Do It Afraid | Apr 9, 2023

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
All right, so our, our text thismorning is Matthew chapter 28

(00:04):
and we'll be in verses onethrough 10.
Uh, while you flip there, uh,I'll go ahead and just let you
know if you got little onestoday and they need some space
to roam, y'all, feel free to,uh, go in room if you need to.
Um, just cuz you know, this is alittle stuff going on and you
might be like, oh, I don't know.
They got too much energy, soit's all right if you gotta

(00:24):
move.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
All right.
Matthew 28.
After the Sabbath at dawn, onthe first day of the week, Mary
Magdalene and the other Marywent to look at the tomb.
There was a violent earthquakefor an angel of the Lord.

(00:46):
Came down from heaven and goingto the tomb, rolled back the
stone and sat on it.
His appearance was likelightning and his clothes were
white as snow.
The guards were so afraid of himthat they shook and became like
dead men.
The said to the women, do not beafraid for I know that you are

(01:11):
looking for Jesus who wascrucified.
Verse six, he is not here.
He has risen.
Just as he said, come and seethe place where he lay.
Then go quickly.
Until his disciples, he hasrisen from the dead and is going
ahead of you into Galilee.

(01:32):
There you will see him.
Now, the angel says, I have toldyou so.
The women hurried away from thetomb, afraid, yet filled with
joy, and ran to tell hisdisciples.
Suddenly Jesus met them.
Greetings.
He said.
They came to him, classed hisfeet and worshiped him.

(01:56):
And then verse 10, Jesus said tothem, do not be afraid.
Go and tell my brothers to go toGalilee where they will see me.
This is the word of God for thepeople of God.
Thanks be to God.
Do it afraid.

(02:18):
Do it afraid.
On this significant Sunday,celebrating with other
Christians across the world,Jesus' resurrection after three
lifeless days in a cold borrowedtomb.
I'm just gonna come right outthe gates with a reflection that
like Robitussin or penicillinwill not feel good going down,

(02:42):
but is good for us to theexclusion of the indigenous and
Native Americans since they'veinhabited the land of this
nation since Time Memorial, youand I, we are transplants free
agents, sojourners or pilgrims.

(03:03):
You could say We are you and I,the descendants of those who
relocated here by choice or byforce, but who despite many
ongoing struggles have beenabsorbed into this thing called
American.
Life.
Now, of course, we may stillfeast on the old country's

(03:26):
popular foods, or we've trainedourselves to retain the language
and some of the customs that ourancestors had.
But despite all of this and somuch more, there's no, we're
escaping, escaping this realitythat the air we breathe is

(03:46):
American.
It is filled with the smog andLysol and gun smoke and policies
and politics and cheeseburgersand churros and clam chowder of
America here etched into ourconsciousness are TV shows that
are American like I Love Lucyand Highway Patrol.

(04:09):
If y'all haven't seen HighwayPatrol back in the day, it's a
really great show.
There's shows like Family Guyand The Simpsons and Mork and
Mindy, and like it or not,there's the Cosby Show in
America.
We've come of age in a backdropof hospice and pula hoops and

(04:30):
eBay and Excess whose motto isbigger is better In America.
We like to bicker and battle rapand we like to bet on anything
that we deem is favorable andoften we are exceptionalism.
What do you mean byexceptionalism?

(04:51):
Well, I'm gonna explain.
I just mean that sometimesthere's this bravado that we
have as Americans that despitemaking up merely 330 million of
the world population of nearly.
Billion people.
We think that whatever Americanstouch must be the best and the
fastest and the strongest, andeverything else must be centered

(05:17):
around that.
It must find its orbit aroundwhat America does, and that
degree of privilege is, all I'mtrying to say is notably
damaging to the people of God.
As one author put it, it leadsus this privilege to believe we
can truly serve two masters,that we can follow Jesus and

(05:40):
retain control over our livesrather than dying to self so
that Christ can rise and live inand through us.
Dominique Gilliard wrote that,which I just recited in his
book, subversive Witness.
Whether you're talking about theimportance of sharing your faith

(06:03):
with unbelievers or teaching theBible or sharing, uh, resources
and serving society's least ofthese, that means widows and
orphans and immigrants, forexample, or something else.
We, we like to apply an opt outclause that scripture does not
provide.
First.

