The nation was in the midst of The Great Depression. Some of us still remember the poverty, the sense of despair, the prevailing fear. While some made money by the bucket full, others – many, barely eked out their living. 

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected president and stood on the capital steps to deliver his inaugural address.  He began with these words, words that both acknowledged the dark realities of the day and which began to point towards a hope that was both ancient and new. Listen to his first words.

I am certain that my fellow Americans expect that on my induction into the Presidency I will address them with a candor and a decision which the present situation of our people impel. This is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. Nor need we shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country today. This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.

This is as good a way as I know for facing the hard realities that confront us from time to time.  Let me bullet point some of the phrases that I think are important.

·        This is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. (There are times when the problem must be named for what it is.)

·        This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper.         (Hear the clear word of hope.)

·        The only thing we have to fear is fear itself – nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. (Fear paralyzes – courage gives freedom. Unrestrained fear is as much the enemy as the enemy itself.)

Some will wonder if today I am preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ or the gospel of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Though his words were not explicitly Christian, they speak a Christian truth.

There is an ancient curse that simply says, “May you live in interesting times!” In recent days, here at First Baptist, our times have had more “interest” that we really want:

·        A creative and fruitful ministry of twenty five years has come to an end.

·        Our hearts have been torn apart by immeasurable tragedy.

·        We have welcomed new life into our community.

·        We are celebrating the coming ordination council and the ordination of Janet Crowl.

·        We will soon call an associate pastor who will work with us to establish new and needed ministries.

·        We have sat by the bedside of friends whose lives are coming to an end.

·        We have had Bible School with friends whose lives are barely beginning.

·        Some of us have never been happier and others of us have never been sadder.

·        And some are asking the question, how can we survive all of these changes?

I do want to say this about you; never have I seen a congregation engage events of such traumatic force with such courage and grace. As one expression of the Body of Christ, you are magnificent and I thank God for you.

It seems terribly unprofessional to admit this, but the truth is that early in the week, I saw Sunday coming and I had nothing much to say. Believe it or not, there are seasons when the sermonic spring runs dry. Of course you believe it, you have heard some of those dry sermons!

So Monday, I turned to the lectionary and found the Old Testament reading, the story of David and Goliath. It’s a story that speaks to a time of change and a time of fear and courage.  I turned to the New Testament reading and found the story where the disciples are caught in a terrible storm on the lake and are nearly paralyzed by fear.

I had an imaginary conversation with Jesus and said, “It’s a children’s tale and I do not want to talk about David and Goliath, and Jesus just looked back. “What else do you have?” he asked, and I said, ”Nothing.”

The Israelites and the Philistines were at war. Why?  I suppose that it was because each wanted to rule the other, each wanted what the other had.

The Philistines had an incredible warrior named Goliath, the Shaq O’Neil of his day. He was huge, more than nine feet tall. Shaq is 7’4”. Can you imagine, nearly two feet taller than Shaq?  And he has the state of the art body armor. The man simply cannot be beaten; or so it seems.

The armies are lined up for war, each facing the other, when into the “no man’s zone” strides Goliath. “I’ll tell you what,” he offers, “there is no need for a lot of people to die today. I’ll represent my guys and you send out your best fighter and the two of us will go at it and the winner will take all.” “Only one life will be lost and the rest will be spared.”

Now, the King of Israel, Saul, had been selected because he stood about a head taller than anyone else in Israel. He was a very big man. And how did he respond, the king of Israel? He led his troops in a ritual of trembling fear. They all cowered.

As I read the story, nobody told Saul that they had to play by Goliath’s rules. He could have said “Charge,” and sent the armies into battle. Instead, he cowered, paralyzed by fear more than Goliath.

