Notes from a sermon by Rowland Croucher.

Hear the one about the big game hunter who ran out of ammunition as a lion
charged him? ‘What did you do?’ asked an anxious friend. ‘I sure was scared,
but I looked up and there was a branch 25 feet up so I jumped…’ ‘Did you
make it? ‘Not on the way up, but fortunately I got it on the way down!’

Most of us are not into adrenaline-producing pastimes like game-hunting, or
bunjee-jumping, or rock-climbing, or hang-gliding. But all of us are afraid
of something. At clergy conferences I’ve sometimes asked Christian leaders
to complete the sentence ‘I am most afraid of…’ Most of them list failure
somewhere. (Few of us these days are fearful of ‘falling into the hands
of an angry God’).

Natural fear

Emotions are valuable assets. In situations where we don’t have enough data
to make logical choices we fall back on our emotions. One of these is fear.
In the first year of our lives we are afraid – among other fears – of loud
noises; in the second year of being left by our mother; from our third year
we’re afraid of the dark, maybe large objects, wind, rain, and some animals.
Later, children learn to be afraid of ghosts or heights or scary animals or
of bodily injury, or sleeping alone, or being late for school or burglars or
bullies or dentists. Later we’re afraid of being shamed, or failing; and
many adults are afraid of sickness, or loneliness or death. The list goes
on…

Throughout nature fear is often a good thing: if an animal is never afraid
it will become another animal’s lunch! Fear keeps a small animal clinging to
its mother. Fear protects us from harm: we stand back from the cliff-edge;
something happens to your right foot when you see a traffic policeman. But
fear can also be destructive. Anxiety is ‘generalized fear’. Phobias are
irrational fears. (You’ve seen lists of these: agoraphobia, fear of open
places; acrophobia, fear of heights; claustrophobia, fear of being shut in;
pathophobia, fear of disease. There’s some debate about whether fear of
spiders is learned or inherited) . Sometimes parents unwisely use fear to
control their children – fear of the bogeyman, the devil, ‘your father’ –
even fear of God or hell.

In many movies we Westerners play with fear or experience the ‘pleasure’ of
fear vicariously – fear well removed from any risk. Many love being scared
silly. “The Blair Witch Project” is ranked by some as the most successful
movie ever made. In “The Sixth Sense,” Bruce Willis plays a psychologist
working with a child terrorized by ghosts he alone sees of people who had
been wronged while alive, and can’t accept their death until an injustice
has been mended. The little boy tells Bruce Willis, “I just want not to be
scared all the time.” “The Mummy” has an ancient Egyptian Priest to scare
you – or there are genetically altered sharks, or a giant crocodile in “Lake
Placid”, or movies about bats and haunted houses… Justice is not
guaranteed in these movies. Sometimes the monsters win; sometimes the heroes
win. Sometimes evil is punished, sometimes it laughs last. Sometimes the
good are spared. Sometimes good isn’t good enough.

We Westerners are more fear-free lives than anyone in history. Most of us
live in safe neighborhoods in a safe country. We don’t fear of our own or
other governments waging war upon us. But many in our world do face the real
fear of random crime and violence, the fear of hate because of their
skin-colour, religion or sexual orientation. Two thirds of the human race
lives daily on the edge of survival…

Halloween has become, in North Americda, and now in Britain and Europe and
other places a ‘holiday of horror’. For one day of the year, young people
visit fear, without having to live in it. It’s “Halloween” because it was
originally a “Hallowed Evening” – a holy night to celebrate the lives of
souls who are now dead. But Halloween is also about monsters – werewolves
and vampires – and now these kids have added Pokemon monsters to
Frankenstein monsters.

President Rooseveldt said, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”
If only it were that simple. Psychologists suggest we ‘face the thing we
fear’ with the help of another who can help us do some reality-checking.
Then we engage in ‘progressive desensitization’ – conquering little fears
before moving on to larger ones…

Natural fear can be healthy or destructive. So too with

The Fear of God

In the Bible the fear of God it is a spiritually wholesome fear. This fear
combines our natural dread of God’s consuming fire of holiness with our love
for the Saviour who gave his life for us miserable sinners. We should have a
proper fear of judgment, for it is certain. All believers should have a
proper fear for the power and majesty of God, as Isaiah, Daniel, and John
exhibit when they witness God on His throne. “The fear of the Lord is the
beginning of wisdom.”

