Read Matthew 25:14-30
It was
February or March 1980. I was in a CH-46 helicopter hovering at 120 feet. We
were rappelling, that is, jumping out of an aircraft and getting to the ground
using a rope and a small device called a carabiner.
I had
rappelled before but this was my first time from a helo. The guy in front of me
was a big kid. By kid, I mean another butter bar in his early 20s. This guy was
huge. He was at least 6’4” with wide shoulders and all the muscle you would
expect from a warrior.
He was also
afraid.
Just to say
something in his defense, jumping out of an aircraft that isn’t on fire or
about to crash anyway isn’t a natural act. At 120 feet, it might even seem more
natural to stay aboard and put out a fire than to jump.
Some of you
have jumped out of aircraft at a much higher altitude, for which a parachute was
highly recommended. Some jump out of aircraft at altitudes where you need
not only a parachute but oxygen as well.
But, there
we were at 120 feet, and Second Lieutenant Connolly was frozen at the back of
the helo and did not want to move. Major Bo Dishman was our leader and had undoubtedly
seen this before.
He talked
Connolly into relaxing his grip on the rope and told him that he would count to
three and then he would jump. Connolly agreed.
One. Two—and
Major Dishman pushed Connolly out the back. He grabbed the rope half a second
later but was already 40 feet closer to the ground. The rest was a piece of
cake.
Jumping out
of a perfectly good aircraft doesn’t make sense. Your whole being says, don’t
do that! This sort of fear is natural and healthy.
I was at a
seminar once on the 40th floor of a building. During a break, some
of us found a balcony. I’m sure someone needed a place to smoke.
In any case,
I looked over the balcony and down at the street below. My very being said, that’s
far enough!
Sometimes,
fear keeps us alive. Sometimes, fear keeps us from living.
The third
servant in this parable was afraid. Why? We don’t read that his master had
beaten him, so there should have been no physical fear.
We don’t see
that his master had threatened him. He had not been on probation. There was
nothing in the makeup of the relationship between master and servant that
should have prompted fear in the servant.
So why was
he afraid?
The master
was a hard man. He received a return even when the servant didn’t think he
deserved it.
The master
had great expectations for his servants. He did not give them more than they
could handle; he gave to them according to their ability.
Each servant
should have produced a return of some sort, even if it was just a little
interest from the bank. But the third servant was afraid.
Afraid of
what?
Of things
that existed only in his mind. He was ruled by negative fantasies or living out
the worst-case scenarios in his mind.
Fear is
natural if you are about to jump out of an aircraft. Training can help, but
fear is natural.
If someone
is shooting at you, your instincts—probably fear based—will tell you that lead
and flesh don’t mix well and you should get behind something like a rock or a
steel wall. If you watch too many movies, you need to know that cardboard
boxes don’t work.
This sort of
fear helps keep you among the living.
If your mind
is making you afraid, you are dealing with things that may or may not happen,
and as it turns out, most of the time, don’t.
Fear can
motivate and help you achieve your goals. I am not going through that
again!
Fear can
initiate. I had better figure this out. It’s time to get it in gear.
Fear can
debilitate. I’m not even going to try. I know I will fail.
We have all
sorts of irrational fears. Such as the
fear of:
· Failure. That’s a no-brainer.
· Success. Yes, sometimes people are afraid
they will succeed. What comes next if I
do well at this?
· Learning something new. You might be surprised how many
people this impacts. Such fear seems to increase with age.
· People expecting more of you. If I do a good job, people will
expect more from me next time. This one ties in with the fear of success.
· Getting too involved. There’s only so much of me to go
around. Sometimes, this is a legitimate concern. Sometimes it is an irrational fear.
Wait! That one sounds rational to me. For the average person, it might be a
legitimate concern. For the Christian, if God has called you to it, he will
give you the resources you need so you are not spread too thinly.
Fear is
sometimes related to knowledge and our level of risk acceptance.
What does
that mean? There are three main areas of
information or knowledge that we deal with in every situation. In just about
every decision we make—including and especially those involving an element of
fear—these three areas come into play.
There are
the Known Knowns. These are things that we know, and we know that we
know them. Well, duh!
There are
the known unknowns. These are things that we don’t know, but we know
that we don’t know this information. For some, this creates an implied task of
finding out. We know what to look for—we just need to find the answer.
And then we
come to the granddaddy of them all, the Unknown Unknowns, or the UnkUnks,
as it is affectionately referred to by those who frequently assess risk. This is information that we don’t know and we
don’t even know—at least yet—that we don’t know it.
