The medical and scientific word for them is “phobia.” And there are hundreds, if not thousands, of them. From Arachnophobia—the fear of spiders to Zoophobia- the fear of animals there are nearly endless things that people fear. Perhaps you have a couple of phobias that affect you to greater or lesser degrees.
So, what causes phobias? That can be difficult to answer. It can be part of our family history. Research suggests that some phobias may likely have a genetic component. This means you inherit an abnormal gene (or multiple genes) from your parents that make you more susceptible to some phobias. Experts also say that a particular phobia can be a result of our life experiences, especially a traumatic event in childhood.
And how are phobias typically treated? Of course, it depends on how severe the symptoms of a particular phobia are for a person. It may require cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) where a person can learn to change negative behavior, and the thinking connected to something they fear. A healthcare provider may recommend “exposure therapy” along with CBT. In that case a person gradually interacts with the thing that triggers their fear. They may be asked to even recreate the symptoms of fear or panic in a controlled environment. Over time, they become desensitized to those fears and their symptoms diminish. There are medications that can help as well. And, of course, diet and exercise can also play a part in how a person copes with their phobia or phobias.
In our service this morning we are considering the theme, “Fear not, for the Lord is with you.” I suppose some might say that words alone can’t have any impact on our fears. Others might say that this may work for some fears but not all. And I can understand why some might say, “Pastor, this is nothing more than a spiritual peptalk. You don’t understand the very real phobias that people face!”
As we unpack our Gospel Lesson for this morning we are going to focus on the “red letter” verse. (You may know that tradition of putting Jesus’ words in red in the Gospels.) We hear Jesus say, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” As we join Jesus’ disciples on the Sea of Galilee, we are invited to take a look into our own hearts and see the greatest source of our fears. And then we are invited to dispel all our fears through faith in Christ. We’ll use Jesus’ words as the theme for our sermon. Let this thought be in your head and heart today and always. Jesus says:
“TAKE COURAGE! DON’T BE AFRAID”
I. Get to the heart of all that you fear.
II. Hear Jesus’ voice when you are afraid.
The context and the location of this brief message from the lips of our Savior is important. This happened right after the Feeding of the Five Thousand which we heard about in our Gospel Reading from Mark last Sunday. The first two verses of our Gospel Reading for this Sunday serve as the transition from one event to the other. “Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. 46 After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray.” We’ll keep the context in mind because it is mentioned later on in our Gospel Reading.
After Jesus spent time in prayer with his Heavenly Father he was taking a short cut to get to what must have been the agreed upon place where he would meet up with his disciples. Of course, since he is God the Son Jesus doesn’t have to travel in the traditional way! “Later that night, the boat was in the middle of the lake, and he was alone on land. 48 He saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. Shortly before dawn he went out to them, walking on the lake. He was about to pass by them, 49 but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried out, 50 because they all saw him and were terrified.” In a stressful situation where the disciples were likely already filled with fear, they saw a figure walking on the water in the low light conditions as sunrise approached (between 3:00 and 6:00 A.M.) But as we will see in a moment there was more going on in the heads and hearts of the disciples. Yes, they were afraid. But they needed to get to the heart of all that they feared. And they needed to hear Jesus’ voice.
I.
At this risk of oversimplifying a person’s fears let’s try to get to the heart of fear. What is the root of all our fears? Martin Luther made this interesting observation about fear in his Table Talk—a more informal record of Luther’s teachings. “God and the devil take opposite tactics in regard to fear. The Lord first allows us to become afraid, that he might relieve our fears and comfort us. The devil, on the other hand, first makes us feel secure in our pride and sins, that we might later be overwhelmed with fear and despair.” Perhaps those two opposite views of fear will help us understand what was going on with the disciples, and with what happens in our heads and hearts. The foundational flaw that leads to fear is a lack of faith in God and to much focus on ourselves.