(06:24):
World problems are so veryunfair and debilitating.
We think it's as if we're sobusy shuttling our kids and
grandkids to travel soccer gamesand fussing with Comcast over
while the dog gone wifi at homeis not working yet again, or

(06:44):
we're so busy wondering why inheaven, Lord Jesus Chipotle
keeps getting my order wrong,that we have reduced ourselves
into being uninterested orunavailable.
For the inconvenient work thatGod calls all of his children to

(07:04):
do, no matter their location.
In a town so small and in a townso wealthy and in a town so
super saturated with Christianthought deeds, this can be a
huge barrier in our verybeautiful quaint Holland,
Michigan, where we are today,which is home to approximately

(07:24):
170 churches, did y'all hear me?
30,000 people give or take 170churches with comfort.
Arguably being this area's idle.
Were quick to throw money wherethe cause seems valuable, yet

(07:46):
we're slower to throw ourselves.
Now to be clear, cuz I wannamake sure we're all on the same
page, I don't want anymisunderstandings.
Writing a check is fine.
Amen.
Amen.
Somebody.
Amen.
At times, that is the veryobedient step, the next step
that God calls us to take.
Here at Maplewood, we willwelcome big and small financial

(08:10):
contributions, and still, if youclaim Christ as Lord and Savior,
then his expectation is that youinvest everything given to you.
Everything.
Y'all can repeat that with me.
Everything.
Everything.
That means your mind and yourfamily, and your money and your

(08:31):
time, and your talents tosensibly advance his upside down
inside out.
Kingdom where the first shall belast and the last shall be
first.
Why?
Because Christ died.
Christ is risen and Christ willcome.
Again, and when the trumpetsounds, we want to be found on

(08:51):
mission, not forever.
La relaxing on in the shade witha glass of lemonade in our
hands.
Watching others put their handsin their head and their hearts
to the gospel plow.
Contrary to the empty promisesof microwavable or maybe
instantaneous guaranteedprosperity in this life, you

(09:16):
don't get something for nothing.
Now, you might say salvation isfree for it is by grace.
You have been saved throughfaith, and this is not from
yourselves.
It is the from the gift of God,not by work so that no one can
boast.
Yes, amen.
I am with you.
That's in the text, that's inthe Bible, and you have to

(09:36):
respond to the gift that hasbeen given to you.
You and I have a part to play.
And it is not so much only aone-time affirmation, but it's
that along with a lifetimesymphony that puts holiness on
repeat because God says he'sholy.

(09:59):
Now, since Christianity does notembody receiving a trophy
without, uh, contribution, Godwants participants, not
spectators.
I'm gonna run that back for you.
God wants participants notspectators.
Now, you may be thinking, Idon't wanna cast the aspersion

(10:21):
on you.
I'm not in your mind, but maybeyou're thinking, you know, that
sounds really good, but I don'thave the words preacher and I
don't have the time or theeducation or the personality of
those people that we often liftup and look to as models of
faith.
I just don't, I'm not BenPatterson.
I'm not CS Lewis or or KatherineBooth.

(10:43):
I'm not Martin Luther King Jr.
Or Mother Teresa or Beth Moore.
I, I just can't lead people toChrist like Luis Plow.
I can't sing the gospel of JesusChrist like CC Winans or defend
the Bible like Tony Evans.
And I would say I grasped that.
But this is the thing, God isn'tasking you to be like anybody

(11:05):
else except Jesus.
The people who I just mentionedwere faithful, are faithful in
using their gifts, their lives,to do what God has called them
to do, to honor the Lord.
And that's all, that's all thatyou're expected to do.

(11:28):
We, the body of Christ, the bigbody of Christ, we need your
authentic and humble and regularcontribution because after all,
as Jesus said, The harvest isplentiful, but the workers are
few.
So what I'm trying to say isthat you are not optional.

(11:48):
In God's kingdom, you are notoptional.
In God's kingdom, your personand your testimony and your work
are essential.
So in this text, Jesus, he'sbeen crucified.
He's been killed by being nailedto a cross.
He's been labeled as an enemy ofthe state.

