"Fear Not" 1-5-25

Overview

Fear Not: Trusting the God Who Goes With Us

There is a difference between being startled and being gripped by fear. Things that scare us—spiders, frogs, turbulence on a flight—make us jump and then we move on. Fear is something deeper. Fear hooks into the mind, wakes us in the night, races the heart, and keeps returning no matter how hard we try to set it aside. It interferes with daily life because it takes hold of the whole person. We all carry reasons to fear: the loss of loved ones, the unknown of a new year, the weight of things we cannot control. Even FDR's famous line—"the only thing we have to fear is fear itself"—if we sit with it, drives us right back into another fear: am I fearing too much, or not enough?

Scripture answers differently. As Joshua stood at the edge of the Promised Land after Moses' death, facing hostile nations and an uncertain future, the Lord commanded him three times to be strong and courageous, climaxing in Joshua 1:9: "Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." The command is not to muster up bravery from within; it is anchored in a promise—God's presence in every moment of our existence on this side of heaven.

At its root, fear is a matter of trust. The First Commandment in Exodus 20 begins, "I am the Lord your God. You shall have no other gods before me," which Luther's Small Catechism explains as fearing, loving, and trusting God above all things. When fear consumes us, we have effectively made an idol of the thing we fear—trusting our worry, our control, our knowledge—rather than the Lord. But we control nothing: not the thoughts of others, not their behavior, not even our own fear. Only one Person in all of history has held complete authority and control, and in John 10 Jesus tells us what He did with it: "I lay down my life… No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord." With full authority, He set His face toward Jerusalem, sweat blood in Gethsemane, and went to the cross—trusting the Father, exchanging His righteousness for our sin, and rising to life again.

Because Christ has taken the full punishment of God's wrath upon Himself, 1 John 4:18-19 can declare, "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear… We love because he first loved us." The love of the Father, given through the blood of the Son, promised in the waters of Baptism, and sealed in us by the Holy Spirit, leaves no room for fear to reign. So when fear creeps in—about change, inadequacy, death, or simply the unknown of what comes next—hear the Lord's command afresh: be strong, be firm, do not tremble, do not be shattered. The Lord your God is with you wherever you go. You do not walk alone. Cling to that promise, and fear not.

Transcript

Here. 4s

Here. 5s

What are you afraid of? 7s

This is a real ass ask. 9s

So tell me, what are you afraid of? 11s

Frogs? 13s

Okay. 14s

That's okay. 17s

No judgment. 18s

No judgment. 19s

What are you afraid of? 20s

Flying. 23s

Okay. 24s

I know that was not a pilot that said that. 25s

Okay. 28s

The unknown. 30s

Okay. 31s

So frogs flying. 32s

And the unknown. 34s

These are the answers that we have this morning. 34s

And really, these are things that we are scared of. 38s

These phobias. 41s

I know in our household. 42s

The Malina household spiders are a fear or we are scared of. 44s

Have a phobia of spiders. 49s

But there's a difference between. 51s

Scared or something that scares us and fear. 54s

If something scares us, we might get startled. 59s

We might jump. 62s

We might go the other way. 63s

But we kind of move on with our days. 65s

We certainly move on with our life. 68s

But fear. 71s

Fear. 73s

When fear strikes, it takes hold of our entire being. 75s

And it is crippling. 81s

Fear. 86s

Fear gets hooked into the brain. 87s

And there's an incestant thinking and concern and worrying. 91s

And it's turning always this fear that stands in front of our minds at all times. 97s

We try not to think about it. 104s

But it creeps in. 107s

And it grabs hold. 108s

And it controls. 111s

And effects are daily life. 112s

That is fear. 118s

It interferes with everything. 121s

It wakes us up in the middle of the night. 124s

We break out into a cold sweat. 127s

Our heart races. 130s

Fear grips the entire being. 134s

Fear is brought into our lives for a variety of reasons. 139s

And I think we all have reasons of fear or why we may fear. 144s

I know when I was a teenager in the span of 18 months, I lost four friends or acquaintances 149s

to car accidents. 157s

And I got a fear or I developed a fear. 159s

Not of driving or being in a car myself, but of other people. 165s

Driving people that I loved. 170s

Anytime I knew someone I loved was going to be in a car. 172s

I would be gripped with this fear. 175s

And I thought that if I really concentrated on this fear, maybe they'd be okay. 178s

