I first saw the sign on the rear cab window of a pickup truck. Then I saw some more. Then seemingly the signs were everywhere. Was it a statement about the emotional state of the driver? Was it a statement about where the truck could go? Was it a sense of posturing? Was it a statement of sheer arrogance or passion? Was it a statement of faith? 

The sign read, in huge, flaming letters: “No fear.” I’m still not sure quite what the sign represents. I went on the Internet and found that “No Fear” may be a clothing store for race car drivers. In case you’re interested, there are employment opportunities in the Phoenix, Arizona area for the No Fear stores. 

No fear! Could that become the logo for your life? Could it become the logo for your faith journey? I am remembering what someone once told me, that “fear not” appears 365 times in the Bible—one time for each day of the year. 

There is a lot to induce fear around us today—everything from the pandemic spread of bird flu to angry terrorists—everything from economic instability to killer bees—everything from the stock market crash to identity theft. 

We have one suspected case of Mad Cow disease in this country, and people swear off McDonald’s for six weeks. We have a threat of airborne bacterial or poison gases, and Home Depot runs out of duct tape. Remember when we waited breathlessly at midnight on December 31, 1999, fearing that all computers would crash as we turned into the new millennium? 

Have you ever watched the television show, “Fear Factor?” It’s an unnerving show to watch. Someone referred to it as a “verminous” show. 

Or the way we receive weather reports today. It’s not the weather center; it’s the severe weather center. It’s not the weather report; it’s the storm center report. Outside may be sunny and pleasant, but it’s still the severe weather center. 

Is there such a thing as “no fear” in the Christian life? Kathleen Norris writes in her excellent book, Dakota:

Fear is not a bad place to start a spiritual journey. If you know what makes you afraid, you can see more clearly that the way out is through the fear. 

Maybe that’s what the writer of the 23^rd Psalm meant when he wrote, “Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid.” 

Neuroscientists and psychologists have recently come to understand that we are wired to react first and to think later. We are wired to react in fright, and only to reflect on it later. Is there a way to interrupt that tendency? Is there a way to live without fear? 

Is there a way for a believer to walk through life with his or her head held high? Can you hear God’s good word through the prophet Isaiah today?

Do not fear or be afraid; have I not told you from of old and declared it… is there any god besides me? There is no other rock; I know not one. 

Perhaps you saw the rock used as a metaphor in the slide that had to do with the message for this morning. 

I do think we are called to be alert and attentive. It is not wrong to have police armed with bomb-sniffing dogs on the “T” on Friday morning of this week. Jesus said, “Stay awake; stay alert.” There is an attentiveness that is indigenous to the Christian life. It is not fear, but attentiveness. 

Let me speak to a couple of the fears that affect us the most. 

THE FEAR OF DEATH 

First, there is the fear of death. We are invited, as Christian pilgrims, to hold no fear of death. We are not invited to seek death, as some Muslim extremists are prone to do. But we do not fear death either. 

I think it was Woody Allen who once said, “I do not want to achieve immortality through my work. I want to achieve immortality by not dying.” Good luck, Woody Allen! Jesus said once, “Do not fear those who can destroy the body; but fear those who can mess up your soul.” (see Matthew 10:22 or Luke 12:4) Since 9/11, we seem to have grown an inordinate fear of dying. We’re afraid of some suicide bomber that will show up where we’re eating dinner. We’re afraid of chemicals or bacteria. We worry about dirty bombs. Jesus said, “Do not fear those who can destroy the body; but fear those who can mess up your soul.” He said that you and I can walk through life with our heads held high. We can walk in the confidence of God’s steady presence. 

That’s why one of the statements repeated over and over again in the Old Testament are the words which say, “I will not fail you or forsake you.” That’s why Jesus said, “I am with you always, to the close of the age.” (see Matthew28) That’s why Paul said, “There is nothing in all creation that will ever be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (see Romans 8) 

One of my favorite songs from the Taizé service—one we sang this week—reads like this. We sang it over and over again.

In the Lord I’ll be ever thankful, in the Lord I will rejoice.

Look to God, do not be afraid; lift up your voices; the Lord is near. 

We began this service today with the creed from the United Church of Canada. It is one of my favorites. Part of the creed reads like this:

We are not alone. We live in God’s world. In life, in death, in life beyond death, God is with us. Thanks be to God. 

THE FEAR OF CHANGE 

I remember reading a story about a woman who purchased a kiln-fired plaque which said, “Prayer Changes Things.” She took it home and put it above the fireplace. A few days later she came home and saw the plaque was missing. She said to her husband, “What happened to the plaque above the fireplace?” He said, “I took it down.”  

“What’s the matter with you?” she replied. “Don’t you believe in prayer?” 

“Of course I believe in prayer,” he said. “I just don’t like change.” 

