Nothing to Fear :: Matthew 10:21-33

 

Have no fear. This is our word for today.

What are you afraid of? 

I can’t tell you how many times I have heard that line. As a father, I wouldn’t be surprised if I have said it even more than I have heard it. What are you afraid of?

Franklin Delanor Roosevelt is famous for telling the world that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself. ... that that fear is nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror. Of course, there wouldn’t have been a reason for FDR to assert that there was “nothing to fear” unless there actually was something to fear. What do you fear?

When FDR delivered that line ... during his inaugural address in 1932 ... the Great Depression was just hitting its stride ... The American family was being devastated ... 5.5 million people were homeless. Life expectancy was only 59 years. Unemployment 25%.

Nothing to fear, you say?

We’ve come a long way. 

But to be clear, Americans still have much to fear. 

Chapman University in southern California has been conducting a detailed survey of the fears in America for at least five years now. In their survey, they use a comprehensive list of things people fear, instead of allowing people to name their fears.

What they found is that we fear government corruption, pollution, becoming seriously ill, and losing their loved ones. We fear not having enough money, widespread civil unrest, and the outcome of the 2020 election. Surprisingly the fear spiders and snakes is only 66th on the list. And public speaking doesn’t make the top 50 either. 

The poll is quite revealing about our world. People all around you are afraid. ... afraid of dying. ... afraid of not having enough money. ... afraid of each other. ... afraid of pandemics. ... They are afraid to speak their mind. ... They’re afraid. 

What are you afraid of?

So today, I want to draw your attention to our Gospel reading. Jesus is calling to you face your fears ... to name your fears ... and to rejoice in the confession that he gives you to speak as we proclaim that ...

JESUS IS GREATER THAN OUR FEARS

In today’s text, Jesus repeatedly tells his disciples don’t be anxious ... have no fear, do not fear ... stop fearing. What are your fears? Jesus sends his twelve apostles out to proclaim to the lost sheep of the house of Israel that the kingdom of the heavens has drawn near (vv 6-7), to heal them. to make them whole, to tell your brothers and sisters the Good News of Jesus Christ. Is this inspiring you?

Are you ready to face your fears?

1. Jesus knows that those who follow him have almost everything to fear.

Our Gospel reading from Matthew is part of a much longer speech by Jesus to his handpicked disciples that covers all of chapter 10. To be sure, this speech is directed at the twelve. But as you hear what he told them, you ... who have been baptized who have been adopted as children of Israel ... you have been made a part of this message. 

Jesus, you should remember from last week, saw the fear of the people. They were suffering under the weight of sin. They were harassed and helpless. And quite frankly, he knew how intensely it was frightening them. So in his divine compassion, he responded. Our Lord didn’t just have empathy for us ... walking a mile in your shoes ... he came to you, preaching, teaching, and healing, living, dying, rising, ascending, and along the way he sent the twelve to do the same. 

Don’t be anxious he said ... have no fear ... do not fear ... Stop fearing.

He who endures to the end will be saved. 

Brothers and sisters in Christ, your fears are real. They are not nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror. The world hates you because it hates Jesus. 

The world wants you to believe that there is truth in all religions. Jesus says otherwise. The world wants you to believe you have a choice. Jesus says otherwise. The world says they want religion that works for them. Jesus works against them.

So the world hates Jesus. And by extension, therefore, it hates you too.

Because of this, you too will be rejected and intimidated ... because you believe Jesus. Some of you could be threatened with job loss, fines or imprisonment. Christians elsewhere in our world will be persecuted and even martyred for the same things you believe. Did you know 45.5 million of the estimated 70 million Christians who have been martyred for the faith died within the last 100 years? 

The world hates you.

So I understand your fear ... a fear which is sometimes crippling. It causes you to lose your confidence in knowing the scriptures well enough to speak them. Consequently, you begin being afraid ... afraid to speak of being a Christian, afraid you will be mocked as a hypocrite and a bigot and a hater. That your baptized brothers and sisters who’ve walked away from the faith will tell you that they are ashamed of you for being a Christian. 

It has really happened to me.

Don’t tell me how to live my life, they will tell you. How dare you tell me what Scripture says, they will cry out. My god would never do that. My god would never say that. My god does not hate!

My God, my God, why have they forsaken Jesus?

It’s because they hate the moral standard they can’t change. They hate that you call evil evil and good good. They hate that you oppose immorality, pride, gay marriage, and abortion. They hate that you are insistent in having no other gods before you. They hate your two-parent old-school nuclear families. They hate that you don’t uphold the standards of scripture. They desperately want to have a say in their own salvation.

Don’t be surprised by this. As Jesus tells us, if the world hates you, just remember it hated him first.

Some Christian you are! They say. You are just a hater.

2. And in one way you are. You ... like your God ... hate sin. 

Thank God you hate all sin, because that, brothers and sisters in Christ, is a true sign of repentance. You hate your idolatry and arrogance, You hate your deceit and the harm you cause your neighbors. You hate your gossip, and your love of money. You hate your racism and the rejection of justice. 

However, through the faith God gave you, you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God has anointed you with the oil of gladness.

3. And now you have absolutely nothing to fear.

So hear the Gospel ... Jesus has faced all of this hate and so much more ... for you. Rejection, intimidation, persecution, execution: Jesus has “been there, done that.” And in being there and doing that, he has set you free from fear.

So have no fear, he pleads. 

Brothers and sisters in Christ, Jesus is not just a good man with a good word about good living. He is God. Jesus is not just the moral example for your life, reminding you what Jesus would do. He is True God and True Man. Jesus will not give you health, wealth, and prosperity ... if you just believe. He has already set aside eternal riches for you in the eternal life he has already given you. 

Through his life, his death, his resurrection, and his ascension into the heavens where he is preparing a place for you ... you can now join the psalmist in declaring once again today that on his wondrous works, I will meditate, and that I will declare his greatness.

Because Jesus is greater than your fear.

Jesus has faced every enemy that causes us fear. He has overcome corruption for you. He has overcome your pain and sicknesses and cancers. He has overcome your poverty. He has faced the hate of the world that persecuted and crucified him. He has faced the slander. He has faced tribunals and the punishment of death, even death on a cross. He did this for you so you don’t have to face the endless punishment in Gehenna that awaits those who reject Jesus. 

Jesus has faced the fears man can bring. And more importantly, he has overcome death itself. This Jesus who you crucified at the hands of sinful men, God has raised from the dead so that you’ll have no fear.

More than that, he has baptized you and he will soon give you his life-giving body and blood at this altar for the forgiveness of your sins. Through baptism, sin has no more dominion over you because God has raised you into eternal life with Christ. 

Our Lord speaks of this glory when he says Everyone who confesses me before men, I will also confess them before my Father who is in heaven (v 32). In his letter to the church in Sardis, our Lord puts it this way: In the presence of my father and of his angels I will declare openly that they ... that is you ... belong to me. So there is nothing to fear.

Now we live for him. Now we walk by faith. And soon we shall see him face to face. What an exciting challenge this is! There is nothing to fear!

We have a life to live ... for Christ ... without fear. And the world is actually dying to hear this good news. Therefore let us cling to his promise, rely on his provision, and cheerfully get on with the task at hand, proclaiming the Good News of Jesus. There is nothing to fear. 

He has promised to be with you always and watch over you in every fearful situation. He has promised to guide you safely to your heavenly home, where fear does not exist. His guiding presence always goes with you, keeping you secure in his eternal love.

May God bless you and help you to share the Gospel boldly ... today, tomorrow, forever.