"The Stone of Fear is Removed"

(Resource used: "Imagine Your Life Without Fear", by Max Lucado)

Matthew 28:1-10, 14-27

Easter Sunday, 4/24/11; 10 a.m.

Introduction: As a minister I see it all the time, people who have so much going for them, so much potential, but then they throw it all away with alcohol, or drugs, or just plain bad decisions. With these people, if I ever even have a chance to offer any counsel, it is usually not received well, because their hearts have become hard by their choice of life.

Oftentimes at this point they have been so beaten down, that they are fearful of what a change would mean. In this time, they need an extra bit of courage to help them rise above their mistakes, and turn their lives around. They need to break free from the fear that keeps them imprisoned in their situation.

Maybe you are in a place like this, or know someone who is. But even if you aren’t, we all have aspects of life that cause us some fear. Losing a job. Losing a child. Losing your marriage. Fear of getting sued. Fear of going broke. Fear of losing your health. I could go on and on.

But instead of fear, I want to talk this Easter morning about how our “stone” of fear can be removed! The same power that removed the stone from Jesus’ tomb, will remove our stone of fear.

I. Why are we afraid?- (Matthew 8:25-26, 28:2; Mark 4:38)

Here are a few important questions to ponder: Have you ever seen fear and

happiness exist at the same time? Or clear thinking and fear? Or confidence and fear? The answer to all these questions is NO. Fear is the bully that keeps happiness, and clear thinking, and confidence away. Fear runs them off.

a. You of little faith- In the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 8, Jesus gets in a

boat with His disciples. Tired from a long day of ministering to the people, He falls asleep. Sometime into His nap a storm arises. Peter and John, who are seasoned sailors, struggle against the wind, knowing that this is a severe storm and that they are in trouble. The other disciples, who are not seasoned sailors, feed off of Peter and John’s fear.

At this point, when they know they are in trouble, they wake up Jesus. We would think that Jesus would be comforting in this time of fear. Instead, Jesus says these words in Matthew 8:26, “Jesus replied, ‘You of little faith, why are you so afraid?’ Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.” At first reading you might think that Jesus is teasing them. It would be like asking someone who just got out of a pool, ‘Why are you wet?’ It seems very obvious. They were afraid because their lives were in danger in a great and treacherous storm! The Greek word for the storm was ‘seismos,’ which means a trembling of eruption of sea and sky. The only other times Matthew uses this word seismos to explain what was happening, was at Calvary at Jesus’ death when the earth shook, and at Jesus’ resurrection, where we just read in Matthew 28:2 how the graveyard shook.

We see that the storm came upon them suddenly, and so did their fear. Even though Christ is with them, it did not keep them from experiencing the storm. But THEIR FAITH SHOULD HAVE KEPT THEM FROM EXPERIENCING FEAR!

b. Being at peace in the storm- Jesus is serious when He tells them they

have little faith. He is serious in His rebuke of them. Did He expect them to be sleeping like He was? While the disciples are screaming in fear, Jesus is dreaming. While the thunder is roaring around them, Jesus snores. The Gospel of Mark, talking about this same event, lets us know that Jesus was beneath the stern, protected from the waves and wind.

You have to believe that Jesus knew that the storm was coming. Even in this knowing, He chose to go to sleep. Of course, this sleeping concerns the disciples. Let us go back a verse, to Matthew 8:25, and read what is said there: “The disciples went and woke him, saying, ‘Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!’” There is this implication in their voice wondering if God cares. Mark says it like this in Mark 4:38, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” Notice they don’t ask about Jesus’ strength, ‘Can you still the storm?’ The don’t ask about His knowledge, ‘Are You aware of the storm?’ They don’t ask if He knows how to calm a storm or if He has experience with storms. What they are concerned about is if Jesus cares about them. They want to know if Jesus cares at all about their predicament; their situation.

Why is this? Because this is what fear does; it tests our faith and our trust!

II. Does God Care?- (Matthew 6:25, 10:31, 14:27)

a. What fear does to us- The truth is, we see that first of all fear

corrodes our confidence in God’s goodness. We begin to wonder if God really is love, like the Bible says. We begin to wonder if God loves us. If God can sleep in our sterns, with eyes shut when we are afraid, then does He really care? If He permits storms even after we give our lives to Him, then how does this show He cares? If He dies, after everyone has put their faith in Him, then how can He help them now? And so our fear unleashes a stream of doubts into our minds, our hearts, even to the depth of our being.

Second, we see that the disciples’ fear makes them demanding of God: “DO SOMETHING ABOUT THE STORM!” We do this just like the disciples. And we do it because our fear causes us to feel a loss of control. Our fear causes us to feel insecure, and when we are insecure we tend to become more demanding.

Third, fear deadens our recall. The reason why Jesus was serious when He rebuked them for a lack of faith, is because the disciples had seen Jesus heal people of all kinds of sicknesses and diseases. They had witnessed Jesus healing a leper with a touch, and a servant with a command. They had experienced Jesus casting out spirits. With seeing all of this, they should have trusted Jesus in any and every situation. But fear causes us to forget what God has done. As the old adage says: “What have you done for me lately?”