You might
think that this would be the most debilitating of the three, but typically,
only those with a higher risk tolerance than most reach this point.
Most people
give in to fear with the known knows or the known unknowns. Few
are pioneers who learn as they go, adapt, improvise, and overcome. They
navigate the unknown.
These people
know that information arrives over time. If you have all of the information,
the time for decision-making has come and gone. What you are dealing with has
been overcome by events.
That means
that people who venture into the unknown unknowns are either crazy or
they trust God. Without all of the information at our disposal at one time, we
must either act blindly or trust in God.
Without faith, it is impossible to please God. Try
it this way: If we had all of the information at our disposal, it would be
impossible to please God. Our decisions and choices might be easier, but they
would be void of trusting God.
People not
debilitated by fear know that we will have to work with imperfect knowledge as
long as we walk the earth in these bodies.
They accept that reality and navigate their way forward.
The third
servant never got past the known knowns. He knew his master was a hard
man with high expectations, so he didn’t even try. He didn’t even assess his
own skills. What could he do with this bag of money?
He didn’t
even give it a shot. He buried his money in the ground.
He buried it in the ground!
For the
student of efficacy, the lifelong learner desiring growth, and the Christian
maturing some each day, this statement should be absolutely repulsive.
He buried it in the ground!
To take what
God has entrusted to us—money, time, talents, salvation and grace, our
children, the gospel, our minds and bodies, position, status, or the things the
world calls KSAs (knowledge, skills, and abilities) and bury them in the ground
should leave a very bad taste in our mouths.
I can’t
think of anyone who has ever tried to label me a financial expert or banking
whiz, but I know this: Money buried in the ground does not increase. It accrues
no interest. It is invested in nothing, and there will be no return on
investment.
The best
that you can hope for is that it’s still there when you dig it up.
A one-hour
trip to the bank to put the money in a CD would have saved this third servant a
lot of worry.
He wouldn’t
have to worry about someone finding the buried money.
He wouldn’t
have to worry about investing it and managing it. Apparently he didn’t have
those skills.
He would
know exactly where it was.
Putting this
money in the bank should have been a no-brainer. It required little effort and
would produce a modest return, but the servant was afraid.
Spencer
Johnson and Ken Blanchard wrote a book titled Who Moved My Cheese?
It’s about dealing with change. The setting is mice in a maze with cheese, and
as you might have guessed, things change.
Change is
defined as moving the cheese. It
is a simple but not simplistic approach to dealing with change and used by many
in the corporate world, but the heart of the message is very simple. How to
deal with change is very, very straightforward.
Here it is.
What would I do if I were not afraid?
The answer
to this question is often our best course of action. Let’s stand in the place
of the third servant. Maybe, he doesn’t
have any real investing skills. But he can open a bank account. He could do
that. It was within his ability.
If he weren’t
afraid, the third servant would have at least opened a bank account.
I’m going
out on a limb here and put a provocation before you. You haven’t lived until
you have recognized, dealt with, and overcome fear. Addressing our fears is a
part of our abundant life.
The following
quote is from William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. It is from Caesar to his
wife, who is concerned that her husband is about to be killed. She had a dream
or a vision that he would be killed.
A coward
dies a thousand times before his death, but the valiant taste of death but
once.
If you read
Julius Caesar at some point in your life, you might recall that Caesar did get
killed. Yes, sometimes, the bad stuff happens.
Sometimes,
the worst-case scenario becomes the current situation. Sometimes.
But would
fear have prevented his death? I guess he could have never gone out in public
again.
If fear
governs, don’t expect to ever achieve any great thing. Do not expect a well
done good and faithful servant. Expect to live a mediocre life. Go with the flow. Chill. Don’t stick your
neck out.
We have been
saved by grace through fear, right?
Your
salvation is secure in the grace you received by faith. Fear and faith don’t mix.
If you live
by fear, how will you answer the question I always associate with this parable?
What
did you do with what God gave you?
Understand
that the answer, I was afraid does not help the situation. Our fear does
not exempt us from answering this question.
What did you do with what God gave
you?
I am sure
that the first two servants dealt with fear as well, but their desire to please
their master was so much greater than their fear.
Their desire to please their master was
greater than their fear.
So today, I
close with this thought. Is my desire to please my Master greater than the
fears—rational or irrational—with which I am contending?
Is my desire to please God greater
than my fear?
I pray that
our desires to please God overwhelm our fears and that we all yield a good
return for our Master.
Amen.
