Handling Stress Like Jesus

Like Jesus is the name of our series here at Twin Lakes Church leading up to Easter. My name is René, another one of the pastors here at Twin Lakes Church. I want to invite you to download the message notes at TLC.org/notes. You'll not only get the message outline and the verses I'll be talking about today, but there's also some added features there with extra value for you, like discussion questions for your own personal meditation and reflection or also for group study as well. So go to TLC.org/notes and as you do, how are you doing?

It has been an intense year to say the least. People are telling me, "René, I feel like I'm losing my mind. I'm forgetting everything and I'm doing dumb stuff and I just have to tell you, you are not alone. I'm right there with you. I feel like I'm forgetting the names of my best friends and my children. It's just been such a stressful, strange year." But I want to tell you one place personally, I find help when I'm feeling sort of lost in the past year or so. And yes, I do mean the Bible. We're going to get there. But I also have found some comfort in searching for social media posts with the hashtag #QuarantineFail because then I know that I am not alone in this.

For example, I found this person who posted a picture of how they proudly installed a cat door after watching a YouTube video. Unfortunately, when he put it back, he realized the kitty door was on top of the people door. So this could work for like spider cat, I guess. And then this past year, a lot of us tried the home haircut. Like this man who posted this picture and said, "No joke, my clippers just died." And his cool buzz cut became a ridiculous bozo cut. And then there was the mom who searched all day for her sunglasses. You know how that is. "Where did I put those things?" Until that night when she found them in the refrigerator next to the yogurt. You know, we're just not thinking clearly.

And one of the things early on that was kind of a bright side to the whole lockdown was that at least rush hour traffic was non-existent, right? Because we were all working from home. And yet somehow these two commuters still found a way to have a fender bender. Only two cars on the road still collided. And it's been tough on families. One person posted, "Looks like quarantine is not going well for the couple in the apartment across the street. Sign, 'My husband is for sale.'" And then finally one mom was just trying to help her fourth grade son during all this remote schooling that the kids have had to do. And then she found this essay where he wrote, "It is not going good. My mom's getting stressed out. My mom is getting confused. We took a break so my mom can figure this stuff out. And I am telling you, it is not going good." Somebody said, "Here's the truth. We are all on edge and exhausted."

And it's good to laugh, but the Stress Israel article in the journal, "Globalization and Health" that I found fascinating this week. Listen to this. Here's what they did. They analyzed every single study that came out in the last 12 months that tried to gauge people's mental health. And here's their summary. All of the studies, not some of them, all of them, reported symptoms of mental trauma, such as depression, mood swings, irritability, insomnia, post-traumatic stress, and anger. In other words, predictably, we're all going through some kind of post-trauma stress because of the past year that we've all been having. So we need to give each other grace. We are all on edge and we are just exhausted.

I found this amazing story on NBC News just this past week said 70 percent, look at the stat, 70 percent of those who began to work remotely in the pandemic are now also working during weekend hours. Do you remember when we were all saying, "Yeah, what am I going to do with all this extra time that I'm going to have?" "Because I'm not commuting. I think I'll take up 14 or 15 new hobbies." Yeah, that didn't happen for most of us. In that NBC News story this week, psychologist Dr. Palaviya Torres says, "With work and life blended together, we are in work mode indefinitely. And we feel angst about the utter exhaustion of this new endless grind." Sunday is becoming an extension of the workweek, but she says that push was happening before the pandemic. That's for sure.

She says we cannot allow Sunday to be the day we rev the engine before the race because we are already running on fumes. That is not a pastor saying that. That is a psychologist. We are truly all on edge and exhausted. So what does the Bible have to say about dealing with that kind of a lifestyle right now? Well, of course, as Christians, we know that the answer is to trust Jesus. And obviously that's foundational. That's the first step. We trust Jesus. We trust that he still has the whole world in his hands. But sometimes we forget that the Bible also advises us to do something else. Trust Jesus yet, but then also do what Jesus did.

I mean, think about this. We sometimes forget this part, but Jesus made it clear. He said to the disciples in John 13, "I have given you an example to follow." Not just beliefs to hold, but an example to follow. And this is all through the gospels. For example, in the book of 1 John 2:6, John says, "Those who say they live in God, those who say they are believers, should live their lives as Christ did." And that is the whole idea behind this series, like Jesus. There are far too many Christians out there right now. Would you agree with this? Who say they are Christians and then don't act anything like Jesus.