I saw a cartoon that showed a jar for tips at a cash register in a diner. Someone had written a sign on the jar that said, “If you fear change, leave it here.” 

It’s reported the last words of Adam to Eve as they left the Garden of Eden in the Old Testament story were these: “My dear, we are living in a time of change.” 

Change is hard. Sometimes it’s unnerving. I believe it’s much harder to be in ministry today than it was when I began in 1964. I believe it’s harder to be in ministry today than it was 25 years ago when I began here. 

Change takes us in some new directions. It’s the same story, it’s the same Good News, and it’s the same Jesus. We always close the Taizé service on the first Wednesday of the month with a song that reads simply, “Jesus Christ, yesterday, today, and forever.” Every Sunday morning we sing the Gloria Patri: “As it was and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.” It’s a reminder that some things do not change. The fundamental center remains. Some outward forms may change, and sometimes those are hard. 

I know that 15 or 20 of you are not real happy with the added use of the screen in worship. It’s okay to use it for baptisms. It’s okay to use it for mission minutes. But not the presentations of the ministries in the upcoming week. I can honestly say that I never would have agreed to this 20 years ago, or maybe even 10 years ago. But I am persuaded of the visual nature of this new day.  

And I am persuaded of the way it communicates to newer members and visitors. We had a 6 or 7 year old boy here for a baptism a few weeks ago whose family is Roman Catholic. His father reported to me that when he got home, he said to him, “Daddy, I want to learn about God in that church. I really like the screen on the wall.” His report made my day! 

I read a lot these days by Brian McClaren. (Maybe it’s because he has a good first name!) McClaren heads something called the “Emerging Church Group.” He himself is fairly orthodox and traditional in many ways. But there are many creative ways, he says, in which to tell “the old, old story that I have loved so long.” 

I am grateful for the technology here in this space. I am grateful that we have the capacity to work with emerging change without being radical or insensitive to longstanding traditions. Nancy Beach, who is one of the teaching pastors at Willow Creek, writes this.

Our weekly challenge is to design a worship service tailored

for a person who has not been to church in years, while at the same time ministering effectively to long-term Christians.[i] 

Then she adds parenthetically,

No wonder so many members of our worship planning team are prematurely gray! 

This is a challenging time for the church. I don’t have all the answers. But I believe some changes will enhance and strengthen our inreach and our outreach. 

Other kinds of changes affect you as well. Maybe you fear your job being outsourced. Some guy in India wants your job. It’s not my fear. But I do fear that I might become obsolete. A recent magazine article on this theme spoke to those who fear becoming obsolete. Their advice was twofold. One, “Whine less.” And two, “Embrace technology.” 

God does not fear change. Scripture tells the story of nonstop innovation as God reaches out in new ways to the world God loves so much. 

No fear! Remember again God speaking through Isaiah:

Do not fear or be afraid; have I not told you of old and declared it… is there any god besides me? There is no other rock; I know not one.

No fear! 

There’s a story of a little girl who caught her father off guard one day. She got into one of those outrageous question-asking sessions in which children sometimes engage. She said to her dad, “Daddy, are you afraid of wild animals?” The father replied, with a kind of paternal boasting, “No, of course not.” 

“Well Daddy, are you afraid of the dark?” 

“No,” said the father bravely. 

“Well Daddy, are you afraid of the long wooly worms?” 

“Never,” said the father, feeling more invincible with each reply he made. 

“Well Daddy,” the little girl concluded after a brief pause, “then you aren’t afraid of anything but Mommy, right?” 

What do you fear? Can you give your fear over to God? Can you, can we help your children and grandchildren live this life without fear? I believe we can. It’s part of what being the church is about. We are called to pass on NO FEAR to the next generation. 

There’s a wonderful story about a father and his young daughter on a cruise together. It was kind of a getaway cruise. The man’s wife and the girl’s mother had just died. They were trying to do something special to relieve the pain. 

On the deck of the ship one morning, the daughter asked the father a really tough question. “Daddy, does God love us as much as Mommy did?” The father was taken aback. But he knew it was an important question, and he knew he couldn’t sidestep the question either. 

He looked out across the horizon and pointed and said, “Honey, God’s love reaches farther than you can see in that direction.” Then he turned around and pointed the other way and said, “And God’s love reaches farther than you can see in that direction, too.” Then, as though prompted by something outside himself, he said, pointing upward, “And God’s love is higher than the sky.” Finally, pointing down, he added, “And it’s deeper than the ocean.” 

After a moment of thought the little girl said, “Oh, just think, Daddy, we’re right here in the big middle of it all.” 

I think that says it all, does it not? We live in the big middle of God’s strong presence. We live in the big middle of God’s watchful care. No fear. Fear not. Do not be afraid.