April 19, 2020 Sermon - Do Not Be Afraid!
DO NOT BE AFRAID! MATTHEW 28:8-10 THE NEXT WORDS OF JESUS, PART 2 APRIL 19, 2020 SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER, YEAR A CROSSROADS / PERRYVILLE UNITED METHODIST CHURCHES, MO FACEBOOK LIVE SERVICE # 5
INTRO. There was a book I read when I was a kid that really impacted me. The book, Call It Courage, by Armstrong Sperry, was published in 1940. The book won the Newbery Award for excellence in children’s literature in 1941, which means it was the best book for adolescents to appear that year. Mafatu is the son of a chief in the Pacific Islands, and he is afraid of the sea. He saw his mother die in the sea when he was a little child. He is a shame to his father and called a coward by the people of the tribe. So one night he takes a dugout canoe and sails off. He gets lost in a storm and finds his way to a deserted island, where he makes a life with his dog Uri and pet albatross Kivi. Mafatu soon learns that cannibals from a neighboring island come to his island to make sacrifices. He makes preparations to leave. As he does, he has to kill a hammerhead shark, a wild boar, and an octopus. He is growing in courage as he deals with things that frighten him. The cannibals discover him as he is leaving and he has to make a perilous escape, the cannibals following him, rowing all together as he gets tired and has to regain his strength - and courage. He gets away and finds his way home and is received by his father, now proud of him. Mafatu learned what courage was, and he had it in spades (Wikipedia). But his courage, this overcoming of his fears, pales in light of the courage that Jesus offers to us in dealing with the fears we have that threaten to overwhelm our lives. How is it that Jesus tells us not to be afraid?
I. DO NOT BE AFRAID OF THE PAST. Jesus sends this message, “Do not be afraid,” to his closest followers, his best friends. But these men and women had a past that was full of fear. The fears they met often overwhelmed and sidetracked them. When Jesus said, “Do not be afraid,” he was using a word that spoke of terror, of fright, of running away (Bible Hub). Back in Matthew 14, when the disciples saw Jesus walking on the water, the Bible says (14:26), they “cried out in fear,” the same word as Jesus used after the Resurrection. But when they were afraid, Jesus reassured them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid” (14:27). In the Gospel of Luke there is the account of Jesus healing the man who was possessed by demons. You might remember that Jesus drove the demons into a herd of pigs, who ran into the lake and drowned. After this happened, the people in the area “asked Jesus to leave them, because they were overcome with fear” (8:37). And so Jesus left. They allowed fear to drive them from Jesus. Fear is no doubt in your past and in my past, but will you allow Jesus to speak to that fear and deal with it? There is an expression in Ireland, “chancing one’s arm.” Hanging in St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin is an old wooden door with a rough cut rectangular hole cut in the middle of it. The story of the door goes back to 1492, when two well-known families were feuding. One family, the Ormonds, were being chased by the other, and they took refuge in the cathedral, locking themselves inside. The Kildares had them trapped. But after a while, the leader of the Kildares realized this feud was foolish. “Here were two families worshiping the same God, in the same church, living in the same country, trying to kill each other. So he called out to” the leader of the Ormonds, seeking peace. The other leader did not believe him. So the leader of the Kildares took his spear, “cut a hole in the door, and thrust his hand through. It was grasped by another hand inside the church. The door was opened and the two men embraced, thus ending the family feud. From (this) noble gesture came the expression ‘chancing one’s arm’” (IllustrationViewer). In all of the fears we have of the past, Jesus chances his arm and his life to bring about our rescue and reconciliation. Do not be afraid! 1. do not be afraid of the past
II. DO NOT BE AFRAID OF THE PRESENT. At the very moment that Jesus sent this message, “Do not be afraid,” to those who knew him best on earth, they were living in fear. In the Gospel of John, Joseph of Arimathea is described as “a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jewish leaders” (19:38). And so he comes sneaking to Pilate to ask permission to bury the body of Jesus. He was afraid of the present! In the evening on the day of the Resurrection, when the news was buzzing through the ranks of the disciples faster than the speed of light, when they had heard that Jesus was unexpectedly, unbelievably alive, these disciples were shaking in their boots in fear! John 20:19 says, “On the evening of the first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders.” But Jesus spoke to that fear! It continues in the Gospel of John, “Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’” After showing his disciples his hands and side and seeing their joy, Jesus repeated (20:21), “Peace be with you.” Let me ask you something this morning. What in the present are you afraid of? Health concerns? The economy? Family or other relationships? Your standing with God? What do you do with the fear you know right now? According to Jesus, we accept the peace that he offers. That is the answer! Ben Patterson talks about raising his kids. He says, “[W]hen [my children] got old enough to wrestle with me, we played a game we called ‘Jabba the Butt.’ The name came from a large, disgusting evil character in the Star Wars trilogy called Jabba the Hutt. We changed the surname for the sake of humor. I would play Jabba and roar around the room as the kids would shoot their laser guns at me and try to wrestle me to the floor. Sometimes I would get into the role too much and their little imaginations would slip into stark terror. They would feel my great strength and hear my booming voice, and Daddy would be transformed into Jabba. The game would stop, and I would hold them tenderly and remind them that I was their Daddy. The juxtaposition of great overwhelming strength and power with tender love is as hard for a child to hold as it is for an adult. My love for them was staggering when they coupled it with my power” (IllustrationViewer). Often, it seems like the present is really wearing us down and out. Fear can be overwhelming, but Jesus comes along in our present, right now, and wraps us up in his strong, all-powerful arms, and reassures us with those words: “Peace be with you.” I will take his peace over my fear any day of the week and twice on Sundays. How about you? 1. do not be afraid of the past - 2. do not be afraid of the present
III. DO NOT BE AFRAID OF THE FUTURE. It seems like every day, we are surprised - have our lives turned upside down? - by another unexpected and unfortunate event. We may plan in every way possible for our future, saving up money and buying this and that insurance, making a will and irrevocable trust and on and on, but still live in fear of what could, what might happen. And we often get to the place where that fear dominates and controls us. But there is something you may not realize about the future. Jesus said those words, “Do not be afraid,” the day of his Resurrection. His disciples did not have to be afraid of the future! And the book of Acts, the Acts of the Apostles, describes the events of the early church that exploded into the world just after the Ascension of Jesus. God did many great and powerful things in the lives of his followers, including the disciples, that are described in Acts. And in Acts, this same word for fear is used five times. And every time, fear arises not because of the opposition of evil, not because of the terrible Roman government or the outraged Jewish leaders, but fear arises because of who God is and what he is doing! God has our back, now and in the future! As the Bill and Gloria Gaither song reminds us: I’m free from the fear of tomorrow, I’m free from the guilt of my past, I’ve traded my shackles for a glorious song! I’m free, Praise the Lord, free at last! Folks, move into your future trusting in God’s plan for you there, for every day and every hour, knowing that you do not need to fear. The future is unknown, it is uncertain, it is undependable, but we do not need to fear because God will provide. Step into that future, for it is full of the promises of God! do not be afraid of the 1. past - 2. present - 3. future
CON. Even as Jesus spoke and ministered in uncertain times, he offered hope that was unlimited because it was not bound in by fear. I would be a fool if I did not admit that we are faced with a lot of challenges these days. We do not know what tomorrow holds. But we can turn toward all of that uncertainty and live above fear because of what God has done and will do!
“On the final page of the final book of The Chronicles of Narnia (the classic set of books by Christian author C.S. Lewis), some of the children who have been to Narnia (are feeling bad because) they once again must return to their homeland - the Shadow-Lands. But Aslan (the lion who represents Jesus) has the best news of all for them... (He shares with them that they have actually passed out of the Shadow-Lands. They are dead. He tells them,) The dream has ended; this is morning.’ And as he spoke he no longer looked to them like a lion; but the things that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful (Lewis says) that I cannot write them. And for us this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story, which no one on earth has read: which goes on forever: in which every chapter is better than the one before” (IllustrationViewer). So do not be afraid! Jesus is in the middle of our struggles right now. He will be with us when life goes wrong and when it goes right. He will be with you when this life comes to an end. Hear his voice and trust his words. Do not be afraid!