“A PRONOUNCEMENT, A PETRIFIED PETER AND A PROMISE”

MATTHEW 17:1-9

17:1  Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves.

2  And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white.

3  Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him.

4  Then Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."

5  While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, "This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!"

6  When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear.

7  But Jesus came and touched them, saying, "Get up and do not be afraid."

8  And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone.

9  As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, "Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead."

There’s no doubt about it. Peter was afraid. Anyone who falls to the ground and hides his face the way he did is definitely afraid.  Actually, Peter wasn’t just afraid.  Peter was petrified.  Of course, I’m not blaming him.  If I had been there and heard a voice thundering from the clouds I probably would have done the same thing. How about you? 

Some people don’t like to admit it when they’re afraid.  That’s too bad because being afraid isn’t a sin.  Fear is a normal human emotion and I don’t care how brave you are. Everyone is afraid of something.

Do you remember the conversation that Charlie Brown has with Lucy right in the Christmas?  It happens in the holiday classic that you see on television every year.  Charlie Brown is feeling a little depressed. So, he goes to see Lucy for some psychiatric help.   Lucy decides that the best way to help Charlie Brown is by looking at some of his fears. 

So, Lucy asks, “Do you have a fear of responsibility? If you do, then you have hypengyophobia.”   Charlie Brown isn’t sure.  So, Lucy continues.

“Are you afraid of cats?” she asks. “If you are then, you have ailurophobia.”

Once again Charlie Brown isn’t sure.  So, Lucy continues.

“How about staircases?  That would climacaphobia.”

“Are you afraid of oceans?” she asks. “That would be thalassaphobia.”

“Do you have a fear of crossing bridges?” she asks. “That would be gephyrophobia.”

Finally, Lucy asks, “How about pantaphobia.  Do you think you have pantaphobia Charlie Brown?”  At that point Charlie Brown asks rather innocently, “What’s that?”

As soon as Lucy say “the fear of everything” Charlie Brown shouts, “That’s it!”

I certainly hope you don’t suffer from pantaphobia.  I know that I don’t suffer from pantaphobia.  However, I do have a few phobias that I have to deal with from time to time.

For example I know that I do suffer from aichmophobia.  That’s the fear of needles.

I also suffer from pteromerhanophobia.  That’s the fear of flying.

I also suffer from severe ophidiophobia and I bet some of you suffer from that as well.  That’s the fear of snakes.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find a word for my biggest fear of all.  So, I made a word up that captures the essence of this fear and that word is cocoa-nada-phobia.  That’s the fear of being stranded on a desert island without any chocolate

Fear is a basic human emotion and sometimes fear is good.  Suppose for a moment that you’re a mother and you’re fixing dinner.  Suddenly your two year daughter old reaches for a pot of boiling water on the stove.  It’s the fear of your daughter being scalded with hot water that makes you spring into action

Sometimes fear is good but sometimes fear is bad.  Fear is bad when you end up doing the same thing that Peter did on that mountain.  Fear is bad when it keeps you from living your life. Fear is bad when it keeps you from doing what you need to do to solve a problem.  Fear is bad when it makes you throw your arms up to the heavens in despair and cry out, “What’s the use?

There’s a lot of that kind of fear out there these days. Global warming, terrorism, bird flu and other deadly new diseases, soaring gas prices and an economy that looks like it might be on the verge of a major meltdown, nuclear weapons in North Korea and Iran, guns in our schools, moral decay in our boardrooms, classrooms and bedrooms.  Every now and then you see a family on television and the family has five children with three mothers and four fathers.  These days we have fewer and fewer family trees and more and more family vines.  Let me ask you this.  When you look at where we are and where we seem to be heading do it make you want to cheer or does it fill you with a little fear?  Sometimes it really makes me wonder if the end is near.

Sometimes it’s enough to make you do what Peter did that day on that mountain.  It’s enough make you fall to the ground, hide your face and prepare yourself for the worst.

You end up with the same outlook that Lucy displayed one day in a conversation with her little brother Linus.  The two of them are standing at the foot of a hill.  Suddenly Lucy says to Linus, “Someday I’m going over that hill and find the answer to my dreams…Someday I’m going over that hill and find hope and fulfillment.  I think, for me, all the answers to life lie beyond these clouds and over the grassy slopes of that hill!”  At that point Linus takes his thumb out of his mouth and says, “Perhaps there’s another little kid on the other side of that hill who is looking this way and thinking that all the answers to life lie on this side of the hill.”  Lucy look at Linus then turns to the hill and hollers, “Forget it kid!”

With everything that’s going on these days it’s enough to make you do what Peter did that day on that mountain.  It’s enough to make you fall to the ground, hide your face and prepare yourself for the worst.  I’ve got some news for you though.  Jesus isn’t going to let you do that. Take another look at what happened on that mountain.  Jesus went over to Peter and said, “Do not be afraid.”  Now I think that Jesus chose his words very carefully here.  Think about it for a moment.  Think about what Jesus could have said to Peter at that moment.

Jesus could have told Peter that he was overreacting and said, “Peter it’s just a voice.  Don’t be such a baby.”  He could have given Peter a pep talk and said, “Look Peter.  I’m counting on you to take over after I’m gone.  So I need you to be brave here and set a good example for the other disciples.”   Jesus didn’t do that though.  Instead he walked over to Peter and said, “Be not afraid.”

Be not afraid Peter. Jesus doesn’t criticize Peter.  He reassures him.  He lets Peter know that he’s right there with him and because he’s right there with him everything is going to be alright.  Be not afraid.  By the way it may interest you to know that those words are said over and over again from one end of Jesus’ life to the other.  When Jesus was born what did the angel said to the shepherds who were watching their flocks by night?  That’s right. Be not afraid.  When the women went to the tomb that first Easter morning what did the angel say to them when they got there?  That’s right.  Be not afraid.  When the disciples were out in that boat being tossed around in a storm what did Jesus say to them?  That’s right.  Jesus came to them walking on the water and said, “Be not afraid.”   

Be not afraid for I am near.  Be not afraid for I am coming back. 

Recently someone sent me a wonderful story about an ancient Cherokee tradition.  The ancient tradition was a rite of passage that every Cherokee boy had to go through in order to become a man.  When the time came the boy’s father would take him out into the middle of the forest and blindfold him.  The boy would then have to sit on a stump or a rock the entire night.  He couldn’t take his blindfold off or cry out for help. It was, of course, a frightening experience.  You had to sit there in the dark not knowing who or what was going on around you.  You would hear the sounds of the forests, the growls of wild animals, the wind blowing through the trees, the occasional snap of a twig and your mind would begin to wonder and worry.  Your mind would begin to play tricks on you.  Is that a wild animal that might attack me?  Is that the footstep of an enemy who might wish to do me harm?  All through the night you had to sit there and wrestle with your fears.  Only when the first rays on the morning sun began to fall upon you could you take off your blindfold.  Only then could you take off your blindfold and see your father sitting a few feet away silently watching over you.

Be not afraid for I am near.  Be not afraid for I am coming back.  Get up Peter and let us go down the mountain to face the world together you and I.  That sounds pretty good to me. Be not afraid for I am near.  Be not afraid for I am coming back.  Let us go out into the world knowing that the Lord is watching over us.  Let us go out into the world knowing that he will take the good that we do and multiply it over and over again and what we can’t do, he will finish when he comes back in all of his power and glory.  Amen.

Rev. Dr. Richard A. Hughes

February 3, 2008