Be Not Afraid

Introduction:

As many of you know, the Lectionary is a three year cycle of scriptures that are organized to cover every biblical theme. The scripture I am about to read from the Gospel of John, is always the Lectionary reading for the first Sunday after Easter. I read from John 20: starting at verse 19. As you listen, ask yourself why this passage finds itself utilized this way.

Read John 20:19-3

In the passage the main character is the disciple Thomas who history has nicknamed “Doubting Thomas.” Poor Thomas often finds himself getting picked on every year by preachers for his lack of faith. Then we often get compared to him because we, too, have our doubts and fears. I must admit that I have a soft-spot in my heart for Thomas. All the disciples had come together and are hiding in this room. Probably they have all heard Mary’s story of how she had seen Jesus resurrected from his tomb, and maybe there is the slightest glimmer of hope growing within them. But for now, they seek safety, seek sanctuary from the world of their fears behind locked doors.

When Jesus appears to them, one can only imagine the excitement, the shouts of joy, the backslapping jubilation they feel. But Thomas is not there. The passage does not tell us why. Maybe he had not found his way there as yet. I like to think that maybe he was the courageous one, who was brave enough to leave the room and do a McDonald’s run for dinner. But the point is, Jesus could have waited until he returned to appear, but chose not to. If I were Thomas, I would have felt really hurt and showed a lot of my own self-doubts about me and my relationship to Jesus. Was I not as important, was I less loved than the others? Why would Jesus not choose to appear to me and allow me to receive that same incredible gift of assurance, to feel the deep joy I see in the faces of the others?

I wonder how many in our world, our community feel like Thomas when they observe us as the church? Easter and the crowds in worship are a reminder to me of how many people have a glimmer of hope, a grain or seed of faith that causes them to at least attend worship on Easter, but has not yet allowed them to fully leave behind their doubts fully and walk with us throughout the year knowing first hand the joy of the risen Christ that is with us always. I wonder as they look around at the church if they do not feel some of what I believe Thomas is feeling. Why has Jesus come into the lives of those around me in such a wonderful way that I can see and experience their joy, but I am left to wonder? Why has Jesus not done this for me?

I believe the passage deals with a much deeper reality for the disciples, and maybe for many of us. This scripture shows how the risen Jesus overcomes the fears of these disciples who have run, hidden and locked themselves away from the world. What a perfectly normal reaction for the disciples to have. Surely if the authorities were willing to kill their leader, they would be no less inclined to kill or at least imprison them. Their safety is truly in jeopardy. For me, this is one of the proofs that something profound must have happened that helped these fearful disciples find a courage that allowed them to return into the world to live the great commission of preaching and teaching the good news. Something as profound as their leader being raised from the dead. Fear is an incredibly powerful emotion, one that is still real for us in many ways today. How do we face our fears? Where do we find our strength to move from fear to life?

Let’s listen to the words of John again, this time from his first letter to the church.

Read I John 4:16-19

Perfect love casts out fear. God loves us perfectly. God loved us first to drive out those fears, so we could and can love one another.

Sermon:

I have shared before that a fundamental belief of my faith is Jesus’ ministry is about helping us understand and then choose the best way to live together, to share our lives together. His teaching is about showing us how we can choose the paths that lead us to relationships that promote healthy, caring, supportive ways to live our lives together. The passages I read today lay out two polar opposites of how we may choose to live together. One is love and one is fear.

I shared earlier that this passage is part of a cycle of scriptures called the lectionary, and there are many people who believe you should strictly preach the lectionary because it will not let you duck any topics. It is true, but by this morning I was wishing I had ducked this one. I discovered fear is not an easy topic to preach on. First it is kind of depressing. Who wants to listen to someone speak on being afraid? It is much nicer to preach about joy and love and hope and all those feel-good topics.

