Second Presbyterian Church

"The Right Way to Fear:
Preaching From the Gospel of Luke"
February 13, 2005

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Sermons Homepage » Sermons for 2005 » Sermons for February 2005 » Sermons from the Series on Luke

#40 in the Series on Luke
The Rev. Daniel E. Hale, D. Min.

• Psalm 111
• Luke 12: 1-12

Today I would like to talk about fear and how we, as Christians, manage fear. My hunch is that this will be more relevant for some of you than for others. As for me, how to manage fear and anxiety has been very important! The first time I had surgery I was 7 years old. I remember not being able to sleep most of the night before, because I was nervous about it. I also remember quite vividly how afraid I felt when the anesthesiologist placed the ether mask over my nose and mouth and I had to breathe that terrible smelling stuff!

My heroes, as a child, were people like Davey Crockett, Jim Bowie and other brave pioneers who could hunt and shoot and who seemed to have no fear at all. At least Fess Parker, John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, and Charlton Hesston had no fear!

But I know what it was like to be afraid. And at that time I did not realize that courage was something you possessed despite your fears. I had always assumed that courage came when you had no fear.

It was a great insight for me when I realized that courage was not the opposite of fear at all! Courage is the ability to do what you need to do, despite your fears. If any of you have ever served in the military, then you know what I am talking about. One is afraid when one is in danger, but courage is that trait of character that calls one to do what has to be done anyway!

So, our scripture lesson today is very important. It doesn't really say, "Fear nothing." Rather, it says, "Know what really is worth being afraid of!" Don't fear what can happen to you, or your body. Or, don't fear the one who can kill you and then do nothing more.

And that includes the entire list of possibilities that can happen here on this earth. There are a countless number of ways we can physically die. We can become ill. We can be a victim of crime. We can be in a fatal accident. We can become a fatality of terrorism. The list of what can potentially kill us is endless!

And there are other fears that tend to take over our lives. We can fear what other people think of us. Are we popular enough? Are we stylish enough? Do we possess sufficient social skills?

Jesus said that we are not to fear these things. We are to fear, instead, the one who has the power to cast us into the "always burning" Jerusalem trash pile, better known as Gehenna - sometimes translated as "hell." Evidently this ancient burning garbage dump conjured up images of what the worst condemnation would be like.

Jesus was saying that we need to fear the one who has the authority to cast into hell. And there is only One who has that authority: God. Jesus was saying that God, alone, is the one about whom we need to fear. God alone has the authority to kill beyond death.

What Jesus said is consistent with the entire Old Testament. From Deuteronomy ("the LORD your God you shall fear," 6:13) through Joshua ("Now, therefore, fear the LORD and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness." 24:14), through the Psalms ("The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom." Ps. 111: 10."), Proverbs (1:7), Isaiah (11: 1-5), and on and on.

The beauty of this call to fear God is that the fear of the LORD casts out all other fears. Admittedly, we do not feel comfortable about fearing God. We tend to emphasize how God is loving and gracious. We like to proclaim God's mercy and compassion. We like to avoid scriptures that warn us of God's judgment and wrath. When we do avoid God who is fearsome, we don't experience the richness of what it means to be in relationship with the LORD.

Suppose you had the opportunity to meet the Queen of England, or some other dignitary. Chances are very good that you would be awestruck, perhaps even speechless when you met her. Yet the Queen of England is only a human being. God is God. God is the One who created all that exists. God is the One who created nature. God is the One who rules over so much, that any individual ruler pales in comparison. When we speak of the majesty of the LORD we use royal terms that don't even come close to the reality of the majesty of God. God is the one who, in Isaiah's vision, enters the temple of Solomon and His train fills the entire temple.

Some of the majesty of the old, Gothic cathedrals in Europe give the person of how awesome and majestic God really is.

But isn't fear a bad word? Yes, and no. Fear can be very negative. Anxiety, a type of fear can keep us from doing things we need to do. Agoraphobia can keep a person from leaving a house. Claustrophobia can keep a person from using a perfectly safe elevator. We can become afraid of making a decision, because once it is made, then we have to live with the consequences of that decision. We can worry about how long we are going to live, what we are to wear, where are we going to get our next meal. (More will be said about this in the next sermon.)

Yet fear is also a good word. Without fear, we would not tend to automatically flee from danger. Fear is the way that God teaches people to take evasive action when danger lurks. If you are walking along in the woods and hear the rattle of a rattlesnake you take heed; you take evasive action so that you do not get bitten by the rattlesnake.

But fear is also very good if it is an expression of the awe and total respect that we have for God. Let me give an example. If I am with a group of people and the group decides to do something that is not right to do: steal a car, vandalize a house. You know it is the wrong thing to do. You know that it is a foolish thing to do and that you could get caught. If you are too afraid of what your friends think, then you will probably go along with the crowd and participate in the stealing of an automobile. If you are more afraid of God than people, then you will fear more the consequences of disobeying God than the taunt of friends who actually will call you chicken for not going along with the group.

Yet, it takes much more courage to say "No" to your friends, when they are wrong, than to give in and do something stupid. It is hard to buck peer pressure. But if our fear of God is our greatest fear, then we can fear our friends less and not be quite so worried about what they think if you go against their plans. That takes courage. That takes fear - the fear of God!

You might think that this kind of sermon is just for Adolescents and children. You would be partially correct. Adolescents and children in particular need to learn what to really fear and what NOT to fear. But so do the rest of us! We need to fear God, too. Our peer pressure can be pretty powerful, just a powerful as peer pressure that our children experience.

Over the past few decades Christian leaders have had to stand up and against racial segregation. Often this was not a popular position to take. Ministers and Ruling Elders were often taunted and harassed for coming out on the side of African Americans and other races. It was a risky business and it was not intended for the coward, or weak-hearted. Some ministers were threatened for their lives. Some were harassed and beaten. Some, such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. lost their lives speaking out for racial equality.

But their fear was in the right place; it was the fear of the Lord. It was only to God that they really had to answer, not to people. This helped to give the leaders of the Civil Rights movement the courage to stay the course for integration.

Today it takes courage to stand up for orthodox Christianity. It is so out of vogue! Some call it irrelevant. Christians tend to be put down and ridiculed everywhere. Jesus was clear about this. If you are willing to acknowledge my name before others, then I am willing to acknowledge you before God. If you are not willing to acknowledge my name before others (e.g. stand up and be counted as Christian.) then the Son of Man (Jesus) will be ashamed to acknowledge you before Jesus Christ.

We may suffer if we acknowledge Jesus Christ before other people. But that suffering is quite limited; it is limited only to the body. As Jesus had said, "Fear him, …, who has authority to cast into hell." (verse5) That is the right way to fear! It is the fear of God that casts away all other fears. Amen.

The Rev. Daniel E. Hale, D. Min.