The Lutheran Hour
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"No Fear!"
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Let us pray. O God, on this day You once taught the hearts of Your faithful people by sending them the light of Your Holy Spirit. Grant us in our day by the same Spirit to have a right understanding in all things, and evermore to rejoice in the Spirit’s holy consolation; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
I would like you to imagine a scene with me for a moment. You are a licensed and bonded bricklayer. You are on your way to work at one of the most prestigious and momentous building sites in the world. You are laying the brick foundation for the tallest religious building ever built, a temple of monumental size. It is to be a temple that displays the authority and power of the people who are building it. Until today, the building of the temple had gone smoothly. Until today, all of the crews working on the site were able to communicate with one another and work together in unison – carpenters with bricklayers, bricklayers with plumbers, plumbers with electricians, electricians with foremen, foremen with architects. Today, as one support wall and the flooring beneath it were brought together, a strange thing happened; we, the craftsmen, were unable to communicate with one another. Not only did we not understand one another’s “trade talk,” it appeared as though we weren’t even speaking the same language. As we feverishly tried to communicate, even resorting to grunts and frantic hand motions, fear gripped us. As the concrete specialists tried to indicate to the bricklayers where the concrete needed to go, the support wall began to sag and collapse, leaving no support for the sub-floors, which like dominoes, cascaded down, one on top of the other.
Imagine yourself as such a worker at the tower of Babel, the scene described in Genesis 11 where our fellow human beings tried to build a temple to rival the majesty and glory of God. Mass confusion would have rippled across the work site as the workers discovered that they couldn’t communicate with one another. In the midst of the confusion a foreman or site manager might have yelled out, “No fear.” When the phrase “no fear,” is spoken today in a world of confusion and danger, you may feel like those who heard it at the Tower of Babel construction site – as the empty rattling of words. Could that be what Jesus means when he says, “No fear”; “Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid,” in God’s Word today?
The world is an unsettling and disturbing place. Conflict and danger lurk unexpectedly around the corners of our lives. Fear of the unknown darkens our hearts. Fear unsettles the security of our very lives. Fear opens our eyes to see how fragile our lives really are.
I can remember vividly one of my first confrontations with fear. My dad was an athlete, baseball, basketball, football, and track. He had dreams that I might follow in his footsteps, so I started playing little league baseball at the age of ten. But even at that age some of my classmates who had already been playing for some time, could throw the ball hard from the pitcher’s mound. I soon discovered in the batter’s box that I was deathly afraid of getting hit. My dad, to try to help me overcome my fears, encouraged me to play catch with him; but he became frustrated with my timidity and threw the ball at me as hard as he could to force me to catch it with my glove. Instead of using my glove, I tried to escape my dad’s fastball and caught the ball squarely in the face. As much as I feared the pain of the hardball hitting my skin, I feared my father’s disapproval and any separation or disunity between us even more.
The way we react to and handle fear, and our desire to avoid fearful situations doesn’t change much from childhood. The disciples of Jesus are his little children. They simply want to remain in the game with their Master. When Jesus says that they cannot come where He is going, Peter, probably speaking the sentiments of most of the disciples, boldly proclaims that he will lay down his life for Jesus. No fear in this disciple, or so his words might say. But Peter’s words betray his fear, a fear of denying his Master and a fear of being separated from Him. Yet this very same disciple is the one who on the day of Pentecost, lifted up his voice and addressed the crowds gathered in Jerusalem, boldly proclaiming that God the Father had made Jesus of Nazareth, whom they had crucified, to be both the Lord of all things and the promised Messiah of Israel. How did Peter move from a paralyzing fear of betrayal and isolation, to boldness and confidence knowing that he might be persecuted, even killed, for proclaiming that this Jesus, whom the people had crucified, was the Messiah?
On that day in my tenth year of life when I discovered the pain of my fear of a high fastball out of my dad’s right hand, I also discovered the joy and confidence of a word of promise. My dad promised that he would never force me to do something that only he wanted me to do. He gave me a word by which I lived with Him from that day forward, “I will support and uphold you in whatever you strive to do and be, which is noble and God pleasing, from this day forth!” I lived by my dad’s word of promise and confidently and boldly strove toward excellence in many other arenas of life. I even tackled the sport of my dad’s excellence, basketball, knowing that even though I would never be as fast or as good a defensive player as he was, that my success or failure would never lead to my dad’s disapproval or to his leaving my side.
It is that kind of word of promise which Jesus tucks into his disciples’ hands even before they are mowed down by the Roger Clemens-like fastball of His death and crucifixion and their betrayal and abandonment of Him. Even before His death, He promises them His peace: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” “No fear,” Jesus says. “Even though I must suffer, be crucified and die, have no fear. Even though you will deny me and betray me, have no fear. Even though I must leave you to return to God your Father and mine, have no fear.”
