Jesus Sets Us Free from Fear
Pentecost + 6 – July 21,
2019
Driving on the
interstate (PA or on the train across MN and ND and MT, etc) – in more remote areas –
think of what the land must have looked like hundreds of years ago, before it
was so well settled, before roads and gas stations and roadside restaurants
·
Admiration and awe for the brave people who went forward into the
unknown, who forged a path and made a way for those who would follow
·
Pioneers of all sorts – women in non-traditionally female jobs (50th
anniversary of Women’s ordination in the Lutheran predecessor body next year;
scientists, etc); and vice versa
o 50th anniversary
of the moon landing; astronauts in general!
·
Think about bravery and courage – how hard/scary it can be to go into
those types of situations
·
Gratitude for those people
·
And how fear can paralyze
Book of Hebrews talks about
it as enslavement to fear of death
·
Not something people probably consciously thought of, yet resonates
when you think about it
o Sometimes it’s a fear of literal, physical
death
o Others – fear of other kinds
of death
§
Fear of being forgotten or abandoned
§
Fear of being rejected or thought of as not worthy or important
§
Fear of failure
§
Fear of having too much asked of you
§
Of being inadequate
§
Fear of conflict, losing connection/ relationship with loved ones
§
Fear of being vulnerable or humiliated, of being truly seen and not
measuring up
o Fear of disease or dementia,
of financial woes, of what an uncertain future may hold
·
Kind of like headed into a wild, sparsely inhabited terrain, where all
sorts of challenges and pitfalls and true danger likely await you, and no way
to know if you’re going the right way or if you’ll get to the other side/a safe
place in the end
Jesus sets free those
held in slavery to fear of death
·
Author of Hebrews writing to people who had known suffering persecution
for their faith
·
And who couldn’t be sure what the future might hold for them next
·
BUT, the author reminds them and us that we are not traveling into the
great unknown alone
·
No, he says, Jesus is the pioneer of our salvation, made
perfect/complete through suffering
o He goes before us, paving
the way to the glory of God
o Calls us brothers and
sisters, shares our flesh and blood, all of our human experiences
o And has come to help, not
the angels, but the descendants of Abraham – including us too
·
And he was willing to die in order destroy the one with the power of
death and FREE those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of
death!
o He was tested through his
own struggles and suffering – and so he is able to understand and empathize and
help us in our own challenges
·
He pioneered the path through death on the cross through the tomb to
new, eternal, abundant life – not just for his own sake, but for those who
follow
o He is there to lead the way
forward, from fear into courage, from darkness into light, from death into
life!
·
And so we can be set free from our fears, whatever they may be –
knowing that Jesus is not ashamed to claim us as brothers and sisters, that he
calls us worthy, that even when we are afraid, he comes to help, holding our
hand until we are ready to follow again to the unknown terrain
·
Trusting that he will bring us safely through.
·
Thanks be to God.
·
Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment