John 16:12-15 6-12-2022 (As built, Amite #499)
- Worry… as in you and I… worriers…
- You know my brothers and sisters in Christ he was the greatest detective bar none… I mean I got to tell you there’s not even a close second… now if I were to ask the people depending on where I was… who do you think was the greatest of all… most people… well some might say well there was that Pinkerton guy… back in the west… and to be honest with you just so you know he gets his start in the business being the bodyguard to Abraham Lincoln… that’s how he gets started… some people would say it’s Pinkerton… some people would say oh no man it’s past that it’s Eliot Ness the guy that caught Al Capone… and some people would say oh no man it’s that guy from England… no it’s not… his name is Henri Latour… one thousand cases… never lost one… he is England’s go to guy… and I got to tell you… he’s nothing short of impressive… they go through what they call an incident… which isn’t fair sense of the word… it’s a mass murder… the MO of the mass murderer is… I’m going to go after the elderly… the elder statesmen… I’m going to rob them… and then I’m going to beat them and kill them… he’s got up to about twenty people… and man can I tell you everybody is on guard… everybody is watching… nobody is going out at night... once it gets dark we are staying indoors... the police think they have their man… they bring him to the commissioner…they tell the commissioner we think we found the mass murderer… we think we found the guy… he said I tell you what… I need you to get Henri involved... I need Henri to come and tell me it’s the guy… he said well we don’t need Henri… he said no… you’re going to get Henri involved… because I need another set of eyes… the people want to know Henri is involved… and at the end of the day I want to make sure we got the right man… can I tell you… Henri says I need to see all the witness statements… I need to go back to every crime scene… I need to walk through every identification and every piece of evidence… he goes back to every crime scene… you know what he finds… more evidence… he finds a piece of tweed that ties him what he thinks back to the person… he finds a thumbprint… it’s been smudged but he finds the print… he finds if you will a scarf that’s tied to the tweed that was tied to another murder… he finds a knife blade… pretty soon he puts all the pieces together and he goes back to the commissioner and he says we got the wrong guy… he said talk to me… he said that’s not him… he said I hear you Henri… but I got a whole police force telling me it’s him… he said I’m telling you… you’re going to convict the wrong guy… he lays out all the evidence… he even gets to the point where he sits down with the commissioner and tells him… this is the murderer… he said Henri… I would have never guessed… he said you know Henri I’m a little worried about you now… because in about a week I’m going to put you on the stand… and you’re going to have to stand up… and you’re going to have to point him out… he said I’m worried you won’t go through with it... he said I'm going to do it… right thing right way… that’s why you put me here… he said I hear you Henri… I’m worried you won’t go through with it… man the case comes… I mean when I tell you the courtroom is packed… they are here for that one statement… Henri Latour’s going to tell you who the murderer is… the prosecuting attorney stands up and says… Henri… lets make this short and sweet… who is the murderer… he stands up… and he says that young man right there… case is over… case is done… he is convicted… Henri walks out the courtroom… is walking for twenty-five years… they never hear from him again… the commissioner catches up with him when he walks out and he says Henri… I got to tell you… kudos to you… I know how hard it was… man he kind of just bows his head and keeps walking… the police come up and say man why did you tell them that… he said because he just convicted his son… my brothers and sisters in Christ… they were worried for no reason…
- That is that gospel… the Good Lord is telling his apostles… I cant tell you now because I’m going to overwhelm you… you’re going to get so consumed with worry… you’re not even going to be able to function… stop… you need to understand this… this is right after the resurrection… he’s got about a few more days until Pentecost… and he’s telling them… you need to sit still… you need to go and pray… for nine days… this is where we get the nine day novena from… on the tenth day… Pentecost… the Holy Spirit will come… listen to me… he will come again… he came to you on Easter Sunday night… he came on Easter Sunday night to teach you about the ways of the world… the sacraments… what is the first sacrament he tells them…confession… go out and heal them and forgive them of their sins… he never said take it upon yourselves and only go to me… then all the sudden when Pentecost comes… he’s going to give you the heavenly story… the nine choirs of angels… heaven hell and purgatory… Abrahams bosom… I can’t tell you now because you can’t take it… and you won’t be able to understand it… because worry will consume you…
- My brothers and sisters in Christ go back in scripture… our best players… are people that would constantly worry… but here’s the irony… it’s that they still finish the race… that no matter how worried they got… they still did what was asked… who better… the Peter… can you imagine… you’re on the sea of Galilee… you’re net fishing… you have to net fish even today you can’t pole fish in Galilee… he’s net fishing at night… you know why he is doing it at night… he owes… he needs money… he’s got debts… he’s been fishing all hours of the night… and you know where he is at… he is at the cock crow… that’s from three o’clock in the morning… to six o’clock in the morning… this is why he tells Peter when the cock crows… now we know what time Peter denies our savior… because that’s when he would have crowed… therefore Peter would have denied him three times… he’s been out there for hours fishing… and here a guy comes walking to his boat and says… man lets go out again… you know what he’s thinking… well this is great… send me a carpenter… man that’s great… we’ll go out and build a boat… man he goes out and catches so many fish… he still went and fished… that he almost drops in the middle of the boat and says depart from me Lord for I am a sinful man… the next time the good Lord is just not next to him in the boat… he is in the bow and the other one is in the stern… even though the storm is raging he’s still trying to do what he can… and when he can’t do any more… Lord do you care we are about to perish… even though he is worried that