Mark goes on to tell us, “Immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” 51 Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were completely amazed, 52 for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened.” Mark focused on Jesus’ miracles—his walking on the water and controlling the wind so that it died down the moment Jesus entered the ship. John, in his Gospel, adds that the boat immediately reached the shore. Mark does not include the details Matthew added that show how Peter’s faith failed and how Jesus had to rescue him. Nor does he record the detail that when Jesus entered the boat, the disciples worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
Verse 52 gets to the heart of the disciples’ fears. They had not “understood about the loaves.” What’s that all about? And “their hearts were hardened.” What is a hardened heart? despite their confession of the truth about Jesus, they did not fully understand what had taken place. Mark stresses that by saying that if they had fully understood the feeding of the five thousand, they would have been prepared for this miracle too. The statement that their hearts were hardened does not mean they rejected Christ or did not believe in him as their Savior but that they failed to grasp fully what he had done. Their hearts were not open to what Jesus was seeking to teach them. Mark is very candid about exposing the spiritual weaknesses of the disciples and very lucid in expounding the greatness of Christ.
What makes you afraid? Perhaps you have some very real phobias. Again, the list of recognized phobias is longer than the number of people in this sanctuary. And those are just the fears with which we are familiar. We can add fear of the unknown to those fears. One phone call, an unexpected text, or a seemingly random event or sudden diagnosis could suddenly reveal something new for us to fear.
There is a legend about a unique rite of passage among the Native Americans. When a boy was about to be considered a man in his tribe he was put to one final test. After learning hunting, scouting, and fishing skills, he was placed in a dense forest to spend the entire night alone. Until then, he had never been away from the security of the family and tribe. But on that night, he was blindfolded and taken several miles away from everyone. When he took off the blindfold, he was in the middle of thick woods, and he was terrified. Every time a twig snapped; you can imagine that he visualized a wild animal ready to pounce. After what seemed like an eternity, the night ended. The first rays of sunlight entered the interior of the forest. Looking around, the boy saw flowers, trees, and the outline of a path. Then to his utter astonishment, he saw the outline of a man standing just a few feet away, armed with bow and arrow. It was his father. He had been there all night long. The boy was never alone, he had nothing to fear.
In the darkness of our fears, we have the assurance that we are never alone. Our Heavenly Father keeps watch over us. Our Savior, Jesus is with us always. He promised that nothing can pull us from his hands. And as Jesus said we are also in his Father’s hands. Yes, there will be many thinks that could make us afraid but today we hear Jesus say, “Take courage! Don’t be afraid.” We confess the weakness of our faith and pray for a new heart filled with renewed trust.
II.
There was a man who even as an adult couldn’t get over his fear that there was someone under his bed at night. He knew it was an irrational fear. But it was the reality he faced, and it robbed him of restful sleep. The man went to a psychiatrist. “Doc,” he said, “I’ve got trouble. Every time I get into bed, I think there's somebody under it. I get under the bed, I think there's somebody on top of it. Top, under, top, under ... you gotta help me, I'm going crazy!” “Just put yourself in my hands for a couple of years,” said the doctor. “Come to me three times a week, and I'll cure your fears.” “How much do you charge?” “A hundred dollars per visit.” “I’ll think about it,” the man said. Six months later the doctor saw the man on the street. “Why didn't you ever come to see me again?” asked the psychiatrist. “For a hundred bucks a visit? A friend cured me for ten dollars.” “Is that so! How?” “He told me to cut the legs off my bed!”
Today, brothers and sisters in the faith, Jesus tells us to cut the legs out from under all our fears. Yes, most of us, have fears which are much more difficult to overcome—fear of failure, fear of dying, fear of letting others down, fear of living alone, just to name a few. And, as you read through the Bible, you see that fear is not unique to those of us in the 21st century. Again and again, we need to hear Jesus’ voice when we are afraid.
Did you catch the three words sandwiched between the two phrases we are considering in our sermon today? “It is I.” One can’t help but think of all of the “I AM” statements that Jesus made. You find them in John’s Gospel. “I am the bread of life.” “I am the light of the world.” “I am the door.” “I am the good shepherd.” “I am the resurrection and the life.” “I am the way and the truth and the life.” “I am the true vine.” “I tell you the truth, before Abraham was born, I am!”
