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“THE UNAVOIDABLE FEAR FACTOR”
MATTHEW 2:13-23
13 Now after they had left, an angel
of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain
there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him."
14 Then Joseph got up, took the child and
his mother by night, and went to Egypt,
15 and remained there until the death of
Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, "Out of Egypt I have called my son."
16 When Herod saw that he had been
tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years
old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men.
17 Then was fulfilled what had been
spoken through the prophet Jeremiah:
18 "A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing
and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they are no more."
19 When Herod died, an angel of the Lord
suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said,
20 "Get up, take the child and his mother,
and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child's life are dead."
21 Then Joseph got up, took the child and
his mother, and went to the land of Israel.
22 But when he heard that Archelaus
was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And after being warned in a dream, he went
away to the district of Galilee.
23 There he made his home in a town called
Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might
be fulfilled, "He will be called a Nazorean."
Be not
afraid. That’s what the angel said to the shepherds who were out in the fields watching their flocks the night Jesus
was born. Come to think of it, the angel said the same thing to the women who
went to the tomb that first Easter morning. Maybe that was just a coincidence. Then again, maybe it wasn’t. After
all, fear is one of life’s unavoidable realities. Everyone is afraid of
something. I’m no exception. I’m afraid of snakes and needles and
perhaps the biggest one of all is my fear of flying. To tell you the truth, I’m
a little like the minister who got onto a plane one day and was obviously terrified.
A flight attendant noticed the minister’s collar and did her best to calm him down. “You know,” she finally said, “I’m a little surprised. You shouldn’t be afraid. You’re a man of faith. After all, didn’t Jesus say, ‘Lo,
I am with you always.’” “Yes,” the minister replied,
“But he said lo. He never said anything about how high.”
Everyone
is afraid of something. How about you? That’s alright. You don’t
have to tell me. People don’t like to admit it when they’re afraid.
Why? Because it’s a sign of weakness. If you admit that you’re afraid
people might think you’re a coward. Nobody wants to look like the pilot who surprised the passengers on a commuter flight
one day. It all started when the plane experienced some engine trouble. The passengers got a really nervous when one of the propellers started to sputter.
They got even more nervous when a second propeller started to sputter. Just then
the door to the cockpit opened and the pilot came running out with a parachute. “Don’t
worry,” he shouted, “Everything is going to be alright. All of you
stay right where you are. I’m going for help!”
Most of the time fear is looked upon as a negative. I’m here to tell you though that sometimes fear is good. Sometimes fear is actually a blessing. Just ask Joseph. He was probably quivering with fear after he had that dream. It happened sometime after Jesus
was born. While
Joseph was sleeping an angel came to him with some bad news. “Joseph,”
the angel said, “you better get out of town and you better do it right now.” The angel explained how Herod was
determined to destroy the child. That’s all it took for Joseph to spring into action.
He quickly gathered up the gold, frankincense and myrrh and use those precious gifts to take Mary and the baby Jesus
to Egypt.
Now Joseph wasn’t a coward. It’s just that there really wasn’t anything else he could do. It would have been suicide for
him to stay and fight. He also wasn’t wealthy enough to bribe their way
out of trouble. Not only that, but he also didn’t know any people in high places who could protect them. So, Joseph did the only thing he could do. He took his family and went into hiding.
Sometimes fear is a good thing. The fear of failing is what motivates you to study for an exam. The
fear of getting sick is what motivates you to stop smoking. The fear of a child
getting into trouble is what motivates a parent to give that child a little tough love. The fear of not being liked can motivate
you to make some changes in the way you relate to the people around you. Sometimes fear can also keep you from doing something
that could get you into trouble.
Fear isn’t always bad. It’s only bad when it interferes with your day to day life.
It’s only bad when you start to worry about what might happen or what could happen. You start to worry about little things that really aren’t all that important. Maybe you experienced a little unhealthy fear while you were doing your Christmas shopping this past month. Tell me if any of this sounds familiar. What if I get him the wrong size? What if they already have what I’m going to give them? What
if they don’t like what I’m going to give them? What if it doesn’t
get there in time? It’s that kind of fear that leaves you wandering around
the mall for hours on end searching for the perfect gift for everyone on your list.
