We Don't Do Fear!

 Read Matthew 25:14-30

Let’s talk about fear.

Proverbs 1:7

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,

    but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Isaiah 41:10 - Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

2 Timothy 1:7 - For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

1 John 4:18 - There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.

Psalm 34:4 - I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.

Joshua 1:9 - Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

Proverbs 29:25 - The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.

Here is a familiar verse from a very familiar Psalm. It’s verse 4 of Psalm 23.

Even though I walk through the darkest valley,I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

So, what’s the message? Fear God. That’s a good start to knowing him more.

Don’t fear God’s punishment. It’s not for you. Disciple, yes, but punishment, no.

Don’t fear evil. God is with you.

Don’t fear others or the situations of the world. God is with us.

If fear has to be a part of your life, then fear God more than whatever else you might be afraid of. If fear must control part of your life, then make sure it is the fear of the Lord and it motivates you to please him.

You will still have trouble in the world. You will still be tested by the trials this world throws at us, some of which are substantial. The world might even persecute you for following Jesus, but you don’t need to be afraid.

Now to the third servant in the parable. Fear debilitated him. He was not functional. He acted with cowardice and void of wisdom.

Well, the master shouldn’t have been so hard on him. Fear was just in his nature.

He couldn’t help it. It was his nature to be afraid.

What if being an alcoholic was in your nature? Would a continued state of drunkenness be acceptable?

What if stealing was in your nature? Would we appoint such a person as our treasurer?

What if you had murder in your heart? How high would we let the body count go before we did something?

It doesn’t matter if fear is part of your nature. We are called to take on a new nature. We are a new creation and the fear of anyone other than the Lord is repulsive to God and those who seek and follow him.

If fear seems too hard to overcome, ask yourself this question as if it was from the Lord. Let’s put it in the first person from the Lord.

Did I go to the cross so you could live in fear?

You are saved by grace through faith. That’s a done deal, but you will stand before God and give an account, and the words I was afraid don’t earn you any points.

Fear is never rooted in trusting God. It always falls within the realm of our own understanding.

The grace of God is unbelievable. It goes beyond our worst sin, but know with certainty that fear of anyone or anything other than God does not please and, I would venture to say, angers the Lord. And if anyone is slow to anger, it is the Lord.  

But there is no doubt that he is not happy with this third servant, who was governed by fear. Do not expect to please God if we live in fear, are controlled by fear, or make fear-based decisions. Consider these final words in this parable.

“His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.

“‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.  And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

I want to be in the well-done, good, and faithful servant line. We don’t fear. We have faith and trust and know with a blessed assurance that we belong to God, and he will be with us wherever we go.

We don’t do fear.

Amen.

Do not be afraid!

Read Matthew 28:1-10

It’s another Easter morning.  What can we say about the day and its significance?

He is risen.

He is risen indeed!

Death is destroyed.

By his stripes we are healed.

Despair has no home here.  We will have trials and tribulation but despair gets kicked to the curb.

I am crucified with Christ.  Christ lives in me.

He lives!  Maybe we should just give our answers in song.  He lives. He lives.  Christ Jesus lives today.

Up from the grave he arose, with a might triumph o’er his foes.  He arose the victor from the dark domain and he lives forever with his saints to reign.

Let’s get a little more current.  My chains are gone.  I’ve been set free.  My God my Savior has ransomed me.

“I am the resurrection and the life.  Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”  Jesus spoke those words to Martha at Bethany shortly before he healed Lazarus, but they should hit home with us this morning.

“He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces” Isaiah’s words should ring true this morning.

What else can we say?  What can we add to these words of victory.  Is there anything to add to up from the grave he arose?

How about, “Fear not!”  How about, “Do not be afraid.”

Do not be afraid!

Comparing gospel accounts of this morning’s activities, Mark’s version has women receiving this same message of not being afraid.  So the women left the tomb excited and bewildered because they were afraid.

In Matthew’s gospel, the angel told the women not to be afraid and a very short time later, the resurrected Jesus told them the same thing.

