(Slide 1) In a book, whose title and author escapes my memory is the author’s story of rappelling down the side of a steep cliff as part of an outdoor learning experience. Now rappelling involves ropes, strong ropes, safety equipment, helmet, good shoes, and guts. It involves, going down the cliff, not climbing it, by using your feet and legs to push off the sides of the cliff and descend to the ground.
I distinctly recall the fear in this man as he began the journey down the side of the cliff. He froze.
His instructor he recalled quoted him the program’s theme, which did not help the matter at all as it did not address the inner panic and fear being experienced as you are suspended over the side of a cliff several hundred, if not several thousand, feet in the air. (Clichéd expressions just don’t make it!) Finally, he told the man to lean backward and push off as that was the only way to do it.
He finally got the hang of it and started to descend.
But in a few moments his instructor shouted, ‘look down.’ He did.
He was descending into a deep crevasse several hundred feet below him. He would have to change course to avoid rappelling into the deep crevasse.
Fear, as I recall, checked in again.
What he was instructed to do was to lean out completely so that he was parallel to the ground… far below… and then push off and swing out in a new direction and away from his current path of descent. In doing so, he would move to another part of the cliff face and then resume his descent.
He finally did so and eventually made it down.
But he had to work through the fear. For him, that rock wall (not to mention the height) was a wall of fear.
Last week I spoke of the fear of flying. I remember the first time I flew. I was about 6 or 7 and my dad and I drove to the private airport a few miles from my home.
He found a man cutting grass who agreed to take us up in his two-seat single engine plane… one at a time. I went first as my dad waited on the ground…by myself.
It was a fun and frustrating experience… I was too short to see over the top of the instrument panel. But I did see my house and I waved to my mom. (At least I think that I did)
Well then, we came back and landed and then my dad went up while I waited at the car… by myself.
(Moms, how high are your fear meters right now? Not to mention your blood pressure.)
When we got home, I said, “Mommy did you see me wave to you from the airplane?”
“What airplane?”
And I proceeded to tell her about our trip to the local airport…
I never rode in another plane for about 14 years and only then I was a paying passenger in my first jet airliner and my mother knew I was on the plane coming home to be in a wedding.
We understand (and my father certainly, I think afterwards, understood) the anger and fear of a parent.
Fear is sometimes an unexpected wall that comes across our path from time to time and when we do, we have a decision to make. To freeze or do make a choice to overcome our fear.
This is the second of a six-part series entitled, ‘Get Your Feet Wet!’
Last week we started our examination of Matthew 14:22-23 that is the story of Peter walking toward Jesus on the water in the midst of a sudden storm. We focused on the dialogue between Jesus and Peter prior to Peter’s getting out of the boat. We spoke of boats that create comfort zones we find it hard to get out of and so keep us from more of what the Lord may has for us.
(Slide 2) Our main text for this morning is Matthew 14:26 that says, “When the disciples saw him, they screamed in terror, thinking he was a ghost.”
What scares you? Where are the source(s) of your fears? Why did the disciples scream when they saw Jesus? Did seeing a ghost lead them to believe that they were dying if not already dead?
John Ortberg suggests, “Fear will tell you what your boat is.” (Source: John Ortberg, If You Want to Walk On Water You Will Have to Get Out of the Boat. Zondervan Publishing)
How I see it is this: “Tell me what your boat is and I will tell your what your fear is!”
Ortberg talks about boats called ‘vocation,’ ‘relationship,’ ‘secrecy,’ ‘addiction,’ ‘a parent,’ and ‘success.’
The thing about our boats is that they easily become our security rather than the Lord being our security. And again, the purpose in getting out of the boat is not to be stupid and careless but to believe in faith that by getting out of the boat we are obeying the Lord.
As we study our main text this morning, we observe that when Jesus appeared the disciples ‘screamed in terror.’
I have to admit that I start chuckling when I read this passage because the very thought of men screaming makes me laugh.
This past summer on our youth group trip to Holiday World, I stood and watched people ride the new water ride that took you in a boat of about a dozen people up to height of about two hundred feet and then let gravity take over from there.
What was fun to hear were the screams of people as they came down the hill. But, when one boat came down it was nearly silent. That caught my attention!
I thought, “That has got to be a boat of all males!” It was!
(Slide 3) But when men do scream it is down right hysterical at times. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xMTztCjtA8
For the disciples, tossing in a boat, most likely swamped by water, it was a very scary scenario anyway. Then to see someone coming on the water, impossible to do, that created an internal overload in these terrified and troubled men’s hearts and they ‘screamed in terror, thinking he was a ghost.’
We don’t have to be in a boat, during a ‘ghost seeing’ storm, to scream out in terror or frustration or pain or fear. We have had those moments. We are truly at our wit’s end.
