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Virtual worship - 31 January 2021

The Christian Way Session 5 “Fear”

Welcome

Welcome to our service of worship.  We have been following a series from Jesus Shaped People called An Exploration of the Christian Way, and this week we look at Fear – what it is, how Jesus experienced it and reacted to it, and how we might react in a way that is more helpful to us and more in line with what Jesus did and is doing among us.  Before we look at Fear, let’s look at God and remind ourselves of his greatness and his love for us.

Song

Our opening song is one of faith and trust in God who is bigger than our fears - StF 351 / SF 1346 / MP 1072 In Christ alone 

Prayer:

We praise you, Heavenly Father, 

for your greatness and power, which humbles us; 

for your eternal creativity, which inspires us; 

and for your goodness and holiness, which shames us.

But Lord, we also give you thanks 

for your mercy and kindness as well as your might and perfection, 

for having called us to become your own special children through Jesus – 

o who came to earth as a baby human, 

o and is now our representative in heaven, 

o helping and guiding us by your Holy Spirit.

Through Jesus, Amen.

Fear (Jackie Marshall)

During our worship this morning we are thinking about ‘fear’ – but what exactly are we talking about? The dictionary defines the word as ‘an unpleasant emotion caused by the threat of danger, pain, or harm’ and ‘to be afraid of someone or something as likely to be dangerous, painful, or harmful.’ 

Fear is hard wired in the part of our brain that is the oldest in terms of evolution – the part that looks after the functions we hardly ever think about, like breathing, walking, digesting our food – and is essentially a good thing, intended to keep us safe! When we get a fright, the fear response ensures our bodies are prepared for fight or flight, flooded with hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol, heightening our awareness, making our hearts beat faster and our breathing quicken, ensuring extra oxygen and energy supplies reach our muscles and our brains. 

All very efficient at helping us cope with immediate physical threats – say our ancestors running away from a sabre- toothed tiger – but not so good when we are faced with less tangible, ongoing dangers. For example, I am sure over recent weeks we have all experienced that fear response when we have seen and heard the latest news about COVID19. And, with the more advanced, human part of our brain, blessed with memory and imagination, we can end up rehashing old fearful situations and imagining new ones – the ‘what ifs?’ Then the fear response, continually reinforced, damps down into wearying worry, seriously affecting our wellbeing. One of my favourite quotes about fear is from the author Mark Twain, who quipped:

I have lived through some terrible things in my life, some of which actually happened.

A man in prayer, head bowed, arms extended, hands clenched together.
Artist unknown.

So, what can we learn from Jesus about dealing with fear? Vitally, there is no doubt at all that Jesus felt fear. Think of his agonised prayers in the Garden of Gethsemane. 

St Matthew tells us:

Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” (Matt 26:36 – 38)

St Luke adds:

And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. (Luke 22:44)

If we allow ourselves to believe that his closeness to God somehow meant he was never fearful, we deny Jesus’ humanity. Jesus knows exactly what it is to be afraid. And we can take comfort that when we feel frightened, it does not mean we are bad Christians, lacking in faith!

We also learn from the Gospels about Jesus’ coping mechanisms – and we should not be surprised that modern mental health experts suggest very similar techniques – exercise; taking time to be mentally still; living in the moment. Remember all the occasions we read about Jesus leaving his followers to pray alone, often climbing hills or walking beside water? As for living in the moment, St Matthew records Jesus’s famous words about not worrying, concluding with

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (Matt 6: 34)

Song

Roy and Reverend Christine will be considering more aspects of fear and looking further at that Gethsemane experience. For now, we continue in worship, remembering Jesus’ fear in the Garden of Gethsemane as, for love of us, he prepared to face his death. Let’s sing, watch on YouTube via the link below or read through the words of Graham Kendrick’s wonderful hymn, StF 272/ SF 120 / MP 162 From heaven you came, helpless babe:

Reflection

Jesus faced his fears with courage and compassion (Christine Crabtree)

When Jesus’ followers saw what was going to happen, they said, “Lord, should we strike with our swords?” And one of them struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear.  But Jesus answered, “No more …” He touched the man’s ear and healed him. (Luke 22:49-51)

Imagine the scene for a moment – you are with Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane.  You have taken part a Passover celebration during the evening, and Jesus has asked you to follow him into the Garden where he has spent time in prayer.  It’s dark, and you, being tired from the wine and good food, have fallen asleep.  You’ve been groggily aware of Jesus coming to speak to Peter, James and John, but you’ve succumbed to sleep again each time.