Now, here comes David, the shepherd boy.  He has fought lions and bears and he does not see the problem. So he offers to fight Goliath. You can almost hear him say, “The only thing that we have to fear is fear itself.” At first they try to discourage him but before long, they put the armor on him to send him out. But David refuses to play by those rules and he takes off the armor and instead takes out his sling and picks up five smooth stones from the brook and goes out to meet the giant. He goes as he is with what he has out to meet the giant.

And, as he was, there was one more dimension. After hearing Goliath’s taunts, he shouted back at the giant, “You come against me with the sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel whom you have defied.” (I Samuel 17: 45)

The giant tried to get close enough to throw his spear or to swing his sword but David, staying out of reach, loaded up a stone into his sling, let it fly, and the giant was killed.

The second story is found in the Gospel of Mark, chapter 4. Jesus and his disciples have just finished their work for the day. They are at the edge of Lake Galilee and Jesus suggests that they go to the other side of the lake, just to find a space for some “R and R.” It seems that even Jesus needed a little “R and R” from time to time.

They began the journey across the lake and Jesus found a place in the stern of the boat where he quickly went to sleep. Teaching and healing and the work of ministry can be hard work and it seems that he was tired, terribly tired. Suddenly a huge storm blew up and threatened to swamp the boats. The amazing thing is that Jesus slept through the storm. The disciples were terrified and he was peacefully sleeping away. Can you believe it? Neither could the disciples!

They run to the stern, grab Jesus by his shirt and shake him and shout above the wind and rain, “Do you not care if we drown?”(Mark 4:38)

Do not belittle the question! It is a good question. In my calling as a pastor, I have sat with countless people in difficult times when the only question to ask was, “Don’t you care?” As a son and uncle, as a man, I have personally lived with the reality of lives lost too soon and parents who suffered too much before dying and I refuse to say that it is an unfair question, “Don’t you care?”

The disciples asked a fair question. Jesus got up and spoke to the wind, “Quiet,” he said, “peace be still.”  And the storm calmed.

In this story the wind died down, but I have to tell  you that I have seen the storm calmed while the wind was still blowing.  I’ve been with faithful friends in the midst of tough times when their sousl were made calm in the midst of the storm.

Then Jesus turned to the disciples and said, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” You can almost hear him say, “The thing that you have to fear is fear itself.”

There is a kind of religion that sometimes calls itself Christian that seeks to grow by marketing fear.  The tactic is to point to some danger or some problem, intensify the fear of the problem and then offer themselves as the provider of security and the guardian of virtue.

During my early days in ministry, a man named Carl McIntyre used his radio pulpit to assert the dangers of Communism. For Carl there was a communist under every bed and the country was about to be overthrown. He made it clear that we were in danger and then he said, send your money so that we can fight the danger.

I first heard this strategy from would-be evangelists who first set out to convince us that we were horrible, nasty, despicable and guilty souls who were destined for hell unless we bought their particular brand of Christian faith. Send us your money!

I sometimes get mail saying that the fundamentalists are about to take over the country,  horror of horrors, send money!

And the next letter will say, the liberals are about to overrun the country, send money.

Another will say, the Moslems will take over if you do not send us your money!

The Homosexuals are about the convert the country, send money.

The Environmentalists will destroy the country if you do not send money.

The environment will be degraded by greedy businessmen if you do not send money.

Western Culture as we know it will die if we do not receive your money.

The authority of the Bible will be lost and the pure religion of Christianity will forever be tainted if you do not send us your money.

The world is in a mess, your life is in danger, all that you believe will be destroyed – send us your money!

Can you not hear it?  The pandering of fear on every side, genuine concerns that are inflated and exaggerated and intensified for the simple purpose of making us afraid so that we will pay up and join up.

It is time to hear the old president, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”

It is time to listen to the old shepherd boy, “I come to you in the name of the Lord.”

It is time to hear Jesus, “Why are you so afraid?”

The one who defeated Goliath and the one who calmed the storm is still among us and in His time, we will find our souls mended and our hearts made whole and we will find peace and joy in his Kingdom.