The observation I make about this passage is that Jesus scares the twelve! The twelve are experiencing fear overload; fear keeps the twelve from seeing Jesus instead of a ghost.
And Max Lucado makes an interesting point when he says:
They didn’t expect Jesus to come to them this way.
Neither do we. We expect him to come in the form of peaceful hymns or Easter Sundays or quiet retreats. We expect to find Jesus in morning devotionals, church suppers, and meditation. We never expect to see him in a bear market, pink slip, lawsuit, foreclosure, or war. We never expect to see him in a storm. But it is in storms that he does his finest work, for it is in storms that he has our keenest attention. (Source: Page 70 in Max Lucado, Fearless. Thomas Nelson, 2009)
Why do we expect Jesus to show up only in the nice quiet times and not in the earth shattering, emotionally impacting loudness of life? Why do we think that Jesus is only close by when everything is good and that He is somewhere else when it is difficult, lonely, rough, and fear-full?
(Slide 4) For a few moments, let’s think about this wall called ‘fear.’
First of all what is fear? When you think of fear what comes to mind? (Ask for feedback)
Fear is mentioned quite often in the Bible. (Some say that the most mentioned command of God is to “Fear not,”…)
Jesus told the disciples in this situation, as well as others, don’t be afraid… fear not!
Fear is terror, dread, horror, panic and alarm. We experience it at the doctor’s office when waiting for the doctor to tell us the results of the tests. We experience it when we get a three a.m. phone call. We experience it when we sense a change in a relationship that leaves us unsettled.
Now I think that there is a legitimacy to fear. For example, if we were at a zoo, and we saw that the entrance to the lion cage was wide open and there was no lion in the exhibit… fear would be a very appropriate experience. Running away would be a very appropriate action! (Not going “here kitty, kitty!”)
One of the greatest fears we have is the fear of change – planned and unplanned. Why is that? It is because we don’t like to feel that we are out of control. But how much of life is within our control? How much? Very little.
(And sometimes we spend too much energy on trying to control the things we can’t instead of trying to control the things we can – like our attitudes and priorities.)
Fear is sometimes a very nebulous feeling. We feel it but we are not sure why.
(Slide 5)But there is worry. It is a close relative to fear – a brother or a sister close. Jesus spoke about not worrying but to trust the Father. But we do worry.
We worry about our kids. We worry about our jobs. We worry about our health. We worry about our money.
How helpful has all the worrying you have done been in your life? Has it helped to accomplished anything (other than giving you an ulcer?) But what did Jesus say? “So I tell you, don’t worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food, drink, and clothes. Doesn’t life consist of more than food and clothing?” Matthew 6:25 (NLT)
(Slide 6) Then there is anxiety! Paul wrote, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and mind in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7 (NASB)
I want us to repeat this verse aloud: “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”
Again…
(Slide 7) Now, I want us to say the verse this way: “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your fears, worries, and anxieties be made known to God.”
Again…
(Slide 8) So what? So what Jim? The economy is still not good in my opinion, the health issue is not going the way I want it to go, my relationship with my friend is disintegrating, and I am concerned about a health issue. SO WHAT?
(Slide 9) Let me suggest that you ponder for a moment this statement from the words of Avery and Matt Willis. “Sometimes we fear situations and problems in life because we unconsciously regard them as bigger than our God.” (Source: Avery T. Willis, Jr. and Matt Willis, Learning To Soar: How To Grow Through Transitions and Trials. NavPress, 2009, page 57)
I also think that we are more afraid because our fear of failure is so strong that we would rather not try than look bad. Where does that come from?
I think that it ultimately comes from the Garden of Eden and from the shame that we carry around in us. This is shame that can only be dealt with the Lord’s help and touch.
The other source of shame is the shaming voices of either our self or others that we have heard down through the years that ultimately say, “if you fail, you are not good enough.” Or “If I fail, I will be rejected.” Again, we need God’s help here because these are powerful voices.
Now, it would be very easy to end this sermon right now. But, leaving this message at verse 26 would leave us hanging, without resolution… just like fear does. That is why there is a verse 27!
(Slide 10) Verse 27, “But Jesus spoke to them at once. “It’s all right,” he said. “I am here! Don’t be afraid.”
More than once in my life when I have truly given my fears to God, the peace of God that Paul spoke of came flooding into my spirit!
(Slide 11) We are concluding as follows:
We are going to give our biggest fear to God today as follows:
1. Take out a peace of paper and write down your biggest fear.
2. Pray this verse of scripture, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let this fear be made known to God.”
3. When you are ready, fold your slip of paper, bring it to altar and place it on the altar.
4. Then after all have had the opportunity I am going to tear them up and pronounce them overcome in Jesus’ name and throw them away!
Let us spend a few moments in silence before we conclude…