(12:09):
And so the Roman governmentegged on by the Jewish leaders
and everyday citizens, theydecided to wipe their hands of
this perpetual rabble rouser whowas stirring the people towards
spiritual awakening.
Three days later, two ladies,both named Mary arrived at the

(12:29):
tomb.
They're hopeful on the one hand.
And yet melancholy on the otherbecause you know, at this point
in the game, three days later,it's just seems unlikely that
Jesus' heroics in the final hourwere actually going to take
place.
If Jesus was San Diego State andsin symbolized Yukon, the

(12:52):
University of Connecticut, thenthe logical outcome was that
it's a wrap.
The powerhouse team that issupposed to win probably did,
which would've meant that Jesuswas not about to be seen alive,
because dead people don't dothat.
When you're dead, you're dead.
There are no returns, there's norefunds, there's no reversals,

(13:16):
there's no remixes, there's noredos or so they thought.
So imagine the shock.
They turned the corner, Marynumber one and Mary number two,
to see big branny meat andpotatoes eaten rough and tumble
mma, UFC type, no nonsense.

(13:36):
Roman soldiers who were guardingthe tomb who've been frightened
into a comatose state.
So much so that they shook andbecame like dead men.
That's a lot to see.
And then on top of that, they'regreeted by an angel.
So in an instant they've comeface to face with some men who

(13:58):
are, are guilty of derelictionof duty technically, and, and
they are unhelpful, as unhelpfulcan be.
And then there's this divinemessenger of God who was sent
straight to earth from heaven totalk to them, to these two
ladies.
Now that that's a lot to digestand I hope you will understand
that that's a lot to y'all.

(14:18):
Hear me?
That's a lot to digest when youturn the corner.
Their interaction with thisangel is brief, but it's potent.
The angel shares in fact thatJesus was who he said he was,
and that he has done what hesaid he would do.

(14:39):
Verse six, he is not here.
He has risen.
The two marries are, are taskedwith telling Jesus' disciples
the good news and hisresurrection, while also
instructing them, the disciples,to get on down the road to
Galilee where he's going torendez.
V Jesus says with them later, orrather, the angel says, afraid

(15:03):
yet filled with joy.
They dart from this amazing, yetamazingly impromptu meeting.
And then bam, just like emerald,agassi, bam.
Just like homie, the clown wouldsay, from in living color, bam.
Who pops up outta nowhere like aredemptive jack in the box.
Jesus.

(15:26):
Now, I gotta say, these womenare tough cookies.
By my count.
They've been majorly scaredthree times already in this
brief encounter.
One by the unhelpful, inoperablesoldiers who are supposed to be
guarding the tomb.
Two by the angel, and thenthirdly by Jesus.

(15:48):
But like the energizer bunny,that women are sometimes known
to be Mary times two, they takea licking and they keep on
ticking.
They keep going and going andgoing.
It's a, it is an amazing thing.
One encounter to anotherencounter to another encounter.
They have dignity, they haveresolve, they have industrious

(16:10):
creativity.
Many women do.
So what I wanna say here is thatwe should go out of our way, I
think as Christians.
To uplift these kinds of women,these tough cookies who are
unsung.
And not only would societybasically crumble overnight
without them, but most of ourchurches would be inhabitable
without their wisdom and theirdevotion.

(16:32):
That's a good place to say amenif y'all were inclined.
Amen.
These godly women do not letlife's unwelcome surprises
dictate their response whentheir son or daughter surprised
them that a baby in a babycarriage was on the way with no
marriage or license for theevent they endured.

(16:52):
When their husband surprisedthem with the news that a job
has been lost, they endured,whether it was miscarriages or
sids, or the gender pay gap orcancer or addiction or body
image issues that surprisedthem, they endured.

(17:14):
Now we don't need to worshipwomen, nor do we need to
demonize men.
But I'm all for the opportunityto acknowledge from scripture
how much women do that oftenflies under the radar.
If there are any women in here,could y'all just gimme a amen?
Thank you so much.