Jesus is not saying, “You will not be afraid.” Nor is he saying, “If you start to fear you have the ability within yourself to handle it.” Rather, Jesus is giving them His Word, which is the Word of God his Father, the Creator and Ruler of all things. He is giving them the Word of Life, the Word of His resurrection. It is the same Word of Life that will raise Him from the tomb on the first day of the week after His crucifixion and death. No fear – My peace is here with you.
My wife’s family has this unusual gift-giving practice at Christmas and birthdays. In most cases they already know all of the gifts that they are receiving before the day of gift-giving comes. But they still wrap the presents and open them on that day. In a sense Jesus does the same thing with his disciples. He gives them the gift of peace even before the troubles come. Then He wraps it for them in His words so that they can open it on the day when they desperately long to see Him.
This band of disciples, so courageous and confident as Jesus prepared to offer His life into the hands of sinners, instead appeared as the meek and most lowly of cowards after Jesus’ crucifixion and burial. Plenty of fear here. They were locked behind closed doors. Then Peace comes and stands within their midst. When they most need to know that they have not been abandoned, nor that God the Father condemns them, the resurrected and living Lord shows up at their pity-party and gives them new life! Here is peace: that their Lord, whom they had abandoned, renounced, and thus crucified, was living and had come to them; not to enact revenge, but to send them forth again as His messengers of life. God is not angry, God is peace. They opened the present He gave them. His peace was with them. He was with them.
Do you ever fear God? Have you ever denied God? Have you ever abandoned him? Remember the last time you confessed to your co-worker or neighbor that you have a heavenly Father who has saved you through his Son Jesus. Remember the last time you willingly and freely confessed your sin to your spouse and sought forgiveness. Remember the last time you prepared seriously to hear God’s Word and receive Christ’s body and blood on Sunday morning. Remember the last time you fully entered into God’s day of rest and were at rest yourself. Then remember all the times when you didn’t do any of those things. Now do you fear the God whom you have failed to confess? Do you fear the God whom you have not prepared yourself to meet? Do you fear God?
You have not kept His words, you have not lived out the new life that is yours in Christ, and so your love for God and for others has failed. But no fear! Your Lord and Savior has given you a Word to hold on to, a gift that you can open now. That gift is His Word: peace. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.” He is telling you, even before you are afraid of Him, that you have nothing to fear. He comes into the locked room of your fear and says to you, “See My hands and My side. I am the one you have crucified, but I am yours and you are mine! Fear not, be at peace. You live in Me.”
Yet the Lord’s condemnation of us is not all we fear. It has been easy since the Civil War for Christians in the United States to become complacent, finding their security in their government’s ability to protect them. But now fear lurks like a shadow behind every tree, around every corner, on every airline flight in the country. Do you fear that perhaps God is not here? Do you fear that He has abandoned you? Is God still living and is He still with us?
My wife grew up in Independence, Missouri, the home of the thirty-third President of the United States, Harry Truman. Once when I visited the Truman homestead I marveled at the fact that Harry’s widow, Bess, had left all of Harry’s belongings in the house exactly as they were the day the President died. His coat was hanging from the coat hanger, his clothes were in the closet, his slippers were by the bed in the bedroom. While all of us may not go to the same extreme to maintain a connection with our deceased loved one, we do desperately want to remember them and so bring their lives into breath again through our memories. We recall their actions, their personalities, and especially the words they spoke to us so that in a sense, they continue to live with us in spirit.
We clasp hold of our memories precisely because we feel them slipping from our minds so quickly. We find all kinds of ways to keep the memories alive: photographs, videos, taped conversations with those we love. Fortunately we don’t have to rely on scrapbooks in order to keep the memory of our God and Savior alive. Our Lord has left us his Word, the Word of the One who even before His death gave us His Word that death held no mastery over Him or over us. His Word that we remember is not simply a fading memory, but His living voice, speaking to us now. The Father’s Word, the voice of Jesus Christ His Son, was not silenced.
Yet Jesus and his Father don’t leave anything to chance, as if God could leave anything at all to chance. The Father sends into our lives the very breath that blows the voice of His Word so that we can hear it. When the Spirit breathes and speaks the Word of God, the living presence of God is before us. He moves in your ears and brings to remembrance the Word of your Savior, “Fear not.” He is the Poet who speaks the most beautiful rhyme. And the poetry that He speaks is the song of life, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not dead. He is risen.” (Luke 24:5-6)
The Father’s ability to remember is living in the breath of His Spirit. When illness threatens, when death strikes a loved one, when tragedies occur, when the world is at war, the Spirit reminds you that Jesus Christ is Peace. The Spirit is the great Rememberer and the Teacher of Words for you. When there is no peace in your heart or peace in your world, the Spirit teaches you the meaning of Peace; that in Christ all is at peace because the peace He brings is the peace of His Father, the Creator and Ruler of all things. This peace is your peace, because you have been made to share in Christ’s life by being baptized into His death and resurrection. Through your baptism into His death, you also now walk in the newness of His life and live at peace even in the midst of the storms that rage.
