Spiritual Growth :: Sermons

From Fear to Faith is Risky Business

The Rev. Tricia de Beer

26 Pentecost, 2005

After listening to Sarah’s fears for more than six months, one day her therapist told her that for the next four weeks she was simply not allowed to be afraid. The therapist suggested that whenever she felt fear, that she think of it as only her first response to whatever was happening. . She was encouraged to look for and find her second response and follow that. The therapist told her. “Ask yourself, If I were not afraid, if I were not allowed to be afraid, how would I respond to what is happening?”. At first Sarah was surprised to see just how much of the time her initial response was fear. Being self protective had become a way of life for her.

After a few weeks, she found that she was not afraid to submit her work to others, not afraid to try when she was not sure she could succeed, not afraid to speak out in defense of her values, not afraid to introduce herself to someone and offer them her help, not afraid to confront an angry person. And her life became rich.

What really changed Sarah was that by setting up this new practice for herself she began to discover a different perspective on reality.

Today’s gospel story is about the kingdom of God being seen in those who are not afraid to take a risk with what has been given them, and it tells the story that those willing to risk nothing, loose everything. The fact is, that we either use what God has given us and it is multiplied, or we loose it. A perspective of scarcity cuts us off from God, from each other, and from life itself. If we think of life as hard, of God as a hard taskmaster, then our life’s energy can go underground, and life can become fruitless and buried.. When we realize the abundance of what we have been given, we are empowered to move with it, take risks and invest ourselves in the life God has given us. I notice that when I fall into a perspective of scarcity that I have dropped God out of my world view…Fear—perhaps not self-consciously the fear of God—but fear of others and fear of not measuring up and sometimes even fear of success keeps a lot of us just as bound as that one servant in Jesus’ story For instance, I talk to my brother John and he is angry and wants more from me that I know how to give and soon I am not moving in response to a good God, but I feel that I am alone and that I have to push to make something happen.

But there is that other perspective, the perspective of abundance.in which we know that we are connected and provided for . It isn’t that we deny life’s difficulty and pain , and it isn’t that life is always giving us exactly what we want, it is that we know we will never be abandoned to face the challenges alone and it is knowing that in the end, God’s goodness will fill all things. From this perspective, we see tht God is continually giving us more than we can ask or imagine.

With the two good and faithful servants who knew what they had , we can relax into the goodness of the relationship with the giver .. We can be free to really receive the gift and move out into the world with it. When I remember how God has shown up in my life, the sense of scarcity goes away-- how a friend of my brother John, came to take him into his home in Colorado, and how he has spent the last weeks helping him find a job, and how the doctors at Mt. Auburn have exhibited amazing care as we have been finding resources for my other brother.-- How God’s spirit is among us as we meet for meals and reflect on the goodness of the day and together work on the challenges of the next. I recognize that God is very near to me, and to us.

And the abundance I know has to do with the God who guided me through this process of call to Redeemer I still wonder exactly why I am here and yet I trust that the energy that was in that room in which the interview took place was real and that we have a Spirit led call to follow. It seems to have to do with unleashing the tremendous gifts in this community, the gifts of love, and compassion, the gifts of faith and a deep desire to get beyond ourselves. It has to do with getting below the surface of our lives to experience the God who has steadily come to share in our human journey. It has to do with following Jesus more and more in his life of self giving .It has to do with moving closer to his way of living and risking , even when it was difficult, so that we would know the extent of God’s love for the world.

When I think of standing with the two servants who risked what they had, I think of Kip. She knew that God was calling her to something. As her children were little, she took Education for Ministry., which was a risk of commiting 3 ½ hours a week to study and 2 hours per week for a seminar. But what she discovered is that her prayer life deepened .and she began to trust God more At a certain point she responded to a call to be part of a healing ministry at her church. Then she went back to work and began to use her enormous organizational skills, managing an office. The money was good and there was the gratification of seeing all that she was making happen, but she knew God was still stirring something in her. She decided to go back to school and begin a nursing degree. There was the risk of failure. The risk of not being able to find the kind of job she was looking for. The risk of losing touch with her husband and children. It didn’t come all at once and it didn’t come without some heartache and disruption to her family. It was a risk but one she knew she could take because God was calling her into it.

Now it is time for us to come together and take a risk for God’s sake. Perhaps you have never pledged before because you were afraid that you might not be able to meet the pledge. I would encourage you to take a risk. See what happens? You might discover that the very act of commitment changes your investment in what we are doing here at Redeemer, and the ways your individual gifts are needed in this community. Or you might have given the same amount for several years. This year take a risk and see what percent of your income you are pledging and then see what percent you would like to pledge as you invest in the ministries of Redeemer. The parish might discover that we are better able to share God’s love with those most in need because of you and others like you. Maybe this year is the point at which you need to make that change in your work even when you are not quite sure what the next step will be. Maybe this is the year you decide to invest in mending some broken relationships in your family. Perhaps you have thought about strengthening some dimension of our life together at Redeemer, our hospitality to strangers, or our use of art and drama in worship, but you were afraid to mention it, because it might not be well received. Maybe now is the time to bring that idea out of the cold earth and share it with others, as they help shape where to go with it. Or Maybe someone else will come to you with their need, and that will be your opportunity to take a risk for God’s sake.

Together we are being called to set off on a new path, a path that has some risk in it.- Remembering that the greatest hazard in life is to take no risks at all--Because love is always risky. To laugh is to risk appearing the foolish. To weep is to risk appearing sentimental. To expose feelings is to risk exposing our true selves. To place our ideas, our dreams, before a communitycrowd is to risk having them rejected. To try is to risk failure.. This is the risky, rich path which Jesus took, and it is ours too. Now is the time to ask “if I were not afraid, what would my next step be in following him?”