Mark 4:25-41
(2 Corinthians 6:1-13)
“Why Are You Afraid?”
Preached Sunday, June 23rd
“Why are you afraid?”
In the spring our Wednesday Pastor Bible Study looked at the book “Questions Jesus Asked” and this was one of the questions we spent a week considering. We started this session asking:
What makes you afraid?
When are you afraid?
Where are you afraid?
Of whom are you afraid?
The group shared openly and honestly - speaking of the fears of losing loved ones, of diagnoses, of war and nuclear fallout, of bad storms and car crashes. I shared with the group my deepest fear which is mass shootings - particularly school shootings and my child being a victim of one. Even sharing this today, feels vulnerable and raw as it is still something I fear - and I believe, rightfully so.
The Bible is full of the admonition, “Do not be afraid.” It’s actually a common social media post to say that the Bible says “Do not fear” 365 times - one for each day of the year. I’m sorry to debunk that one for you but it’s simply not true - but it doesn’t change the fact that it is one of the most common phrases found in our Scriptures.
While some take great comfort in this constant refrain of “Be not afraid” - if I’m being honest, sometimes it rubs me the wrong way… Fear is one of our primary human emotions. Through our brains and our hormones, we have programmed fear responses inside of us - flight, fight, or freeze. Fear is a basic part of what it means to be alive. A healthy dose of fear is actually what can help keep us alive. And I think it would simply be naive to think that there weren’t things we should be afraid of in our world.
Now, I will say this about fear - while it is a part of our lives - we also need to be wary of how we are being manipulated to fear. In the book “Questions Jesus Asked” Magrey DeVega says, “Fear is one of the most prevalent and haunting human emotions. We have all experienced fear to some degree at various stages in our lives. It doesn’t help that we live in a culture that thrives on reminding us just how much there is to be afraid of. A recent documentary called Thrive describes how entire cottage industries have been developed to keep you in a constant state of panic. Some politicians would have you believe there is danger lurking beyond every horizon, and you had best elect them if you want to be safe. Consultants want you to hire them to keep your business from going south. And, sad to say, there are even preachers who would try to convince you that evil is just around the corner so you’d better come to church and drop your check in the offering plate…There is fear all around us, and we’ve been conditioned to believe it even when it’s irrational.”
And still… Every day, people’s worst fears come true. Just this week, during what would have been their high school graduation, the names of 20 elementary school students murdered at Sandy Hook were read aloud. It was a reminder that my worst fear is another parent’s reality. And every day, loved ones receive diagnoses. Every day accidents happen, wars continue, and our lives are rocked upon the tumultuous seas of our fears.
Some Christians treat our faith as if it were some magical projection against our fears coming true or against bad or terrible things happening to us or those we love. It would be a relief if faith worked that way…but it simply doesn’t. Our reading from 2 Corinthians today reminds us of that. These were good and faithful Christians - Paul says that no fault can be found in their ministry and that they are great servants of God…and yet. It says they have also endured affliction, hardship, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, and hunger… Wouldn’t all those things be understandable reasons to have fear?
The disciples to whom Jesus asked, “why are you afraid?” also had good reason to fear. They were on the Sea of Galilee in the midst of a great windstorm. Waves threatened to overtake the boat. Perhaps they thought this was the end. In their profession and where they lived, they certainly knew others who had had their lives claimed by the sea. DeVega shares about how in the ancient near east, the sea was often used as “a symbol of chaos and death.” The Sea of Galilee specifically was believed to be a portal to the underworld as its depth was more than anyone could measure and sea monsters lurked within.
Okay, friends, bear with me. We’ve talked a lot about fear and not yet about The Good News - we’re getting there.
When Jesus says to the disciples, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” What if - we didn’t hear that as a reprimand for being afraid? I think it’s all too easy for us to hear it as a rebuke. Many of us, since the time we have been small children, have been told to stop being afraid, to suck it up, to “man up,” and even being outright told, if not heavily implied, that our fears meant we were less than in the eyes of God. What if, instead of hearing it a rebuke or condemnation of the disciples or their fears, what if we heard it in the tone of a loving parent who goes and holds their crying child after a nightmare: “Why are you afraid? What is it that you’re scared of?” But, Pastor Allison, you may say - what about the “ye of little faith” part? Remember that we’re dealing with translations of translations and a vast time and cultural difference too - what if, instead of yelling at the disciples, what if, in the midst of their fear and the midst of the storm we heard Jesus, kindly and lovingly asking the disciples, “Why are you afraid? What limit are you currently placing on me? Don’t you know that I am with you?”
