What are you afraid of?
Matthew 8:23-27
Being a man I hate to admit that I might be afraid of any thing. So my first reaction to talking about fear is to tap into my childhood. My physical childhood, I still am mentally child like.
I was probably afraid of the dark, and lots of other normal things growing up. To day I am not really talking about normal fear. Normal fear is a God given response to things that are dangerous. Things that can hurt you or other people. Fear is one of the many natural things that God has designed into people and animals.
Now there are some other fears that come from a trained response basically form experience. And for many people these can move from healthy fears to phobias.
One of the things that I remember as my biggest fear, a thing, a statement that would cause an instant fear response and immediately freeze me in my tracks. One phrase that turned me into a begging, groveling, crying mess was,” Wait until your daddy comes home!”
Later, in school, There was another phrase that did not have the same outward impact on me was, “Take out a blank piece of paper and a pencil.”
To be more open, now as a grown up I tend to be afraid of a lot more things, experience is a good teacher.
When the phone ringing late at night. Not really the phone but the potential conversation. I fear the bills, taxes, youth lock-ins, and traffic around Atlanta.
So, what are you afraid of? SLIDE - to Death and then Fear slide
The list of natural fears is seemingly endless.
I found a list of Phobias – Fears that were listed on the internet. That I thought were interesting and many were strange: ( could not pronounce the medical names so I am just going to give the definition)
Fear of failure – got it
fear of fire - Some
Fear of dancing – sorta got it
Fear of plants – Definitely not
fear of sleep – Don’t have it at all
Fear of dust. – Safe there
Fear of walking. – Still OK
Fear of looking up. – Maybe a little now I mention it.
Fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of the mouth - No
Fear of opening one's eyes. - No
Fear of bald people – a little
Fear of Work – I got it pretty bad
Fear of one's own fears – That one bothers me….
Fear of getting wrinkles - No
fear of growing old - Yes
There are over 500 medically defined fears. They are defined to help psychiatrist and councilors to help people to identify a person’s phobias.
-- My definition of a phobia is a fear on steroids…. when something becomes a phobia, it means we have let our healthy fear that protects our lives, become something that keeps us from living.
However we are not talking about dealing with phobias this morning.
We are limiting our thoughts to dealing with normal fear.
Several years ago Columnist Dave Barry wrote "All of us are born with a set of instinctive fears--of falling, of the dark, of lobsters, of falling on lobsters in the dark, or speaking before a Rotary Club, and of the words "Some Assembly Required."
I tend to agree that everyone has a set of fears that cause a reaction in us and we don’t seem to be able to just decide not to fear.
I believe, fear will always be with us, it’s one of the base emotions along with hunger, love and hate, and it’s not just limited to the human animal but is instinctive and is included throughout the animal kingdom. I think that you could say that fear is a gift from God, because it keeps us alive.
For most of us fear plays a part in the way we do things everyday. It may be in how we act around other people- so they don’t just kill us.
It may be the way we drive and how we use power tools – safety first.
It influences us on the places we shop and the friends we have – we want to feel safe. Every part of our life can be influenced by how we deal with FEAR.
The general point is that fear is part of our survival instinct. We need fear to make us feel uncomfortable in certain situations so we will get out of them. Fear is not unnatural or unhealthy.
The Bible talks about fear, the word fear is mentioned 266 times and the word afraid is mentioned 223 times. ( I love electronic Bible resources.)
Let me read all those to you now.
(Just kidding ) If you were afraid that I would that is called “sophophobia,” (sofo-phobia) - the fear of learning or knowledge.
Most of the time we learn to automatically use our natural fear otherwise we would probably not be here. We would be hiding in our homes afraid to be seen or use a car or even be with other people.
And the way the world is getting with crime and gas prices, war and so many other things to worry about it is getting so none of us feel really safe anywhere. It is hard to know when you are moving from normal to phobia.
5-year old Johnny was in the kitchen as his mother was making supper. She asked him to go into the pantry and get her the white can with a picture of a tomato, but he didn’t want to go in alone. "It’s dark in there and I’m scared." She asked again, and he persisted.
Finally she said, "It’s OK--Jesus will be in there with you." Johnny walked hesitantly to the door and slowly opened it. He peeked inside, saw it was dark, and started to leave when all at once an idea came, and he said: "Jesus, if you’re in there, would you hand me that white can with a picture of a tomato?"
I believe Little Johnny’s story is like a lot of ours. His imagination is very good, his fears keep him from swinging the door open wide to allow the light in because he does not know if his fears will run out.
He does demonstrate the beginning of faith. He calls on Jesus to help.
That is what our scripture this morning centers on. The disciples are afraid and that fear grows to some level of panic as a reaction to a storm.
They had followed Jesus into a boat and were traveling across the Sea of Galilee. It was evening and perhaps even dark when they set out to get away form the crowd.
But that is no big deal, fisherman worked at night setting their nets and bring them in and came ashore in the morning to sell their catch. Besides that how lost could you get lost , the lake is only 13 miles long and 8 miles wide and it’s longest and widest points. It’s almost round. The group contains at least 4 experienced and knowledgeable sailors.
In reading about the area, I have found documentation of the rapid changes in the weather in the area. Christians visiting the area in the early 1900’s has the tents blown into the lake by the winds. The say the waves sometimes travel over two hundred feet up the shore simply because of the wind shooting out of the valleys on the fart side of the lake.
I doubt a storm was that surprising.
