Saturday, September 28, 2019

Planning for Fear


Way back when I was in Seminary, I had a lot of expectations.  There were the ones that you would think future pastors would have, but there were also some others that you might not think of.  Most of those revolved around my long commute to get to campus, about 2.5 hours.

I expected that I would make it back and forth to Dallas without any problems.  Unfortunately, I learned the hard way that I would actually need to be prepared for some other things to happen.  Like for example, having a blow-out while driving on the interstate in rush hour traffic, or having a dead battery, or even just a flat tire.

Since that time, I've always had jumper cables and a mini air compressor that travels with me so that I'm prepared for whatever it is that might happen.

At some point in time, we all learn the lesson that we have to plan for emergencies.  We can have a set of expectations, for what we want to happen, but we know that something will come up that will get in the way.  It's not a matter of if an emergency will come, but when.  Our question is, are we ready for them?  Have we planned for the unexpected?

Over the last few posts, we've been looking at our expectations for expanding our community.  That is, answering the call that Jesus places on us to go and make disciples.  To do that, we have to go to places that either we've forgotten about, or that make us uncomfortable.  That's because we've already been to the other places that are close to us.

When we do that, there will be some fear involved.  That's what happens when we haven't done something in a while, or we're doing something that we've never done before.



Take for example, this picture.  Why would you go and jump off a perfectly good pedestal, just to fall so very ungracefully into the water?  That's not the smartest thing in the world to do, and if you haven't done something like this in a while, you get that feeling in the pit of your stomach that's trying to warn you off!

The point is, there will be some fear, or at least a little trepidation involved in doing something different.  

If you took some time to go out to a forgotten place, was it easy?  I went out driving through a good chunk of town, so I didn't walk, which took away some of the fear or nerves that might be present.  However, it feels really weird to drive relatively slowly up and down streets in town.  I kept wondering what people might be thinking if they saw me!

What about if you have done something uncomfortable, like going out and meeting someone new and starting a relationship with them, or starting a new activity that causes you to go out and meet new people to be a part of it? Did that make you more nervous?  For some folks that would be even worse.  There would be fear involved in doing that.

Doing this work, of expanding the community, of being a part of God's work to build the Kingdom of God is exactly what we are supposed to be doing, but it doesn't come without fear and without worry.

And that is okay.

It's okay to be nervous, it's okay to be unsure about what we're going to do.  We aren't the first people to have fear or be worried, and we won't be the last.

In the following video, take a look at a group that started something new.  Ask yourself, who had fear as the program is taking shape.



NP4NP Recovery Ministry: Welcome Home at St. Paul's (Joplin) from MoUMethodist on Vimeo.

Who was afraid?

There are two groups of people that are involved in what was going on.  One was the group that was starting things, and the other was the group that was participating.  Both of them were showing fear. 

One was worried because no one showed up for a while.  The other took some time before they would even say anything as a part of the group. They were a little afraid, a little nervous, a little worried about what was going to happen.

Everyone has that fear and worry.  It's a part of what it means to be human.  It is something that is going to happen.  But there is an important message that is waiting for us.



Before this verse, in Psalm 118, three is a constant refrain  that God's faithful love lasts forever.  The point is that when you are afraid, that we remember who to turn to.

Throughout the Gospels, we see the disciples in many forgotten, and many uncomfortable places. In those places they show their fear, worry, and nervousness.  Jesus' response to them is always to remember who you can trust when that fear comes.

We know that we will have times when we are afraid.  That will happen.  It's not a matter of if, but when. Because we know that, then we can prepare.  We can be ready for when that fear comes.

We make ourselves ready by  remembering who we put our faith and trust in.  We do that by lifting that fear up to God in prayer.  We do that by coming together as a group and not trying to hide our fear from each other, but by being honest with it.  Then as a group we lift that fear up to God.



This is probably the most important part of this. The things that we fear will happen sometimes.  That's what makes them bad.  We know that there are times when they will happen.  For us, that makes it even more important that we remember who is standing there with us. We have to remember that God's love, grace, and power is greater than all the fear we can have.

Take time this week and give your fear to God.  Fear isn't bad when we keep it in check.  When we give it to God, we know that he can handle it and set us on the right path.  So give your fear to the one who can handle it, and when others are fearful, help them to find our God that can get them through it.  Go and do this in Jesus' name, Amen.

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