Introduction
As a kid I was a pretty big scared little fellow. Looking back there was a ridicules amount of objects and events that I was scared of. Dogs, heights, bees, the ocean, swimming pools, driving too fast, roller coasters, snakes, basements, the dark. I was even scared of loud noises, and the sound that automatic toilets would make when they flush! I was a pretty timid little dude. I’m happy and proud to announce that I am now the proud owner of two dogs, I love going to Kings Dominion and riding most of the roller coasters, I live by the beach and frequent the ocean a lot, and I can even use automatic toilets with out any fear of them flushing.
We all have fears, things that we were scared of as children and things that we are scared of now. Some are legit and some are just weird. As we get older we may grow out of those childhood fears, but it seems that bigger and even more daunting ones replace them. Fear of being alone, fear of failing at our career, fear of losing those we love, fear of disappointing those around us, fear of raising our children wrong, fear of not being good enough, fear of missing our purpose in life, and the list goes on and on.
Fear Makes us Forget
When I think about this concept of fear I am always encouraged by the fact that the Bible is full of guys that were plagued by fear. Moses pleaded with God to find someone else to do the job, Jonah ran the other way, the Israelites wandered in the dessert for forty years because of their fear of the promise land, David in Psalm 55 cries out, “My heart is in anguish within me; the terrors of death assail me. Fear and trembling have beset me, and horror has overwhelmed me!” the disciples were scared in the storm, and then there was Peter.
I’m not sure if I can say this about an apostle, but I think it’s fair to say that Peter and I would not have gotten along very well. His personality and my personality just would not mesh that well. He was always the first to talk, loud, abrasive and very opinionated (two really opinionated guys in the same room don’t mix well). No, Peter and I would not have gotten along well, but there is realness to Peter that I can relate to. A lot of times we don’t associate Peter with fear, for crying out loud he was going to take on a whole group of Roman soldiers with one sword, but there are times in Peter’s life when he is ruled by fear. The story of his denial of Christ is a pointed example that underneath all of the big claims of dying with Christ, and following him to the end, there was fear living in him and when the proverbial rubber met the road Peter’s true nature came to the surface.
Now I don’t want to pick on Peter too much because truth be told I’m pretty sure I’m not so sure if I would have done differently. I believe that the example of people like Moses, and Jonah, David, and Peter teaches us a very true and very important principle when it comes to fear.
1) Fear makes us forget who God is.
This is not a hard concept so I am not going to spend a lot of time on it. Fear makes us forget. We fear being alone/ we forget that Christ promises to never forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). We fear failing at our careers/we forget that our identity is not found in what we do, but who we belong to (Ephesians 2:10). We fear missing our purposes in life/we forget that when we belong to Christ we have already found our purpose (Jer 29:11). We fear not raising our kids well/we forget that God is their heavenly father and even though we love them very much he loves them more (Lamentations 2:19). The list goes on and on of issues that we fear and example after example of God being faithful through all things, and yet when fear strikes amnesia sets in. This is evident in the story of Peter, just days earlier he has watched the triumphal entry of Christ, a dead man come to life, a blind man receive his sight, and his very own pronouncement of Christ’s deity. Fear makes us forget the promises of God and the power of God.
It is a fruitless effort to not be afraid of certain situations, but I believe the key is that when we get into those situations that we do not forget who God is and what we has already brought us through and promised to bring us through.