Now it's easy to look at the headlines, look at the news, photographs and think, yeah, those people, they say they're Christians. They sure not acting like Jesus. But all we have to do to see somebody like that, frankly, is to look in the mirror, right? In this cultural moment with everything that's going on in society, COVID and everything else too, all of us as Christians, it's crucial for us to ask ourselves, how can I live more like Jesus, not just for ourselves, but for our families, not just for our families, but for our neighborhoods and not just for our neighborhoods, but for all of society? How can I live like Christ?

And so today let's talk about something that's very relevant. A year into the COVID crisis, let's talk about handling stress like Jesus. Because when you think about it, no one has ever led a more stressful life than Jesus Christ. Constant requests, constant demands on his time, constant people trying to trap him, things seemingly going wrong all the time and over it all the shadow of the impending crucifixion looming. Yet Jesus, unlike me, I don't know about you, but Jesus never snaps. He never seems to be in a hurry. He never loses his calm. And so my question is, how did he do that? Because I really need to know.

Well, if you trust Jesus, that's good. But then if you also look at how Jesus lived, if you literally were one of the early disciples following in his footsteps, you would observe Jesus doing something. You would see that he had three habits that gave him strength for his very stressful life. And I believe that if you and I adopted these habits, we also would develop his kind of grace under pressure. So jot these down in those notes you downloaded. First, the habit of seclusion, taking time off to be alone. Get away from anything that beeps, rings, pings, or says, "You've got a call from..." You know, Jesus did this like in Luke 4:42. It says, "At daybreak, Jesus went out to a solitary place." And now what makes this verse fascinating to me is that it came at the end of a very busy day.

In fact, it's really the most busy and stress-filled 24 hours that is documented for us in the Gospels. In one 24-hour period, Jesus teaches a huge crowd, calls his 12 disciples, drives out an unclean spirit, heals Peter's mother-in-law, and then after sunset, when he probably just wanted to kick back and relax, it says, "The townsfolk bring all their sick for healing." It literally says, "The whole city was gathered at the doorstep." And then that went on all night long. And then after all that, after nearly 24 hours of constant stress, Jesus went out to a solitary place. He just needed to recharge his batteries, just like you and I do. He was fully human. He needed a battery recharge.

But what's interesting to me is that the story doesn't just end there. It says, "And the crowds were looking for him." Right? And they found him. It's kind of like if you're a parent of two little kids and you're just trying to go to the bathroom and the kids after five seconds are knocking on the door, "Daddy, Daddy, or Mommy, Mommy, are you in there?" And now we have constant people knocking on our door, demanding our attention with social media, pings and alerts and dings, right? So these people find where Jesus is kind of hiding out. And they came to him and they tried to keep him from leaving. They're like, "Jesus, we got an agenda for you." But Jesus told them, "I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well." Because that is why I was sent.

That is Jesus for no. You know, as they say, sometimes you have to say no to good things in order to say yes to the best things. And we're going to get more to that in a minute. But first, let's just go back one verse. Watch this. The word for solitary place in the original Greek is the Greek word eremos. Now, eremos is a word that you see pop up repeatedly in the stories of Jesus in the Gospels, in the Bible. But it's hard for us English readers to see because for some reason in most English Bibles, the same exact Greek word is translated a lot of different ways. It's translated, for example, desert, lonely place, solitary place, quiet place, wilderness. But it's always the same word eremos. And Jesus absolutely loves the eremos.

In fact, in the Gospel of Luke, no less than nine times, Jesus goes off to the eremos. The basic idea is the eremos is a place, usually in nature, that's a place of space and silence. Space and silence away from the crowds. For example, in Luke 5:16, it says, "But Jesus often withdrew." Often! This wasn't something he did once in a while. Often he withdrew to lonely places. And again, it's just the Greek word eremos, a place of silence and space, and he would pray. And Jesus invited his followers to do the same. In Mark 6:31, it says, "Then because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat." You ever felt like that? Every single parent of young children right now is thinking every single day. Yes, the disciples didn't even have a chance to eat. So what did Jesus say to them? "Try harder." No, he said, "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place." And again, the word there is the same Greek word, eremos. Let's go to the eremos and find some rest.