If you have ever bought a house, you know what surprises await you. All the faucets in the house drip, the basement floods when it rains hard, and the water heater is on its last legs. But if you buy the house in the middle of winter, you may also be surprised by the beauty of the dormant flowers and bushes when spring comes. A gift is enwrapped in those dormant bulbs and branches that thrills you with the myriad of vibrant colors when spring dawns. So it is with Jesus’ word of peace. Just as He gave His disciples, so He gives to you a gift even before you need to open it. He gives you peace, His living presence with you, so that when He says, “Have no fear” you know that in Him you truly can. Amen.
Lutheran Hour Mailbox (Questions & Answers) for May 30, 2004
Topic: Should We Ask God for a Sign?ANNOUNCER: Stay with us as Pastor Ken Klaus answers questions from listeners. I’m Mark Eischer.
KLAUS: Hi Mark. Right at the beginning of our time together, we would like to thank Dr. Kent Burreson for sharing the Lord’s Good News with us today. Well Mark, what’s the topic?
ANNOUNCER: Our question comes from a listener who said, “Recently I heard a preacher on TV tell how Gideon ‘put out the fleece’ in order to learn the will of God. This preacher said we should do the same. And is that true? Should we ask God to give us a sign?”
KLAUS: The question is referring to Gideon, one of the heroes of the faith who, after God called him to fight against the enemies of the Hebrews, asked the Lord whether he was getting the message straight. Gideon asked not once, but twice for God to give him a special sign.
ANNOUNCER: And what was that sign?
KLAUS: That night he laid a sheepskin on the ground and asked God to prove His word by making the fleece wet, and the ground all around it dry. God did that. The second night, Gideon reversed the challenge.
ANNOUNCER: He asked God to make the fleece dry and the ground wet?
KLAUS: Gideon asked and God complied. Now, our listener’s question is this: “Should Christians demand special signs from God like Gideon did?”
ANNOUNCER: Well, most of us don’t keep a fleece around the house.
KLAUS: True, but there are a lot of other ways people can ask the Lord for a sign. It may be they will randomly open their Bible, close their eyes, and point to a verse. Some people ask God to show His will with the flip of a coin. Still others will ask for a person to say something special. Either way, you have a lot of folks walking around, saying that the Lord told them to do this thing or that thing.
ANNOUNCER: And do you suppose the Lord does that kind of thing?
KLAUS: I’m certainly not going to deny the Holy Spirit has the power to do whatever He wants. On the other hand, I think it can be dangerous for us to demand such a thing from the Lord. Remember what the disciple John said, “But these things are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you might have life through His name.” (John 20:31) God speaks to us and faith comes to us through His Word.
ANNOUNCER: But the Bible also talks about how the Holy Spirit directed the apostles to go here, but not go there.
KLAUS: And you could also mention the fact that the apostles cast lots to decide who was going to be the person to replace Judas.
ANNOUNCER: So what do you say? There seems to be a precedent for putting out the fleece.
KLAUS: First we need to recognize that Gideon had some hesitation in challenging the Lord a second time, to provide proof of His will. (Judges 6:39) As far as the disciples were concerned, the Church has always noted that the Lord gives those special gifts that His Church needs, especially in times of special need. Still, it’s wrong to think those gifts are there all the time for everybody.
ANNOUNCER: What does the rest of the Scripture say?
KLAUS: Deuteronomy (6:16) says we’re not to put the Lord to the test. When Jesus was tempted by the devil in the wilderness, (Luke 4:12) He refused to tempt the Lord by performing a special sign. Now Mark, before we go any further, we should say that if a person is carefully studying the Lord’s Word for general indications of God’s will, they’re doing exactly what they should be doing. In the book of John (5:39), Jesus said, “You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them, you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me.”
ANNOUNCER: Now I can think of another passage that applies here.
KLAUS: Please.
ANNOUNCER: Well, Jesus told the story of the rich man and Lazarus. The rich man asked for a sign to be sent to his brothers to warn them about the fires of hell, but he was told, “No, they have Moses and the Prophets; let your brothers hear them.” (Luke 16:29)
KLAUS: No special signs – it clearly makes the point.
ANNOUNCER: Are there any other dangers in putting out the fleece?
KLAUS: Jesus warned His followers to beware of false prophets, especially during the end times. He said that false prophets would arise, their words would sound very good, and they would be very popular. (Matt. 24:11, 24; Mark 13:22, Luke 6:26) Similarly, the apostles told people to stand firm in the faith they were taught, so they could discern false prophets. (2 Peter 1:10,19-21; 1 John 4:1)
ANNOUNCER: What are the criteria for identifying a false prophet?
KLAUS: Do the prophets’ words come true? Are the words new and original, which is a bad thing; or do the words stick to the rest of Scripture? The Scripture provides the ultimate filter and standard of truth. (2 Peter 1:20-21; Rev. 22:18-19)
ANNOUNCER: Thank you Pastor Klaus, and with that, we come to the end of our broadcast for another week. This has been a presentation of Lutheran Hour Ministries.