One summer night during a severe thunderstorm, mother was tucking little Jimmy into bed.  She was about to turn the light off when Jimmy asked in a trembling voice, "Mommy, will you stay with me all night?"  Smiling, the mother gave him a warm, reassuring hug and said tenderly, "I can't, dear.  I have to sleep in Daddy's room."  Silence followed, broken finally by Jimmy's shaky little voice saying, "The big sissy!"

          In our modern age of wealth and privilege, it's amazing how much we are afraid of.  The list of things to fear seems to grow with every new invention.  It's no longer merely fear over survival like paying bills or the kids growing up okay or staying healthy.  Now we fear frivolous lawsuits from offensive speech, or war with an invisible enemy, or going shopping without getting shot.  The snipers of fear are all around us, at work, in our homes, even in our churches, waiting to gun us down when we least expect it.

          Fear is like a loaded gun.  It's handy if you need to fend off an enemy, but it's dangerous just lying around.  Some people avoid fear at all costs while others seem to embrace it.  One person's motivation is another person's paralysis.  All fear is a result of our sinful condition, and yet when things mount up it can be enough to drive a sane guy nuts.

          Fred called me last week and explained the terrible day he'd just had.  He'd wanted to work overtime a few hours, but decided to come home to have a nice evening with his family.  Well, he should have stayed at work!

          As he drove into his garage a man came by threatening him with a lawsuit if he didn't pay $700 for a tiny dent his son had put in his car door with a skateboard.  Then his wife told him of a letter that their daughter's student loans were 3 months behind and they'd have to come up with $4000.  Then their Child Care Provider called and said she was offended at being called a "baby-sitter" and gave them two weeks to find someone else.  And their oldest son decided he and his wife weren't going to repay a loan Dad co-signed for them - something about God's will, he said.  And later that night another daughter came down with the flu complete with projectile vomiting.

          As they were going to bed his wife informed him one of her crowns fell out and that his doctor called and said he needed a colonoscopy.  All that in 24 hours!  Fred concluded, "It's bad enough when one or two things go wrong, but lately it seems like I'm being beaten down by one problem after another.  I just don't want to have to deal with another day like this.  I don't know what a nervous breakdown really feels like, but it wouldn't surprise me if I'm on the verge of one."

          Bad personal days come to us all, but when they are accompanied by bizarre world events like Al Qaeda or the Maryland sniper, it's enough to make a guy despair.  What's happening to our world?  Are the seams of our society unraveling?  Are cracks forming in our culture?  You'd better believe it.  Has God gone on vacation?  No, of course not!  All these things are part of "Satan's Little Season" that Jesus spoke of in Matthew 24 when He warned His disciples of the disaster that was to come.

          In today's OT lesson from Isaiah, God was speaking to His people living in the fear of exile.  He said, "I am the LORD, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God.  I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me, so that from the rising of the sun to the place of its setting men may know there is none besides me."  (Isaiah 45)

          A little history here:  Cyrus, king of Persia, was ready to defeat Israel's conqueror, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.  The best of Israel's people had been hauled off into captivity because they had been unfaithful.  But now God was going to bring them back home, and the vessel chosen to do His work was King Cyrus.  Even though Cyrus didn't fear the Lord, he would still do the Lord's bidding, because after all, as God said, "I am the LORD, and there is no other.  I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster;  I, the LORD, do all these things."

          From those words it sounds like God has everything under His control.  Well, of course He does!  That's a fact we must remember every moment of every day, especially when we feel despair sneaking into our homes!  Fear can be a useful motivator, but it's a big problem when we try to "go it alone."  The fear Factor is only an obstacle if we let it be.

          St. Paul told young Timothy in our text not to let fear get the upper hand.  After all, he said, "God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of sound mind."  I love how the King James Version uses the term, "a sound mind."  The NIV calls it "self-discipline", and misses the real meaning.  Fred knows which term is right.  He knows what it feels like to be on the verge of losing his mind.  Anyone who's ever had a bad day like that knows what a blessing it is to have a "sound mind."  And that's what God has called us to - "not a spirit of fear, but of power, of love and a sound mind."  Whatever fears you may have, don't forget - they're not from God!

