David Orendorff - Matthew 10:26-31

A man called a church to schedule a support group meeting for agoraphobics, those afraid of public places. On the day of the meeting a sign appeared tacked to the bulletin board in the church’s hallway: “Due to lack of attendance the Agoraphobic Group has been canceled indefinitely.” True story! There are all kinds of phobias that keep us from coming together. There is hydrophobia, acrophobia, arachnophobia, homophobia, xenophobia and more. You name it and someone is afraid of it.

Jesus’ advice in verse 28 is, to paraphrase, “Don’t be afraid of those who can only kill the body but not the soul. If you want to be afraid, be afraid of God who can kill body and soul.” But then later in the passage Jesus encourages us “to not even fear God since God cares even for the cheap and common sparrow and for every hair on our heads, that is, God cares about the stuff we don’t care about. So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.”

To live the way of Jesus is to live with no fear. The message of Matthew’s gospel begins with the coming of the angel Gabriel to Mary and his encouragement to her to be not afraid of having the baby Jesus. Then a little while later the angels tell the shepherds to be not afraid. Both before and after his death Jesus tells the disciples to “be not afraid.” Three times in today’s passage, eight times in Matthew and thirty or more times in the gospels we are told, “Be not afraid.” And I didn’t take the time to count all Paul’s admonitions to “be not afraid.”

The Christian life is to be a life without fear but, of course, we are not quite yet fully fearless, at least I am not quite fully fearless. I was taken by surprise in 1998 when I was diagnosed with general anxiety. It turns out that I am psychologically and physiologically made so that the normal stress of life results in an anxious fear of today, tomorrow and sometimes even what happened yesterday. That meant I was pretty much afraid of everything most of the time. A fear attack could be triggered by the phone ringing, a dream, driving the car, not driving the car, being in a crowd or being alone, my job, or my family. Sometimes the attack came for no reason I could find. I was just worried, afraid, without cause.

I came to know intimately the destructive results of fear. I didn’t sleep well and I was irritable. I couldn’t always think straight. I was itchy and little spastic. This general state of fear strained my marriage, my relationship with my children and my friendships. It affected my work, my prayer life, my addiction recovery. Fear robbed life of joy and peace.

To be afraid is to be miserable. I have come to believe that the opposite of faith is fear. Fear equals misery and hell. Faith equals shalom and heaven. I choose the latter.

Fear makes misery not only at a personal level but also in our communities and nations, even in our congregation. Fear leads to the classic seven deadly sins of pride, envy, anger, sloth, greed, gluttony and lust. Fear also inevitably leads to stinginess, paranoia, hate and war to name just a few more deadly sins. Fear destroys the relationships of husbands and wives, children and parents, friends, workers, church members, ethnic and religious groups, communities and nations. Fear inevitably leads us to become what we most fear in others and then as Pogo once said, “We have met the enemy and it is us.”

FDR’s frequently quoted first inaugural address is repeated because it is true.1 You can find an version and printed transcription of this great speech at http://historymatters. gmu.edu/d/5057/ It was March 4, 1933, the world was in the depth of depression and just a month earlier (January 30) the Nazis seized power in Germany. In the first paragraph of his address to Congress Roosevelt acknowledges the world sate and says, “So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself - nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.”

I thank God for removing fear and leading me to exercise and meds which have contributed to a mostly anxious and fear free life. But most importantly I thank God for leading me to a deep trust in divine loving mercy which has cast most fears out of my life. In the most serious days of my anxiety, before diagnosis, I held my sanity together through many a long sleepless night by simply chanting the mantra “Trust God” over and over until I relaxed and found peace. Still today when I find myself anxious I stop, breath deeply and tell myself as many times as necessary, “Trust God, trust God, trust God …”

Yes, I must continue to take my meds and I need to get regular exercise, but both of those remedies would fail were it not for the fundamental mental and spiritual shift of trusting God, the maker, sustainer and redeemer of the universe as servant love for me, for all of us and for all creation. Meds and exercise cannot save us. We cannot make our own shalom. Only the love of God can save us from fear.

God turns our fears upside down and what once seemed to be doom becomes grace. Roger Barr sent his daughter Lyda who then sent me the following internet link which is a wonderful illustration of just how God turns fear into faith. It is titled “The Truth (Vertigo).”

Watch the “The Truth (Vertigo)”

Without faith the world is a dark and fearful place of destruction. But with faith in God this same world becomes hopeful and fearless.

To trust God as universal lovingkindness is then to act in loving kindness. And it turns out that our acts of servant love also cast out fear. I John 4:18 succinctly says it this way “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear…” After trusting God, the path for me to a fearless life has been, by my small efforts and the great mercies of God, to live the love of God. When I am being lovingkindness to others as God has been lovingkindness to me I am free of the destruction fear brings.

I had a chance to see just how powerful is love’s ability to cast our fear when as a certified Emergency Medical Technician I rode ambulance in the ultra rural parts of northern Montana. Our small crew of three volunteers carried our pagers 24 hours a day, seven days a week. When the pager went off we dropped whatever we were doing and headed straight for the ambulance.

I was once in the middle of a sermon when my pager went off and I looked at the small congregation of eight and asked “Should I go?” From the back pew hard living, crusty Jeannette McAlpine said, “If it was me you had better damn well get there!” So we adjourned worship and I headed to care for a trucker having a heart attack just two blocks away. The congregation went to the fellowship hall, had cookies and coffee and took care of Erika, who was three, until I could return.

Ambulance runs could be frightening. Not only were we sometimes in the midst of a struggle with death, but that struggle was often complicated by alcohol, drugs, domestic violence, toxic chemicals, high running emotions, anger and fear.

What I learned was that as long as we were focused on what needed to be done, on how we could love the ones needing us we were not afraid. Focusing on the love we were trained to provide cast fear out. Even in situations holding potential for great violence we found ourselves without fear if we stuck to the lovingkindness we were trained to do.

After most runs we would go to a 24-hour truck stop to eat greasy French fries with loads of ketchup and debrief. There too if we focused on ourselves fear came. But when the focus was to care for each fear was again cast out and we could go home and sleep peacefully.

The way of Jesus gives us the means to live fearless lives. We can be free of our phobias by trusting God and by keeping our focus on being lovingkindness to another. Some of us may need some meds to help. All of us can certainly use the exercise. But if the meds and exercise are to be fully effective we must trust God and serve each other. It is the change of focus from the scary things under the bed to trusting God and serving in love that sets us free.

Just imagine for a moment what our lives and the world might be like if we were less motivated by our fears. What if the husband was not afraid of losing love and so quit drinking and what if the wife were not afraid of losing love and quit nagging. What if this political election was not focused on fear but on how we might better serve the poor, the hungry, the broken, the children, the aged, the oppressed; in short how we might be a nation more about lovingkindness even to our enemies. Think what it might be like if we trusted God and treated each other and every nation with servant love. I am convinced that the more we focus on trusting God and on being lovingkindness the less we live with fear. And the less fear we have in our lives the more joy and peace. And the more joy and peace we know the more joyful and peaceful is the world.

If you are not yet convinced of the Christian way of living a fearless (or even less fearful) life then I challenge you to try this simple exercise for one week. If ever you find yourself being afraid or worried, or acting from fear, cast the fear out by praying or chanting “trust God” a few times and then by taking an action of lovingkindness. You action may be to call a friend, take a meal, or visit the ill. It may be to simply stop and pray for another’s needs. It really doesn’t matter so long as you act in agape, servant love. You don’t have to believe it works, just do it and let me know what happens.

Shalom and Amen.

[1] You can find an version and printed transcription of this great speech at http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5057/