Don’t Be Afraid
Fear is an incredibly powerful emotion. People are afraid of all sorts of different things according to the internet there are more the 500 specifically named fears. Some of these are ridiculous like triskaidekaphobia, the fear of the number 13, and phobophobia, the fear of being afraid of things. And some are completely rational like the fear of snakes (I say rational because I’m afraid of snakes and there’s only one animal that God specifically cursed). Sometimes fear is a good thing, for example, a fear of high places keeps us from getting hurt. Other times fear is a bad thing because it demonstrates a lack of trust in the promises of God. We don’t believe that God is going to provide for our daily needs. We don’t believe that God is going to work all things out for our good. We don’t believe that we are saved by grace alone, surely, we need to do something to earn forgiveness. At its core, this kind of fear is a lack of faith. The solution to this kind of fear is not to find courage in ourselves but to put our trust in Christ our Savior whose Word is so powerful that it accomplishes in and for us the impossible, even courage in the most impossible circumstances.
Our gospel lesson this morning gives us two examples that show how fear often is a lack of trust in the promises of God. The first happens immediately. Jesus had just miraculously fed this large crowd. The people were so impressed with this miracle that they wanted to make Jesus their king. John tells us in his Gospel, “When the people saw the miraculous sign Jesus did, they said, ‘This really is the Prophet who is coming into the world.’ When Jesus realized that they intended to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.” The people did this because they were afraid. They were afraid of the Romans. They feared that their nation, culture, and very way of life were being destroyed. They knew God had promised he would send a Savior who would rescue them, but they wondered where God was. Why wasn’t he keeping his promises?
When they saw the power of Jesus displayed in this amazing miracle they decided to take matters into their own hands. They were not satisfied with the Messiah God had sent so they wanted to force Jesus to be king. They didn’t trust God’s promises. They didn’t understand that God had sent Jesus to destroy an enemy far more powerful than any earthly empire. They wanted someone to save them from the Romans, but God had sent Jesus to save all people from the power of death and hell.
In a way, we can sympathize with the crowd by the Sea of Galilee. We see our Christian values and morals under constant attack by a world that is hostile to God’s Word. We may be tempted to wonder where God is. Where is the God of the Old Testament who rained down fire and brimstone on his enemies? Where is the God who promised to rule over all things for the good of his church? Why isn’t God keeping his promises?! It’s so easy for us to get caught up in things that we can see and measure. We want God to act in big and exciting ways. But that’s not how God grows his kingdom. God is keeping his promises, and his kingdom is ever-growing. He grows his church by things that seem so simple and ordinary that we sometimes take them for granted. He grows his kingdom through the simple, ordinary act of one person sharing the love of Jesus with another. He grows his kingdom by the simple yet amazing act of sprinkling ordinary water on the head of a child. He gives his forgiveness through ordinary yet amazing means of a morsel of bread and a sip of wine that is also miraculously the body and blood of our Savior. We don’t need to be afraid of the raging of the world against the church of God because our enemies have already been defeated.
This is the blessed comfort we have. This is the reason that we don’t have to be afraid of the world. On the cross, our Savior crushed the head of Satan. He removed Satan’s power over us by paying for our sins with his holy precious blood. When Christ burst forth from the tomb on Easter morning he destroyed the power of sin, death, and hell once and for all. Our victory over the world is complete. The nations may plot and rage against us, but they are powerless before our Almighty God. This is the comfort we hear in our Psalm for this morning, “God is our refuge and strength, a helper who can always be found in times of trouble. That is why we will not fear when the earth dissolves and when the mountains tumble into the heart of the sea. Its waters roar and foam. The mountains quake when it rises. The LORD of Armies is with us. The God of Jacob is a fortress for us.”
The second example of fear happens with the disciples. As they were making their way across the Sea of Galilee a sudden storm broke out. The disciples were struggling and straining at the oars just trying to keep the
boat from being overwhelmed. Imagine being in a small boat struggling for hours against the wind and the waves. The disciples were already exhausted. This day began by trying to get away from the crowds, then feeding and ministering to a group of more than 5,000 people. Now they were in a boat struggling for their very lives against the wind and the waves. They must have been asking each other, “Where is Jesus? Why isn’t he here to help us?”
I think we sometimes feel this way as well. We are battered and tossed by the storms of life. We feel exhausted as we face one struggle after another. We feel like we are straining at an oar, but for every stroke forward we go three strokes back. We wonder where God is. We wonder why a loving God would pile one more thing on top of us. Why would God take a loved one away from us? Why would a loving God give me this disease? Where is God when I need to pay these bills? We feel frightened and angry because we don’t trust that God is keeping his promises. Like the disciples, we feel like we are doing everything we can just to stay afloat, and we’re doing it all alone.
But what the disciples had forgotten, and what we often forget is that we are never alone. Our God is faithful, and our God always keeps his promises. Suddenly in the dark and gloom, a figure appears walking on the water! The disciples were terrified probably thinking this meant that they were about to die. But out of the darkness comes the well-known voice of their friend and teacher, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” Jesus was not simply speaking empty platitudes to his disciples. He was showing his disciples that he was true God. His Words had power! As Christ stepped into the boat suddenly the wind and the waves became still. The disciples did not understand that the power that multiplied a plate of bread and fish into a meal for the multitudes was the same power that now saved them from the raging storm.
When we face the storms of life we can be tempted to doubt the power of God as well. Christ’s Words remind us that we don’t need to be afraid. Christ’s Words remind us that God is always with us and is always watching over us. We know our God is faithful because he has kept every promise including the great promise to send his Son to destroy the power of the Devil. The same Jesus who was able to walk on water and calm the power of the storm was the same Jesus who willingly allowed himself to be arrested, to be humiliated, and to be nailed to a cross. Christ willingly allowed himself to be tortured and crucified because of his great love for you. He wanted you to be part of his kingdom. He knew that there was nothing that you could do to save yourself, so he offered himself in your place. Christ wanted to cover you with his blood so that you could stand pure and holy before the throne of God.
There will be times that we feel like we are all alone on a storm-tossed sea. We may be tempted to fear and think that God is not with us. We may even be tempted to think that God has forgotten us. Satan wants us to give in to this temptation. Satan wants us to doubt God’s promises. In those moments we remember the cross of Christ. We remember that God knows each of us by name. That he loved us so much that offered himself as a sacrifice to save us. We remember that we have God who fights for us and who is mighty to save. We remember the strong right arm of our God who drowned Pharaoh in the depths of the sea, who surrounded his prophet Elish with a host of angels, and who crushed the head of our enemy Satan on the cross. Our courage is found in the death and resurrection of Christ, so we cling to his words, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
Rom 8:38-39 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor rulers, neither things present nor things to come, nor powerful forces, neither height nor depth nor anything else in creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.