{"id":734,"date":"2021-04-13T06:27:00","date_gmt":"2021-04-13T13:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/?p=734"},"modified":"2021-04-12T14:31:30","modified_gmt":"2021-04-12T21:31:30","slug":"help-me-see-that-i-dont-have-to-be-afraid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/?p=734","title":{"rendered":"“Help Me See… that I don’t Have to Be Afraid”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

(John 20:1-18)<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the years when people have commented on the relatively tiny Bible I use while preaching, the running joke has always been that you\u2019ll know when my age is showing and my eyesight is going because that\u2019s when I\u2019ll start lugging around a bigger large-print version. Well, it\u2019s probably time to at least acknowledge that I am increasingly becoming more and more aware of quickly that need is arriving. It\u2019s nothing major, really – just a word or two here or there that I mistake for another, or adjusting its distance from my eyes. While I don\u2019t think it\u2019s yet a significant issue, I can tell that certain details here and there do seem to be a little fuzzier than they used to be, and not just to an aging brain, mind you, but to aging eyes.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But our eyes aren\u2019t the only way we see. In fact we talk about it in quite another way, when another person doesn\u2019t \u201csee\u201d things the way I do. We aren\u2019t talking about physical sight in those instances, but sharing a similar perspective or opinionated view about something. Teenagers lament that their parents don\u2019t get it. What they mean is that parents don\u2019t see things the same way they do (BTW, it\u2019s true – and thank God that they don\u2019t!). And this past year has exposed so many different ways that so many different people see so many different things. People see things differently. One sees excessive police brutality; another sees an officer doing his job under extremely stressful circumstances. One sees the government just doing its job; another sees it far overstepping its role. One associates a mask and vaccinations with saving lives; another associates it with control and loss of freedom. We see things differently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here is a question we have to answer before we go any further: Am I willing to acknowledge that there may be another way to see something than the way I see it? It sounds so absurd to even have to ask that, but in this day and age, we seem to be much more interested in solidifying our own deep-seated personal opinions than we are in learning why someone else might see something differently. So if you are too proud or too entrenched in your own opinion to ever be open to the possibility that in some cases, there may be another way to see something, then you might want to tune out right now. This isn\u2019t for you. But if you are open to seeing things differently, then pay attention, because Easter specializes in this department. The Resurrection helps us see differently. When unprecedented, historic events take place, we forever see things differently afterward. Man couldn\u2019t fly. Then he flew, and we\u2019ve never seen things the same way. Man could never land on the moon. Then he did, and we\u2019ve never seen things the same way. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So if ever there was something that just might lead me to see things differently, it\u2019s when something happens that isn\u2019t typical, ordinary, or normal. And the resurrection of Jesus from the dead is anything by typical, ordinary, or normal. So when there\u2019s a claim that someone rose from the dead, and when billions of people throughout history have believed and still believe that claim, it merits consideration. This morning and in the weeks that follow, we want to be open to the possibility of how the single boldest claim in all of history – the Resurrection – might Help Me See<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I mentioned how this last year has revealed how many different ways we see things. Yet the real issue is not just seeing things differently – that has always been the case and always will be. The real issue is that we have become so polarized over those differences. THAT is the issue. Why were your grandparents and their grandparents able to see things differently without being so polarized by those differences like we are today? Do you know what the difference today is? Fear. The polarization comes from fear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before you quickly dismiss that notion, let me suggest a possible reason you may not see it that way: the older we get, the better we get at hiding our fear behind other things. We hide it behind anger – one of the more popular options of our culture today – that a person really only cares about something if he\u2019s angry enough to do something about it. So we have cancel culture. We also hide our fear behind indifference. We claim not to care about something or have an opinion about something because we\u2019re afraid that if we actually express it, it might not be the popular one or might get shot down, so we quietly pretend it doesn\u2019t matter to us one way or the other. And we can also hide our fear behind humor. We suppress our concern behind jokes that seek to downplay one view or another, so that others would conclude that it\u2019s not really a big deal to me if I am joking about it all the time. And fear is such a crippling thing that we\u2019ll hide it behind anger, indifference, and humor for years, decades, even, rather than deal with or address the fear that is behind them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mary brought her fears with her to the tomb. \u201cEarly on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, \u201cThey have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don\u2019t know where they have put him!