What I'm trying to get at is this. When you are taking a break, you are not being weak. You are being like Jesus. Don't you long for the eremos? I wish we had a good word in English that meant the exact same thing as that Greek word. Don't you long for that place. And by the way, no type A guilt trip here. When you're taking a break, it's not like I should be more productive. No, you're being like Jesus. And also, please know legalistic guilt trip about this either. God's not going to like you more if you do this. God already loves you unconditionally. Jesus didn't say to his disciples, "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place that I might choose the ones who are worthy." No, he says, "Come with me to a quiet place and get some rest." Jesus had already chosen them by his grace. This was just an invitation for them to rest.

So you're probably thinking, "Okay, René, that sounds great, but how do I practically do this?" Let me just tell you a couple of things that have worked for me. One that I've actually done pretty good on. One that's still a challenge for me. We're all wired differently. But here's what's worked for me. Pick at least one day a week to spend 15 to 60 minutes alone with God. And if you're thinking, "50 to 60 minutes, I can never..." Start with 10. Start with five. The idea is not perfection. The idea is take incremental steps toward living like Jesus in this healthy lifestyle. I do this on hikes. I mean, around here in Santa Cruz County, we are so blessed. I go on long hikes by the beach, ocean cliffs, up in the forest. You could do this also in your neighborhood.

Now, this one I'm doing pretty good on. I really do this very regularly. Now, the second thing I want to suggest has always been a challenge for me, but I am really making this a priority. And this may be a really big, challenging step for you. But if you and I want to be like Jesus and handle stress like Jesus, we need to do what Jesus did, which is to take a weekly Sabbath. Now, you might have heard the word Sabbath. It's kind of a churchy word. What does this word mean? Well, Sabbath comes from the Hebrew word Shabbat, which literally means to stop. The Sabbath is meant to be one day a week where we just stop, stop working, stop worrying. Just put life on pause.

By the way, the word can also be translated to delight. I love that a day to stop and to delight. And in the Bible, check this out. This concept goes way back to creation in Genesis 2. It says, God blessed the seventh day and he sanctified it because on that day, he rested. God rested like John Mark Comer says. And by the way, his book, The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, that's the ruthless elimination of hurry. Isn't that a great title? Very memorable. You can see all the Post-it notes and so on that I've got in my copy of John Mark Comer's book. I strongly recommend it if you really want to do a deep dive into this topic.

But he says in the book, the idea is that God built a rhythm into the DNA of creation, a temple, work six days, rest one. Now I know this is a challenge, but God has just invented the Sabbath for you to give you a chance to unplug like Jesus. Now here's one example of how to apply this practically. I asked my good friend, Pastor Herman Hamilton. He's the pastor of New Beginnings Community Church over on the peninsula. He spoke for us last summer. You might remember. And I said, Herman, recently, I want to have you back. And I gave him a date. Would you please preach on us this date? And you know what he said? No. He turned me down. And why did he say no? Well, it was because he was taking a two week break to recharge his spiritual batteries and saying no to everything because that was important. He needed kind of a Sabbath break for his soul.

Well, frankly, I was so impressed with that choice that I asked him if we could talk about it on screen. I called him a couple of days ago. Here's part of our conversation. I was pretty impressed that you said no when I asked you to speak because I know you want to speak. But one of the reasons you said no is you just have a lot of stuff on your plate. And you can't say yes to Jesus and say yes to everything else. That means saying no to even some good stuff. You know, Jesus time away from people time with the father in prayer, he really understood it as life and death. He understood that he needed to do that as almost as much as breathing.

I think even for me, I haven't always seen it that way. And I realized several weeks before I pulled away that I was empty. You know, my cup was getting emptier and emptier and emptier and that the emotional and intellectual and spiritual resources that I needed to preach effectively week after week after week to lead effectively was drying up. Was just drying up. So one, I was honest with my executive team. I do think that we have to be aware enough of what's going on in terms of our mental health and spiritual health and de-stigmatize that stuff. Don't see it as weakness. It is strength to be acutely aware of your situation and be able to articulate it. Say it out loud to some other folks. I said it out loud to my wife. I said it out loud to my executive team. I said it out loud to some of my elders. They were aware that, you know, this is kind of how I'm feeling and I'm looking.

