsemane and we’re going to try to put ourselves in Jesus’s shoes, think what he’s feeling, what he’s going through, think what we might go through in a similar scenario. Again, that’s Matthew 26, and we’re going to read verses 36 to 46.

9. 3:40

   And again, I want us to try to really get into Jesus’s shoes. I want us to think about his emotional state, but what he might be feeling in this moment. Matthew 26, starting at verse 36. And Jesus went with them to the place called Gethsemane. And he said to his disciples, sit here while I go over there and pray and take him with him, Peter and the two sons of Zebedee.

10. 4:04

    He began to be sorrowful and troubled. He said to them, My soul is very sorrowful even to death. Remain here and watch with me. And going a little farther, he fell on his face and prayed, saying, My Father, if it be possible, let this cut pass from me nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will. And he came to the disciples, and found them sleeping. He said to Peter, So you could not watch with me. One hour watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation, and spirit is indeed willing, but the flesh is weak. And again for a second time he went, and he prayed. My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.

11. 4:49

    And again he came, and he found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy. And so leaving them again he went, And he prayed a third time, saying the words again. And he came to disciples and said to them, sleep, and take your rest later on, till the hour is at hand. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.

12. 5:08

    Rise, let’s be going. See my betrayer of that hand, anxious. It was a very fitting word for Jesus. This feeling here says Jesus was sorrowful, even to the point of death. In the the Luke account, it says that he was dropping, dropping beads of sweat, or try dropping beads of blood, like sweat.

13. 5:31

    That’s how anxious he was getting, was that he was sweating. This was his physical reaction. If you remember in yesterday, I talked about how I had physical reactions to anxiety. I get cold, I get anxious, I get a pit in my stomach. I get a bit nauseous. I don’t want to eat. I lose my appetite.

14. 5:45

    Jesus is going to start sweating blood. Essentially, it’s the physical reactions of anxiety are crazy sometimes. They don’t always make sense, and it’s not shocking that Jesus is feeling this levels of anxiety. See what Jesus The situation Jesus is in is that he doesn’t want to die. That makes sense. That’s not shocking.

15. 6:08

    That’s not how could you, Jesus. It makes a lot of sense. We have a literal thing inside of us telling us we want to live, we don’t want to die. Our human nature is built, not even just our human nature, but like our our our framework is built to say survival is important.

16. 6:22

    But The thing is, that’s the internalized belief that Jesus has to challenge here, because in this moment, his death is a good thing. Doesn’t feel that way. It’s hard to make that feel that way. But that’s the internalized belief that Jesus has to challenge. It is, from God’s point of view, the good thing, the great thing for Jesus to be sacrificed.

17. 6:45

    And we see a battle of wills or a battle of value systems. Understandably so. Jesus living is pretty high on his value system, just like me surviving me living is going to be pretty high on mine. That makes sense. But in this moment, from God’s value system, from God’s priorities, Jesus dying was the higher priority.

18. 7:06

    Not because God wanted Jesus to die, but because he wanted the eternal plan to happen. And that eternal plan mattered more than even Jesus’s temporary sufferings. And I know saying this might sound wrong in a lot of ways, and saying Jesus didn’t want what God wanted. That’s exactly what Jesus says when he says God let this cup pass for me. Nevertheless, not my will but yours be done. Their wills in that moment weren’t the same. What Jesus wanted in that moment was it Internalized beliefs in that moment was not the same as gods. He did not internally feel the same way God felt about the situation and that causes him extreme anxiety. This wasn’t normal for Jesus.

19. 7:49

    Jesus throughout his life was pretty in tune with his father. So much like he could say me and my father are one. We are of the same mind. But in this moment he wasn’t quite one yet. He had to shift to become one in his natural state. He didn’t feel the same things God felt. This was the battle that Christ was dealing with in a state of anxiety.

20. 8:12

    And this is where anxiety is complex, because it’s not even like Jesus’s will was evil or morally like horrible or anything like that. Jesus wanted to live, and the temptations Jesus has had were to, like, set up a Kingdom now so we could help people. Now it wasn’t. He wanted to be some big bad guy.

21. 8:30

    That’s what that’s what was causing him to to want to live right now. He wanted to live to help people, but that’s not what God wanted for him. And This is why anxiety is complex opposed to anger and lust. Typically speaking, anger is saying this bad thing. It’s actually good. And lust is saying this bad thing is actually good.

22. 8:51

    And that’s the lie that these typical temptations sell to you. Anxiety doesn’t really sell that. Sometimes it does. But really what it’s selling is this good thing is now the most important thing, and it’s really complex to spark to parse that out. It was a good thing. It is a good thing for Jesus to help people. Setting up the Kingdom then was a objectively good thing for people would have helped people, but it wasn’t the thing that God wanted.