Now, suddenly, the garden is full of noise and movement.  You scramble awake and jump to your feet. Your brain struggles to process what your eyes see: Judas, who left the Passover meal, has come into the garden, but where your fuddled mind sees a friend, your eyes witness him leading soldiers to Jesus; kissing Jesus; standing back and allowing the soldiers to arrest him.  At first there has been silence from you and your fellow disciples, but suddenly understanding takes hold of your brain and your bodies, and you begin to move, to shout, to resist, and some of your friends have already run.  

Into your mind flashes what Jesus was saying as your meal drew to a close – he spoke about a sword, and there were two swords in the group, and you have brought one to the garden.  You’re not used to swords: the weight of them, what to do with them, how to work with them – so you wave yours about and make threatening noises and suddenly you feel some resistance, and there is the High Priest’s slave with blood all down the side of his head and his ear hanging by a thread.  Nauseous, you drop the sword as Jesus commands, “No more!” and heals the man – he is still bloodied, but his ear is where it is supposed to be, and his face is dazed and confused, but looking at Jesus with awe and questions in his eyes.

Fear can lead us to excuse many things.  I was afraid, so I … ran away? threw a stone to get in first? carried a weapon? avoided the situation? refused to face things? decided it was all the other person’s fault? 

Jesus was afraid at this point.  He wasn’t floating above the situation in a holy cloud, but part of the confusion, pain and fear.  He had been praying for the whole situation to be taken away, and as Jackie reminded us, he was sweating so much that it was like drops of blood coming off him.  We need to know that his fear was real, and it was despite the visceral reality of that fear that he refused to let his disciples defend him, and healed the one they had hurt. 

It’s hard to question our fears or to go against them.  I don’t think it gets any easier as we practise it, because each time our body is sending those ‘fight or flight’ signals.  But Jesus knew that he was facing the cross for love of all people, that this was his road to walk, and he was not going to allow others to be hurt because of this.  His compassion in the midst of his fear led him to action – despite needing all his strength for what he was to face, he shared some of that strength with the one who needed healing.  Throughout his arrest and trial he refused to give way to fear.  He did not babble, pass the buck or seek an escape.  He walked towards his fear and faced it so that we might never need to truly fear.  The Bible contains many instances of the phrase “Do not fear”.  It comes from One who faced his fear and who calls us not to be governed by it.

Next time you are afraid, take a moment to stand back and examine it – where is it coming from? What is it telling you to do?  Is that what Jesus would do?

A little bit later we’ll do a stilling exercise to help us with our fear.  Now we will turn to another aspect of fear, and Roy will lead us.

The fear of the Lord (Roy Lorrain-Smith)

4 “I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. 5 But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him!  (Luke 12:4-5) ESV

Jesus talks about two quite different kinds of fear: there’s fear of what people can do to us, hurting or even killing us, but after which they can do no more harm; but there’s also fear of God’s power which goes a lot further.  He has the authority to decide our eternal fate – heaven or hell.  In heaven we shall live fully restored in a perfected world.  Hell (or Gehenna) is the eternal equivalent of the rubbish tip, where fruitless branches of the vine are discarded and burned (Jn 15:6).  That was a stark warning by Jesus.

A cross stood amidst trees and rainbow reflections.

Jackie has talked a bit about fear at the human level, but what about the fear of God?  In this passage Jesus was emphasising the importance of our eternal destiny.  Take God with deadly seriousness, he was saying here.  But his gospel, his good news,  is that he has come from God to save us from a fate in hell, and lead us to the life eternal, in heaven, with all the promise that implies.

So we can escape the fear of being judged fit only for burning in a rubbish dump by accepting Jesus as our Saviour, repenting of our wrong ways and receiving his forgiveness, and then following him as our Lord, humbly obeying, going where he leads, doing what he says, in the Bible and through the Holy Spirit whom he sends to us, so we remain his friends (Jn 15:14).  Do that, and you need not fear judgement ever again.  In that sense, his perfect love casts out fear entirely (1 John 4:18).

But besides this there’s another thread to fearing the Lord, which the Bible speaks of very frequently (e.g., Job 28:28; Ps 111:10; Pr 8:13; Ac 9:31), and one which should mark our attitude and behaviour all the time.  Jesus himself was filled with it and delighted in it (Is 11:2-3).  And that’s fear in the sense of reverential awe towards God’s power, and glory, and holiness and purity: he is so great and we are so small and insignificant by comparison, though he counts us as important.  

That’s pretty amazing when we look at ourselves closely in a spiritual mirror, but he does, and through Jesus we are made his beloved children.  So we want to please him; put him first in our lives, which is true, humble worship.  We want to trust his words, and what they tell us about him, and about us, and about the world and how we should live in it.  And because the Father caringly disciplines us when we go wrong, gently but firmly, and sometimes painfully (Heb 12:5-11) – well, we want to do right!  You might call that a healthy fear of displeasing our loving Heavenly Father.

