John 14:23-31
Listen here.
Who remembers good old “Y2K”? The fear was that as the year 1999 turned into the year 2000, at the very stroke of midnight, all manner of chaos would erupt. Why? Many feared—and the media hyped the fear—that time-keeping and computing devices around the world would not be able to turn all four digits from 1999 to 2000. Yet, here we are—20 years later, still alive and kicking.
Who can forget September 11, 2001? We who lived through it remember where we were and the fear we felt that day terrorists flew planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, killing nearly 3,000 innocent Americans. We were under attack on our own soil! People rushed to stock up on groceries for their cupboards and put gas in their cars. The stock market took a nosedive. We would be going to war. We were very afraid for a time!
Soon after that, there was that little white powder scare. Remember Anthrax? Envelopes containing a contagious white powder thought to be a biological weapon were sent to certain government leaders. Soon after that we all were fearful of what might arrive in our own mail boxes. Could that letter or bill be deadly? And then the plastic and the duct tape. Government leaders spoke often of how easily weaponized pathogens can spread through the air. So we were advised to seal up our windows with that plastic and duct tape.
In 2007-08, we endured the “Great Recession.” Fears abounded over the subprime mortgage crisis, the falling stock market, bailouts of banks and companies “too big to fail,” and what would happen to our own retirement investments.
The SARS epidemic sparked fears in 2002-2004. The MERS epidemic struck around 2012-2015. In 2014 we in St. Louis endured—and feared—the mess in Ferguson. We can certainly relate to what’s happened in Minneapolis, and we’re even joining in—fearful of injustice and fearful of needless destruction at the same time.
As a society and as individuals living in this society—even as blood-bought sinners redeemed by Jesus who live in this society—fear has become our familiar friend and panic our constant companion. The media either thrives on our fears or stirs our fears or—most likely—both. What does it do to us mentally, emotionally and spiritually when we keep hearing, over and over again, at least every commercial break, phrases such as “uncertain times,” “unprecedented times,” or “new normal”?
And I had to chuckle when I came across a couple of headlines this past week. No, these were not in the Babylon Bee or some other satire site; they’re from actual news sites. One headline said: “Half of Americans fear [Notice that?] they won’t get their pre-coronavirus body back, survey shows.” Evidently, with gyms closed, it’s not so easy to burn off all of the junk food, alcohol, and other carbohydrates we’re turning to these days. The other headline said: “Monkeys attack lab worker, steal COVID-19 samples as 2020 continues to use critters to try to kill us all.” Evidently, the lockdowns in India have emboldened the monkeys to take charge in Planet of the Apes style.
Fear has become our familiar friend. But he’s not a healthy friend. It’s a rather toxic relationship. It might even be something like Stockholm syndrome. That’s when a captive develops emotional and psychological bonds with and for their captor. The victim may even defend the captor.
But if we keep fear as our friend, we’re also likely to welcome pride as another close buddy. It’s what happened at the Tower of Babel. We usually focus on their pride of making a name for themselves. But what laid the foundation for that pride? What sparked the fire of that pride? Look behind the pride, and you can see fear calling the shots. They were afraid they would be nobodies, irrelevant, even forgotten. Our friendship with fear leads us to rely on ourselves to fix our fearful circumstances.
What does all of this have to do with Pentecost Day and the coming of the Holy Spirit? Did you hear what your Lord Jesus said as He promised to send the Helper, the Holy Spirit? Did His words get into your ears, your mind and your heart, or has fear plugged your ears and numbed your heart and mind? Listen again. After all, it’s your Lord Jesus talking—no camera, no microphone, no viral tweet or video. But His words have endured the test of time. His words bring solace to troubled souls. What did He say? “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”
When your Lord tells you, “Let not your hearts be troubled,” He’s saying, “Don’t let all those other things disturb you, upset you, terrify you, or frighten you.” This verb for “be troubled” gives the picture of a body of water being stirred up. The sediment and dirt at the bottom gunk up the water and take away its clarity. And when Jesus says, “…neither let them be afraid,” He’s using a unique word for “be afraid.” We could also render it: “Neither let your hearts be cowardly or timid.”
You see, Jesus can say these things because He has lived life in your flesh and walked in your shoes in this fallen world. He knows the multitudes of things that bring fear, from plagues to terrorist attacks to riots to aggressive monkeys. And He has suffered, bled, and died to overcome the fears, to conquer the cowardice, and to clear up the water of your heart and soul. His resurrection proves that death itself has been trampled down. So what are all those other things that stir us up or make us tremble inside? They cannot take away Jesus’ victory over sin and death; they cannot take away Jesus’ peace.
It was the night before He would go to the cross when Jesus told His fearful disciples: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you.” His cross and resurrection would bring them peace. They also bring you peace, as long as you keep your eyes fixed on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of your faith. He is your true friend who loves you and has laid down His life for you. When you make fear your friend, you will only be abused over and over again. But Jesus is your true Friend who gives healing and peace—peace with God, peace with one another, and peace within when the world rages.
And your best Friend, Jesus, gives you another Helper: the Spirit of truth. This Third Person of the Trinity who appeared in tongues of fire and enabled Gospel preaching on the first Pentecost comes to dwell with you and be in you. He comes to teach you the things of Jesus, not the things of fear. He comes to comfort and sustain and give courage. “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you” (Rom. 8:11). He is “the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might” (Is. 11:2).
Just as He rested on Jesus, coming down on Him in His Baptism, so He rests on you through your Baptism into Christ. Just as He sustained and nourished Jesus in the wilderness, so He sustains and nourishes you in the wilderness of this fallen, sick, riotous world—especially as you hear the words of Jesus and feast on His Body and Blood.
Let the Holy Spirit remind you of something Jesus said. “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matt. 10:28). Then couple that with something Jesus says throughout His written word: “everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Acts 2:21). Saved not only from pandemics and riots and other frightful things; but saved from fear itself. After all, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear” (1 John 4:18), and “this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10). Amen.
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