So then the exec team joined me in trying to figure out how do we, you know, how do we create some space for you? Talk to the guy who's working two jobs. Talk to the person who is trying to get through school and they're like, take a break. I wish I could. Well, first of all, I would say to the mom, to the dad, the guy who's working, first, give yourself an emotional break. Don't be so hard on yourself. A grace-filled break. All right. Secondly, I look for small pieces of rest. I call it Sabbath moments. Sabbath moments. You may not be able to take off three or four days. You got all this. But can you find some Sabbath moments? Can you, can you do in the course of your work day, can you carve out 10 minutes or 15 minutes throughout the day? Where you're stepping away from work. Sometimes it's prayer. Sometimes it's just a walk with an apple and a banana and cut that phone off. Turn that phone off. Get this connected. Leave it at home for 10 minutes. They will survive. Just go for a while for 10 minutes. I feel free. Freedom.

So those are some small things. Get up a little early before the family gets up. You feel refreshed after your two-week break. You know, I did. As a matter of fact, somebody told me, boy, you must have needed that break. And when I came back and preached for the first weeks, I don't know how I should take that. You got better. But yes, yes, yes. No, I came back. I felt rested. But I, you know, after about a week or two back, I could begin to feel the stuff, you know, and I know that I've got to make sure that I'm still taking time to rest, that I'm still pacing myself, that I'm saying no to stuff just because. Like saying no to me. Which I hated to do because I really love to come do that. What a good role model. That is so good.

Hey, Herman. Ask me to follow speak at your church. Will you speak at my church? No. I love that guy. I learned so much from him. Man, good, good, good, good stuff. Take breaks. Get away. Second regular habit. We spent most of our time on that first point, but very quickly, two more. Second regular habit that Jesus did regularly to find strength in the stress. And that is while he was in seclusion, he did a lot of meditation. Just taking time in private devotion. Now, I know that the popular idea these days of meditation is to empty my mind. But as we've said before here, the biblical idea for meditation is more like rumination, like a cow chewing its cut. That's actually where the Hebrew word for meditation comes from. Rumination.

You know, you keep going back to one thought or one verse and you keep chewing on it. You ruminate on it. The idea is to fill your mind with one positive thought or Bible verse or concept and really soak in its truth. You know why? Because here's a fact about human life. You move toward whatever you focus on for better or for worse. And personally, I think this explains why so many people, including Christians, are walking around just angry all the time with hair triggered tempers because they are being soaked in anger through news, headlines and editorials. And here is the source of that. Look at this stat. Seventy five percent of us sleep next to our phones. Right. Our mobile phones, our mobile devices. Now here's what's even worse. Ninety percent of us check our phones immediately upon waking. What happened in the news? Just in case the president needs my advice. I need to be up to date. I cannot think of a worse way to start your day. That is a recipe for stress and anger to dominate your day.

Like John Mark Comer says in that book, do not let your phone set your emotional equilibrium for the rest of your day. Instead, be like Jesus and don't even pick up your phone until you first spent some time in prayer and meditation. So many times in the Bible, you see things like in the morning Jesus went up on a mountain side to pray. And one morning Jesus was praying in private. Now you might think that's great if I get up in the morning a little bit before everybody else and do some prayer and meditation. But what do I meditate on? How do I do this, René? Well, here's something interesting. Over 30 times in the gospels, Jesus says it is written and he quotes scripture from memory. Follow me here. That must have been because he was ruminating on scripture until it became a part of him deep down. So he didn't just have to go, well, let me get my phone and do a search for that topic. He just knew scriptures.

So how do you and I do this? Well, you start very simple. A few weeks ago, I suggested starting your day with the Lord's Prayer. Many of us already know it or knew it. We can brush up on it. It's found in your Bibles in Matthew 6:9–13, the Our Father. And since I suggested this, I have gotten so many messages and emails from you saying, René, I've been trying this, quoting the Lord's Prayer from memory every single day, the moment I wake up, and it really works. And one of those messages was from a man named J.R. Luftboreau who attends here at TLC. So I called J.R. up a couple of days ago. And I said, hey, J.R., talk to me about your regular morning devotional quiet time routine, because J.R. is not a pastor. He's just a normal guy. And here is part of our conversation.