It consumed my every thought. 185s

It consumed my day and my night. 187s

If I knew that someone I loved was in a car or planning to travel somewhere. 191s

There's a famous quotation by FDR in his inaugural address, where he's facing the, 200s

speaking to the nation, a nation that is gripped in the fear, the crisis of a banking situation, 207s

the crisis of unemployment, the crisis of a food shortage, right in the middle of the Great Depression, 214s

and he addresses the country and he says, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself. 220s

Nameless, un-reasoning, unjustified terror, which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. 232s

The only thing we have to fear is fear itself. 243s

We understand this sentiment, but if you really consider what he is saying, 249s

the only thing we have to fear is fear itself, we're being driven right back into a fear. 257s

Perhaps I fear too much. 264s

Do I fear enough? Do I fear just right? 266s

And we begin an anxiety or a fear over fear itself. 269s

This sermon series, Fearless, overcoming fear in the new year, we are going to look at a variety of fears. 277s

The variety of fears that grip the being, that grip us, and effect our every single day. 287s

We're going to look at our greatest fears, such as the fear of change or the fear of inadequacy or the fear of death. 295s

We're going to find throughout this series that the only thing we have to fear is not fear itself. 303s

But that in God, we are called to fear, not. 314s

If you would please open your Bibles to the first book or first chapter in the book of Joshua, 321s

if you're using a Pew edition of the Bible, it is on page 179 in the Old Testament, 328s

where in Joshua the first chapter. 338s

Looking at our verse for today, Joshua 1 verse 9, 343s

I hear by command you says the Lord, be strong and courageous. 349s

Do not be frightened or dismayed for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. 354s

Now looking at the context of Joshua, what has just happened was that Moses had brought the Israelites people. 362s

He brought them through the Red Sea into the wilderness where then they spent 40 years 371s

and Moses led them in the wilderness for 40 years and they were right at the brink of entering into the promised land. 377s

Moses died and Joshua, Joshua was commanded to take Moses' place and lead the Israelites people into the promised land. 386s

A land that they were promised was flowing with milk and honey, but a land that they also knew was filled with cano-nights, amorites, 399s

gurgh-a-shites, hit-hites, hyvites, jabby-sites, and parasites. 410s

These tribes, build the promised land and these tribes were not going to be welcoming to the Israelites. 419s

There was a lot, a lot to fear. 432s

Three times. Three times. The Lord tells Joshua, these strong and courageous be strong and courageous and not taking anything away from the original intention of this verse. 437s

Where God is speaking to Joshua about a very specific point in time, a very specific task at hand. 455s

I want to look at this verse and see what we can glean from it for us today. 465s

As we think about fear, as we think about the unknown of 2025 and beyond, as we think about what is to come and the fears that may be rising up and trying to grip us and take hold, 474s

I want to look at this verse and see what God says to us today. 494s

Fear is a matter of trust. At its root, fear is a matter of trust. 505s

Have you ever taken part in one of the trust falls, those exercises, where one person is invited to stand with his or her back to another person, 512s

and then they fall, and they just fall, and trust that the person behind them is going to catch them. 522s

There is a great fear in not trusting that the person behind will catch. 534s

You have to trust because you are in a full free fall, and if you're not caught, well, the ground will catch you. 542s

Trust and fear are so interconnected, and there's a reason. 555s

There's a reason why this trust exercise is common, because it builds the trust between two people. 562s

It builds the trust that one has for another in business, in friendship, in youth group, and in life. 574s

In Exodus, when the Lord is giving the commands to Moses, Exodus 20, it begins with, I am the Lord your God. 586s

