Sermon for the 25th Sunday after Pentecost
Perfect Love Casts Out Fear
By The Rev. Christie Webb -
What are you afraid of? Shout it out. [I’m afraid of cockroaches and failure]
What about God? Are you afraid of God?
If you, like me, grew up in the Lutheran church, you may remember these words: We are to fear and love God. They come from Luther’s Small Catechism, from the explanation of the 10 Commandments. We are to fear and love God so that… we follow God’s ways.
Honestly, the fear part has always perplexed me. Are we really supposed to fear God? Well perhaps, if your image of God resonates with the first reading this day. God as depicted in Zephaniah is frightening with its words of wrath, distress, anguish, darkness and ruin, devastation, without any hope for salvation, not even gold and silver can save them. Yikes. But then there is that beautiful line in our second reading from First Thessalonians: “For God has destined us not for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” We are not destined for wrath, for that distress, anguish and devastation. We are destined for salvation through Jesus Christ. Phew.
So where does that leave us? In fear? Or in something else?
I’ve been contemplating the impacts of fear these past couple of weeks in the parables we have from the gospel of Matthew. Last week we had the story of the 10 bridesmaids, which directly precedes the parable we read today. In the story of the 10 bridesmaids, all of them set off with their oil lamps lit to wait for the bridegroom. Five are wise. Five are foolish. The wise ones have brought with them extra oil. The foolish ones have not. The bridegroom is delayed. They all fall asleep, but they are awakened as the bridegroom draws near. The five foolish bridesmaids ask for oil from the others, but they say no. They say “Oooo. You are going to be in trouble. You better go get oil from the store. Quick.” And the foolish bridesmaids run off to get oil and miss the bridegroom and entrance into the party.
Lutheran Pastor and well known preacher Nadia Bolz-Weber has this to say: “The foolish bridesmaids weren’t foolish because they didn't bring back up oil, they were foolish because instead of trusting that the light of Christ was enough to shine the way, they wasted all that time and energy and money trying to get their own because someone shamed them into thinking they could never approach the Lord with their lack. Rather than trusting… they were so consumed by their shame of not being enough.” It seems to me that they were afraid of the reaction of the bridegroom to their dwindling lamps, and they let that fear, augmented by the voices of the other bridesmaid, to dictate their actions, and because of that they missed the party.
That same fear seems be messing with someone in our gospel reading today. A man entrusts to his servants property, to one 5 talents (which is a large amount with 1 talent equating to the amount made by a worker in 15-20 years of work), so he gives him what amounts to wages for 75 plus years, to another the wages of 30 plus years, and another 15 plus years. He goes away and when he returns he asks to see what they have done with his investment. The one with 5 talents has doubled the investment. The one with two has done the same. The one with one talent was afraid. “Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed; so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.” He gives back what was given to him, but no more. The master is not pleased by this lack of investment and responds with punishment and banishment. Fear created paralysis for this one servant, and the results are devastating.
Fear can sometimes be a great motivator. But other times it stops us from doing what is best, following what is right, or being productive. Fear can make us hide. Fear can keep us from being brave. Somewhere along the way a wise person gave me this advice: Don’t let fear drive the bus.
Fear has set the people off course in these two parables. If I look back at my own life, I can see where operating out of fear has set me off course too. Can you see that in your life too?
It seems that when I’m operating out of fear, I clench my fists to hold tightly, close in on myself, protect my heart, lash out in anger, hurt relationships, and well, generally burry every treasure God has given me in the sand- just in case, to keep it safe. Fear really sends me in the wrong direction.
This past week over something or other I was deep in fear. This is it, I feared, this is where it all falls apart. This is it, I feared, this is where it's discovered I don’t belong. This is it, I feared, the beginning of the end. I could feel it in my heart, the paralysis, the stuckness, the closing in and turning away and shutting off. And then I remembered a passage of scripture that I love: “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.” I wanted to choose love instead of fear. I wanted to choose the love of relationship instead of that fear. I wanted to draw from God’s love so that I might love, instead of running in fear. And it worked. And love pushed the fear out of the way, at least enough for me to engage, join the party, invest God’s love in the world.
Do you know who advocated against fear? Jesus. It has been said that in the gospels Jesus says “Do not be afraid” 365 times. More than anything else, Jesus says “Do not be afraid.” Do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows. Do not be afraid, it is me. Get up, do not be afraid. Do not be afraid, go and tell my disciples to go to Galilee, there they will see me.
Friends, I wonder where fear is getting in our way. I wonder where it is pulling us away from our true work so we can look like we have it all together. More than that, I wonder where fear is urging us to bury the treasures that God has entrusted to us into the ground to protect them, to keep them safe. Treasures like love. Treasures like grace. Treasures like forgiveness. Treasures like mercy. Treasures like community.
Where in the world can we invest our love? Imagine what the return might be.
Where in our daily life can we extend the grace we have received? Imagine what that might yield.
Where in our hearts must we unleash the treasure of forgiveness? Imagine what that frees up to grow in the world.
Where in this neighborhood are people longing for community? Imagine what sharing the good gifts we receive from this community would mean for our neighbors.
Friends, Jesus said it best: Do not be afraid. Do not be afraid. Invest. Share. Spread God’s love, grace, forgiveness, and mercy. Let it be so.
Amen.
The Rev. Christie Webb
Pastor - Mt. Olive Lutheran Church
Santa Monica, California
Sermon for:
November 18 & 19, 2023
