March 16, 2025 2nd Sunday of Lent
Readings: Philippians 3:17-4:1, Luke 13:31-35, Psalm 27
Feeling Our Pain
A few of the things that are prominent throughout the passages for today are fear, trouble, and worry. Most believe that David is the writer of The Psalms, so, if we also believe it to be true then by reading this, we know that David has a close relationship with trouble. You might be thinking that David had a close relationship with God. That is very true. But think about it, David starts his walk with God by battling his brothers for acceptance by Samuel. Then before long, David must battle Goliath. He became a very successful leader in battle before and after he was made king. He battles with Saul over Saul’s jealousy. David fears Saul so much that he hides in a cave. Even after crowned king, David gets himself into all sorts of trouble. David has enemies who come after him for the kingdom, and some trouble comes from friends who wanted him gone. Mostly what got him into trouble was his own arrogance and self-conceit. All of this caused him to be very familiar with fear and needing to hide.
However, in David’s defense, what got him out of trouble and danger was his repentance and acceptance of humility. Each time he accepted the realization; God was the only source that would bring him redemption but also strong enough to see beyond David’s rebellion. Not David’s own strength and wisdom but God’s, along with His protection and redeeming love. That is what calms all fears. Remember we covered our false human perception about God’s protection last week. Today we hear that very familiar verse “The Lord is my light and Salvation; with whom shall I fear?” Today fear has very negative connotation in our society.
There are many things that we as humans experience fear and the world will list many more fears that we are to be weary of. As humans we also fear change. Some fears are well grounded and some just so-so. But those fears are real enough to us. In this way the world conditions us into submission and away from the God who is our strength. Fear can cause us to do irrational things. We do live in the world, but we are not to be of the world. We are called by God to live differently. The worldly view teaches us to doubt our faith. That sounds very negative as well. The world will say that the opposite of faith is doubt. Scholars say the opposite of faith is fear. I am not so sure of either. Doubting our faith encourages us to grow in our faith. By doubting you investigate and find answers, which brings you to Holy Wisdom. We are called to fear the Lord, which means to revere, respect and honor the Lord. At the same time, we read throughout the Bible that we are to fear not. Scripturally The Apostle John says that perfect love casts out all fears. Wisdom is not a cure-all for fear either. An illustration used in the study material for today stated this; If your child wakes up screaming there is a monster under their bed, you do not just state or scream back that there are no monsters under there. Nor can you argue with adults or children to bring them out of fear. Instead, we come to them, where they are, and assure them it’s not there. We also lovingly hold and protect them. There is power in unconditional love. In our humanness, fear and doubt can cause us significant pain, which can lead us into unbelief.
Unbelief, now there’s another painful emotion. Doubting and fear can lead to unbelief? Wait, is unbelief a bad thing? The world would say yes, it is. If you have unbelief in Christ, then there is question in the assurance Jesus can do what he says. We read where a father comes to Jesus and asks for help with his sick son. He believes in who Jesus is, but he needs help in his unbelief. In other words, the father is asking for help from Jesus in his own short comings. The father believes Jesus is who He says he is, but he is short on believing Jesus can do what he says. The father is confessing to Jesus he lacks the assurance and needs the power of Jesus to be improved so that he can become a better person. It is painful to admit our failings to ourselves, much less admit it to the Almighty. But we MUST!
Right now, there is a lot of fear being proclaimed in the political and media worlds. I was wondering this week what my retirement investments are doing. Last fall I lost over six thousand dollars. My brother-in-law says that it is only paper money. Well yeah it is! That’s fear taking over. But relax it will regain later. Am I going to be here when that happens? We are all wondering how much more inflation is going to increase, thus reducing our buying power. Are our political leaders making wise decisions or just indulging decisions for themselves? We need to admit, confess, proclaim to God our fears and concerns. Place them in God’s hands and yes pray for those who have given us those fears. God tells us to hide in Him. With God we do not allow our own arrogance and self-conceit create fear in us.
The psalmist tells us to seek shelter in the tent of the Lord. As a camper, I’m not so sure about seeking shelter from a storm in a tent. I’ve seen and felt what happens to tents in storms. I think God should have a Fifth wheel toy hauler. However, with God all things are possible. Hide in God and you will be lifted and above all our fears, doubts, pain and unbelief. So, all we must do in this congregation, need to do, is seek the tent of God and everything is going to be hunky dory till the end of time. No! I will not be so presumptuous and say that way. Just us here are not going to change the world, but it is a start in the right direction. As God has called us.
Do we not believe that we are to seek His face, He is at work among us, He is at work within us. If so, then those are not just cliches to make us feel better about our self, we are to truly look for God’s face in everything we see and everyone we meet. What if Jesus had given into fear. Some of The Pharisees warned Jesus that there were those within the church that wanted to kill him, including Herod. These were Pharisees that may have believed in what Jesus could do. Don’t go to Jerusalem Jesus! Save yourself. Don’t get killed. Don’t upset the applecart.
What if Jesus had heeded the warnings of those Pharisees? Then the father of that child would not have had his child healed. He would not have had his unbelief brought to belief. Paul would not have been able to tell the brothers and sisters of Christ to imitate the Lord Jesus and all the Apostles. Our bodies would not be transformed upon our physical death. But Jesus sought out the face of God. He saw the Father in every one of those he healed. In the faces of us for that matter.
This week in Bible Study, we read the parable about the Good Samaritan. Is it possible the reason the Priest and Lawyer did not help the man because of some deep-seated fear? The Samaritan saw past his fear and did what needed to be done for the good of others. Fear causes us to not participate in missions. That fear convinces us it can’t be done due to, unsure of funding, unsure of ability, unsure of the people needed. Last week we were afraid of not having enough people to help hand out the meals. Several members of the team were going to be gone. Guess what, we had an abundance of extra people that came to help. What fears have you holding back on your mission? What fears have you crippled before the Lord? Seek His tent and face. You will be blessed, protected, encouraged, and empowered to do what God needs in you.