You shall have no other gods before me. I am the Lord your God. It is not a question. 598s

It is not a God asking Moses to buy into anything. It was a statement that the Lord was making two Moses, that he is the Lord, his God, the Lord your God. 606s

In the small catacysm, the ten commandments begin with this, base statement. I am the Lord your God, and everything builds from there. 621s

And the very first command is you shall have no other gods before me. Well, what does this mean? 634s

What does this mean? This means that we are to fear, love, and trust, God above anything else. 644s

We are to fear, love, and trust, God above our fear of frogs. 653s

We are to fear, love, and trust, God above our fear of flying. 660s

We are to fear, and love, and trust, God above our fear of the unknown. 667s

Constant worrying, constant fear, it can be overwhelming, and it can make it very difficult to function in life. 677s

Because we make an idol, an idol out of what that fear is, and it makes it difficult to focus on anything other. 690s

Then the fear that weighs us down, that burdens our life, that we just can't escape. 706s

In our sin, in our sin we trust in what we know. In our sin we trust in what we can control, and what we can do about matters at hand. 722s

And so in our sin, we fear, love, and trust, the sin of fear that we can't control, that we can't change. 743s

And we're burdened, we're burdened in our whole being, by fear, and by the sin of fear. 766s

But we control nothing. We control absolutely nothing. We don't control what others think about us. 783s

We don't control how others behave. We don't control even our own fear. 797s

There's only one. Only one in all of history who has had complete authority and control. 809s

And that is Jesus Christ, God Himself born in the flesh, in the gospel of John chapter 10. 823s

Jesus says, I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. 834s

I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my father, the only one in all of history. 847s

The only one in all of eternity with complete authority and control. Jesus Christ, what does he do with his control? He lays down his life. 859s

With complete authority and control, Jesus knowing full well what is going to happen sets his face to Jerusalem and heads directly to the cross. 876s

Knowing fully what is going to happen, sweating blood in the garden of Gethsemane because he knows what he is going to undergo with all authority, with full control. 896s

He lays down his life upon the cross, dying the death to sin, though he knew no sin. 913s

The only one with full authority and full control trusted. He did not trust his fear. 936s

He did not trust that the Romans or the Jews would overcome him. He did not trust that the devil would prevail, but he trusted. 953s

In the blessed communion that he had with the father and the spirit, and he freely laid down his life because he trusted that he would and could exchange his righteousness. 968s

His holiness for your sin, for my sin. 988s

And because he laid in the tomb for three days and because he raised from the dead and lives even today, we have no need to fear. 1018s

In our reading from first John, we hear that there is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. 1033s

For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love, we love because he first loved us. 1043s

But Jesus took the full punishment of the wrath of God himself upon the cross. 1073s

We have no need to fear because we have his love, the love of the father, given through the blood of the sun, promised in the waters of baptism sealed in us through the Holy Spirit. 1082s

There is nothing to fear because Christ took all fear upon himself and laid it to rest for all eternity. 1103s

The Lord says to Joshua, I hear by command you, that means he appoints. 1122s

He commands, he commissions, he ordains, you be strong, that is be firm, be firm, become strong, grow firm, and courageous be determined. 1130s

Persist, confirm for oneself. 1150s

Do not be frightened, there is no need to tremble, there is no need to have dread or fear. 1157s

Do not be dismayed, that is, do not be shattered or broken. 1167s

For the Lord your God is with you, wherever you go, that means any every each moment of your existence, this side of heaven, you do not go alone. 1177s

It is Christ himself who goes with you. 1205s

One of my favorite hymns growing up was be not afraid, be not afraid, and the Lord of the chorus is be not afraid, I go before you always, come follow me and I will be your rest or I will give you rest. 1212s

The Lord says, be strong, be courageous, do not be frightened, do not be dismayed for the Lord your God is with you, wherever you go. 1232s

My brothers and sisters hear that word, know that word and cling to that promise the Lord is with you, and because of this you are commanded to fear, not fear not. 1252s

Thank you. 1283s