Do not be afraid.

Let’s give the women and the disciples a little slack.  Their world had just fallen apart.  Their leader was arrested, convicted, verbally abused, physically abused, and nailed to a cross until he died.  These followers had been in some tough spots before and lived to tell about it, but Jesus had always been there.  Now he was gone.

They were afraid.  Was this special thing that they had been a part of over now?  What came next?  Would they even have time to find out what happened next or were they next in line for the cross?

The man who had preached that the Kingdom of God is near—and had sent these disciples out with the same message—was gone.  The empire of Rome and those religious leaders that Jesus put on the spot so many times seemed to have emerged victorious.

In similar circumstances, we too might have been a little afraid.  We might not have been on our “A-Game.”  Being in the presence of an angel always seems to evoke the words, “Fear not!”

In addition to everything else that goes with this morning’s celebration, let’s make it our goal not to be afraid.  Of all the things that seem to survive the ages, fear is chief among them. 

Jesus lived and died and rose again and that took away the power that sin and death held over us, at least as far as our salvation goes.  That was the once and for all sacrifice that took away our sin.  The Lamb of God took away our sin.

So why do we still deal with fear in this century?  

Specifically, why do Christians fear?

We as followers of Jesus have been told that we will probably do some suffering because we follow him.  We have been told that we will have some trouble in the world because we belong to him and not to the world. 

But fear?  We are people who don’t do fear.  Yes, we fear the Lord.  The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge and as it turns out, wisdom as well.  But we need to understand this fear as a starting point not the ultimate destination. 

The fear of the Lord gets us pointed in the right direction but it is not the destination.  It should, however, release us from all other fear.

See if these words don’t ring a bell.  Perfect love casts out fear.  Fear has to do with punishment and condemnation.  Jesus paid the price for us.  We stood condemned but Jesus paid the price not out of a sense of duty but out of love.  

Should we not respond in love and not fear.

Perfect love casts out fear.

God did not give us a spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

Here’s one that always gets me motivated.  Have I not commanded you, be strong and courageous?  Do not be afraid.  Do not be discouraged for the Lord, your God will be with you wherever you go.

Fear is real but living in fear is a choice.  God says choose courage over fear.

Here is the rhetorical question for the ages.  If God is for us, who can be against us?

Why is that a rhetorical question?  Because God is for us.  Nothing can stand against us.  No weapon formed against us shall prevail.  Nothing in heaven or on earth or anywhere else can separate us from the love of God that we know in Christ Jesus!

What do we have to fear?  What are we afraid of?

There are 613 commands in the Old Testament.  Jesus added one more while he was here walking the earth in the flesh.  He told those who would follow him that we must love each other.  In so doing people would know that we are his disciples.

That makes 614 commands.  That’s a lot.  Now if we abide in the last one, the others will take care of themselves, but I wish that there were 615 commands.  I so wish that Jesus had added “Fear not” to the list of commands required for those who love God and want to follow him.

We celebrate Easter every year.  We are reminded that the blood of Jesus took way sin’s power over our life.  It took away death being final.  These clay vessels may wear out but our life goes on because of what Jesus did for us on the cross, and in his resurrection, is the promise of ours.

Sin and death have been defeated.  Now it’s time to defeat fear.

Today we celebrate the victory that Jesus gave us over sin—as the Lamb of God sacrificed in our place.  Today we celebrate our victory over death.  When Jesus rose on that third day, this was our victory as well.

Today, let’s not only celebrate victory over sin and death, let’s make our response to the love that gave us these victories loving one another and living without fear.

Today we celebrate the resurrection.  Tomorrow we pick up our own cross, take the yoke of our Master, and we go fearlessly proclaiming the love of God in the world.

May you have a blessed Easter Day!

May you celebrate the victories won.

May you live in strength and courage, not being afraid or discouraged.  The Lord, you God, your resurrected Savior, is with you wherever you go!

Amen.