By the way, did anyone see the column that humorist Dave Barry wrote a couple of weeks before Christmas? He pointed out how Christmas shopping can be terrifying for the average husband. Two weeks before Christmas
this is what he wrote, “The average man, at this point in the Christmas season, has purchased zero gifts. (In fact) He has not yet gotten around to purchasing an acceptable gift for his wife for last Christmas. He did give her something last year, but he could tell by her reaction to it that
she had not been dreaming of getting an auto emergency kit, even if it was the deluxe model with booster cables and an air
compressor. Clearly, this gift violated an important rule, but the man has no
idea what this rule was, and his wife was too upset to tell him. Now another
Christmas is looming, and this man, terrified that he will (mess) up again, has been wracking his brain for gift ideas for
his wife. Nothing automotive this time; he won’t make that mistake again. (This year) He’s thinking of a Weed Whacker (instead). (Barry, “Sunday
Republican,” December 5, 2004)
Sometimes fear is good. Think about it. God used Joseph’s fear to get him to do the right thing. God used Joseph’s
fear to get him to do something that must have been very difficult to do. Because
Joseph was afraid and because he listened to God he took Mary and
Jesus to a foreign land, far from their family and friend, a land where the probably didn’t know anyone, a land where
the language was different, the customs were different
and the beliefs were different. God used Joseph’s fear to get him to do something that he wouldn’t have done on his own.
Sometimes
God uses your fear to get you moving in the right direction. Sometimes God uses
your fear to get you to make some changes in your life that you need to make or to get you to face up to something that you’ve
been trying to avoid.
Erma Bombeck wrote a little essay once that talked about
how fear made her make some changes in her life. This is what she wrote, “Every
once in a while, something happens in our lives to cause us to reshuffle our priorities.
Sometimes it’s a traumatic birthday or a friend facing a crisis. To
me, it was the funeral of a good friend that left me vulnerable, confused and doubtful as to what I am all about.
I wanted to draw all of our savings out of the bank and go to Tahiti. I wanted to put the plastic dishes in the driveway and back over them with a car. I wanted to take ballet lessons. Throw away all the imitation
flowers and replace them with a jungle of vines and greenery. I wanted to take
up all the carpets and let the dust fall where it wanted to.
“That very night, I took a look at my life, rearranged my cards into a whole new hand and made a vow. I am not
going to be like the woman on the Titanic who, as she climbed into the lifeboat facing an uncertain future, sobbed in anguish,
‘If I had known this was going to happen, I’d have had the chocolate mousse for dessert.”
“So get ready, world! Miss Practical is going to start living each
day like it’s her last.
“Remember that big candle in the sitting room that’s shaped like a rose that gathers dust and gets soft
in the summer? I lit it yesterday.
“And the car window – the one on my side that has a thin crack in it that we said we’d have replaced
when we sell the car? Well, it’s been replaced.
“Guess who’s coming to dinner on Sunday? Evie and Jack, whom
we have seen at sixteen weddings and say the same thing every time: ‘We’ve go to get together.’
“And that big tin of fish that I didn’t want to open because I’m the only one who eats fish and I
couldn’t bear to waste the rest of it? Well, so what!
“As I washed my hands with a piece of pink soap shaped like a sea shell my husband said, ‘I thought you
were saving those. You got them wet and they don’t look like a shell anymore.’
“I looked down at the handful of suds. A shell only holds life,
I had just given it a chance to be something more.”
(Chicken Soup for the
Unsinkable Soul, pp. 249-350)
Sometimes the worse thing you can do is insist that you’re
not afraid. If Joseph hadn’t been afraid and hadn’t listened to God
he never would have taken Mary and Jesus to the safety of Egypt. So, I’m going to ask you that question that I said I wasn’t going to ask
you. What are you afraid of, and more importantly what do you think God is trying
to say to you in your fear? Amen.
Rev. Dr. Richard A. Hughes December 26, 2004
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