Overcoming Fear: Sermon Ninth Sunday After Pentecost

Overcoming Fear: Sermon for The Ninth Sunday After Pentecost

Overcoming Our Fears and Anxieties 

Back when Dolly Parton toured, she said that she slept with her makeup on. A reporter from the New York times asked her why, and she said, “You never know if you’re going to wreck the bus, you never know if you’re going to be somewhere in a hotel and there’s going to be a fire. So I leave my makeup on at night and clean my face in the morning to reapply.” 

It’s okay; you can go ahead and smirk… I did. That worked for Dolly because she created a “face” for the world to see. The world has expectations of her, and she refused to disappoint.

The Gospel reading is in contrast to Dolly’s persona. She wanted people to see her in a particular light, while those in the text held lanterns to see the groomwhen he arrived. 

The lesson is instructions to the disciples. Jesus told them how they should live, and what they should be prepared for after the crucifixion and resurrection. It seems difficult to apply it to the here and now because speaks about giving away possessions, thieves breaking into houses, and ancient wedding ritual where slaves waited all night for the groom. 

Nevertheless, there are some rich lessons here. I want to pull the metaphors into the here and now and let them teach us a valuable lesson about: Overcoming Fear. 

I think the passage speaks to us today and says, “Do not live in fear, be generous, and be ready for the groom (God’s presence in your life.”) The whole text is a prescription to overcome fear. 

To overcome something, first we have to name it. 

Jesus said, “Do not be afraid little flock.”

The root of the word “afraid’’ is fear. It’s a fascinating word in the original language. It doesn’t merely mean afraid; it also means “fearfully withdrawing from God.” As in, placing our trust in things other than God. The first century was not kind to Christianity; it was easy for Christians to live in fear. 

When we’re afraid, it’s tempting to seek hope from government, money, pensions, houses, land, food, walls, guns, bans on guns… and a hundred other things. 

Jesus directly confronted that ideology, and told them they did not have to hoard things for a sense of security. Rather, they could trust him. 

He went on to say, “Give away the things you’re clinging to because of your anxiety.” He knew that “things” and ideologies have a way of demanding loyalty when we hold them too tightly. 

Speaking of holding too tightly, I like words, and especially inventing new words to fit a context. This week I heard a word that speaks to our propensity to hoard: affluenza. 

We know influenza, but affluenza is a sickness that comes when we find our identity in our possessions. The definitions are 1. The bloated, sluggish, and empty feeling that results from efforts to keep up with the Joneses. 2. An epidemic of stress, overwork, waste, and indebtedness caused by the mythical pursuit of the American Dream. 3. An unsustainable addiction to economic and personal wealth.  

So how do we overcome fear when it’s so ingrained in our society? The epistle reading contrasts fear with faith. To paraphrase, “Faith is when you continue to believe in God to take care of you, even when the world around you tells you to be afraid.”

We overcome anxieties by letting go of what’s in our hands and trusting God with our lives. 

Another way to overcome fear is to expect God’s arrival. 

There are many ways to interpret the parable of the wedding guests. For me, the broad metaphor is that we should wait expectantly for God’s arrival in our lives. 

The servants in the reading hold their lamps in darkness eagerly waiting for the groom. To me that’s a picture of how we should live in expectation for God. 

Sometimes we think that God is far removed and couldn’t possibly intervein in our lives.” But, if we look back, we can see places where God arrived and intervened. 

Because God helped us, we let go of bitterness and released those who wronged us. Because God helped us, we stopped ruminating about negative possibilities. God helped us we got involved in church and community. Looking back is a holy practice that reminds us just how many blessings we have.

When we look back at history, we also see powerless people bring national and even global change. Some people held their lanterns and waited for God.

These people held their lanterns and waited for God.

Gandhi was an unsuccessful lawyer when he adapted the teachings of the Sermon on the Mount and the writings of Tolstoy. Then he brought independence to India because he expected something to happen. 

Rosa Parks refused to move to the back of the bus in Montgomery, and she sparked the beginning of the civil rights movement. She later said, “God used a simple bus ride to accomplish more than we ever could have dreamed.”

Nelson Mandela spent 27 years in prison. When released, he led revolution of peace in South Africa. Prison prepared him and purified him from fear. The predicted bloodbath in South Africa never occurred because he dared to expect God to make something happen. 

Mother Teresa was a simple nun who will one day be a saint of the church. Her simple acts of love rescued dying people from the streets. She was ready, and she expected God to visit in Calcutta. And until God did, she held the lantern in anticipation.

We do not have to brace for the most negative possibilities, nor do we need to fear the midnights of our lives. The call is to hold the lantern and be patient. All shall be well.

If expectation kills fear, then generosity buries it. 

Generosity defeats the addiction to things, and it liberates us from this media inflicted rage toward one another. 

Jesus said, “Learn to give away the things… everything.” Even our lives to one another.

Generosity… About a month ago, a Baptist church in central Florida wondered if God could change lives through generosity. So they tried, just to see what could happened. They raised 7.2 million dollars. 

They used the money to eliminate medical debt for 6,500 local families. Medical bills were the number one reason for poverty in their county, and their generosity liberated thousands of people. 

They held lanterns in anticipation of generosity. 

The secret to the whole passage is that generosity destroys fear and liberates us to live lives of freedom. 

When we confront our fear with the courage to recognize it, when we live in expectation of God’s presence among us, and when we are a generous people, the world around us will change.

Expectation changed India. Generosity changed Calcutta. Overcoming fear changed Montgomery. Expectation changed South Africa. Generosity changed a county in Florida in poverty from medical bills. Who knows what God can do with us…

Amen.