(17:34):
Now, I want you to notice thatMary and Mary are told, do not
be afraid twice.
Once by the angel and versefive, and again, by Jesus in
verse 10, but sandwiched inbetween that we're told that
they left afraid get filled withjoy, which gives me assurance

(17:56):
that in life there will be somethings that you and I are called
to do.
While we're still afraid in theBible, there's fear, as in the
fear of the Lord is thebeginning of wisdom.
And to fear the Lord is to hateevil.
But also in the Bible there'sfear as in, even though I walk

(18:19):
through the darkest valley, Iwill fear no evil, and the Lord
is my light and my salvation.
The question is, whom shall Ifear and do not be afraid of
those who can kill the body, butcannot kill the soul.
Rather be afraid of the one whocan destroy both soul and body

(18:39):
in hell.
Therefore, fear has a lot ofangles and nuances to it that
can cast many shadows.
Absolute or restricted reverencefor God is one kind of fear
that's affirmative.
Whereas to fear man or to fearthe devil's plans is prohibitive

(19:02):
and something we should steerclear of.
Moreover, not all fear isdamaging.
It can fear endpoint effect, berational.
It can be good to harborapprehension about something
that is about to, that ishappening or something that you
feel like is about to happen ifyou leave TJ Max at night way

(19:27):
down by a bunch of bags ofrandom stuff.
Ladies, um, uh, uh, it's ahealthy fear is speaking if you
begin to hear random footstepsfollowing you to your car.
If after narrowly dodging afender bender while you were
driving on 40th street, the thedriver in question gets out of

(19:52):
the car, pops the trunk, andapproaches you with a baseball
bat or a tire iron.
That's enough justification tobe what Afraid Fear can be a
formidable motivational factorthat is intentioned to help us
help ourselves.
And for us to be positioned tohelp other people.

(20:12):
I'll give you another example.
Take Stranger Danger.
Y'all familiar with StrangerDanger?
If you're not, I'm gonna explainit anyway, but Stranger Danger,
when I was growing up, myparents indoctrinated, uh, us
kids with boundaries aroundadults coercing you to get into
a car or to go somewhere alonewith them.
Many people would be familiarwith this.

(20:34):
They, they were precautions outof fear that something
devastating could happen to yourchild.
So my, my sister and I and theEllis household, we were not
allowed to answer much less everopen the door for anybody.
Anybody.
If my parents weren't home, Idon't care who you were.

(20:57):
I don't care if you are ourneighbor.
I don't care if you are one ofour classmates' parents.
I don't care if you were HulkHogan or Oprah, or President
Ronald Reagan or Michael J.
Fox, or Mr.
T.
You could have been ChuckNorris, Dan rather, the
legendary Los Angeles LakersSuperstar, Irvin Magic Johnson.
You could have been AngelaLansbury or James Earl Jones.

(21:20):
If James Ellis Jr.
And Bonnie Lou Ellis had notgiven explicit advanced
clearance, that so-and-sowhoever it was would be coming
by.
And so we could then answer thedoor and maybe let them in, then
it just wasn't going to happen.
So one day, again, strangerdanger.
One day, our aunt, my dad'ssister, my dad has one sister.

(21:44):
My, my aunt, she, uh, she cameby sort of unannounced and she
learned this lesson the hardway.
She was unapproved and, and, andI don't remember what she was
coming by to drop something offor something like that.
It was summer break.
So my sister and I were kind ofhome from school.
So here my Aunt Barbara is,She's knocking on the door and

(22:05):
then she's knocking again, andthen she's ringing the doorbell
and then she's kind of knockinga little louder each time and we
just, not answering the door,but we can see, or she can see
that someone's home.
You know, we're scurrying aroundin the window, like trying to
look and, and trying to confirmif it really is Aunt Barbara.
And eventually, this is my AuntBarbara.
I mean, we laugh at this now,but it wasn't funny at the time.