23. 9:18

    It wasn’t the best thing. It wasn’t the most important thing. And that’s the complexity around anxiety, and that’s the struggle that Jesus was having. His way of dealing with things was set up the Kingdom now, and God’s way of dealing with things was no, we need to set up the Kingdom in the future. You have to die now that this was the battle that Christ was going through.

24. 9:39

    And we see those four steps that we talked about yesterday played out in the small conversation. Step one, he expresses his current position to his father. Father, I’d like this cup removed. Let it pass from me, He asks and says this is where I am. And he knows that’s not where God is. He understands this isn’t the right answer. This isn’t what God wants, but this is what I want right now. I’m going to talk to my father about that. Step two and three.

25. 10:10

    When he approaches God, he calls him Father. The relationship is set up from the beginning of the conversation. On top of this, Jesus understands God’s will. That’s why he can say not my will but thine be done. He understands how God feels about the situation in the conversation. He knows what God is going to say before he asks the question.

26. 10:30

    He knows the cop is not going to be passed. That’s not the point of the ask. The point of the ask of God, let this or Father, let this cut pass from me, is not because he’s hoping for a yes. It’s an expression of where I’m at. It’s an expression of this is what I’m feeling right now. Because he knows God’s will.

27. 10:48

    That’s why he can say not my will, but thine be done. And Step 4, the hard step, He goes with his father’s will, even though he doesn’t feel like it in the moment. In a short conversation, you don’t go from I’m not OK with dying to Yep, I’m on. I’m on board with it.

28. 11:06

    Let’s go. He didn’t shift his feelings in an instant. That’s not possible. What he did was he committed to doing that, what he knew was true, even though his feelings weren’t quite there yet. Jesus didn’t want to die, but he understood that he had to. He understood it was his father’s will and he committed to his father’s will, even though his emotions weren’t quite there yet. That’s the step four.

29. 11:29

    That’s the the picking up of the credit card and swiping it a different direction. That’s the changing, the electric current that we were talking about. It’s choosing to act with what we know is true, even if we don’t feel like it yet. And moving forward, you can see a shift in how Christ acts. Listen to how calm and collected and focused Christ is as he approaches his disciples.

30. 11:50

    At the end, in verses 45 and 46 of Matthew 26, he comes to them and says sleep and take your rest. Later on, see, our hour is at hand and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise and let us get going. See, my betrayer is at hand. He’s looking forward. He understands this is the direction I need to go. Let’s get going to it.

31. 12:10

    Let’s get through this. He’s going towards the thing that he knows he doesn’t want to do. Compare it to how he approached his disciples earlier and verses 40 and 41. He comes to them sleeping and he says so. Could you not watch with me one hour watch and pray that you may not entered impatient for the Spirit is indeed willing, but the flesh is weak.

32. 12:32

    And these moments Jesus is agitated. He’s frustrated and it makes sense because his friends that he cares deeply about, they’re sleeping in one of his greatest trials. But the difference is important. One point he’s anxious and agitated. The next point he’s saying I’m going forward with the thing I don’t want to do, but it’s the direction I’m going.

33. 12:50

    He’s committed and he’s ready to walk to that cross. This isn’t the 1st or the last time though, that Jesus deals with anxiety. It happens again on the cross. And that happens in Matthew 27 at just the next chapter, verses 25, sorry, verses 4550. And we’re going to see Jesus goes through the same process where he starts off not feeling what he knows to be true and he has to work his way to a point where he acts based on what he knows to be true.

34. 13:27

    Starting in verse 45, reading through verse 50 of Matthew 27 and now from the 6th hour there was darkness all over the land into the ninth hour and about the 9th hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice saying Eli Eli, lama Sabaktani, that is my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

35. 13:47

    And some of the bystanders hearing it, said, this man is calling for Elijah. And one of them, one of them at once ran into the sponge and filled it with sour wand and put it on a Reed and gave it to him to drink. The other said, wait, let us see whether Elijah will come and save him. And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit.

36. 14:08

    Jesus says on the cross, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And I’ve heard a lot of different views or reasons why Jesus might be saying this, but I think the most plain and simple understanding is that Jesus is expressing how he’s feeling in that moment. See, yes, Jesus is quoting Psalm 22.

37. 14:30

    And yes, an aspect of this is to teach the Jews this is the way you should be thinking. This is the situation that’s going on. Come read Psalm 22 and understand this is what you’re doing right now. But nobody quotes the Old Testament without feeling the thing they’re quoting, without actually meaning the thing they’re quoting. They don’t quote it just for the sake of quoting it. They quote it because they mean the context going on around the quotation.