It’s important to note that [when the disciples were afraid - Jesus was taking a nap. He was with them in their fear but he didn’t jump up and fix it immediately.
And in other tellings of Jesus calming the storm, such as the one where Peter gets out of the boat and walks on water, Jesus actually doesn’t calm the winds and waves before speaking to the disciples.]
Jesus doesn’t automatically remove the reason for their fears but he meets them in their fear and offers them a word of comfort.
I’m going to say that again ‘cause I think it’s really important: Jesus doesn’t automatically remove the reason for their fears but he meets them in their fear and offers them a word of comfort.
Countless times in scripture when we hear “Do not be afraid” - it is not a reprimand but a reminder from God that the Divine is with the person who is afraid. I do believe a generous but faithful interpretation of the command to be not afraid can be, “I am with you in your fear.”
That day, even if the waves had capsized the boat, even if they had all gone overboard, Jesus would have been with them in the water. Every day in our world, when people’s worst fears come true - God is with them, holding them close, wiping away their tears, and offering them comfort like a loving parent does for their fear-stricken child. God is always with you - even in, and especially in, those times you are afraid.
God’s response to the disciples and to us in our fear should give us guidance for how we are to respond to our own fears and the fears of others. Let me tell you a story about another boat, tossed about on the open sea, to illustrate this point.
John Wesley, one of the founders of the Methodist movement, wrote in his journal about the time he was caught in a hurricane-like storm on a journey from England to the colonies. He wrote:
“At noon our third storm began. At four it was more violent than before… The wind roared about us, and (what I have never heard before) whistled as distinctly as if it had been a human voice. The ship not only rocked to and fro with the utmost violence, but shook and jarred with so unequal, grating a motion, that one could not but with great difficulty keep hold on any thing, nor stand a moment without it. Every ten minutes came a shock against the stern or side of the ship, which one would think should dash the planks in pieces.”
But John wrote about a group of Moravians, of German Christians, aboard the ship, whose response to the storm he found remarkable and instructive. While the storm raged about them…they worshiped. He described it as thus in his journal:
“In the midst of the psalm wherewith, their service began, the sea broke over, split the main sail in pieces, covered the ship, and poured in between the decks, as if the great deep had already swallowed us up. A terrible screaming began among the English. The Germans calmly sung on…”
John wrote in his journal that the example of the Moravian Christians focusing on Jesus in the midst of their fear, helped them weather the storm, how it served as an example of how God was also with those who, instead of singing, screamed for fear. The Moravians also, the whole journey across the Atlantic, served as exemplars of humility and service - taking on all the lowly tasks on the ship that no one else wanted to do, and always looking for a way to serve their fellow passengers.
Our fears in life can often make us feel as if we are helplessly being tossed about on the sea. And even then…God is with us. Even if our ships are destroyed, even if we are tossed overboard, even if our worst fears come true…there is no where we could go where God would not be with us - offering us comfort and God’s reassuring loving presence. Even in the storms of life - let us not lose sight of Jesus who is always with us, who meets us in our fears, and will never abandon us. And may our example of keeping our eyes on Jesus even in the midst of our worldly fears - may our examples be a lifeline to others in the midst of their fear. For those who are being overwhelmed in the sea of their fears, may we throw them a lifesaver - letting our comforting, reassuring, and loving presence in their lives be the presence of Jesus with them - may we embody the God who meets us in our fears for others.
And may we also look for opportunities of service - where our actions can lessen the fears of others and even make our world a better and safer place, where there are less reasons to fear - because we act and serve as Jesus calls us too.
And so today - may you receive this blessing: Even in your fear, God is always with you. May you feel Jesus’s loving, comforting presence holding you and gently reassuring you that he is with you.
And may you be this blessing to others - may you meet others in their fear, pointing them to Jesus - that through you, others would feel the comforting presence of God.
May it be so. Amen.
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