(Mathew 10v24-39, Romans 6v1-11)

Two weeks ago, we heard Ian speak about Hope – the Hope that God brings into our lives. The Hope of salvation, the Hope of healing. The Hope that all are loved and called by God. Last week, Helen spoke about God’s grace – His caring unmerited compassion for all people. And here, in this week’s reading Jesus sends out His disciples to join in spreading that good news and to do the things He has been doing. But weirdly, after all the positive stories and encouragement we have had, Jesus takes another line. He talks about the difficulties they may face and the fear they may feel.

Did you know that, in among all the commands in the Bible the one that is most repeated is “Do not be afraid’. You may be able to think of many other commands – love your God, love your neighbour, follow me – which you think should come more often. Fear is such a basic human response. Some of us may be more prone to it than others. At times we may experience an emotion we may describe as uncertainty, concern, worry or fear depending on who we are. It is common to us all in some form or other and the instruction “not to be afraid” is written through the Bible both the old and the New Testament. I haven’t counted myself but google tells me that it comes 365 times in the Bible – once for each day of the year. God says it to His people again and again through the Old Testament. “Do not be afraid for I am with you”. Of course, these words don’t say that whatever we fear won’t happen. God is not promising to stop the things we may worry about, but He is saying “Do not fear, because I am always with you. My love will hold you. Your eternal future is held by me and won’t be affected by anything you face.”    It may surprise you to think that when we come to that most joyful of Bible stories, the Christmas story, the angels don’t say every time they appear “Rejoice God is coming” but “Do not be afraid”. The angel Gabriel says it to Mary and to Joseph and the angels say it to the shepherds. God coming into our lives can be wonderful, thrilling, unnerving and frightening. The injunction “Do not be afraid” is a promise because God will be with you every step of the way and He will keep you safe for ever.

In our Gospel reading Jesus has called His disciples to a new stage in their relationship. To go out and do the things He has been doing. They may well have been thinking the sort of things you may have felt when you are part of a new venture. A new job, maybe a new activity at Church. A new stage in family life. It can be very exciting and here was Jesus a new and amazing teacher. There were rumours that He might be the Messiah. What was going to happen? Jesus promises that they will be given the words to speak when they need them. The Spirit will give them the words they need.    But, I wonder, what is happening here. Does Jesus see them getting too excited? He is above all things a realist and He wants to ground them in the reality of ministry for Him. He knows where He is going and what will happen to Him although the Disciples are, as yet, unclear of the path He is on. Jesus brings them down to earth by reminding them that if they are following Him they will need to be like Him.

You can perhaps see why, at this moment, Jesus needed to tell His disciples not to be afraid. After all, He has warned them several times that the authorities will be after them. You might expect Him to say, “Everything will be okay because God will look after you”. Well ultimately, He does say that but the first reason He gives is “do not be afraid because everything will be uncovered”. This may, in itself, concern you.
I guess that most of us have things we would prefer not to have uncovered! I wonder why we always think that it will be the difficult things, the mistakes we have made, our most private thoughts and actions that are uncovered?  However, here, Jesus is presuming that what will be uncovered is the Disciple’s loyalty and their faith, their endurance in difficult situations. Their patience and perseverance against all the odds. What may be seen as obstinacy or arrogance by some is a resolute determination to follow Jesus against all the odds. They will ultimately be vindicated.

The injunction not to be afraid is balanced with one “to be afraid”. There was much to be concerned and indeed afraid about in particular Rome, Herod and those who served them. They had the power to kill the body but there were other, darker forces, who were battling for the souls of the Disciples. To balance the fear of what any dark forces may do is one of Jesus’s greatest promises about the detailed love and care God has for everyone of His people. God knows you – every part of you – and loves you. He cares for every part of you and your life. So yes, do pray for the minor things that worry you. The things that may not be of earth-shattering importance to anyone else. The things only you and God know about. Pray for these as well as for the big things – our community, our country our world. God loves and cares for all of His creation, the tiny and the big. We just need to believe in His faithfulness to us. We need to have the right mind set. The mindset that Paul is talking about in Romans 8. In the days after Pentecost, when we celebrate God’s gift of His Holy Spirit, Paul encourages us to set our minds on the things of the Spirit and not on the things of the world.   To choose God as the disciples were choosing Godby going out to serve Him. We are God’s called children, and we are saved and loved eternally.  Be certain you are loved and saved by God and filled by His spirit so that whatever you face or God calls you to, you are eternally safe in His hands.                                                     

Every Blessing Rev. Mary Staunton