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Romans 8:15-17
On May 26, 1986, People Express flight number 14 from San Francisco to Newark was ready to depart. Suddenly a wild-eyed man who "looked Iranian" bolted from his seat and ran out the door. Knocking aside startled security officers, he frantically tried to escape through the locked doors of the terminal before an airport police officer finally tackled and subdued him. Was he a terrorist? No. He was just a very average American who was afraid to fly. Unfortunately, he was so frightened of being locked into the confines of the Boeing 707 that he made a fool of himself.
In fact, all 200 passengers were ordered off the plane; and all the baggage was removed. While police searched for a bomb, and passengers fumed over the delay, the embarrassed man had to convince officials he was simply afraid. Additional embarrassment came when the story made it onto national news programs and into virtually every newspaper in the country.
Why did this man let the mere thought of flying cause him to suffer such humiliation? Well, he didn't really understand it himself. He told investigators he didn't really expect the plane to crash. Nor was he afraid the plane might be hijacked. He only knew as he sat inside the airplane and heard the doors slam shut, he felt as if he were choking.
Fear does terrible things to us, doesn't it? It causes us to make fools of ourselves. It limits our aspirations. It makes us see things that aren't there. I chuckled when I read about a tourist visiting a castle in Scotland who told the owner he had just seen the family ghost in an upstairs corridor. "Did it give you a start?" the lord of the castle asked.
"To tell you the truth," said the tourist, "I didn't need one."
A sad event which was caused by fear occurred at the zoo in Omaha, Nebraska sometime back. Twenty-three wallabies died after stray dogs got into the zoo one night. Ironically, the dogs were unable to get inside the wallaby enclosure. But they didn't have to. The wallabies died from internal injuries suffered while crashing into the fence and one another. They were literally scared to death. Twenty-three wallaby carcasses, including fifteen adults and eight babies, testify to the consuming strength and intensity of fear.
I wonder how many of us give in to the bondage of fear. I've known husbands and wives who were afraid to stand up to their spouses, employees afraid to stand up to their employers, salespeople who have failed in their work because they feared rejection. I know of young people who have messed up their lives because they were afraid to say "no" to the crowd, married folks who have gotten caught up in infidelity out of fear they are no longer desirable, old people who have given up on life because they no longer have confidence in their ability to cope. The list goes on and on of the lives that fear has crippled. So, it's good news indeed to read Paul's encouragement in Romans 8:15, "For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption."
Notice this message is addressed to believers. Paul isn't speaking to the world, but to the church. That says to me that fear is our enemy. Think of how often in the scriptures we read the words, "Fear not." The call to follow Christ is a call to boldness. It's a call to let our light shine for all the world to see. It's a call to courage. The opposite of faith is not doubt; the opposite of faith is fear. Fear is our enemy.
You see, fear distorts reality. Thomas Boomershine tells about a frightening experience that occurred when he was about ten. He and his friend, Jim, were sledding in a local park. The park was a half mile wide, located in the middle of town surrounded by a wooded area on one side, and a cemetery and an open field on the other. It was a typical winter day with long shadows cast on the snow from the clouds above. Usually there were a lot of kids out sledding, but on that afternoon Tom and Jim were the only kids in the park.
At one point Jim called out to Tom. "Hey, Boomer, did you see that, over there in the cemetery? It looked like something was moving." Tom looked out over the valley but saw nothing except the trees and tombstones. After a moment his friend continued, "It must have been my imagination. But I'd swear I saw something moving over there."
After that, the fun was gone from the afternoon. Both boys were afraid. They kept on sledding, trying to be cheerful, but it was a losing battle. It was too late to be cheerful. Tom was scared. Suddenly Jim shouted, "Look! It's a panther!" Tom looked. And he swears to this day he saw a big black panther running down through the cemetery, leaping over the fence and across the snow-covered field toward them. The boys turned and ran with all their might, afraid for their very lives.
As Tom ran through the woods, he could hear the panther getting closer and closer behind him. He was terrified. As he got close to his house he tripped over his sled and fell into the snow. He knew he was done for. He waited to feel the panther's hot breath and his claws on his back. But nothing happened. After a moment, somewhat to his surprise, Tom got up and ran into his house. He told his mother what had happened, but she assured him there was no panther.
The boys' imaginations had been working overtime – there was no real danger, but they thought there was, and they experienced a gut-wrenching fear. Someone has turned the word fear into an acronym. Fear, they say, is False Evidence Appearing Real. When we fear, we have a false view of reality. Fear makes us give up before we even begin. It causes us to take an alternate route rather than the road that leads to our destination. It makes us see obstacles rather than opportunities.
Fear distorts reality. While it may serve a useful function in isolated circumstances, when it becomes a pervasive influence in our lives, it's destructive. So then, what's the cure? How can we be freed from the curse of fear?
Let us first acknowledge that fear is the opposite of faith. "For you have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear. . ." Fear is a spiritual problem.
The apostle Paul discovered that. He was confronted with shipwrecks, imprisonment, beatings, and all manner of physical and social persecution. Now he simply couldn't have been the ambassador for Christ that he was if he'd given in to his fears. And neither can we. We don't often talk about the risk of faith, but there's risk involved. Jesus talked in terms of losing one's life to save it. That kind of talk isn't for timid souls. Some people would never willingly lose their life. They're always trying to minimize their risks.
Can you see how contrary this is to the call of Christ? Far too many are afraid to live out their beliefs because of fear.
That's what happened to Olga. Olga Frankevich fled Soviet security police in 1947 during the Stalinist purge. But in 1992 she emerged from a house in western Ukraine, where she'd been hiding under a bed for 45 years. Her slightly bolder sister had roamed the house during that time but had never left. Can you imagine hiding under a bed for 45 years? "Let your light so shine. . ." says Jesus. Don't hide it under a bushel" or a bed! "For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father." The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs–heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory," Romans 8:15-17.
The call to follow Christ is a call to boldness. It's a call to let our light shine for all the world to see. It's a call to courage. I like how one poem sums up the difference between living by fear and living by faith.
Fear sees the obstacles; Faith sees the way.
Fear sees the darkest night; Faith sees the day,
Fear dreads to take a step, Faith soars on high.
Fear questions, "Who Believes?" Faith answers, "I."
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Rev. Charles Eldredge is a member of Maitland Church of the Brethren. He has a Facebook page and can be contacted by email: ce1133 @verizon.net.