There seems to be a lot of sermons telling us not to be afraid. I suppose it makes sense because there are like a million verses about not being afraid in the Bible. I’ve read and I’ve heard it said that being afraid is a sin. So, the message goes, we need to give ourselves a talking to and stop being afraid. What do we have to be afraid of? Our God is a great, big God. With him we are more than conquerors, right? Amen. So stop being so sinfully afraid and be A Good Christian.
I think it’s easy to not be afraid if nothing scary is happening. But what about when universally recognized scary things happen? What about a diagnosis of long-term or critical illness, a relationship breakdown, or a sudden change in circumstance, what about job loss, or a hundred other things. And also, what I find scary maybe you would be okay with… In the real world, fear comes, it does. Honestly, sometimes we can experience fear even when good things are happening. Will I be able to do my new job well? I love my kids but am I screwing them up? I got the all-clear at my last health check, but what if it comes back?
In the messages where we are told not to be afraid, are we really saying that if we do we are bad Christians?
Why would God tell us not to be afraid, if he wasn’t thinking we might be? My thought is a lot of people do get scared and afraid, so God felt the need to reassure us.
In Mark chapter 4, Jesus has asked his disciples to cross the lake in their boat and while they do it he rests at the back. After a bit he actually falls asleep, and while the disciples are rowing or sailing or whatever (and Jesus is there sleeping), the weather takes a turn for the worst and a huge storm comes up. It says in the text that other boats came along too. In the storm the lake water was blown until it rose into waves that peaked and rolled into the boats. When water starts coming over the side of the boat you’re in, that’s scary. The text says the volume of water coming was enough to threaten to sink the boat. Presumably if the visibility was good enough, they’d be able to see across to the other boats and see those being tossed about too. The disciples were afraid. Several of the disciples were fishermen and presumably would have seen their fair share of storms. If they were afraid, surely we can assume the weather and potential sinking/drowning situation was actually life-threatening. It was rational to be afraid. It’s the inexperienced who say, ‘It’ll be okay, no worries.’ Experienced firefighters know to be respectful of the danger of fire. Experienced fishermen know when to respect the danger of a storm. They were afraid. And Jesus was asleep.
Now, Jesus knows they are going to get to the other side. He knows this. And the disciples would know this if they stopped to think about it. Jesus had said to them, ‘Let us go over to the other side.’ Since stuff happens how Jesus says it does, we know that there is never any question that they won’t get to the other side. If Jesus said they were going to the other side, they would be going to the other side, storm or no storm. Jesus is confident of this. It’s the disciples who are’t; they think they are about to die. When the massive storm and waves come, they rely on what they know: storms fill up boats with water, boats filled with water are unstable, unstable boats sink, fishermen drown in sinking boats.
In their fear and stress, they wake up sleeping Jesus with the passive-aggressive, ‘Don’t you care if we drown?’
So Jesus wakes up, he stands up, and the text says he ‘rebuked the wind.’ He told that wind off. He commanded it. He roasted it. Then he said to the sea, ‘Quiet, be still.’ This word for ‘quiet’ is a Greek word that means to silence, to not speak as a result to some external factor. The Greek word used in ‘be still’ is to muzzle. Both terms refer to noise or voice or speech, and Jesus silenced them. Just as if he was shouting a two rowdy, yapping puppies, ‘Enough! Shhhh, now!’ Not exactly the words you would use to talk to violent waves. Not that most of us would bother to speak to waves, perhaps. But with that command from that voice, the waves calmed. With that rebuke the wind ceased. Stillness. Verse 39 says, ‘There was a great calm.’
A great calm being all the more impressive I imagine for its suddenness.
Then Jesus said to his disciples, not before, only then, then spoke to his friends, ‘Why are you so afraid?’ (Although I must comment that perhaps they would not have heard him if he had not first installed The Great Calm.) Jesus does not ask ‘Why WERE you so afraid?’ Not past tense. He asks ‘Why ARE you so afraid?’
Presumably no one answers because He follows up, he says, ‘Have you still no faith?’ We don’t get told what the disciples answer. Maybe nothing. Maybe their all shimmied off to coil up some rope or bail out the water with buckets.
Since this is Jesus we know he knew what they were thinking. And he would have known before he got in the boat. He could have given them a pre-emptive pep talk. ‘Hey, guys, I’d like to go across the lake tonight. The weather is going to change shortly, and a storm is going to roll in. One of the worst we’ve seen for a while. But, hey, don’t worry, I’ve got you. I’m going to take a nap but it’s all going to be good, we will get to the other side, no one is going to die today!’ But he didn’t. And because he didn’t the disciples experienced their real emotions. Maybe Jesus knew they needed to come to terms with their mortality.
The last verse of this chapter describes the disciples talking to each other. Maybe Jesus has gone back to lie down again. The text says they were terrified. Panicked. Filled with great fear. They weren’t calm at all. But they aren’t scared of the storm this time, they are scared of Jesus. They ask themselves, ‘Who then is this, that even the wind and the waves obey him?’
These were men who’d seen Jesus do stuff. They’d seen him restore a man’s withered hand. They’d seen him cure many diseases. They’d seen him have command over physical bodies to heal them. They had even seen him rebuke evil spirits with almost the same words ‘Be silent!’ But now they see him control the natural world. They see him control their world.
We are going to be afraid sometimes. Things will happen that will shock us, confuse us, upset us, destroy our earthly security, damage our routines and practices.
So we acknowledge that we feel afraid. We then choose what we do. We then choose what we think.
God gave Jesus all authority on heaven and earth. We should certainly appreciate that power, and have appropriate fear about that. Rightly we can be afraid of that authority. Not in a panicked way, not in a run away mentality, but in a state of raw awe. He has authority over everything. Everything in our lives and world. Everything.
The disciples could have said, ‘This storm is the worst I’ve ever seen. People have died in lesser storms. Let’s lash down the sails/barrels/supplies and hanker down as best we can. I know we won’t die because Jesus is with us. Let’s wait this out. What a great story to tell the kids!’ But they didn’t. The panicked. Let’s not criticise them for being afraid of something frightening. Let’s look at what they did next.
They were afraid, then they choose to look to the one who could help them.
In their fear and their confusion, they turned to Jesus.
Psalm 56:3 says ‘When I am afraid I put my trust in you.’
They didn’t leave Jesus asleep and try to rebuke the wind themselves. They didn’t forget Jesus was there and start arguing amongst themselves about whose stupid fault it was to go out in this ridiculous weather. They didn’t leap out the boat and try to make it by themselves. They didn’t ignore the situation and resign themselves to death. They went to Jesus. They woke him. They spoke to him. They were real with him. They told him how they felt.
We need to be real too.
This is how we could pray:
Jesus, this is frightening. I am afraid. In the Bible there are lots of scriptures about times you told people not to be afraid. In the Old Testament there are stories about people who were nervous or who lacked confidence and you reassured them. Reassure me, Jesus. I know you are with me. Help me to see you and feel you. Calm the storm. Speak life to me. Fill my heart with bravery that comes from you. Help me to keep coming back to you. I cannot be continually brave all by myself. I need your Holy Spirit to dwell in me. I need real, authentic Christian friends who can point me to you when I’m feeling lost, who can encourage me when I feel low and kindly challenge me when I need correcting.
Jesus, when I get afraid I will talk to you. I will put my trust in you. Help me be courageous and trust in the one who has all the power over all my circumstances.