In C S Lewis’ ‘Narnia Chronicle’ The Silver Chair, Jill Pole is whisked away
from her boarding school in England by magic. She is very thirsty, and
begins to search for water. Hearing a stream, she starts to approach: but
sees an enormous lion blocking her path, directly between herself and the
stream:

It lay with its head raised and its two fore-paws out in front of it. She
knew at once that it had seen her, for its eyes looked straight into hers
for a moment and then turned away — as if it knew her quite well and didn’t
think much of her. “If I run away, it’ll be after me in a moment,” thought
Jill. “And if I go on, I shall run straight into its mouth.” Anyway, she
couldn’t have moved if she had tried, and she couldn’t take her eyes off it.
How long this lasted, she could not be sure; it seemed like hours. And the
thirst became so bad that she almost felt she would not mind being eaten by
the lion if only she could be sure of getting a mouthful of water first.

“If you are thirsty, you may drink.” . . . For a second she stared here and
there, wondering who had spoken. Then the voice said again, “If you are
thirsty, come and drink,” and . . . [she] realised that it was the lion
speaking. Anyway, she had seen its lips move this time, and the voice was
not like a man’s. It was deeper, wilder, and stronger; a sort of heavy,
golden voice. It did not make her any less frightened than she had been
before, but it made her frightened in rather a different way.

“Are you not thirsty?” said the Lion.

“I’m dying of thirst,” said Jill.

“Then drink,” said the Lion.

“May I — could I — would you mind going away while I do?” said Jill.

The Lion answered this only by a look and a very low growl. And as Jill
gazed at its motionless bulk, she realised that she might as well have asked
the whole mountain to move aside for her convenience. The delicious rippling
noise of the stream was driving her nearly frantic.

“Will you promise not to — do anything to me, if I do come?” said Jill.

“I make no promise,” said the Lion.

Jill was so thirsty now that, without noticing it, she had come a step
closer.

“Do you eat girls?” she said.

“I have swallowed up girls and boys, women and men, kings and emperors,
cities and realms,” said the Lion. It didn’t say it as if it were boasting,
nor as if it were sorry, nor as if it were angry. It just said it.

“I daren’t come and drink,” said Jill.

“Then you will die of thirst,” said the Lion.

“Oh dear!” said Jill, coming another step nearer. “I suppose I must go and
look for another stream then.”

“There is no other stream,” said the Lion.

It never occurred to Jill to disbelieve the Lion — no one who had seen his
stern face could do that — and her mind suddenly made itself up. It was the
worst thing she had ever had to do, but she went forward to the stream,
knelt down, and began scooping up water in her hand. It was the coldest,
most refreshing water she had ever tasted…

Does Jill fear this lion? Should Jill fear this lion? Yes and yes. The lion
is capable of eating her; the lion has eaten up both girls like her and
those who are much more powerful. So she fears both his power and majesty.
She asks the Lion to go away, to leave her alone. But the lion doesn’t move,
and Jill, in the end, must respond positively to the lion’s invitation to
come and drink. She approaches in faith, drinks — and is satisfied.

Like Aslan confronting Jill, Jesus confronts us. We can commit one of two
errors here. First, we can be so overwhelmed with the grandeur of
God-the-Creator-and-Judge that we forget his fatherly love for us. Or, at
the opposite extreme, God is our buddy, who is by our side helping us have a
good time. But God is not like an indulgent grandparent, turning a blind eye
to our sins, and giving us sweets. Our God is the One before whom every knee
will bow. We are invited to have a proper fear of his might, his power, his
holiness. But, on the other hand never forget that the God Jesus introduced
to us is loving. This God loves sinners, failures, prodigals.