But, fear was a theme in the passages, so I took my, Dictionary for Pastoral Care and Counseling, off my shelf to see what it had to say about fear. It was somewhat helpful. It showed that fear is a complex issue. First, like the experience of the disciples there are some very legitimate reasons to experience fear in our lives. Certainly, fear is an appropriate emotion if you are a soldier on the front lines of battle, or a police officer going to a domestic violence call. Fear is very real for the woman who lives in an abusive relationship, knowing her husband may come home drunk and that he will beat her. And what we are seeing an increase in today is children afraid to go to school because he or she is continuously being bullied. And the response to these fears is either just stay and do nothing, fight and defend yourself, or flight, running away from the scenario.

There are also the real fears today of job loss, and consequently losing a home, or will I graduate? There are real fears around a rapidly changing world that looks nothing like the one I grew up in and understand, and in my inability to understand and feel comfortable, I feel fear for what life holds before me. Then there is the whole issue of perceived fears, an inner fear that we bring to our lives. Yet, even if it is perception, the feelings are just and real and just as strong. Are you all sufficiently depressed yet? But it is real, and so the question is in times of fear where do we find a real sense of peace, safety and security? Surely there is the need to remove yourself from places where you are truly not safe, such as abusive relationships or away from bullies. But how about those fears we cannot run away from?

This is where I have struggled not to be sharing a cliché, a simplistic response to a very real and heartfelt emotion. And yet, when I think about those times that I have witnessed or experienced fear, it is a faith in God, a belief and relationship with a risen Lord, an Easter faith, and a community of love as the church that have always been a source of peace.

When we experienced 9/11 we saw and experienced a collective sense of being unsafe. Our sense of security was no longer a part of our communal life. In that moment people needed to find a place where they could find comfort. I held a church service that night and we simply telephoned as many people as we could to let them know we were having this worship. Over half the congregation attended. Throughout the week, person after person, couple after couple would stop by the office and ask if they could go into our sanctuary, that sacred space where we experience God’s presence most personally, so they could pray. So they could talk to God and feel God’s presence and comfort. That Sunday, we, like most churches, had a larger attendance in worship than we did on Easter Sunday.

It was interesting to me that instead of people using that moment as one that said, “See. If there was really a God, then this would not have happened.” Instead, in the midst of fear and uncertainty, droves of people were searching for the love of God, the peace of God in their lives.

I can tell you from my own personal experience, how important God and you the church were in the moment of one of my deepest fears in life. When my youngest son was six months old he contracted meningitis. When the doctor told us the diagnosis, I truly believed I had just heard my son’s death sentence. I had only known one other person who had had meningitis and he had died. I had just started attending church after a layoff of many years. But one of the very first phone calls we made was to our pastor, who came and prayed with us immediately. It was then I learned the incredible significance of the position of pastor. When she came, somehow what was happening did not feel as scary. Somehow, in her presence, in her position, God’s presence was more real. Never doubt your ability to bring peace to another as a person of faith.

During this time, I cried, I shouted at God, I pleaded with God, to save my son. I did not lose faith in God, I just related to God from my fear in a myriad of ways. My son was in the hospital for almost three weeks. During that time, I would not miss worship services. I needed to be in sanctuary with the church, with this family of faith, who surrounded me in their love, even though I was relatively new to their community. Every week they held my son and family in their prayers. They lifted us in love into the very presence of God. I could not believe the peace that brought to me. And slowly we could see his healing take place. I can also tell you, at that moment, it did not matter what anyone’s political, theological or sociological positions were. All that mattered was I had community that cared. I had a God who cared. And in that care, I found real peace.

What I have learned from this is, you cannot feel fear and love at the same time. And I am convinced it is why perfect love casts out fear. When we live and are fully immersed in God’s perfect love fears are pushed away, even if it is for short periods of time. When we love one another as God loves us, we cannot live in our fears of each other and the world. It is why I get so angry when people try to instill fear within us and fear about each other. For when we fear, we cannot love. As I John says, “God first loved and loves us.” Let us embrace that love that drives away doubts and fears. And, John reminds us, it is because we feel God’s love we no longer fear, and can love each other. It is not a cliché to say, real peace can come when we experience the love of a God who is with us always.

Sermon delived by Rev. George Cushman on April 13, 2010.