38. 14:54

    This is something that in general, when someone in the New Testament quotes the Old Testament, they’re not just quoting the one liner, They’re quoting the whole section. They’re quoting the whole passage around at the Old Testament verse that they’re quoting, and the whole context needs to be brought into what’s going on in the New Testament.

39. 15:10

    That’s why we read Psalm 22, because Jesus isn’t quoting verse one of Psalm 22, he’s quoting Psalm 22. He’s quoting the whole thing, just he only has the one line and what he actually sets. And So what I want to do is I want to read through Psalm 22, get in Christ’s head on the cross, and we’re going to see the same process happen in this chapter, the same four step process.

40. 15:35

    And in this one I’m going to read through verse by verse and I will talk about the different steps as we approach them. Again, just like last time, it’s going to be a bit all over and we’ll hop around between the different steps as we go. But I think the emotional flow of this song is really beautiful. So Psalm 22 starting in verse 10 and real quick the key thing listen for the words like yet or but or however those are keywords where you can go.

41. 16:01

    Gotcha. He’s he’s going from step one to Step 2. He’s going from Step 2 to Step 4. Those keywords of yet and but however those kinds of words all right starting in verse one. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me from the words of my groaning? Oh my God, I cry day by day, but you do not answer by nights. But I find no rest.

42. 16:28

    This is step one. This is him saying this is where I’m at. God, this is what I’m feeling. This is what’s going on in my head right now. It’s not logical. It’s not what he knows to be true. It’s not what he actually thinks. If he were to sit down and write out what he thinks about the truth.

43. 16:43

    It’s what he’s feeling in that moment. It’s where he’s currently at. On that cross he feels forsaken. But then verse three, we enter into Step 2 and Step 3. Yet you are holy, enthroned of the praises on the praises of Israel and and in you. Our fathers trusted, they trusted and you delivered them. And to you they cried out and they were rescued and in you they trusted and were not put to shame. He’s thinking, well, who is God?

44. 17:09

    And God is one that is holy. He’s one that is on the praises of Israel. This is who my father is, and on top of that, my father has been there for other people. But this is a God that has saved and provided for many others in the past. So of course you’ll provide for me here. He will save me here as well.

45. 17:28

    However, we got a lot of emotions to go through. Still, we’re 6th. But I’m a worm. I’m not a man. I’m scorned by mankind. They’re despised by the people. All who seek me mock me. They make mouths at me and they wag their heads saying he trusts in Yahweh, let him deliver him, let him rescue him, for he delights in him. And again, this is going back to step one. This is the emotions that Jesus is feeling on that cross. He doesn’t feel like a man.

46. 17:56

    He feels like a worm. And it’s he’s embarrassed, he’s shamed, he’s he’s naked on the cross. Of course he feels that way. He’s not being treated like a person. He’s being treated like dirt in that moment. That’s what he’s feeling. He feels like a worm, not a man. We know this isn’t a logical statement. This isn’t what Jesus believes.

47. 18:14

    He doesn’t think he’s literally a worm. It’s an emotional statement. And again, verse 9. Yet you are he who took me from the womb. You made me trust at my mother’s breasts. On you. I was cast from my birth and from my mother’s womb. You have been my God. My relationship with my God in the last 30 years has been like this, where I’ve been able to trust with him and trust on him.

48. 18:37

    He’s been with me my whole life. He won’t abandoned me now. He won’t abandoned me. Here on this cross, you see this battle happening in his head. He’s dealing with his emotions. Step one, that anxiety, he’s expressing it to his father, but then he’s correcting himself. He’s saying, I know that’s not true. This is what I know to be true about God. This is what I know from the Bible. This is what I know from my history. I can look at the Bible and say this is what God has done with the Father is I can look at my life and say this is what God has done for me.

49. 19:06

    He’s using these emotions or these these thoughts to counteract his emotions. He doesn’t just not express them. It’s important to express our emotions. But he then goes, what is true? What do I know to be true? Even though I don’t feel it right now And this continues on. We’re not going to keep reading through the next 10 or so verses, but there’s a lot more of this emotional language of be not far from me but for trouble is near. There are many bulls around me, all this kind of language that isn’t logically true.

50. 19:36

    It’s emotionally true. It’s what Jesus is feeling on the cross and he’s expressing his feelings and continues until verse 22 where he says step four. I will tell of your name to my brothers in the midst of the congregation. I will praise you, You who fear Yahweh, praise him. All you offspring of Jacob glorify him, stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel. When do you think Jesus is imagining that happening? It’s not.

