Message given at Durham Friends Meeting, October 16, 2022<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFear not.\u201d That\u2019s my message this morning: \u201cFear not.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the Bible, this may be the statement most commonly said by God, or by one of God\u2019s special messengers. I\u2019ve read that this phrase appears 103 times in the Bible. I don\u2019t know whether that\u2019s an accurate count but it\u2019s a big number. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFear not.\u201d There aren\u2019t that many clear, unambiguous instructions from God in the Bible (even if some people mistakenly think there are). But there is this one: \u201cfear not.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I don\u2019t know whether it\u2019s an instruction or a command, an exhortation or a soothing comfort. Maybe it\u2019s all of these. Maybe sometimes it\u2019s one and sometimes another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c21 <\/sup><\/em><\/strong>So do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones. Thus he reassured them and comforted them<\/em>.\u201d That\u2019s Genesis 51:21. It\u2019s Joseph speaking to his brothers who had sold him into slavery. The brothers had worldly reasons to fear what Joseph might do. But Joseph is telling them what God wants him to say: fear not. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Or how about this: \u201c22 <\/sup><\/strong>You shall not fear them; for it is the Lord your God who fights for you.\u2019\u201d<\/em> That\u2019s Deuteronomy 3:22. That\u2019s Moses talking to Joshua, his military commander, telling him that God will look out for them as they conquer their way toward the Promised Land. <\/p>\n\n\n\n And then there\u2019s this: \u201c5 <\/sup><\/strong>Fear not, for I am with you;<\/em> I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you;\u201d<\/em> That\u2019s from Isaiah 53:5, the prophet Isaiah speaking, at a time when God\u2019s people weren\u2019t paying attention and had worldly reason to worry that God was very displeased with them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019m not going to read all 103 instances, but I\u2019ll read one more. \u201cFear not\u201d is not only in the Hebrew Testament. Here is Luke 1:30, the beginning of the Christmas story: \u201c<\/em>30 <\/sup><\/em><\/strong>And the angel said to her, \u201cDo not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 <\/sup><\/strong>And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.\u201d<\/em> That\u2019s the Angel Gabriel speaking to Mary, giving her good \u2013 if surprising — news. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFear not.\u201d It\u2019s said over and over again. \u201cAl tirah;\u201d that\u2019s the Hebrew. <\/p>\n\n\n\n There\u2019s a lot to fear in this world. In the book of Exodus, with the Israelites in captivity in Egypt, God sent ten plagues: water turning to blood, frogs, lice, flies, livestock pestilence, boils, hail, locusts, darkness and the killing of firstborn children. And God counsels \u201cfear not.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n In recent years, we\u2019ve had what begins to feel like our own ten plagues. Terrorist acts, endless war, financial panic, wildfires, more war, Covid pandemic, hurricanes, school shootings, attempted election theft, abortion madness (whichever side you\u2019re on). You get why we\u2019re fearful. But God says, \u201cFear not.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Many are feeling anger, too, but much of that anger grows out of fear. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019m talking to myself this morning as much as I\u2019m talking to any of you. I wake up to the temptation to feel fear every day. And I go to sleep facing the same temptation. Fear can paralyze us. I find myself bracing for the next bit of bad news. I don\u2019t do anything constructive because I want to hear that next bit of bad news. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In the science fiction classic Dune<\/em>, Frank Herbert has a character \u2013 it\u2019s Paul Antreides \u2013 say \u201cI must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.\u201d<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s the same thought. When we fear, we diminish ourselves; we die a little without really dying, we die a little-death. We grow passive; we withdraw from life. And there\u2019s more: we isolate ourselves from others; we withdraw from God. Fear takes us over. It becomes all consuming. <\/p>\n\n\n\n God says \u201cfear not:\u201d if we can do that, then what? If we can manage to follow God\u2019s instruction, to \u201cfear not,\u201d if we empty ourselves of fear, what next? With what do we fill the large hole that fear has been filling up inside us? When we empty ourselves of fear, when we let it go, what should we look to find instead?<\/p>\n\n\n\n This oft-repeated exhortation to \u201cfear not\u201d is telling us what not to do. It isn\u2019t, just in these words, telling us what we should do. But isn\u2019t it obvious? Isn\u2019t courage the alternative to fear? <\/p>\n\n\n\n Here\u2019s the surprise for many of us. God does not tell us to \u201chave courage.\u201d To exhort us to \u201chave courage\u201d would have us rely on ourselves. But that\u2019s not it; that\u2019s not what we should do. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Instead, over and over, God says \u201ctrust in me;\u201d \u201chave faith in me.\u201d The opposite of fear isn\u2019t courage. It\u2019s faith. It\u2019s trust in the Lord. It\u2019s \u201cknow that God loves you, always.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Listen to Psalm 56:<\/p>\n\n\n\n When I am afraid, And here\u2019s Psalm 46:<\/p>\n\n\n\n God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.<\/em> Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,<\/em> though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.<\/em> … The Lord of Hosts is with us;<\/em> The God of Jacob is our refuge.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n We may find courage once we have faith, but faith and trust come first — and love. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In 1:John:1, one of the letters in the New Testament, we are told to \u201crely on the love God has for us.\u201d <\/em>That letter continues:<\/p>\n\n\n\n God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. <\/em>17 <\/sup><\/em><\/strong>This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus.<\/em> 18 <\/sup><\/strong>There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Trust in the Lord. Have faith. Give yourself over to love: that\u2019s what God tells us when God tells us not to be caught up in fear. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The first bit of the Bible I learned by heart was the 23d Psalm. Perhaps you learned it, too, as a child. I invite you to say it with me: <\/p>\n\n\n\n The LORD Is My Shepherd <\/em><\/strong>A Psalm of David. The 23d Psalm<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 1<\/em><\/strong><\/a>The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. 4<\/em><\/strong><\/a>Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,<\/em>c<\/sup><\/em><\/strong><\/a> 5<\/em><\/strong><\/a>You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; So Friends, this morning I am reminding you of God\u2019s reassurance, \u201cfear not.\u201d Trust in God. Have faith. Love one another and love God. Remember that God is with us, always. <\/p>\n\n\n\n also posted on River View Friend<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Message given at Durham Friends Meeting, October 16, 2022 \u201cFear not.\u201d That\u2019s my message this morning: \u201cFear not.\u201d In the Bible, this may be the statement most commonly said by God, or by one of God\u2019s special messengers. I\u2019ve read … Continue reading
I will trust in you.
In God, whose word I praise,
In God I trust; I will not be afraid.
What can mortal man do to me?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/em>2<\/em><\/strong><\/a>He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.<\/em>a<\/sup><\/em><\/strong><\/a>
<\/em>3<\/em><\/strong><\/a>He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness<\/em>b<\/sup><\/em><\/strong><\/a>
for his name\u2019s sake.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
I will fear no evil, for you are with me;
your rod and your staff, they comfort me.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
<\/em>6<\/em><\/strong><\/a>Surely<\/em>d<\/sup><\/em><\/strong><\/a> goodness and mercy<\/em>e<\/sup><\/em><\/strong><\/a> shall follow me all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell<\/em>f<\/sup><\/em><\/strong><\/a> in the house of the LORD forever.<\/em>g<\/sup><\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n