High Anxiety
Pentecost 7, Proper 12
Fr. Tim Nunez
May my spoken word be true to God’s written word and bring us all closer to the living word, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
Jesus said, “Do not be afraid.” That little phrase touches many hearts immediately. We all know fear, we all would rather not have it. His teaching has shaped our culture for centuries. Nevertheless, we have a severe and growing anxiety problem in this country, and it is hitting our children, teens and young adults hardest of all.
Last fall, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt published “The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness.” He documents what he calls a “surge of suffering” among young teens that began to take off in 2011. Rates of mental illness, particularly anxiety and depression, have more than doubled, up to almost 30% of girls by 2020, as we got to the pandemic.
What happened? In 2010, Apple introduced the front-facing camera, enabling the “selfie”. That same year, Instagram came out and became a wildly popular, image-based social media platform. Snapchat came out the next year. They and other social media platforms have algorithms designed to make them addictive. Kids that were 11, 12 and 13 were suddenly in a new world online.
Older generations remember the awkwardness of early teen years, but we found our way among the peers we knew and saw. We worked it out in person. Now, kids are working through all of that with, potentially, perfected images of anyone and everyone in the world. It’s affecting all age groups, but it’s hardest on those who are now late-20’s and younger.
Parents, protect your children from this anxiety epidemic and other developmental ills of our digital age by avoiding or greatly restricting smart phones for them until they are in high school. Restrict their apps and time they spend on them. And look at their social media and text messaging, what they watch on YouTube. Youth, you may be angry at me, but I’ve just told your parent to not give you poison or let you play in traffic. You know I love you. Please trust me on this.
Clearly, anxiety was an issue in Jesus’s time, too. Their worries were different; food, shelter, water, safety, illness and injury. There was no social safety net other than family and those who religiously followed the Law of Moses as it pertained to caring for the poor and widows. Those were different times, but do not minimize the very real dangers each age faces.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus is coaching his disciples to be his witnesses, to “acknowledge him before men” without fear. He has just reassured them of what he had taught them in Galilee in the Sermon on the Mount. Don’t worry, God will provide for your needs as he feeds the sparrow and adorns the lilies of the field. And he adds here, “Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.”
It is one thing, one very important thing, to have our needs met. Our fears and anxieties can also be quelled and pushed aside, by a compelling and challenging vision. The disciples’ vision must carry them further. They will all endure a great deal of suffering. Most will die for sharing the Gospel. But they do so while trusting that “it is the Father’s good pleasure to give them the Kingdom.” They don’t have to earn it; just don’t be afraid to share it.
It’s no different for us. Be dressed for action. Have your lamps lit. Be ready.
In the coming weeks, we’ve got several opportunities for you to discover ways Jesus is calling you to be his witness. First, next Sunday we will hold a “Spiritual Gifts Workshop,” which is a very churchy way to say we will figure out your interests and abilities and consider where they might be useful serving Jesus. If you’re not involved in some way, you should absolutely come. There will be lunch.
Second, we will have our annual “Connection Sunday” two weeks from today, on August 24th. After the service, you’ll have a chance to investigate different ministries within the church and in our community through ministry partners like the Care Center, Polk Avenue Elementary and Idols Aside.
Third, we will participate in National Back to Church Sunday on September 21st. We are going to encourage, urge, and beg you to pray and give at least 3 people an invitation to church. We’ve got cards coming for you to give out.
Now, consider how each of those activities affect anxiety. Anxiety is essentially internalizing our attention. Vision and purpose externalize our attention. Actively working with Jesus turns our attention to actually making a positive difference in people’s lives - for the Lord, for eternity. It is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom, and he wants you participating in it now.
AMEN