Freed from Fear
Posted on Aug 07, 2016 by David Whetter
“Do not be afraid little flock…” Did you know that this phrase, or similar phases that command God’s followers not to be afraid appear in scripture over 300 times? There were many times in our history, as there are today, when God needed to say to God’s people, “Don’t be afraid, it will be OK.” Now fear doesn’t have to be a bad thing, in fact experts tell us that fear is something that is necessary and an important part of our lives and it can be instructive in our lives. Fear is intended to keep us safe. Fear often points us to those areas in our lives, or those things in our lives, that need to be investigated. Although our instinct when we fear something is often to flee, or ignore it, in reality, a healthy fear ought to be investigated and instruct us as to how to change our mind, our actions, or reactions to things so that we can work with and deal with a situation. The problem with fear is that often times fear can be paralyzing and it prevents us from changing, growing and doing, or being what God has created us to be. For real growth to occur in any of us, or in our communities, we must be able to deal with our fears and expand our capacity to deal with the unknown. Often, we fear changing because if we change we might fail and failure is not good.
So what it is today that Jesus is telling us not to fear? Well, just like last week, Jesus is addressing an issue of stewardship and, yes, he relates it to what we ought to do with our possessions. The implication here is that if we could live without fear by trusting God’s mercy and goodness then we would be free to sell our possessions and help those in need. A great stewardship connection to our money again!
But once again, Jesus isn’t really talking about our money, he is attempting to address a much bigger issue. Stewardship, as Jesus shows us, is often the work of helping people face their fears about wealth and possessions, and find reason in God to be free of their fear. Here is a chance to see stewardship as the freedom from fear and the opportunity to act on faith. What is it we fear? Well, if we give up some of our wealth, we won’t have enough, right? That is at the core of our fear and once again Jesus is talking about how we live our lives.
This week Jesus is saying that good stewards are prepared to help when help is needed. Good stewards are “dressed for action and have their lamps lit” (12:35). Be ready, Jesus is saying, to open the door for those in need when they knock at the door; be ready when the opportunity comes, when God calls you to action, you are fee to go and to spread the good news. Literally if we can free ourselves from this fear of lack of abundance, we could free ourselves not just to share the gospel, but, to be the gospel. Being alert and being ready are like storing energy; when the demand for the energy gets high, we have it to draw upon. What is this energy Jesus is challenging us to be ready to share? It is that Christ-centered energy such as healing, justice, love, grace, peace, etcetera. But, so often we aren’t prepared because we fear we don’t have the gifts, the tools, the knowledge, and we often fear that we just don’t have enough to share.
Stewardship is a way of life that calls us to let go of our fears and trust in God’s mercy and grace and to do that means we have to let go of our fear of the unknown. We have to let go of the myth that if we hang on to our earthly things that we will be able to control and determine our lives. But all this is a myth and we already have everything we need. Did you listen to that first verse of the Gospel I read this morning. Jesus said, “Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (12:32). We ought not be afraid because God has already given us the kingdom. We already have salvation. We already have eternal life. We already have everything we need. Our fate is secured in Christ, so what is it we are hanging on to here on earth and for what? The real treasures we have are not things we can store up and save in a bank account, or in our storage rooms at home. Those treasures will fade away as we heard last week, but the treasure of the kingdom is with us for eternity.
Jesus promises that God has already given us everything so that we do not need to be afraid. Jesus also says something that we often overlook and sounds very weird to us. He says when God finds us prepared, ready and willing to go into action when needed that God will “fasten his belt” and come and serve us. So often we talk about our need to serve God, yet, God says when we serve those in need, God will serve us.
So what does all this mean for us today? In this story Jesus is challenging us to take a good hard look at what we treasure. Do we, as individuals and/or as a community, treasure our stuff more than the gifts God has promised us? Do we treasure our way of life more than being willing to share this way of living with those who fear for their lives such as immigrants and refugees? Do we treasure this place more than the gifts of our talents and abundance to serve the wider community? Do we treasure our worship style, our culture, or our Lutheran heritage, more than the gifts of abundance, community, or the diversity with which God has blessed us? Do we treasure our things, our time, our talents so much that we fear letting go of some of them? Do we fear giving them away because we aren’t sure we have enough? Do we treasure who and what we are so much that we fear changing for we might become something different? If so, Jesus is saying to us, do not be afraid little flock for the father has already given you the kingdom.
Brothers and sisters, as we look to our future, change is certain and letting go of what we have is necessary. But, we need not fear any of that, for the kingdom has already been given to us. In those things we fear, Christ is present. In the unknown that we fear, Christ is present. In the future that we cannot see and fear stepping into, Christ is present for the kingdom has already been given to us. Christ calls us to be free from our fears so that we can go into the future fully prepared to serve and to be served. Amen