Faith, hope and love are the biblical antidotes for fear. There are
apparently 366 ‘Fear nots’ in the Bible – one for each day of the year.
“Fear not! Only believe!” Jesus says to a group of mourners at the home of
Jairus. Trust or faith is the deep conviction that God is in control of all,
and will turn evil into good. One of the greatest preachers of last century,
G. Campbell Morgan wrote: ‘I can hardly speak of this matter without
becoming personal and reminiscent, remembering a time forty years ago when
my own first lassie lay at the point of death, dying. I called for Him then,
and He came, and surely said to our troubled hearts, “Fear not, believe
only.” He did not say, “She shall be made whole.” She was not made whole, on
the earthly plane; she passed away into the life beyond. But He did say to
her, “Talitha cumi”, that is, “Little lamb, arise.” But in her case that did
not mean, “Stay on the earth level”; it meant that He needed her, and He
took her to be with Himself. She has been with Him for all these years, as
we measure time here, and I have missed her every day. But His word,
“Believe only,” has been the strength of all the passing years.’

Death is the ultimate horror if we live without faith. But we need not fear
our own death or the death of a loved one. The time of our dying is usually
out of our control but God gives and takes away life; and he will, in the
end, wipe every tear from our eyes. He will right all wrongs and overwhelm
us with his power and love. As a character in a George Macdonald book puts
it, “You have tasted of death now. Is it good?” “It is good,” comes the
response, “it is better than life.” “No,” the first speaker replies. “It is
only more life.”

So how do we respond to frightening circumstances? David’s response (Psalm
56): ‘When I am afraid, I will put my trust in you. In God, whose word I
praise, In God I have put my trust; I shall not be afraid. What can mere
mortals do to me?’ Commenting on these verses, Charles Spurgeon writes: ‘To
trust when there is no cause for fear, is but the name of faith, but to be
reliant upon God when occasions for alarm are abundant and pressing, is the
conquering faith of God’s elect. . . . Whether the fear arise from without
or within, from past, present, or future, from temporals, or spirituals,
from men or devils, let us maintain faith, and we shall soon recover
courage. Whatever your fears may be, Jesus says to you: Fear not; Only
believe! And may we all respond with David: When I am afraid, I will trust
in you.’

Love is also an antidote for fear: perfect love casts out fear (1 John
4:18). God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power, and love and
self-control (2 Timothy 1:7). Hope is also an antidote for fear. Let your
hope keep you joyful, Paul says
(Romans 12:12). Hope is the certain conviction that the God who cared for
his people in the past will do so today and in the future…

One of the best Psalms for the fearful person is Psalm 91 with its assurance
of God’s care and protection in all our circumstances. It lists ten origins
of our fears – the treachery of enemies, deadly diseases, terrors in the
night and in the daytime, ‘evil’, ‘scourges’, accidents, snakes, lions, and
‘trouble’ in general. What a list!

But there are ten antidotes to fear mentioned in this psalm. Five ‘spiritual
disciplines’ we exercise are abiding in God (verse 1), trusting God (2),
loving God (14), knowing God (14), and humble prayer to God (15). Five
initiatives God takes to protect us in fearful times are covering us, like a
mother eagle protecting its young (4), protecting us as with a shield (4),
exercising justice on our behalf against the wicked (8), delegating our care
to angels (11), and giving the promise of long life and salvation (16).

Two interesting questions confront us in this Psalm: how do we interpret it
in terms of God’s promise to protect us? And what’s this about guardian
angels?

Are we to take this Psalm literally and believe that God never allows his
loved children to suffer at all? No. If God is promising that we would never
stub our toes, I must be doing something wrong! When the Devil tried that
literalistic tack in quoting this Psalm he was severely rebuked by Jesus
(Luke 4:1-13). The story of Jesus’ temptation is a divinely inspired
commentary on these verses. Satan challenged Jesus to throw himself down
from the temple, and to be divinely delivered from death, to show that he
was the Messiah. He tried to convince Jesus that since Psalm 91 promised
deliverance from suffering and death, God would deliver Him. But Psalm 91
was not Jesus’ excuse for avoiding the cross, but His reason for going to
the cross.

Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggemann helpfully suggests that we ought to
read psalms 89 to 91 as a unit. We experience times of orientation, times
when life seems particularly good, times when we feel connected with God as
the source of life and goodness. But then there are times of disorientation,
when things aren’t going so well, and we experience loneliness, despair,
grief, fear, times in which our faith is called into question, times in
which we may doubt the reality of a present and loving God. The words of
Jesus from the cross ring loud as the ultimate song of disorientation: “My
God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Where are you God? Why have you left
me alone?

Finally, says Brueggemann, there are times of reorientation, when we begin
to get it together again; when, after the devastation of the storm, we begin
to realize that God is leading us into healing and love, to wholeness and
hope.

Psalm 91 fits into Brueggemann’s third category. The other two Psalms
reflect the intense struggles of the author but this beautiful poem of faith
in the ultimate goodness and mercy of God asserts that when one has faith in
God, that person will be protected and helped and comforted and given
direction and strength and hope.

A danger here is that we might encourage a shallow, immature view of what
divine protection means. In too much popular
piety, faith in God becomes an insurance policy against trouble in life, and
prayer becomes a form of magic. It’s clear in the scriptures – and it’s
certainly clear in daily life – that being a person of faith does not mean
that we won’t have any tough times in life. The point here is that of the
steadfastness of God that is always present in all aspects of life – all of
them. [See Romans 8:31-39].

God promises not only his protection from disaster, but his presence in
danger. This is the assurance of the words, “I will be with him in trouble”
(v. 15). At times he will pluck us from danger, but when he chooses to
preserve us through it he does not abandon us. The three young Hebrew men,
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, were not alone in Nebuchadnezzar’s furnace
(Dan. 3:25), nor was Daniel alone in the lion’s den (Dan. 6:22). Our Lord
personally appeared to Paul during the night as he was imprisoned,
threatened by an angry mob (Acts 23:11).

Now God does sometimes miraculously deliver us? Yes. I like the story of the
young soldier who found himself in a terrible battle during the Scottish
Reformation between 1200 and 1400 AD. The enemy was soundly defeating this
young man’s army. He and his comrades found themselves hastily retreating
from the battle field in defeat, running away in fear of their very lives.
The enemy gave chase. This young soldier ran hard and fast, full of fear and
desperation, and soon found himself cut off from his comrades in arms.

He eventually came upon a rocky ledge containing a cave. Knowing the enemy
was close behind, and that he was exhausted from the chase, he chose to hide
there. After he crawled in, he fell to his face in the darkness, desperately
crying to God to save him and protect him from his enemies. He also made a
bargain with God, one which I (and perhaps you too?) have made before. He
promised that if God saved him, he would serve him for the remainder of his
days.

When he looked up from his despairing plea for help, he saw a spider
beginning to weave its web at the entrance to the cave. As he watched the
delicate threads being slowly drawn across the mouth of the cave, the young
soldier pondered its irony. He thought, “I asked God for protection and
deliverance, and he sent me a spider instead. How can a spider save me?”

His heart was hardened, knowing the enemy would soon discover his hiding
place and kill him.

And soon he did hear the sound of his enemies, who were now scouring the
area looking for those in hiding. One soldier with a gun slowly walked up to
the cave’s entrance. As the young man crouched in the darkness, hoping to
surprise the enemy in a last minute desperate attempt to save his own life,
he felt his heart pounding wildly out of control.

As the enemy cautiously moved forward to enter the cave, he came upon the
spider’s web, which by now was completely strung across the opening. He
backed away and called out to a comrade, “There can’t be anyone in here.
They would have had to break this spider’s web to enter the cave. Let’s move
on.”

Years later, this young man, who made good his promise by becoming a
preacher and evangelist, wrote about that ordeal. What he observed has stood
by me in times of trouble, especially during those times when everything
seemed impossible. He wrote: “Where God is, a spider’s web is as a stone
wall. Where God is not, a stone wall is as a spider’s web.”