          Irrational fears can come to all manner of people.  Louis Pasteur is reported to have had such an irrational fear of dirt and infection he refused to shake hands with anyone.  President and Mrs. Benjamin Harrison were so intimidated by that newfangled thing called electricity installed in the White House that they never touched the switches.  If there were no servants around to turn off the lights when the Harrisons went to bed, they slept with the lights on.  Russian Dictator Joseph Stalin so feared for his safety that his residence in Moscow contained eight bedrooms.  Each night Stalin chose a different bedroom at random to ensure that no one knew exactly where he was sleeping.

          There's a newly baptized little one among us today, Baby Olivia, sleeping peacefully.  I raised my boys during the seventies in a small rural area, and don't know what it's like to raise a child today in suburban Colorado.  We rejoice with you, Kevin and Joni, and we at Epiphany promise to provide her the milk of God's Word to grow on.  You just need to come and get it.  It's a real treasure we have to give, the riches of the Gospel Jesus Christ!  This simple message of faith in the Son of God works miracles.  It turns hearts from unfaith to faith and changes lives from eternal destruction to eternal life.  St. Paul calls this, "The grace of God given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, ...not because of anything we have done, but because of His own purpose and grace."

          God loves us with an everlasting love in Jesus.  That love, that grace, is the most wonderful thing we can know or possess.  For some reason God loves us no matter what our age or how we act.  It's not hard to love someone as cute as a newborn, but it must get harder for Him to love some of us old guys.  There are times God must want to throw us overboard and start over.  Thanks be to God we still have the promise of the rainbow!

          Five-year old Johnny was in the kitchen as his mother made supper.  She asked him to go into the big pantry and get her a can of tomato soup, but he didn't want to go in alone.  "It's dark in there and I'm scared."  She asked again, and he still didn't want to go.  Finally she said, "It's OK.  Jesus will be in there with you."  Johnny walked hesitantly to the door and slowly opened it.  He peeked inside, saw it was dark, and then he said:  "Jesus, if you're in there, would you hand me that can of tomato soup?"

          Fear will always be with us.  God doesn't let us dance through life without somewhere our doing the mambo of fear.  It's as much a part of our daily checklist as joy, confusion, exhilaration or contentment.  Some people understand fear better than others - we call them courageous people.  They know fear is the substance of courage, so it motivates them to do things that are right and necessary.

          For others of us fear is a four-letter word.  We cringe with our fears and let them drive us this way and that, forgetting that God gives us power to overcome it.  For some of us, fear can be useful;  for others, it's toxic.  It poisons relationships, wrecks families, and shakes churches to the core.  It's that fear God says we must avoid.  He has not called us to run and hide from those we disagree with.  He has not told us to deny the obvious.  He has given us a spirit of power, and love and He's given us all a sound mind.  Question is, will we use it for ourselves or for His glory?

          Two explorers were on a jungle safari when suddenly a ferocious lion jumped in front of them.  "Keep calm" the first explorer whispered.  "Remember what we read in that book on wild animals?  If you stand perfectly still and look the lion in the eye, he will turn and run."  "Sure," replied his companion.  "You've read the book, and I've read the book.  But has the lion read it?"

          What book are you reading today?  Is it a diary filled with personal self-fulfillment or is it an autobiography of the search for pleasure?  Is what you're reading building you up or tearing others down?  Are the pages filled with selfishness or are they filled with humility?

          There's always good news and there's always bad news.  (Like the man whose doctor said to him, "I have good news and bad news.  The good news is that you only have to take one pill each day for the rest of your life;  The bad news is that I'm only giving you five pills!")  The bad news for us is that, due to sin, we must all live with fear.  The Good News is that in Jesus, perfect love casts out fear, that is, the toxic fear, the kind that paralyzes and keeps us awake nights.  In Him we can be courageous, for He is with us wherever we go.

          The Good News is that God will help us fight those fears.  Somehow we will survive as our parents did.  Somehow our kids will turn out okay, for they will adapt to the times just as we did.  And somehow God will be glorified in a world determined to forget Him.  So long as we grasp the hand of Jesus in faith, we are home free.  Faith in Jesus is all we need - not theology, or tradition, or good works, or church buildings, or any of the requirements others may foist on us.  All we need is faith in Jesus, and the rest will follow.  When you realize how much someone loves you, you will want to follow and obey.  And Jesus loves us more than we'll ever know.  Let's live a life of thanks for all He has done for us, amen!

Copyright © 2002 by Pastor Bob Tasler.  All rights reserved.