18 years ago, Renee and I had an opportunity to work at a light house for a week. We were transported to an Island on a 60 foot Park Service boat and long with people going to Fort Jefferson national monument. There has been a storm out in the Gulf a few days before our trip. The waves that were left from that storm gave us quite a ride. The boat rose and fell between 15 and 20 feet. We could not see the horizon most of the time. It seemed like we could only see a wall of water as we rose to the top, we would briefly see the sky then the horizon, the boat would lunge forward diving downward and we would feel that tingle in our stomachs as we fell into a canyon made of water. This went on for about two hours….it seemed longer.
Renee and I held on tightly as we sat in the wheel house…we played it cool. We did not get sick as many of the other passengers did.
However, the only way we could keep from panicking was because the captain was not worried at all. He said the water was just a little choppy and we should be there when the weather was bad.
We knew it was true because the captain’s dog just laid on the floor as slid around the room, almost asleep, forward and back and side to side paying no attention to the seemingly huge movement.
We were on the ocean in the Gulf of Mexico 24 hours after a storm…It was daylight and the weather was sunny and clear.
Can you imagine being on a small boat after dark. And a storm come up…a huge storm come up….
The Scripture says, “Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat.”
SLIDE – REMBRANDT
The wording “furious storm” comes from the Greek word - Seismos – earthquake , also whorl-wind .
It seems that this storm is bigger than usual. It is unexpected large storm. Waves are washing over the boat. I imagine that the disciples that were not actually trying to control the boat were bailing with their hands. Instructions are being shouted. Everyone is soaked.
No visibility, The boat probably no more that 20 to 25 feet is rising and falling like a cork and filling with water. No safety equipment, no radio….sounds pretty intense!
With all that movement, noise, splashing…..and the scripture says that, Jesus was sleeping…..Wow he must have been tired.
I think that in a way that seems to speak to His humanness. He is Exhausted. He is like an infant in a car seat. Nothing going on in the car, the radio or talking stirs the child.
Jesus is so tired that the storm can not wake him up. In Mark we are told that he has a little cushion for his head. I guess it was like one of those sleep number mattresses giving him a great night’s sleep while the rest of him is lying on hard rough boards of the deck.
But, He must be soaked to the skin by the waves slamming against the side of the boat. It must be rising up and down as the waves drive them the across the lake.
Do you think that a deep sleep like that indicates that he has complete trust in God. That he has nothing to fear.
The storm increases or continues to where the sailors have done all that they can to keep things under control. Then come and wake up Jesus saying, "Lord, save us! We're going to drown!"
You know that they must be in trouble.
-- Sailors are asking a carpenter what to do in this situation…
They are desperate. They are panicked. They have a fear of drowning. And they come to the guy that was raised inland; because, they have no where else to turn.
They are not so much convinced that He is God at this point as they are hoping he is…..
Fear - Panic – desperation
It sounds like a real problem situation. God had them right where He wanted them.
-- I am always amazed at how little people have changed over the centuries. The way people acted centuries ago matches how people deal with problems today.
The disciples had run out of energy and human solutions. They had no more human answers and they turn to the divine for help. They hoped that the miracle worker that healed so many people could somehow save them from the storm.
They had FEAR mixed with FAITH.
If they had total faith they would have been asleep too, letting God steer the boat. They would also confident in God’s protection and care. It is possible that they were just as tired as Jesus that day. But they took on the job and the fears that were attached to crossing the lake and suddenly it became more than they could handle.
They went to Jesus in desperation like so many of us do when we run out of ideas.
Let me condense this situation down….Disciples that were physically following Jesus ran into a storm that was not their fault. They struggled to deal with it the best they could and when exhausted checked in with Jesus.
A storm 2000 years ago make very little difference to us today. So, how could this story be important to us today.
First, no matter how mature our faith, no matter how close we feel to Jesus…our life will include some storms.
Storms are important to our survival on this planet. If it were not for lightning, plants would not receive the nitrogen needed for growth. Hurricanes redistribute the heat that builds up at the equator which would make the area unlivable.
Storms happen. Storms in our lives help us to grow and to adapt in life.
Second, it is not really about what you have a fear of but at what point to you start to involve Jesus. Lots of people wait until they are already in the middle of a storm to call out to the Lord. When the sickness comes, when the economy stinks, when the dirt hits the fan and fear turns to desperation only then do we cry out to God and hope for a miracle.
Third, even though Jesus had no concern about the storm, He was still attentive to the desperate cries of the followers.
SLIDE Calming waters
He replied, "You of little faith, why are you so afraid?" Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.
He does seem a bit disappointed in the disciple’s faith. However, he attends to their needs. I wonder if he fluffed his pillow and went back to sleep?
If it was completely calm that means that they were going to stay in the boat all night or start rowing to get to shore.
Their fear turns to amazement as they spent the rest of the night considering what had just happened.
"What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!"
Folks, I have a suggestion for you if you want to have fewer or lessened fears.
Don’t wait until the storms come into your life to involve Jesus. Start with your day conversations about life and decisions. Perhaps some storms may be avoided.
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 will turn and run." "Sure," replied his companion. "You’ve read the book, and I’ve read the book. But has the lion read the book?"
When surprised by a storm, involve Jesus when you start to react not when thing get uncomfortable and seem totally lost.
But we are human it is natural for us to have fears of things in this world. We find it hard to leave stuff alone… The war, terrorism, strangers, the IRS, and some assembly required. But God/Jesus will help us control the earthly fears so we can live our lives in his sanctuary his safety.
All Glory be to God!
Song
Benediction/Prayer
I would like to close with a prayer. O would like for you to hold your hands like you have a coffee cup or small bowl. The idea is, focus the thoughts you have of you biggest fears into the imaginary bowl for God to take away. Separate yours fears and mentally put them in the container.
