I'm Not Mad; I'm Just Disappointed, a sermon based on Colossians 1: 11-20, preached on November 23, 2025

Last Sunday marked our 23rd wedding anniversary. For 23 years, I’ve had the pleasure of being Sara’s husband, and she’s suffered the burden of being my wife. I’m so thankful for her, and I’m thankful that she bears with me because after 23 years, some of the shine begins to wear off. When you live together for 23 years, you notice each other’s unique attributes. I won’t go into mine with you, but I want you to know that one of Sara’s unique attributes that I’ve come to love is that when she reads a book - and she reads about two a week - if she’s reading a book that’s particularly suspenseful and she’s started to worry about the fate of one of the characters, rather than anxiously wait page-by-page to find out how everything will turn out in the end, she’ll just skip to the last page. I didn’t even know you could do that. But Sara does. When she begins to feel anxious about how things are going to turn out in the end of a book, she’ll skip to the last page so that she can enjoy reading the story without the preoccupation, without the worry, without the fear, and I ask you to consider with me how in today’s second Scripture lesson, we’ve just done the same thing. We’ve read the last page. If you’re anxious about tomorrow, know that our God has already determined how our story ends. If you’ve been doom scrolling late at night, and you’re worried about what’s going to happen next, here is the assurance that our God holds the whole world in His hands. While we may ask: Are we going to be OK? Is AI going to take over everything? Are we on the brink of a recession? Is the sky going to fall? Skip with me to the last page of the Book to remember again that Christ is King, and everything is going to be alright. Let me highlight a few verses that we just read: May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power. May you be prepared to endure everything with patience, for he has rescued us from the power of darkness. He has transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son. In him we have redemption. In him we have the forgiveness of sins. In him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, by making peace through the blood of the cross. Hear these words so you don’t suffer through the night without the promise of the rising sun. Don’t get tossed around like those who don’t know who they are. Instead, skip to the last page with me today, so you know how our story ends. If you don’t, the Apostle Paul will be disappointed. Tradition tells us that Paul wrote this letter that makes up our second Scripture lesson. The purpose of the letter was to tell those Christians: “You’ve fallen for their lies, you’re giving into fear, you’re wavering in your faith, but I’m not mad. I’m just disappointed.” Did your mom or dad ever say that to you? After they caught you smoking cigarettes or skipping school, did they ever say, “I’m not mad, I’m just disappointed?” When I heard that phrase, I’d sometimes counter with: “But everyone else was doing it.” Everyone else is scared. Shouldn’t I be scared? Everyone else is anxious. Shouldn’t I be anxious? Everyone else is worried. Shouldn’t I be worried? That’s the culture we’re living in today: a culture where everyone is scared, even scared of their neighbors; where everyone is worried, as though God were not at work in our midst. Today, let me remind you what your parents said, “If everyone else jumped off a bridge, would you jump, too?” My friends, all we like sheep have gone astray. We all fall into fear. We all fall into sin. We all accept the teachings and the patterns of this world. Sometimes, we Christians end up looking and acting like everyone else. Why? It’s because we want to be liked and accepted. Speaking of being accepted, this is the week that all the seniors in high school find out whether or not they got into the University of Georgia. I know some parents feel the pressure because they want that in-state tuition, but I also know that some seniors feel an increased pressure because it can feel like more than college acceptance is at stake. To all those who can’t sleep over worrying about acceptance into UGA, let me remind you that 25 years ago, the acceptance letters to Georgia used to come in the mail, and because everyone got into Georgia back then, the letters used to read, “Dear Joe Evans, or current resident, congratulations, you’ve been accepted to the University of Georgia.” That’s not a true story. I didn’t get into the University of Georgia. I applied and was rejected. The only other school I applied to was Presbyterian College, but had I been accepted to UGA and gone there, I never would have met Sara Hernandez, who is now my wife of 23 years. I never would have studied religion with Dr. Peter Hobbie who encouraged me to be a Presbyterian minister. I never would have become the person that I am today, so listen to me and remember that rejection from the world does not mean rejection from God’s plan for your life. Don’t you remember that He called you by name? Don’t you remember that you are precious in His sight? Don’t you remember the water in which you were baptized? I’ve been thinking about baptism lately getting ready for this baptism at the 11:00 service. I remember the first time I ever had the honor of baptizing a baby and walking her around the sanctuary, telling her what it is that we believe. I walked her around the sanctuary of Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church nearly 20 years ago, and I was fighting tears the whole way because the good news of the Gospel is just so good. The good news that even when we fall, He picks us back up again is such good news. That even when disappointment strikes, the promise of salvation still holds. That even should it take us 40 years to get there, the Promised Land is where we are headed. Whenever you get discouraged, skip to the last page and remember. For when we allow despair to creep into our bones, When we run around like the future of the world depends on us, When we seek out pleasure in all the wrong places, When we step on the scale and let the number define how we feel about ourselves, When we watch our team lose and mope around for two days, we are giving too much importance to issues that will not matter in the end. I’m not saying these things don’t matter. They do matter, but they don’t ultimately matter, so don’t give them your ultimate attention. The Apostle Paul rotted away in an old Roman prison cell and still rejoiced in the promise of salvation because he skipped to the end of the book to remember again how his story would end. Next time you fall into despair over the ups and downs of this human life, I hope you hear the Apostle Paul’s voice in your ear saying, “I’m not mad. I’m just disappointed,” for in Christ we are more than conquerors no matter the outcome of today’s battle. In Him, all things will be made new not matter how old the car we drive. In Him, there is no reason to fear when the storms come, for the storms won’t last. There is no reason to be anxious for tomorrow. Consider the lilies of the field who neither toil nor do they spin, yet even kings in all their glory were not clothed like one of them. What is it that you’re working so hard for? What is it that you’re striving for day in and day out? Trust in the Lord, and He will put you under His wings and fly you home. Halleluia. Amen.