Fear

November 29, 2022 | Leave a Comment

Advent 1: Do Not Fear

“The extraordinary thing that is about to happen is matched only by the extraordinary moment just before it happens. Advent is the name of that moment.” -Frederick Buechner

I was a little surprised one day, visiting an older couple, to find myself sitting on brand-new living room furniture. This sweet couple was of modest means, and I didn’t remember their previous living room furniture being raggedy at all, so why the splurge? They told a story.

A friend of theirs, decades ago, had fallen on hard times financially and asked them for a loan. They didn’t have much, but they gave him what they had. It couldn’t have been more than a few hundred dollars. He promised he would pay them back, but, as happens, time passed, and they lost touch. They had not heard of him or from him for years, until a letter arrived in the mail with a check for $2000. He’d sussed out their address, adjusted for inflation, and sent along a note. “I bet you thought I’d forgotten,” he’d written, “but I never forget a promise.”

God really never forgets a promise. Through the ages, over centuries and moment to moment, God has remained faithful to his people. He’s faithful to us still now.

“So do not fear, for I am with you,” God told us through the prophet Isaiah, “do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” (Isaiah 41:10)

Do not fear? Easier said than done, right? There’s so much in the world that could reasonably terrify us? How do we trust God enough to let go of the fear?

The key to begin letting go of the fear is to take the long view of life, of history, and of ourselves. Even this famous verse from Isaiah 41:10 takes the long view of God’s faithfulness, all the way back to Abraham. More than that, these words point us forward to Jesus: our champion and defender who sets us free from the fear of death. It’s Jesus who promises a day when every tear will be wiped away, “There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain” (Revelation 21:4).

The testimony of the past and the promise of the future are embedded in the story we tell every year of Jesus’ birth. It’s the story of a promise of a better, brighter, painless future. It’s a beautiful vision of tomorrow.

Do not fear, friends, because God is with us. He will strengthen us and help us. He will uphold us with his righteous right hand.

Whatever big job or little task we have in front of us, whatever niggling fear is keeping us from that proverbial first step, whatever ridiculous doubt of our own worthiness is whispering to us today, God is with us.

That’s a promise, and God never breaks a promise.

July 27, 2021 | Leave a Comment

Now let the fear of the Lord be upon you

One of my favorite things to do in ministry is to visit with church members who are getting ready to leave the church.

I’m kidding. It gives me an ulcer.

I remember, years ago in a previous ministry, meeting with a household that was very angry about a series of decisions the church leaders had made. I spent the hour in their living room, explaining the leadership’s actions and prayers leading to the decision, knowing the whole time that it was useless. They’d already made up their mind to leave. [Read more…]

February 12, 2021 | Leave a Comment

Invisible us

Remember Indiana Jones? “Professor of Archaeology, expert on the occult, and how does one say it… obtainer of rare antiquities”?

I grew up watching those silly movies. For way too long, I wanted to be an archaeologist. Then I took an archaeology class in college. It only took half a semester to figure out that archaeological excavation is tedious, thankless, and (mostly) completely lacking in the adventure depicted in the films. I struggled even to stay awake in class as the professor showed slide after slide of pot shards. I was finished.

Those wistful days of archaeological naps came back to me recently, as watched the new Netflix film The Dig. The Dig tells the story of the discovery, in 1939, of the Sutton Hoo. No, not a creature in a Dr. Seuss book, the Sutton Hoo was a burial site in rural England where, among other archaeological finds, were the remains of a burial ship, loaded with gold and other artifacts, from Anglo Saxons of the early medieval times. It was one of the most important historical discoveries of the 20th century, as it showed the world that the people of the 7th and 8th centuries were incredibly sophisticated artisans and ship builders. As Charles Phillips of the British Museum remarks in the film, “The dark ages are no longer dark.”

As the film remembers, the person responsible for the discovery was a man named Basil Brown. Despite the enormity of his discovery, though, Brown was left almost unrecognized for his achievement. The Sutton Hoo artifacts went on display a decade after their excavation with no mention of their excavator. Only in recent years was his name included in the vast exhibit space given to the artifacts within the British Museum. One website goes so far as to dub him “the invisible archaeologist.”
[Read more…]

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