So, once you make Jesus your Saviour and Lord, you can abandon fear of judgement and punishment, but at the same time you commit yourself to an attitude of deep reverence.

Song

Hymn StF 94 / HP 463 / SF 559 / MP 708 To God be the glory

Stilling exercise (Christine Crabtree)

So, we know the love of God casts out all fear, and that he has our eternal destination in his hands – but we are still afraid – and at this time we are particularly afraid of Covid-19, of the new variant, of becoming ill before we have our vaccination or before it becomes effective.  We are afraid of those people who don’t keep their distance, or wear their face masks.  We are afraid of going to hospital if we fall ill … all this in addition to the everyday things that make us afraid. 

In his book We make the Road by Walking, Brain McLaren writes: We must honestly admit that we don’t always understand the seemingly random forces at play, but if we believe that the Risen Jesus is the full and trustworthy unveiling of the nature of God, then we live in a safe and love-filled universe. 

It’s time to focus on God and do an exercise in stilling ourselves and coping with our fear.  

Sit in a comfortable position, with both feet touching the floor and your back straight but relaxed.  Relax your shoulders and put your hands in your lap, palms upwards and open to show you are ready to receive from God.  Close your eyes if this is comfortable for you, or fix your sight on a certain spot where nothing will move to distract you.  

Become aware of the chair underneath your legs and supporting your back.  Feel the floor beneath your feet. Be aware of your clothes, how they feel against your skin.  Listen to the sounds around you – the ticking of a clock, birds outside your window, a distant television, the noise of traffic.  Hear them, acknowledge them, and let them be.  They are outside, you are here with God.

Focus your attention on your breathing – don’t change the way you breathe, but simply be aware of the breath going in and out. Spend a few moments simply breathing. 

Now, in your mind, use the Jewish name for God, Yahweh, as you breathe.  Breathe God in as you say “Yah” and out as you say ”weh”. Yah- weh.  

Know that God is with you, surrounding you, inside you.  Spend time breathing in this way, you and God together.

Now think of something you are afraid of, that you would like to be freed from.  Breathe in God, and breathe out the fear of this thing.  Picture the fear leaving your body, pushed out on your breath.  Breathe in God, and breathe out the fear.  

Keep breathing in God, filling yourself with his love, his compassion, his strength. Keep breathing out the fear that seeks to hold you captive.  Feel it loosing its bonds on you. Breathe in God, and break the bonds of fear. Breathe in the immensity of God, and breathe out the fear that grows small in his presence.

Perhaps what you are afraid of has left you now; perhaps it remains; but you have allowed God to work in you to reduce your fear and anxiety, so that you can face this thing from a position of strength.

Keep using this exercise as you find yourself in moments of fear.   Allow yourself to come into the present moment, where there is only you and God.  

And having been with God during this time, become aware again of the chair and the floor beneath you, the sounds that are around you, and the room you are in, and come back to where you started, but knowing that God is with you and goes before you to whatever it is that you fear.

Prayers of confession and intercession

Almighty, Eternal God,
Loving Lord,

We confess that we have been fearful
and that in our anxiety
we have behaved in ways that were not
kind, loving or helpful to others,
or to ourselves.

Silence

Thank you that because of Jesus, our Rescuer,
We can know ourselves fully and freely forgiven.
Help us remember how Jesus faced his fear
and trusted you through,
and despite, 
his suffering, 
all for love of us.

Trusting in that love and knowing that you understand what it is to be afraid, we bring to you in prayer all those who live in fear today, recognising how the global pandemic has intensified anxieties for so many people around your world.

We think of those who have been displaced from their homes by war, political or religious persecution or the effects of climate change, and are frightened as they face a very uncertain future.

We remember those who are fearful in their homes because of family tensions, domestic violence, work or financial worries, and also those who are isolated and lonely.

We pray particularly for those who are anxious in hospital, those who are ill and all those who care for them, especially in situations where resources, both human and material, are stretched to the limit.

We ask your wisdom and strength for our leaders, that they may make the right choices at the right time to ensure a healthier, fairer, more peaceful and prosperous future for all people.

And in a few moments of quiet, we lay before you those people and situations that are lying heavily on each of our hearts today.

Silence

Remind us that we are never alone in our fear,
that your own Holy Spirit is with us always.

By his power, may we encourage one another and work together to share the hope, joy and peace you offer, your limitless love driving out fear.

We bring these and all our prayers 
in the precious name of Jesus
as we join in the prayer
he continues to teach his friends:

Our Father in heaven …

Song

Our closing song: StF 611 / SF 54 Brother, sister, let me serve you, speaks to us of being there for each other when we are afraid.

Blessing

The Lord bless us and keep us; the Lord make his face shine upon us and be gracious to us; the Lord look on us with kindness and give us peace.  Amen.

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