Obviously, everybody's day and mornings unfold differently. And I wish I could just immediately open my eyes and start that process. But, you know, René, we have three dogs. And the minute somehow they know when my eyes have opened and my job in the morning is to get those dogs out and get them fed, et cetera. But right after that, I have the house to myself. I have the quiet and the peace. And then from there, I go into the Word of God. Right now I'm in the book of Luke and I'll read a couple chapters there. And then I actually just close my eyes and I've just read God's Word. And I just quietly inhale through my nose and I repeat the word as I'm inhaling truth. And then as I exhale, I think of the word love. Truth, love. Of course, I'm not doing it out loud, but I've just read God's Word. And it's just been amazing to me how as I do that process, much of what I've just read, little bits of it pop up. Then I, from that moment, I step into the Lord's Prayer. And then my prayers begin. And I've found that they are much relationally, they just seem to be more alive. And so often my prayers can just be, forgive me, routine. God's used the Lord's Prayer to draw me closer to Jesus. So thank you.

Yeah. Who would have thought a prayer that our Lord Jesus came up with? Well, help. Amazing. Well, my point there is that that is how J.R. has his daily meditation time. It really is possible. Even if you've got dogs like he's got or kids or you've got a million items on your to-do list, it's possible at some time during your day to take a break for meditation and be like Jesus. So we've talked about Christ's habits of seclusion, getting away, meditation, just praying, focusing on scripture. But there's one more habit I want to discuss that sometimes you might miss when you look at the life of Jesus Christ, even though it's so obvious in retrospect. It's the idea of connection, cultivating community.

We do need time away to meditate, but we also need time with the group. This is vital. In fact, if you look at the life of Jesus Christ, you see this rhythm. He kind of goes back and forth between being alone and being in groups very, very intentionally. He does this deep dive into alone time where he's really cut off and then he plunges back into the group and he tells everybody, I want you to stay with me. Very interesting because I think if you looked at our lives, they'd look something like this. You know, we're almost afraid of doing the real deep dive into seclusion and meditation and of doing the real deep dive into accountability, teamwork, group, community.

It's fascinating, but look at the ministry again of Jesus Christ where Jesus Christ in scripture, it says he appointed 12 that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach. You know, I used to think that Jesus only called the disciples as sort of employees, right? Kind of like worker bees, but it says he did it that they might be with him. Really, Jesus was calling them to be his friends. He was being very deliberate. Just like meditation and seclusion does not happen unless you're deliberate, true community does not just happen unless we are deliberate about forming it. And Jesus was very deliberate.

And you see this come to fruition in places like what? The Garden of Gethsemane, the night before his crucifixion, where he tells three of his closest friends, my soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. So stay here with me. Keep watch with me. You see here Jesus needing friends. And what's interesting to me is that he's not afraid to tell them that he needs them. I mean, this is Jesus. This is the Messiah. And yet he doesn't feel its weakness to admit to them, man, I am just overwhelmed right now. I'm afraid I'm going to die, you know, like before my time tomorrow. So would you please stay here with me? Would you please keep watch with me? We need community.

And listen, I'm saying this at the end of a year of on and off lockdowns. I know it has been difficult. I was reading the Harvard Gazette just this past week. Look at this brand new fresh stat. 36% of Americans say they are always or almost always lonely. That is the highest percentage ever. And if you think that's striking, look at this. 61% of young adults, 61% say they are always or almost always lonely. So listen, very practical advice here, if that's you. And maybe you expect the pastor to say this, but it's true. One of the best places to develop community. And this is why Jesus created it is the church. When a church is healthy and functioning well. And it is still possible to find community here, even during COVID.

