From Fear To Faith

August 7, 2022

Rev. Mary Erickson

Hope Lutheran Church

Genesis 15:1-6; Luke 12:32-40

From Fear to Faith

Friends, may grace and peace be yours in abundance in the knowledge of God and Christ Jesus our Lord.

Two explorers were on a jungle safari when suddenly a ferocious lion jumped in front of them. “Keep calm” the first explorer whispered. “Remember what we read in that book on wild animals? If you stand perfectly still and look the lion in the eye, he’ll turn and run.”

“Sure,” replied and his companion. “You’ve read the book, and I’ve read the book. But has the lion read the book?”

Fear. It’s something we all experience. Fear is one of the first emotions we feel. Animals sense it, too. Fear is an essential emotion. When we’re around a danger, fear raises its signal to warn us.

But fear has a way of multiplying. Fear can become so all-present that we live in an ever-anxious state. One fear leads to another. We even name our fears:

• Acrophobia: Fear of heights

• Agoraphobia: Fear of open spaces or crowds

• Claustrophobia: Fear of confined spaces

• Xenophobia: Fear of strangers or foreigners

And there are lesser known fears but just as real:

• Arithmophobia: Fear of numbers

• Atychiphobia: Fear of failure

• Coulrophobia: Fear of clowns

• Scolionophobia: Fear of school

• Glossophobia: Fear of speaking in public

• Nomophobia: Fear of being without your mobile phone

Fear plays an outsized role in our lives. How much are we affected and swayed by fear? How are our words and actions – and our silence and our inaction - motivated by fear?

Fear becomes the principle rudder steering us. We’re afraid of how the world perceives us. Will I be seen as stupid? Is my body shape wrong, my hair too frizzy? Will I be criticized if I speak my mind? Am I smart enough, capable enough? Will I fail and be a laughingstock?

Fear leads us to respond defensively over perceived criticisms. We fear financial ruin, we’re anxious over health threats, we’re afraid we might lose our job. We feel like we’re in a pressure cooker at work over fear for dropping the ball. We fear for our children and grandchildren. We fear for our nation, our democracy, of the threat of recession. We fear for the future of our world, of global warming.

So much fear! That little rudder steers us through a tempest, past dangerous shoals and leviathans in a state of non-stop anxiety.

Our readings today from Genesis and Luke both deal with the power of fear. In Genesis, Abraham and his wife Sarah are worried about a problem that affects many people: infertility. They have tried a very long time to conceive to no success.

As we encounter Abraham in today’s reading, both he and Sarah are very old. Sarah’s biological clock has run down completely. What will become of them, these two elderly people living in a land far from their place of birth? Who will care for them?

God speaks to Abraham words that are peppered throughout the Bible: Do not be afraid. Al-tirah in Hebrew; me phobou in Greek. The scriptures echo with this refrain: let go of our fears and trust in God.

Abraham pours out his deepest fear to God. He and Sarah have no children. When he dies, all he possesses will pass to a servant and his memory will drift into the desert’s sands.

Like Abraham, we pour out our fears to God in prayer. And God hears. Sometimes we feel something after our prayers. A presence, an assurance. Something conveys “fear not” to us.

As Abraham revealed his deepest fear to God, something urged him to go outside and look at the night sky. “Do you see those stars, Abraham?” the inner voice said to him. Imagine the spectacular number of stars to be seen in the darkness of that dry desert air. The voice dares Abraham to try and count the stars. “Your descendants will be more numerous than these.”

Abraham believes the blessed assurance of this answer to prayer. The Bible says, “the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness.” His faith took over as his rudder. His ship was steered through life’s tempests by faith, not fear.

But the struggle wasn’t that easy. Abraham and Sarah continued to experience infertility. Finally, Sarah was compelled to act. She instructed Abraham to have sexual relations with her slave woman, Hagar. Abraham concedes, and this handmaid conceives and bears a son, Ishmael.

Thirteen more years will pass, and again God tells Abraham that he and Sarah will have a biological son. Abraham falls down laughing at the prospect.

As fears turn into a marathon, hope slowly burns away into despair, and we become cynical. Fear leads to despair, and despair begets cynicism and a host of other ills. When fear becomes our rudder, we’re steered upon dangerous shoals: cynicism, apathy, selfishness, hardness of heart, cruelty.