Do Not Be Afraid
/by Rev. Eric Folkerth
As I mentioned Sunday, the Perseid meteor shower did not disappoint this year. Here is a picture that Dennise captured early Sunday morning.
The night before this picture, we both saw a shooting star unlike any I have seen before. It streaked across the sky with a trail behind it —like the contrail of a jet or the trail of some fireworks on the Fourth of July— and stayed illuminated for maybe like 20 seconds or more.
It truly took our breath away.
The Perseids come to us every year because of a very large asteroid that makes a very long orbit around our sun. To be specific, the “Swift Tuttle” asteroid. Swift Tuttle makes what is believed to be about a 200-year orbit around our earth. That little comet takes 2½ human lifetimes to just travel once around our sun.
Astronomy is filled with these kinds of awe-inspiring facts. As we laid flat on the dock at our lakehouse —as if in Savasana pose— we could see bands of the Milky Way, like cream in my coffee. We realized that we weren’t seeing stars…but that some of these bits of light were themselves entire *galaxies* of stars.
This never fails to help me see how insignificant all the things we human beings worry about are…how small my fears are in the vast span of all space and time. For me, there is something incredibly calming and humbling about looking up into that night sky and seeing all of that.
In the Gospel of Matthew, we have a well-known story of Jesus appearing to his Disciples walking across the water.
There is a big storm.
There is a big wind.
The wind is taking them in the wrong direction.
They are terrified.
They look up and see Jesus walking across the water toward them. And the most important words Jesus says to them are the very first:
“Do not be afraid.”
I’m confident many of you recall how these words are so important to me that I have them tattooed on my arm. I mean…these literal words Jesus says.
“Mé Phobeō”
It reads right-to-left for us.
Literally “Fear Not.” But translated in many accounts as “Do not be afraid.”
These words that Jesus says here are the exact same words angels say to the shepherds in the second chapter of Luke. (That verse was my own inspiration for the tattoo…)
The very first thing that happens in the story of Jesus on the night that he is born is that angels appear to those shepherds, and they look at those shepherds and say to them "Fear Not.”
A quick unverified account of my Greek Bible indicates that this very same word, Phobeō, appears 91 times in the New Testament.
Fear, my friends, is an emotion that Jesus wants to help us overcome.
Peter wants in on this “walking on water” business. He gets out of the boat and starts walking on the water.
And then, one of the best verses Matthew ever writes:
“When he (Peter) noticed the strong wind, he became frightened and, beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!”
Did you catch what happens here?
Peter notices the strong wind.
The wind makes him afraid.
He looks at the winds. Not at Jesus…
He takes his eyes off the calming sight of Jesus.
He hears the wind, not Jesus’ calming voice.
And he starts to sink.
This, friends, is our very human problem, and what we do time and again.
Don't mistake this…sometimes there are really bad things that are happening… Sometimes there really is a bear chasing you. Sometimes we really are in a life or death situation.
But very often in our lives today. We are not beset with situations that are likely to cause physical harm. Yet when our phone dings, or the pundits shriek; when we hear of some horrible tragedy around the world, our bodies react as if we are in physical harm.
I think what Jesus wants Peter to do is very similar to what happens to us when we look up at the night sky: Just get more perspective.
Yes, there absolutely are strong winds sometimes. This is not a mirage. It is spiritual malpractice to pretend there are not strong winds and dangerous waves in our world.
But I think what Jesus hoped to model for his disciples here, and for us, is something like:
“Focus on God, not the waves. Focus on Jesus, not the winds. And the more you can do that, the more you can keep your own fear at bay.”
I want you to understand that this is not an easy thing to do. This is absolutely why I had these words tattooed on my arm…not that I am so spiritually adept at these things that I am boasting…but precisely the opposite.
Time and again, I need to look down at those times.
Time and again, when I am spinning out personally, Dennise will tell me “Look at your arm, Eric…look at your arm.”
I think especially in our day today there are many spiritual teachers who try to tell us - just practice this a little bit and you'll be all better. You'll get rid of all your fear. You'll be able to achieve anything you want to.
I am not saying anything like that at all. I am saying it is very *likely* that you are going to be afraid at all the wrong times. It is very likely that you are going to look at the waves and look at the wind and fail to look at Jesus. It is very likely that there are very real things that are going to cause you very real fear.
We've just been through a global pandemic together…
We are afraid we are going to not have enough money or resources…
We are afraid of our physical health, or the physical health of someone we love…
We are afraid of the direction our country is going, and that our leaders are perhaps taking us in the wrong direction…
All of these things are very real.
They are not fake.
These are actual waves and wind in the actual world of our lives.
But I think God whispers these truths to us…
"Look past the winds, look past the waves…”
"Look deep into space and see how small and insignificant everything around you is…"
“Believe and trust that I am with you…”
“I will not leave you alone…”
And even if, and when the worst things happen… even when the waves win or we start to sink… God says…
“I am still with you…”
“Fear not.”