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The Gospel of Matthew Bible Studies
The Gospel of Mark Bible Studies
January 2008
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Time after Pentecost - Lectionary 12 (A) In the Name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. How many of us here have heard of PHOBIAS? According to Webster’s Dictionary, a PHOBIA is “a strong fear, dislike, or aversion” to a specific thing or situation. When I preached on today’s gospel text three years ago, I found an interesting website on the internet called “The Phobia List” (www.phobialist.com). I would like to share it again with you today. “The Phobia List” details 533 different phobias. Some of them are fairly well known; such as claustrophobia (fear of confined spaces), agoraphobia (fear of open spaces), altophobia fear of heights),arachnophobia (fear of spiders), and snakephobia (fear of snakes). Even if we were not familiar with the exact words, most of us have certainly heard of these fears before. But “The Phobia List” also has many other lesser-known fears as well. Here’s ten of them: Barophobia (fear of gravity), decidophobia (fear of making decisions), liticaphobia (fear of lawsuits), logizomechanophobia (fear of computers), pediculophobia (fear of lice), sesquipedalophobia (fear of long words), triskaidekaphobia (fear of the number 13), phobophobia (fear of phobias), ecclesiophobia (fear of church), and my favorite – homilophobia (fear of sermons)! (Although I don’t know if that should refer to possibly your fear of listening to them or to my fear of preparing for and giving them!) Fears can be paralyzing. They can keep us from daring to do the things we know we should. In fact, as we grow older, most of us learn to avoid situations where we might be forced to face our fears. If we have a fear of heights, we probably stay away from ladders and balconies. If we suffer from claustrophobia, we probably avoid tiny elevators. If we get tongue-tied at parties, we probably make our social plans with a few close friends. And so forth. Except for those who suffer from extreme anxiety, most of us can live happy, productive lives while avoiding our fears. But many fears, however, cannot and should not be avoided – because not dealing with them will only make things worse. For example, many of us who are “Baby Boomers” may be afraid that we will not have saved enough money to provide for our retirement needs – and avoiding that issue now certainly will not make things better for us in the future! And being afraid to think about the reality of death (that is called thantophobia, by the way!) – either concerning our own death or of those whom we love – either our own or concerning those whom we love – will only make us less prepared to face when it comes, as it certainly will. I think that this is what Jesus is getting at in today’s gospel text. Jesus addresses the topic of what I would call “fear of discipleship” (I guess the term would be disciplephobia!) Being a disciple of Jesus is not always easy. The main fear that Jesus addresses is the fear that others will slander, denounce, and even persecute us for following him and proclaiming his message. Jesus begins by acknowledging that fear. As he says: “A disciple is not above the teacher, nor a slave above the master… If they have called the master of house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household!” If people have criticized and slandered Jesus, we as his disciples can often expect the same treatment. If we are truly Jesus’ disciples, we should not think that everyone is going to love and respect us for that. But if we are ever fearful of what may happen to us as his disciples, Jesus helps us to understand that we do not need to be afraid. Three times in today’s gospel Jesus bids us to “have no fear” – for three different reasons. The first reason why we do not need to be afraid is because God’s truth will always ultimately triumph. As Jesus says; “So have no fear of them; for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known.” We do not need to be afraid of rumors and slanders that might be directed against us for living as Christian disciples, because in the end things will be seen by everyone for what they really are. The only thing that we should fear is living falsely with “secrets” that we do not want others to find out about – because they eventually will be exposed. But if we live truthfully and honestly as Jesus’ disciples without trying to hide anything – even our failures and flaws – we do not need to be afraid of being “exposed”. Instead, we can confidently trust that God will love us and forgive us and in the end vindicate us for being faithful and truthful disciples in all that we say and do. The second reason why we should not be afraid of any who might oppose us for living as Jesus’ disciples is because we fear God more! There is a story of how Latimer, a bishop in England during the 16th century, once was preaching when King Henry VIII was present. He knew that he was about to say something that the king would not be happy with. So in the pulpit he talked aloud with himself. “Latimer! Latimer! Latimer!” he said, “be careful what you say. Henry the king is here.” He paused, and then he said, “Latimer! Latimer! Latimer! Be careful what you say. The King of kings is here.” As Jesus says in our gospel; “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.” As Jesus’ disciples, we have a holy “fear” of God. This does not mean being “afraid” of God, because we know that he loves us and desires only our good. But it does mean “fearing” to disobey him and “fearing” to disappoint him. Our “holy fear” of God is what enables us to not be afraid of what others may say or do to us. We do not need to be afraid of others, because we fear God more! "The King of kings is here...!" The third and final reason why we do not need to be afraid about living as Jesus’ disciples is because we know that God is watching over us and will always take care of us. As Jesus says; “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. And even the hairs of your head are all counted. So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.” Jesus assures us that we will never be forgotten or neglected by our heavenly Father. Even in the worst of situations, God will always be with us. If he even cares about the birds, how much more will he always be with us and care for us! If we really believe that, this also casts out our fear. -------------------- George R. Karres, Pella Lutheran Church 418 W. Main Street Sidney, MT 59270
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