51. 20:06

    On Earth in that lifetime, he’s not thinking about how he’s going to stand amongst the offspring of Jacob right then and there and say these things. He’s thinking of the Kingdom. He’s thinking of how he’s going to proclaim Yahweh’s name to his brethren, that his brethren are not around him in that moment.

52. 20:23

    His brethren are not the people that are sitting around him. There’s people putting him to death. Those are not his brothers. The time that he’ll be on his brethren is the Kingdom. That’s when he will say, I will call out your name or I’ll tell them of your name in the midst of the congregation. I will praise you, you here for Yahweh. Praise him.

53. 20:44

    Those people in that moment did not feel fear Yahweh, for they were killing his son. But he looked forward to the day where he would be surrounded by those who do. And then verses 24 to 31, he goes back to thinking about who God is. We’re not going to read the whole thing. We read it in the reading.

54. 20:59

    But he goes back to thinking who God is, what is, who is my God? What is my relationship with him and how does that impact my current scenario? Again, it’s countering the emotions with what you know to be true. Don’t just ignore the emotions. That’s that’s not the right answer. But we need to compare the emotions with what we know to be true, with our actual beliefs, and then try our best to act on our beliefs, what we know to be true, even if we aren’t emotionally there yet.

55. 21:27

    This really the way we see how I was mentioned earlier. This gets easier, for Jesus is really going back to the cross, not so much in the Psalms, but in the cross. See, Jesus says, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And then if you were to compare, kind of try to put the timeline together of what goes on the cross.

56. 21:45

    The next thing Jesus says is in Luke 23, verse 46. Father, into your hands, I commit my spirit. And having said this, he breathed his lass. That’s that last cry out in the Matthew reading that we had, that, that he cried out and gave up his spirit. That cry is father into your hands.

57. 22:06

    I commit my spirit. And that’s a quote from Psalm 31 that we read yesterday. And I just want to read those 5 verses in Psalm 31 so that we get an idea of what is Jesus thinking next? His first thought was Psalm 22, this battle of emotion and his his belief and what he knows to be true. What he’s currently feeling, what he’s believing internally with versus what he believes on a on a grander scale, what he believes to be true on on almost a logical level. And his next step, his next thing he says, is from Psalm 31. Starting in verse one, we’ll read the 1st 5 verses in you, O Yahweh, do I take refuge?

58. 22:43

    Let me never be put to shame in your righteousness. Deliver me, incline your ear to me, rescue you, Me speedily. Be a rock of refuge for me, a strong fortress to save me. For you are my rock and my fortress. And for my name’s sake you lead me. Sorry for your name’s sake. You lead me and guide me.

59. 23:01

    You Take Me Out of the net so that they have hidden for me. For you are my refuge. Into your hand I commit my spirit. You have redeemed me, O Yahweh, faithful God. Step one. My God, my God, Why hast thou ever stake in me? Step 4. Into thy hand I commit my spirit. That’s how quick it was for Jesus. On the cross.

60. 23:27

    It was 2 sentences, the whole process, and it gets easier as we do it more and more. It started off in garden, the garden. It really started off well before that. But in our first story in the garden, it’s a three separate prayers. It’s a walk to the disciples where they’re at, being surprised, they’re sleeping, going back, having the prayer again. Have to go through the process again. Talk to my father again, agree to go with his will again, go back to my disciples.

61. 23:51

    They’re still sleeping. I can go back, pray again, same conversation. Do the process again until I’m at the point where I can say yes. Father, your will be done. I will go with your will, even though I don’t feel it right now. And on the cross, because he has gone through that process already. He’s thought through these thoughts on the cross. Two sentences.

62. 24:10

    My God, My God, why have you forsaken me into your hands? I commit my spirit and we can do the same, Brothers and sisters. At first, the battle of Anxiety will be hard. It will take going back and forth in conversations. It will take having the repetitive conversation. Jesus has the same prayer three times.

63. 24:31

    We will have the same prayer or conversation with ourselves multiple times. But just as it got easier for Jesus, it gets easier for us. And ultimately the battle will end when Christ returns. But at that point, no matter where we are in the process of anxiety, no matter where we are in the process of dealing with this temptation, at that point the battle’s over, because anxieties we put away, temptations we put away. This battle will end because we will be made perfect. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more.

64. 25:11

    Neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain or the former things have passed away. So now as we move for this time of meditation, of self reflection, let’s think about how can we take on the spirit of our Lord. How can we look at the face of anxiety, of extreme temptation and emotion, and say not my will would thine be done?