Hebrews 13.5-6
29 April, 2007

I find that I am in the midst of a series. This is the third sermon where I
try to address what I’m calling real world questions. I didn’t plan on this,
but I’m not surprised that it has come about. We need to speak the Gospel to
our world and we need to do that in terms that they understand and care
about. The world is not interested in some of the in-house debates that we
have nor do they really understand our religious dialect. We need to change.
We need to adapt. And as we work to adapt I think that we’ll find that it
will not just be our thinking about the Gospel that will change, but how we
live it will also change. And that is as important because the world needs
to see the Gospel as well as hear it. And so, we need to grapple with real
world questions. In light of this, I’m going to talk to you today about
fear. I think that I can say that it is something that is common in our day.
In the first part of the sermon I’ll focus on making sure that the point of
the text is clear. Then, we’ll look at three kinds of fear and how to deal
with them according to the Gospel.

Our text is simple. It is a promise from Jesus to us. But there is much
depth here. I want you to notice, though, how He puts this promise. For one
thing, He could have said, ‘I will be with you.’ There are lots of places in
Scripture that put it exactly in those terms. But language is a funny thing.
There are lots of ways of saying pretty much the same thing. The variations
in how you say it, though, do make a difference. So, we have the promise in
the negative; what Jesus won’t do. Then there is the repetition of the
strong words ‘leave’ and ‘forsake’. And then a double negative in the Greek
that doubly emphasizes what is promised. So, let me offer a paraphrase of
this promise. ‘It is simply impossible that I would ever desert you. It is
just unthinkable that I would ever abandon you. It just cannot happen. I
promise to be right there with you – always.’

Now, it’s all well and good that Jesus promises to be with you, but will
that actually make any difference? To too many, Jesus is like the
encouraging mother who gives her young child a pep talk right before his
first piano recital. ‘Now, dear, I know that you can do this. Forget the
audience and just play.’ And then she gives him a hug and a pat on his fanny
before he steps onto the stage – alone. Ultimately, it’s all up to him. Mom
might be cheering from stage left, but he’s the one out there on his own.
What good is that? Jesus is not some cheerleading mother. The point of the
promise is that He is with us to do something. He is with us to act and
affect the situation. Remember Psalm 23 that we looked at a couple of weeks
ago. It is the picture of a very active Shepherd and a sheep that is
helpless without Him. It is the active presence of the Shepherd that makes
the difference. Jesus is not the silent encourager off to the side. He is
active in the hard situations of your life. He is doing things in you,
providing whatever is needed for you to face the situation. He is doing
things in the situation itself so that you will never be confronted with
something that is beyond your ability to deal with. And He is doing things
in the other people who are part of the situation, making sure that there is
a limit to what they can do to you. Jesus is present to act, to do something
so that you can face whatever is in front of you. He is a very active
Shepherd. Consider what the text says: ‘The Lord is my helper.’ He doesn’t
just stand there. He does something! So, you see, Jesus’ promise makes a
real difference in the real world, a place that is filled with things to be
afraid of. Thus, the conclusion that our text draws makes sense. ‘So we can
confidently say … I will not fear…’ Each of us, then, who belong to Christ
can say, ‘What could possibly happen to me that isn’t covered by this
promise?’ You have nothing to fear. The promise is yours. Jesus is right
there with you – always. All you have to do is believe Him when He makes His
promise and then relax. So, the next time you are faced with some fear,
remember this promise Jesus made to you and pray in light of it. And then,
watch Him act. If He doesn’t act, if He lets you down, then I suggest that
you find something better to do on a Sunday morning than come here.

Now, let’s look at some examples of fear – or rather the misuse of fear.
Fear, like anger, is a gift from God, if we use it correctly. The problem,
all too often, is that we don’t use fear or anger correctly. The first is
the fear of failure. This can show in different ways. Final exams are coming
up. So, what do you do? You stress and become anxious. Why? It’s because you
’re afraid. Or change the scenario. There’s a project coming due at work and
it’s not coming together at all well. Maybe you haven’t panicked, but you
can feel the fear building at the fringes. Or maybe you have a very
important decision to make. It’s either ‘A’ or ‘B’ and oh so much depends on
your choice. And you feel the fear building. In each of these situations,
you don’t want to make a mistake. You don’t want to fail. And that’s
understandable. But the fear isn’t. In each of those situations fear is an
expression of a sinful heart of unbelief. But instead of repentance and
faith, your solution is to kill yourself to be prepared for the test or to
get the project done, staying up to all hours of the night. Or you refuse to
decide on ‘A’ or ‘B’. You are so afraid messing up that you become paralyzed
and cannot make the decision. What’s going on here? There are several things
that could be going on here. Here’s one from Proverbs. ‘The fear of man lays
a snare…’ Folk sometimes become trapped, ensnared, because they’re afraid of
other people. They’re afraid of what they might think. And that can be a
powerful force in a person’s life, twisting things all up until you have a
Grade A mess. The Proverb doesn’t end there, of course. ‘The fear of man
lays a snare … but whoever trusts in the LORD is safe.’ Be careful. We’re
not to be satisfied with mere religious talk. Trusts in the LORD to do what?
To ‘never leave you nor forsake you’, to be the active Shepherd, to do
something about the situation. And just to be clear, let me say again, this
is not a mind game where you remind yourself that Jesus is just over there,
stage left, cheering you on, and thus you become ‘the little train that
could’. When confronted by some fear all you need do is say, ‘Lord Jesus, I
need some help here’ and then relax because He will act.

