Theme: Fear not
Text: Gen. 21:8-21; Rom. 6:1-11; Matt. 10:24-39
The technological age has given us easy access to information that was impossible a few years ago. The click of a computer tab can scan a document for specific words, list them and count them. The words “Fear not” occur 365 times in some versions of the Bible. In the Bible everything is there for a reason and nothing can be attributed to coincidence. The reason the words “Fear not” appear 365 times is to point to the need to apply them every single day of the year. This is because fear is a major problem everyone faces and has to deal with. The news, our conversations and the many advises we hear leads to fear. Even in Churches many pronouncements are often made that lead to fear. The result of fear is seen in the experience of Job when he said “the thing which I greatly feared has come upon me, and that which I was afraid of has come to me.” (Job 3:25) There is a story of a man who saw a terrible person named death going towards his town. When asked what he was planning to do Death replied that he was going to the town to collect five people. The man immediately went back and told the town people what death was planning to do. The next time he met death he asked why he took more than a thousand people when he said he was only going to take five. Death replied that he only took five and that the rest died from fear. Fear not and save your life.
The origin of fear is sin. Adam only knew fear after he had sinned. Sin destroyed his relationship with God so that when God appeared in the garden he hid himself saying, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” (Gen 3:10) Fear was the result of listening to the wrong voice, doubting the Word of God and finally disobeying God. The one you listen to is the one who controls your life. Listening to the devil brought man under his control and to a wrong way of thinking, a way of thinking that is contrary to the Word of God. Fear believes what God has not said. God desires that man is transformed into the image of Christ so that He can bless him with His abundant provisions. A wrong way of thinking is to believe in achieving success, wealth and power without Christ. This wrong way of thinking has made many people so busy with the world that they have little or no time for God. Is it any wonder that they end up living in fear? A wrong way of thinking always leads to wrong choices and wrong choices are often responsible for the sorrow and pain that confronts us in life.
The only way to avoid making wrong choices is to depend on and act in accordance with the Word of God. The Lord promised Abraham a child but he and Sarah decided to help God fulfil His promise and made the wrong choice by not acting in accordance with the Word of God. The problems caused by this wrong choice, their reliance on self rather than on God, are still being acted out in the world today. Sarah tried to correct the wrong choice they made when she said to Abraham, “Cast out this slave woman with her son, for the son of this slave woman shall not be heir with my son Isaac.” (Gen 21:10) In spite of the wrong choice they made “God heard the voice of the boy, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, ‘What troubles you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is”. (Gen. 21:17) God preserved the life of Ishmael when he called out to Him. God will also preserve our life and deliver us from wrong choices when we call out to Him. Ishmael called out to the Lord because he knew Him and God delivered him. Do we know our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ? Many of us have been suffering from the effects of wrong choices in our lives. When we cry out to God He will hear and deliver us for Jesus Christ’s sake.
Our gospel reading from Matthew reveals the way to overcome and be delivered from fear. Our belief in Christ should assure us that the truth of God will always triumph since Christ has already defeated the devil. Why should we fear when Christ is in us and we are in Him? The victory of Christ is so comprehensive that the goodness of God will always be manifested no matter how well it is covered or hidden. (Matt. 10:26) The victory of Christ assures all believers that heaven is their destiny and destination. Heaven is our home and there is no need to fear those who can kill the physical body but cannot kill the spiritual body. Who we should fear is the one who can destroy both soul and body in hell. (Mat 10:28) As believers we have the same assurance that Paul had but can we also say “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” (Phil. 1:21) The victory of Christ assures us that everything is under God’s control. How can believers be afraid when everything is under God’s control? If God cares for the sparrow why will He not care for you when even the hairs on your head matter to Him?
Who is in control in your life? Who are you listening to? Jesus only listened to God and would regularly spend time with His Father in prayer. As His disciples we should also listen to Him as spend time with Him in prayer. When Christ controls our lives we will have no reason to be afraid. His very presence should assure us of His love, protection and provision. If God sent His Son to die for us while we were yet sinners, how much more now that we have been reconciled to Him? Christ has made provision to deal with every need in our lives and He does this by faith and so reminds us that the just shall live by faith. I recently read a short poem whose author was not even revealed. It simply said “Fear knocked at the door. Faith opened the door and there was no one there.” Our trust in Christ should keep us from fear. Fear only reminds us that we may know about Christ but we do not really know Him. To really know Christ by having an intimate relationship with Him is to live without fear.
When we know Christ we also know that as believers we died to sin when Christ took our place on the cross and died in our place. By grace we are saved and all our sin past, present and future were forgiven and we were justified, just as if we had never sinned. “We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin”. (Rom 6:6) We know that as believers “all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death. We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life”. (Rom. 6:3-4) When we know Christ we also know that “If we have been united with him in a death like His, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His”. (Rom 6:5) “For one who has died has been set free from sin.” (Rom 6:7)
We must know who we are. We are God’s beloved children having the righteousness of Christ. Our righteousness gives us access to the grace of God by faith. His grace is His undeserved favour that makes available to us all His abundant provisions. When a thirsty child is home he does not ask his father for a drink. He goes to the fridge and takes a drink. Instead of always asking for what God has already provided let us avail ourselves of all that He has provided for us. Christ wants to show us off to the world and He does so by providing all that we need to glorify Him. Christ wants us to live by faith that gives us access to His grace. This life of faith is only possible when Jesus Christ is your Lord and Saviour.
One of my favourite songs used to be “I did it my way” by Frank Sinatra. Every word from this song contradicts Scripture. Our lives should never be about us but about Christ. When Christ controls our life it is evident when we daily take up our cross and follow Him. As a theologian once remarked the cross is where your will and the will of Christ cross and you must make the decision whose will to obey. When we submit our will to the will of God we have no reason to fear. When we fear we are saying we do not believe that Christ dealt with every problem on the cross and that His words “it is finished” are not true. An elderly couple were given a round ticket boat cruise to celebrate their fiftieth wedding anniversary by their children. From the first day they worried about the extra cost they would pay at the end of the trip. For the four weeks they spent on the boat they stayed in their cabin and only ate bread and drank soup they had brought along while the others feasted in the banqueting room. Whenever the boat docked and everyone went on shore they remained on the boat. On their final day they decided to at least have one good meal. After the meal they asked an attendant for their bill. “There is no bill” the attendant said “everything was included in the price of the ticket”. Everything was included in the sacrifice of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. There is nothing left for us to pay for and therefore there is no place for fear in a believer’s life. Today let us hand over every fear to the One who has freed us from fear, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen!