they are about to drop he still keeps moving… the Good Lord gets up and rebukes the wind… the next time the Lord is fifty yards out further… you see the good Lord is growing from him… he said Peter you got to get used to me not being there… so when you get worried… you still do the same things you did when we went night fishing… you still do the same things you did when we were in the boat and the storm came… you still do the same thing as when I told you… Peter come… and Peter’s got to walk fifty yards out on the water… give him his due… he does walk on the water… as a matter of fact my brothers in Christ he walked a long enough way before the wind even blew… and then he began to sink… and the irony is the good Lord does not carry him back to the boat… he walks to the boat… what it must have been like to be Peter… when thirty three years later you’re crucified upside down… and the good Lord is nowhere to be found so to speak… my brothers in Christ I’m trying to tell you that all of our best players like can you imagine you’re Joseph of Arimathea… you spent your whole life… building what you want to get done so that when you get buried… you got your own tomb… and then just weeks before you decide what you want to do… you give your tomb to somebody else… you don’t think his family is worried… well what are we going to do… well where are you going to get buried… he will be martyred within the year… by the same people that he paid allegiance to… of the Jewish faith… my brothers and sisters in Christ you don’t think people like Mary Magdalene didn’t have doubts… do you know she went to our savior three separate times… trying to get the demons off of her… if she doesn’t do it the third time… she doesn’t make it… you don’t think she’s worried or consumed… she’s got all seven demons… my brothers and sisters In Christ what I’m telling you is… you got to keep moving… you can’t be consumed with worry…
- My brothers and sisters in Christ I’ve been with you almost twelve years… how much of your day is spent it worry… what day did you wake up in… yesterday… that’s the day of regret… that’s the would’ve could’ve should’ve demon… man if I had done that last week… last year… ten years ago… if I hadn’t have done that last week… last year… ten years ago… or maybe you’re waking up in tomorrow… the doctors visit… the job… the contract… are we going to make enough money… where we going… where is this world going… give us this day our daily bread… this is why you and I say it… don’t you understand… my brothers and sisters in Christ the devil has got to get up in your head… the most expensive real estate in the world… and we give it to him freely… he roams free… and we do nothing to stop him… we call on no one… we do nothing… we just let him worry us to death… how long are you going to walk backwards through life… hitting everything in your path … because you were in yesterday or maybe tomorrow… my brothers in Christ don’t you understand… he hates you… to the very marrow of your bones… the mere mention of your name causes him to spit… you don’t think he’s going to work to get to you… to your children… he wants you to worry… because you get so consumed by it that you cant do anything else… how much of your prayers every day are so chewed up with worry… how much of your conversations are chewed up with worry… how much of your thoughts are chewed up with worry… my brothers and sisters in Christ don’t you see it’s a tool… he’s a liar and a cheater… it’s all he’s got… all he’s got is a thought… and he’s going to put it in your head in hopes that you back up… look C.S Lewis nailed it… he had a make believe conversation between Lucifer and his son… and Lucifer says son listen to me… you want to get those people… In Amite… and he said no dad I know how to get them people in Amite… we’re going to get that group with pride… we’re going to get this group with anger… we’re going to get them… with gluttony… we’re going to get that group with lust… and adverse… and sloth… and that group in the very back with envy… he said son listen to me… what if pride doesn’t work and it’s envy over here… what if it’s not anger but maybe it’s sloth over here… he said you want to get these people… just take their peace… my brothers and sisters in Christ every mass… every hour… of every day… we only pray for one human emotion… you and I pray it today… and we pray it so quickly we don’t even remember we pray it… deliver us Lord from every evil… grant us peace in our day… in your mercy keep us free from sin… protect us from all anxiety… as we wait in the joyful hope for the coming of our savior Jesus Christ… my brothers and sisters in Christ you walk out those doors… with the same worry you came in here with… oh my God… have you forgotten who’s house this is… have you forgotten he is God and we are not… thank God… but even worse… you and I took it back… oh my God you received him… you agreed to the deal… that he would take your worries and give you him… so you would have peace… and you walk back to your pew thirty feet… and sixty feet later you took it back to your car… my brothers and sisters in Christ I’m begging you… when that thought get’s in your head you got to call on the good Lord… you got to call on his blessed mother… you got to allow St. Joseph to intercede on your behalf… stop trying to fight the devil on leveled playing field… it’s not level… he’s pure intellect… he's going to win the fight… you got to go to confession… how else are you going to get your slate clean… when I asked the exorcist… I said tell me… is Lucifer a shot gun… he said oh my God no Mark… he said sniper… he just waits… and he waits… and then he waits for that kill shot… that one person you never expected to shoot one across your bow… then he’s got you… you start worrying… anxiety… you can’t even function in the day… you can’t even sleep… you’re getting up at all hours… you can’t even get things done… you can’t have a conversation… you can’t have a cup of coffee… you can’t walk down the street.. you can’t have a decent meal… you’re still worrying about Monday… oh my God is Monday not bad enough alone… you’re going to give it more then twenty-four hours… you’ve got to cut it loose and let it go… you will not win this fight alone… you will have anxiety and you will pour it out on the ground… it well affect your life… your families life… your children… and the people around you… my brothers and sisters in Christ… do you even remember what you were worried about last year this time… my brothers and sisters in Christ I’m telling you… worry is the work of the devil… and someday soon I pray you cut it loose and let it go… and may he pull it from your dead hands… no worries…