Sometimes the fear of failure is related to another fear: the fear of the
future. And the mantra here goes something like this: ‘Who knows what
tomorrow will bring? So, I need to take precautions today.’ I remember
talking to someone who jokingly described himself this way. ‘I’m so careful
that I wear a belt and suspenders.’ And a look at his life showed that while
he was joking, he was also telling the truth and about more than what
happens with his pants. Different folk opt for different kinds of
‘precautions’ today so that there won’t be a problem tomorrow. This is
another reason for that over the top preparation for next week’s test or the
project that is coming due. Or the intense precision in establishing and
keeping to the budget. Or carefully scheduling your life. Or stressing to
make the right decision. And what all of these illustrations have in common
is this attitude: ‘I will be safe tomorrow if I control today.’ When you say
it out loud in black and white you can clearly see the foolishness of such a
thought. Does anyone really think that he can control today?!? The problem
goes back to that first assumption, ‘Who knows what tomorrow will bring?’
Well, you do, of course! Tomorrow, Jesus will be right there with you, just
like He is today. ‘Never will I leave you nor will I forsake you’, not
today, or tomorrow or the next day or even the one after that. Never. Your
hope is not in your taking ‘precautions’. Your safety tomorrow is based on
who Jesus is and what He has promised to do for you. And that is so freeing.

There is one more fear that I would like to deal with. This is the fear of
death – not your death but the death of someone you love. There are many in
our culture who are simply terrified when it comes to this. And some of you
are also. Let me speak out of my own experience. I don’t think that any of
you will be surprised when I tell you the Linda’s death was the worst thing
that has ever happened to me. I cannot describe to you to pain and sorrow
that I have experienced since that day. I do think, however, that I will
surprise some of you when I tell you that Linda’s death was also one of the
best things that has ever happened to me. Jesus caused her death and then
used it and the process of coming to terms with it in a powerful way in my
life – a very powerful way. And even if I could change what happened – and I
’ve thought about this a good deal – I wouldn’t. I can say without any
hesitation that because of Linda’s death I am a much better pastor because I
am a much better Christian. The Gospel is much clearer to me and I believe
it more firmly. I understand this life better because I understand the next
one better. Linda’s death was not just some oddity of fate. Jesus caused it.
He broke my heart and then He walked with me until He brought about a
measure of healing. I want you to know that in the midst of all the tears
and pain and sorrow I never felt abandoned or on my own. Never. Jesus kept
His promise to me. And He is using Linda’s death for much good. I said all
of that so that you would believe me when I tell you that you don’t have to
be afraid even when it is a matter of the death of that person who is the
closest to your soul. Yes, it will hurt. But you will find that Jesus keeps
His promise. And you will also find that He is worth the pain. He will use
your tears and make up for them, if not now, then later. Jesus will keep His
promise. Do you believe that? I do.

I often tell you my goals for a sermon, though usually at the beginning.
Today, it’s at the end. I had two main goals for today’s sermon. First,
this. Each of you needs to learn about fear, about your particular fears,
and how to deal with them as a Christian. If you do not, then you will be a
slave of your fears and unable to serve Jesus as well as you might. You need
to believe Jesus when He tells you, ‘Never will I desert you nor will I
forsake you’ and in this way be freed from your fears. Secondly, you need to
see that while you have a sure hope when it comes to your fears, they don’t.
The world is a scary place, and unbelievers struggle to deal with that. And
they are not doing a good job of it. How can they, apart from Jesus? It is
my hope that as you mature in this area, your life will show the Gospel to
them. It is also my hope that as you mature in this area you will also tell
them about a Savior who makes and keeps promises so that they never have to
fear again.