And of course, things are starting to loosen up now, as Adrian said, but here's some suggestions for you. You can go to TLC.org/adultmidweek and connect to one of our midweek classes or small group Bible studies, even if they're over Zoom. They really are a great way to start developing that connection with some people that you're going to soon be able to see face to face as this unwinds. And then also a great way to make connection is to volunteer. Go to TLC.org/eastervolunteer. As Adrian mentioned during the announcements, first of all, we need help. But secondly, what a great way to start connecting with people. And then TLC.org/collegeya. If you are in college or if you are a young adult, I want to encourage you. Please, if you're one of that 61% who feels lonely, kind of connect with the hub, which is our college and young adult groups. They meet live in person right here on campus, outdoors, COVID compliant every Thursday night at 8 p.m. You don't need to RSVP. I just want to encourage you to come and check it out and get connected.

Now, as we wrap up, let me just tell you the problem with this sermon and with all sermons like this. We say, yes, okay, that sounds so good, but nothing changes. Why? Because research shows that successful goals must be specific, attainable, and measurable. Now, a mnemonic device that I use to help me remember this is spam. These are spam goals because specific, attainable, measurable. Well, anyway, a good spam goal is like the moment I wake up every day. I pray to the Lord's Prayer from memory, then for specific people. Then I pray the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians, chapter 5. That is specific. That is attainable. It's not hard. And that is very measurable. And you can do this with every one of these. Like seclusion, once a week, I'm going to take a half an hour walk alone just to think and be with God. That is specific. It's attainable. It's measurable. Please take even just one small step in these three directions for your own health and to be like Jesus.

Now, the second problem with sermons like this, thinking this is the equation for what it means to be a good Christian. That is a common misconception. In fact, I used to think if you add all these things up, quiet times plus meditation, plus, you know, go to church and connect with people, that equals good Christian. But, you know, Jesus never said that that's the gates of heaven. He will say, I was a Bible verse and you memorized me, or I was a church and you attended me. What will he say? I was hungry and you fed me. I was poor and you clothed me. I was lost and you sought me. These habits are not our mission. They're fuel for our mission. So what's our mission? Good deeds, good news. Our good deeds earn an avenue, a hearing for the good news. And these habits fuel that.

Let me wrap up with an example. Then we're going to do something very, very special. So stick around. Barbara Taylor, that's Barbara right there, with her husband, Steve, and one of their grandkids. They lead our dress a girl sewing group here. Barbara and her group make dresses for girls and orphanages all around the world. Well, the pandemic stopped most of that. For the last year, they could not have their big day-long sofests, which is kind of their model for ministry. That's where they all make dresses in large groups together. So Barbara pivoted. And here's what happened. Many of her volunteers here at TLC are Filipino Americans who still have connections in the Philippines. And they asked a relative of theirs, who's a pastor there, Pastor Edgar Morata, that's him on a visit here. And here he is preaching at his church in the Philippines.

And Pastor Morata told Barbara, "Nobody can get kids face masks anywhere in my neighborhood. So if you could make me children's face masks as a ministry of our church, well, that would be amazing." So 4,000 face masks later, the ministry of that church has exploded. People in that town now believe in what he talks about good news because they see the good deeds, partly because Barbara's sewing group here at TLC is serving them and helping meet real needs of real people. But here's the thing. Where does Barbara get the strength for all of this? Well, Barbara's husband, Steve, is a member of Gideons, you know, Gideon Bibles, the group that distributes Bibles for free all around the world. And the Bible has become their fuel.

Barbara and Steve are grounded in it. So they know how Jesus would respond in a pandemic. He wouldn't freak out. He would serve. And so that's exactly what they did. And that's why there's such grace-filled people. Do you see what I'm saying? If you try to just keep doing good deeds without daily habits like this, you can get bitter and burned out. I've seen it happen many times, but these habits are like taking a fresh shower in God's grace every day. When you get some away time, when you meditate on his promises, when you connect with other loving Christians, you're reminded God loves you. You're reminded I'm saved by grace, not works. You're reminded I'm empowered by the God of grace. So let's commit to these three Jesus habits and thereby live more like Jesus.

And in fact, I want to end our time together with something different. Let's not just talk about this. Let's actually do it right now in our local Aramas, the Santa Cruz Mountains. Let's take a walk through the forest for a minute. And I want to invite you to put down that coffee or the breakfast and just relax for one minute and focus on our Creator. And then Elizabeth will lead us in a final song that she wrote about having a posture of listening in your own meditation.