This would have been a good time for someone to have spoken up and reminded everyone of all that Jesus had done. But fear causes us spiritual amnesia and sucks the life out of our soul. In truth, fear becomes our god, because it is what controls our lives.

When you are fearful, you cannot love, because love is too risky. When you are fearful, you cannot give to others, because you fear you will not have enough for yourself. When you are fearful, you cannot dream, because you are afraid of failing. Of Jesus’ 125 imperative commands, 21 speak of us not fearing. Why? Because Jesus knows what fear does to us!

b. Jesus takes fear seriously- Even though Jesus rebuked the

disciples for their lack of faith, Jesus does care about their fear. Jesus takes fear seriously. When Jesus says ‘don’t be afraid,’ it is because He cares about what our fear will do to us.

Think of it in this way: when I as a parent give my child a command, it isn’t because I like to be bossy, or I want to be harsh with them. It is because I care about them, and I am firmly guiding them away from trouble, and into a life that will lead to blessings!!

So it is true of God and us. Listen to some of these commands of Jesus:

Matthew 10:31- “So don’t be afraid. You are worth much more than many sparrows.”

Matthew 6:25- “I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough.”

Matthew 14:27- “Take courage, I am here!”

Jesus does not want us to live in a state of fear. The truth is, we don’t want to live in a state of fear either. I don’t think you would ever say something like: “Thank God for my pessimism. I’ve been such a better person since I lost hope.” OR “My hypochondria helps me to have such a better life.”

Jesus’ question is a good one, when He asks: “Why are you so fearful, you of little faith?” Fear can be a good thing, to warn us of danger, or from keeping a child from running across the road. Fear itself is not the sin, but it can lead us to sin. If we let our fear lead us to angry outbursts, or withdrawals, or great doubt, then it does become a problem.

Fear will come, we just have to not let it reside in us. We have to remember these “do not fear” statements from Jesus.

EX. A few years ago the family started watching this reality TV show where kids were chosen to run a town on their own, without any parents. It was quite a struggle for the kids. It especially bothered Tiffany at the time, so much so that it caused her to have ‘night terrors.’ She allowed her fear of thinking that she would be without her parents to allow her to have these nightmarish dreams!

To show the disciples that He did care, Jesus got up and with a command calmed the wind and the waves. Jesus shows us He cares by calming our storms when we come to Him. Just as I lovingly calm the fears of my children when they are afraid because I care for them, so God calms ours. BUT HE DOESN’T WANT US TO HAVE THESE FEARS.

III. God’s Promises- (John 14:1-3, 3:16; Matthew 10:31, 9:2, 6:25-27)

a. Our greatest fear- Aristotle called death the thing to be feared

most, because it appears to be the end of everything. This is why we so often are saddened by the death of a loved one, because we feel that it is the end of our time with them. But this is only if we don’t understand death in its eternal form.

So, Jesus gives us His promises to help us in our times of fear. As Jesus said in John 14:1-3, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. ² My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? ³ And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” This is not a promise that sounds too good to be true, but it is a promise that comes from God Himself. It is a promise that is born out of the wonderful verse in John 3:16, “For God so LOVED the world that He gave His One and Only Son, that whoever believes in Him, should not perish, but have EVERLASTING LIFE.”

Do you believe this verse? Do you trust this verse? Do you give yourself over to this verse? That is what life and death are all about, making this verse come true.

b. Fear not- As I said before, God gives us His promises so that we

don’t have to fear. God gives us His promises so that our fear won’t get the best of us. WHEN WE FEEL WE DON’T MATTER, we remember Matthew 10:31, “So don’t be afraid. You are worth more than many sparrows.”

WHEN WE FEAR WE’VE DISAPPOINTED GOD, we remember Matthew 9:2, “Take courage, son; your sins are forgiven.”

WHEN OUR FEAR BECOMES WORRY, we remember Matthew 6:25-27, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? ²⁷ Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?”

You might be familiar with the “God Promise” book. It is a book that has all of God’s promises from scripture in it. It is divided by categories. Whatever your concern, you turn to that category, and find the verse that affirms God’s presence and help in your life.

After Jesus was killed, we are told that the disciples went into hiding, not just because they were grieving Jesus’ death, but they were afraid that they too would be killed. They had again forgotten all that Jesus had said, and all that Jesus had done. But on Easter morning, we see the women coming to the tomb. They are met by an angel. We read again Matthew 28:5-7, “The angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. ⁶ He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. ⁷ Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.’”

Jesus died to pay the penalty for our sin. He was raised to life on Easter day so that we could have the stone of fear removed from our lives, even our fear of death….I want to show you a show video clip called “Stethoscope.”

Conclusion: Show “Stethoscope” video. Man finds a stethoscope on the ground. The stethoscope plays music to whatever it touches. Man is leaning on a pole, touches the pole with the stethoscope and it plays the song “Lean on Me.” He touches a fire hydrant and it plays “Who let the dogs out.” He touches an Icee and it plays “Ice, ice baby.” Then he touches his chest, where his heart is, and it plays Handel’s “Hallelujah Chorus.” Ends with verse, Colossians 1:27, “Christ lives in you.” Because of Christ’s life and death, we need not fear. Because of His resurrection, He is alive in us, and always there to work on our behalf. Hallelujah. Amen.