Now what about angels? According to a Time Magazine/CNN poll, 69% of
American adults believe in the existence of angels; 46% believe they have
their own Guardian Angel; and almost one-third (32%) say they have, at one
time or another, personally felt an angelic presence in their life. Hillary
Clinton apparently has a gold angel pin she wears on days she needs help.
The term “angel” is derived from the Greek word angelos which means
“messenger.” The Hebrew equivalent, malak also means “messenger” [the book
of Malachi = My Messenger])

Do we each have a guardian angel? Psalm 91 suggests we do: “He will command
his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they
will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone”
(11,12). There is Jesus’ comment in Matthew 18:10: “Take care that you do
not despise one of these little ones; for, I tell you, in heaven their
angels continually see the face of my Father in heaven.”

Amy Grant has a song called “Angels:”

Angels watching over me, every move I make,
Angels watching over me!
Angels watching over me, every step I take,
Angels watching over me!

God only knows the times my life was threatened just today.
A reckless car ran out of gas before it ran my way.
Near misses all around me, accidents unknown,
Though I never see with human eyes
the hands that lead me home.

But I know they’re all around me
all day and through the night.
When the enemy is closing in,
I know sometimes they fight
To keep my feet from falling,
I’ll never turn away.

If you’re asking what’s protecting me
then you’re gonna hear me say:
Got his angels watching over me, every move I make,
Angels watching over me!
Angels watching over me, every step I take,
Angels watching over me….

In Billy Graham’s book, Angels: God’s Secret Agents (Garden City, NY:
Doubleday, 1975), one of the few books published in recent years that
approaches angels from a very literal Biblical perspective, Billy tells the
story of Dr. S. W. Mitchell, a celebrated Philadelphia neurologist. Dr.
Mitchell had gone to bed after an exceptionally tiring day when suddenly he
was awakened by someone knocking on his door. Opening it, he found a little
girl, poorly dressed and deeply upset. She told him that her mother was very
sick and asked him if he would please come with her. It was a bitterly cold,
snowy night, and though he was bone tired, Dr. Mitchell dressed and followed
the girl.

As the book recounts the story, the doctor found the mother desperately ill
with pneumonia. After arranging for medical care, he complimented the sick
woman on the intelligence and persistence of her little daughter. The woman
looked at him strangely and then said, “My daughter died a month ago.” She
added, “Her coat and shoes are in the clothes closet there.” Dr. Mitchell,
amazed and perplexed, went to the closet and opened the door. There hung the
very coat worn by the little girl who had brought him to tend to her mother.
It was warm and dry and could not have possibly have been out on a wintry
night.

Could the doctor have been called in the hour of desperate need by an angel
who appeared as this woman’s young daughter? Was this the work of God’s
angels on behalf of this woman? I cannot explain it.

Angels are a sign of God’s desire to guide and protect us. There is no
reason to think that God has stopped guiding people that way. Let’s keep our
eyes open for angels… angels of all kinds, not just celestial creatures
with wings and haloes. One angelic messenger might be our conscience – the
inner voice that keeps us from straying from the right path. A second might
be our dreams. This has great Biblical precedent – Abimelech, Jacob, Laban,
Joseph, the Egyptian Pharaoh, Gideon, Solomon, Joseph, the Wise Men, the
wife of Pontius Pilate, to name a few. Analyze your dreams and their
symbols (if you remember them), to see what they might be saying to you.
Third let us look for angels in the form of loved ones who have died – Billy
Graham’s story of Dr. Mitchell has too many parallels from too many
sources – believers as well as non-believers – to be totally dismissed.
Fourth, look for angels in the people around you every day. And yes, let us
remain open to the idea of a visit from some celestial being. As Shakespeare
said in Hamlet, “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than
are dreamed of in your philosophy” (I, v, 166).

So with all our fears, let us trust the One who says to his disciples and to
us: Don’t let your hearts be troubled; don’t be afraid. I am with you to the
end… Nothing can separate you from my love…

Rowland Croucher November 2000.