Those words from Jesus made all the difference in the world. It was Jesus who was speaking to the disciples. He was telling them to take courage and to not be afraid. And his words gave the disciples just what he said. They were given courage. And their fears were calmed. If anyone but Jesus had said those things the disciples could have made a good argument to ignore them. They would have seemed like wishful thinking at best and foolishness at worst.
Now let’s take Jesus’ words and make a connection to our lives. We too will go through storms in life. The storms we face may not be literal ones like the one the disciples faced. And yet all kinds of storms will come our way. Acts 14:22 reminds us that, “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.” Jesus said in John 16:33, “In this world you will have trouble.” So what kinds of storms are raging around you right now? What do you fear most? Perhaps you are fearful about the economy or your job. What about the loved one who is ill? Is your marriage or family falling apart? Are you fearful for your children? What will the end of your life be like? Maybe the wickedness of this world intimidates you. In the midst of those kinds of storms our Savior says, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” And those words have a powerful impact on us. Since it is Jesus speaking they give us courage and they take away our fears.
Since all of the Scriptures are Jesus’ words to us he tells us to take courage and to not be afraid in many other places. Through the Apostle Paul in Romans 8:38 39 we hear encouraging words from our Savior, “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Whatever storms we face in life they cannot separate us from our Savior. May that knowledge bring us peace. We have the same assurance that the LORD gave to his people through Isaiah, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.” (Isaiah 43:2 3)
No, Jesus does not promise to calm every storm in our life. Because of sin in the world, because of the world’s hatred for believers, and sometimes because of our own sinfulness, we will face storms in life. But Jesus does promise to calm us in every storm of life. He comes to us and says, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
A hymn writer expressed the thought that Jesus gives us courage and calms our fears in the storms that we face in life with these words: Let all who are sad take heart again; / We are not alone in our hours of pain; Our Savior stoops from His throne above / To soothe and quiet us with His love; He leaves us not when the storm is high / And we have safety, for he is nigh. Can it be trouble which he doth share? / O rest in peace, for the Lord doth care!” Yes, our Savior speaks words of encouragement and comfort. He tells us not to be afraid. May we hear his words to us as the disciples heard his words over the clamor of the storm.
Before we do any shaking of our heads at the disciples let’s reflect on our own fears. How often aren’t you and I like the disciples. And then think about the fact that the disciples only had couple of words from Jesus while we have an entire Book filled with his words. We have dozens, and dozens of promises from Jesus. “I am with you always. The very hairs of head are all numbered. Everything in your life will work out for your eternal good. I hear your prayers. I have prepared a place for you in heaven. I have forgiven all of your sins!”
Perhaps to a lesser degree, but still in an important way, the “rest of the story.” In the closing verses of our Gospel Lesson tell us how Jesus’ takes away our fears and makes us unafraid. “53 When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret and anchored there. 54 As soon as they got out of the boat, people recognized Jesus. 55 They ran throughout that whole region and carried the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. 56 And wherever he went—into villages, towns or countryside—they placed the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed.” There’s the power of our Savior on display. His Word to us brings that same power into our hearts and lives.
There is a story told about a man who lived in the mountains of Arkansas. Everyone knew he had some of the best hunting dogs in the county. And these dogs were tough. When he used them to hunt wild pigs in the mountains, they were fearless. But the man once told a friend that the dogs, as tough as they were, were deathly afraid of chickens. No one could believe it. But those who stopped by the man’s farm saw his dogs run away in fear from his chickens. The man explained that when the dogs were puppies, they lived around the chickens. The chickens at the time, were much larger than the little puppies. As a result, the chickens would bully the puppies and chase them all over the place. The young puppies learned to fear the chickens. Because of that, even as strong hunting dogs, they still clung to their fear of chickens!
Our fears can be like that. They’ve been in our lives for so long we are trained to remain afraid. Today, our Savior has invited us to see the truth about our fears. When we focus on ourselves our fears will remain. When we focus on Christ—his love for us and his power over all things—know fear can shake us. And once again today we have seen the heart of our fears. They stem from unbelief and a lack of faith. Thankfully, we have again heard the voice of Jesus to silence our fears. Amen.
