Do Not Fear. This is a major theme in the Bible.
The Lord is my light and my salvation–
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the strength of my life–
of whom shall I be afraid?
Psalm 27:1-2
So do not fear for I am with you;
do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Isaiah 41:10
God has said, “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.” So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me.” Hebrews 13:5-6.
There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. 1 John 4:18.
Fear not little flock, it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Luke 12:32
Do not be afraid.
The basis for our fearlessness is the presence, power and promise of God. Bad stuff happens. Evil powers exist and are active. Still we do not fear because God is greater than all those things. At the heart of the Christian message is the assurance that we do not need to be afraid -- of anything.
If you are watching a lot of news and it is making you do a lot of worrying, I suggest you substitute Bible reading for news watching. There is no need to know the latest scandals, the latest threats to American liberty, prosperity, health and political clout. (If you are not an American, please excuse the American-centric nature of my writing.) Unless you are actively involved in writing and calling your legislators or are giving money and support to other groups that are working for the improvement of society. But if all your watching and reading does is increase your worry, then your watching and reading that fuels worry is contrary to one of the central themes of Jesus message: Do not fear.
Beware Babylon
Growing up I heard evangelists talk a lot about Babylon based on the book of Revelation. Babylon was the capital of the great, evil empire. Babylon was going to attack God’s people. Babylon would impose the Mark of the Beast. Babylon seemed invincible. It was really scary . . . until I paid attention to Revelation 17. In verse 13 a great coalition of forces under the leadership of Babylon is said to have one purpose: making war against the Lamb. This is followed immediately by news that "the Lamb will overcome them because he is Lords of lords and King of kings–and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers.”
Some people get caught up in trying to figure out just what human religious and political systems will be dominate the the evil empire at the end. It doesn't really matter. The point of Revelation is not to give us inside political information. The point of Revelation is to assure us that when the forces of evil have done their damnedest, they lose. Babylon sinks. Jerusalem triumphs.
Babylon can conspire, persecute, impose economic sanctions, employ the power of demons. Doesn't matter. In the end, Babylon loses. So DO NOT FEAR.
A prophet came to our congregation a few years ago and told us explicitly that George Bush was going to bring in the Mark of the Beast during his presidency. It didn’t happen. Now some people think President Obama will bring on the Mark of the Beast. The reality: Whether Republicans are in power or Democrats, whether the nations is controlled by fascists or communists or capitalists or socialists or libertarians or ordinary citizens doing their best to manage a difficult and complex world, ultimately the Lamb wins. And when the Lamb wins, so do his people, all of them.
So DO NOT FEAR.
A Gospel Story
At the end of a long day of preaching and teaching Jesus' disciples hustled him away from the crowd into a boat. They set off across the Sea of Galilee trailed by other people in other boats.
A furious squall blew up. Waves began breaking over the boat so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him shouting, “Teacher, don’t you care if we all drown?”
Jesus got up, ordered the wind and waves to be still, then Jesus turned to his disciples and asked, “What’s up with all this fear? Do you still have no faith?”
It’s a preposterous question. Waves and wind had mocked their courage, their skill and their strength. They thought they were going to die. Still Jesus challenged them: What’s up with all this fear?
Jesus asks us the same question.
What are you worried about?
Your kids?
Your retirement savings (or lack thereof)?
Taxes?
Your health?
Your own inability to manage your life?
Your marriage?
Your job?
These seem like reasonable fears. Trouble in these areas of life feels really threatening.
Still Jesus asks, “What’s up with all this fear?”
If you are riding with King Jesus, you are riding to victory. If you are sailing with Captain Jesus, you aren’t going to sink. Fear is unnecessary. Understandable, yes. But unnecessary.
Before Jesus was born, Zacharias prophesied about the work of his son John and Jesus the Messiah who was to follow:
God has raised up a champion for us . . .
To rescue us from the hand of our enemies,
to enable us to serve him without fear
in holiness and righteousness all our days.
Luke 1:74-75.
Central to Jesus ministry was a plan to enable us to serve God in holiness and righteousness WITHOUT FEAR.
The deeper we enter into the spiritual life of Jesus, the less we will allow fear to dominate us. We will still sail into storms. Waves may still swamp our boats. Wind may nearly overpower us. Still we have no reason to fear.
There’s an old hymn about this experience of the disciples and Jesus in the storm. It’s titled, “Master, the Tempest Is Raging.”
Master, the tempest is raging!
The billows are tossing high!
The sky is o'ershadow with blackness,
No shelter or help is nigh;
Carest Thou not that we perish?
How canst Thou lie asleep,
When each moment so madly is threatening
A grave in the angry deep?
Refrain:
The winds and the waves shall obey Thy will,
Peace, be still!
Whether the wrath of the storm tossed sea,
Or demons or men, or whatever it be
No waters can swallow the ship where lies
The Master of ocean, and earth, and skies;
They all shall sweetly obey Thy will,
Peace, be still! Peace, be still!
They all shall sweetly obey Thy will,
Peace, peace, be still!
If you are in the boat with Jesus, you don’t have to worry about the storm, any storm. Jesus’ boat is not going down.
This message of Do Not Be Afraid is given with full awareness that we live in dangerous world. In New Testament times, some Christians went to jail--not a pleasant experience! Hebrews 13:3
Some were frequently ill and could not be cured with prayer. 1 Timothy 5:23.
Some were poor and had to depend on others for their rent and food. Acts 6.
Christians died. 1Thess. 4; 1 Tim. 5:11
Some were rejected by their families.
Christians do not dodge all trouble. But as we ride into battle, as we sail into storms, we have no need to fear. In fact, we ought to cultivate a FEAR-FREE attitude. For some Christians that would mean changing what you read and watch. Don't read books that make you afraid, even if they are full of Bible verses. It is a misuse of the Bible. Don't watch or listen to media that tends to increase your worry or fearfulness. Don’t expose yourself voluntarily to content that hypes fear.
So how should we live in the face of the daunting difficulties we face in our personal lives and the great issues confronting the global human community?
1. God has given us a job to do. So we can pour ourselves into our job. We are called to represent God with our words and our work. We are supposed to be busy about our Father’s business. Do what you can, where you can to make this world a better place. Be active, not passive.
2. Remember God has kept the really big job for himself. He will defeat evil. He will bring in everlasting righteousness. He will ultimately create a new heaven and a new earth. So don't imagine you are doing God's job. Focus on yours. God is not made helpless by all the stuff going on in this world. He rides through the storm with us and some day--soon, we hope--He will stand and say, Peace. Be Still. And there will be peace. It will be still. And sweet forever.
So QUIT FEARING ALREADY!
Posts
3 comments:
Eh. That's all good and everything, but I would consider information to be an amazing counter to fear. A lot of people are afraid because they don't have enough information not too much. It's sad that in the information age the quality of information that a lot of people get is very poor. People collect info from only one sourse, or not at all. Sometimes they listen to commentary which is definately not news. You meantioned Glenn Beck last week, he's a great example of a very paranoid person offering very low quality information and a great deal of commentary. That's bound to make people afraid. And let's face it. Interpreting Revelation is a fools game. The best that can be offered is well founded speculation. And there's no information found there at all.
I'm a conservative and I approve this message.
Melanie: SWEET!!!!! Way cool.
John
Post a Comment