2) Fear looks for company (John 21:15-22)
This is one of my favorite accounts in all of scripture for a couple of reasons but one of the reasons is the realness of it. Anyone who has ever been the bystander to an awkward conversation can kind of relate to this story. Picture the scene, everyone has just finished a very nice breakfast with Jesus, the dishes are getting cleaned up, the fire is getting put out and all of a sudden Jesus drops the bomb. “Peter do you love me?” Oh man here it goes, Peter had to know this conversation was coming, he had been dreading it ever since he had heard the great news about Christ. “Yes Lord you know I love you.” Ok we got that out of the way we can move on, but Jesus is not done yet, “Peter are you sure you love me?” And you can almost hear the underlying statement in there, “Are you sure you love me, because back in the day you talked a pretty big talk, but I’m pretty sure you did not follow through.” I would imagine at this point the rest of the disciples are looking around for something to do, because this was not a conversation that they wanted to be apart of, maybe there like sweeping the beach up. “Simon son of John, “Do you love me?” “Lord you know I love you, that stuff that happened back then was a mistake, I freaked out, we all did, but you know everything and you know that I love you!” It’s at this moment that Jesus seems satisfied and says, “ok then if you’re sure you love me, then hold on because the rest of your life is not going to be for the faint of heart, it’s not going to be for people who scare easy. Translation, if you follow me your going to die because of it. We know from tradition that he did in fact die for Christ, some traditions say crucified upside down, others say by beheading, but the point is the same when people get serious about following after Jesus, it can get scary. There is no guarantee of safety or comfort or glory when you follow Christ. This is not a message that is preached too much to people going into ministry so let me make it very clear, if your in ministry for comfort, fun, glamour or to make a name for yourself, get out because it will eat you alive. The ministry is not for the faint of heart, or for people easily scared by life (that one is for free.)
I love Peter’s response to this whole conversation. Jesus says ok if you love me this is how your life is going to play out, and instantly Peter starts looking around and he see’s John and says, “Well what about him?!” This is so interesting to me because we all do this.
Some of you are going to go through seasons of your life when you follow after Jesus that are completely out of your control, seasons that scare you. For some of you it will be routine test results that come back bad. For some of you it will be job loss, spousal issues. Some of you will work your entire lives in ministry and will never see fruit. Some of you sitting in here today will have to bury children, and when that day comes your gut reaction is going to be to look around and say, “but what about him, what about her?” “It’s not fair, I worked just as hard as them, exercised more than her, raised my kids better than them, and this is how it ends?” If your not careful you can begin to live a life that is controlled by this type of “yeah but what about them mentality.”
Some of you know that I have a twin sister. Growing up a twin can be a very interesting experience. One thing that used to irk me as a kid was when people would but us one gift to share. Something that would be even more aggravating though, and it did not happen very often, but every once in awhile my sister would get a gift and I would not or vise versa. My dad used times like these to teach me a very important lesson, “just because someone else get’s a gift does not mean I’m going to get a gift.” This is such an important lesson because it is so true.
It’s during these hard seasons of life, when were looking back at everyone behind us , evaluating their gifts, and looking at what we have and don’t that and fear and the jealousy is taking that our heavenly father reminds us, “don’t worry about them, I have a purpose for them as well, we don’t all get the same gifts, but you follow me.”
Conclusion
Hope amidst Fear
Here is the last thought I want to leave you with this morning. Isn’t great that despite Peter’s fear, Jesus still uses him for the glory of his kingdom? See I’m not quite sure that Peter every really got over his fear of what people thought about him and what the future would hold, because we find in Galatians 2:12 that Paul is openly rebuking Peter because of is fear of what the Jewish community would think of him eating with the gentiles. It’s a really interesting part of the Bible, and when you get a few minutes you should check it out. Isn’t it great that Christ uses us despite our fears? Christ commands his disciples 21 times in the New Testament not to fear and yet it seems as though that was a hard lesson for them to learn, despite that he continued to use them for the kingdom.
I don’t know all of you guys, and you guys do not know very much about me, but here is one thing I know. Every single one of us has something that we are afraid of. I’m not talking about some little fear like heights or snakes or automatic toilets, I’m talking about the deep fears of the soul. If you have not experienced a soul fear yet, at some point you will. One day you will be asked by God to do something you do not think you can do. You will be asked to go places you don’t want to go and minister to people that you do not feel comfortable ministering to. You will be asked to carry an illness that you do not think your strong enough to carry, give help to people you do not feel qualified to help. Christ Jesus will whisper to you, “Do you love me?” “Then feed my sheep.” It is at that point when the fear and the doubt creep in that you will have a choice to make. You can forget who God is, you can begin to look around and covet the cross that others have been asked to bear or you can say yes Lord I love you, please use me despite my fear. When that day comes I would ask you to remember the words of Romans 8:15, “For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry “Abba Father.”