\u201d (v.1-2)<\/em><\/strong>. One can understand why she was so distraught. The past several days had been an emotional tug-of-war. Her Savior had died as she helplessly watched. The least she could do was provide him with a proper burial. She would be honored to carry out that responsibility. But her heart, still heavy with thoughts of the crucifixion weighing it down, would find no relief even in serving her Savior in his burial, for he wasn\u2019t there! And after she had returned from telling the disciples, John tells us she remained outside the tomb mourning, not for her dead Savior, but from the overwhelm of not knowing where his body was. She explained her fears to the angels, and even to Jesus himself, thinking he was the gardener. She didn\u2019t know what to think, what to feel, what to do!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then everything changed. Jesus spoke to her. Called her name. \u201cJesus said to her, \u2018Mary.\u2019 She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, \u2018Rabboni!\u2019 (which means \u2018Teacher\u2019)\u201d (v.16)<\/em><\/strong>. Take note of what happened that changed everything! It wasn\u2019t seeing – she had already seen the empty tomb. She had even already seen Jesus himself, but it wasn\u2019t until she heard <\/em>that she could really see. She had to hear to see. And when she heard Jesus call her name, when she heard the voice of her Savior, the fear melted away. After Jesus explained to Mary what would happen next, John tells us, \u201cMary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: \u2018I have seen the Lord!\u2019 And she told them that he had said these things to her\u201d (v.18)<\/em><\/strong>. So when she heard, she saw, and when she saw, her fears melted away. She arrived at the tomb filled with fear that it was empty, but she departed that tomb that day leaving her fear behind. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I can tell you from my experience, and many of you would agree, that is precisely the power the empty tomb has. Before we arrive at the tomb, we are filled with fear, but after we hear the voice of our risen Savior and see, we leave our fears behind. Just like Mary, when we hear, we see. When we hear his voice speak to us in the Scriptures, we see that we have nothing to fear. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is your greatest fear? Listen to the voice of your resurrected Savior, and he will help you see. Is your greatest fear that you\u2019ll never have enough, that you\u2019ll never be able to keep up with the Joneses\u2019? Jesus said, \u201clife does not consist in an abundance of possessions,\u201d (Lk. 12:15)<\/em><\/strong>, but \u201cI have come that they may have life, and have it to the full\u201d (Jn. 10:10)<\/em><\/strong>. Is your greatest fear not being loved or accepted by others in general, or by someone specific? Jesus said that God loved you so much that he gave up his only Son for you (Jn. 3:16). Is your greatest fear not knowing how something is going to play out or what the future holds? Jesus encourages you to look at how he cares for all of nature and the animal kingdom and that you are much more valuable than they – don\u2019t worry, he will take care of you in the future (Mt. 6). Is your greatest fear being overcome by circumstances in a world that feels as if it is slowly splitting at its seams? To that fear, Jesus says, \u201cTake heart! I have overcome the world\u201d (Jn. 16:33)<\/em><\/strong>. Is your greatest fear having to take your last breath and not knowing what happens next, not knowing where you stand with God? Fear not, for Jesus \u201cshared in [your] humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death – that is the devil – and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death\u201d (Hebrews 2:14-15)<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So many of our fears are based on the unknown. We don\u2019t know what\u2019s on the other side, and so we fear. But let us leave today with the same encouragement a doctor gave his patient. The patient explained that he was afraid of dying, because he didn\u2019t know what was on the other side of death. He looked to his doctor for answers. \u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d replied his doctor. \u201cYou don\u2019t know? Aren\u2019t you a Christian, and you don\u2019t know what\u2019s on the other side?\u201d While they were talking, the doctor was holding the handle of the door to the room, and there was scratching and whining on the other side of the door. As soon as he opened the door, a dog eagerly darted into the room to smother the doctor. The doctor turned to his patient and asked, \u201cDid you see how eagerly my dog flew into this room? He\u2019s never been in this room before. He didn\u2019t know what would be inside of this room except for one thing: me, his master. That was enough for him to spring into the room without fear. I may not know all the details about what is on the other side of death, but I do know that my master, my Savior is <\/em>on the other side. And that is enough.\u201d May we all continue to hear the voice of the resurrected living Jesus, so that he would help us see that we, too, don\u2019t have to be afraid. Christ is risen, he is risen indeed!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(John 20:1-18) Over the years when people have commented on the relatively tiny Bible I use while preaching, the running joke has always been that you\u2019ll know when my age is showing and my eyesight is going because that\u2019s when I\u2019ll start lugging around a bigger large-print version. Well, it\u2019s probably time to at least… Continue reading “Help Me See… that I don’t Have to Be Afraid”<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[118,65],"tags":[121,119,5,109,120,36,108],"class_list":["post-734","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-help-me-see","category-sermons","tag-afraid","tag-easter","tag-jesus","tag-preaching","tag-resurrection","tag-sermon","tag-teaching"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p842FN-bQ","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/734","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=734"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/734\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":737,"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/734\/revisions\/737"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=734"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=734"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=734"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}