(22:26):
Aunt Barbara is, is at the doorand she's banging and she's
like, summer and buddy.
My, my sister's name is Summer,like the season.
And, uh, even though my name'sJames, nobody in my family calls
me James.
Everybody, my family calls mebuddy.
So my, my Aunt Barbara is at thedoor and she's like, summer and
buddy.
Summer and buddy, I know y'allin there.
I know y'all, y'all gonna get introuble if y'all don't open If

(22:47):
y'all don't open, this is yourAunt This is, this is what she's
saying.
And my sister and I we're insideto ourselves.
We're like, well, well you gonnahave to bring on the, we didn't
say this out loud, but.
To ourselves.
We're like, well, you gonna haveto bring on the trouble cuz mom
and dad, they said, don't openthe door for nobody and nobody
means nobody.
So that's it.
That's it.

(23:08):
This is all before, you know,cell phones and texting and all
this other stuff.
So anyways, long story short, mysister and I, we uh, we called
our mom at work and you weren'tsupposed to call, uh, mom when
she was at work except foremergencies.
But we felt like, hey, this isas close as we're gonna get.
So we, we called our mom and we,we got approval to let Aunt

(23:31):
Barbara in.
But by that time, um, Barbarawas gone, she was gone.
And so later on, uh, I think myparents got home or whatever,
that there was this adult powwowabout this whole stranger danger
situation and wouldn't, shouldknow it summer.
And I did not get in trouble.
Praise the Lord.
Hallelujah.

(23:51):
Jesus.
My parents were like, Hey, wetold'em not to open the door.
So, It was a good thing.
By, by.
Do not be afraid.
The angel is recognizing thatMary and and Mary are startled.
They're, they're rightly shakenand they're overwhelmed.
So there's this affirmation thatthe angel is giving that

(24:14):
everything is gonna be allright.
It's all good.
They're in a safe space.
The same goes when Jesus showsup and he jumps into the the
scene and they've left to findthe disciples.
Neither do not be afraid is acorrection.
They're just merelypronouncements that both Marys
can now relax, that Jesus isrisen.

(24:37):
If you scare someone, forexample, you know you're rushing
around the corner and uponseeing you, they're startled.
Whatever they're throwing ischucked up in the air and they
dramatically spin around and endup on the ground in the fetal
position trying to make sense ofwhat just happened as a greeting
or prelude before you tell themanything else you might.
Bend down and just say, do, donot be afraid.

(25:01):
This Sunday, today Jesus issaying, do not be afraid.
You've got to know that in lifethere are some assignments, many
assignments actually, that if wewant to follow Christ, we must
fulfill in the presence, notabsence of fear.

(25:21):
Just like the two Marys and somany other people in the Bible
and in history have done.
When we resided Renata and I inHolland from 2016 to 2019, my
work as one of the staffchaplains, uh, at Hope College,
included leading the eveningservice on Sunday nights called
The Gathering.

(25:43):
And part of that also meantscheduling guests, you know,
that were gonna speak in Marchof 2019.
With it's snowing like crazy asHolland is known to do, even in
March.
One speaker that we had was JillBriscoe.
Jill's visit was longer thanusual cuz she had a lot of

(26:04):
meetings and so Renata and Ispent a lot of time over,
probably five days shuttlingMiss Briscoe back and forth, you
know, to our hotel, coordinatingmeals, all that kind of stuff.
And it was great though.
She's lived in Wisconsin for anumber of years now, I mean for
several decades.
Jill is from Liverpool, England,and even all these years later,

(26:28):
her accent betrays her that youknow where she's from.
She's authored.
Jill has over 40 books.
She's continued ministeringspecifically to several
generations of women, even todayat the age of 88.
She's a lovely, humble, smartwoman, uh, with lots of energy.

(26:48):
Who, if you didn't know, reallyloves creme brulee?
We, we had lunch and dinner withher again for these four or
five, the every meal.
I'm not making this every meal.
Do they have creme brulee, Jill,you can order what you want.
They, they got creme brulee, sowe, we had a lot of creme
brulee, and she was, she was allinto it.
I also learned though, during mytime with Jill, that despite

(27:11):
being a world traveler, severaltimes, over seven continents in
over 100 countries that she'svisited, Jill is afraid of
flying.
She told us, but she, shelearned that she's had to
discipline herself to do it,afraid or to do it.

(27:32):
Scared, nevertheless, becausethe truth of the matter is that
in order for her to obey God'swill for her, For her to
minister in this country or thatcountry, and for her to
sometimes accompany her husbandStewart, as he was off on some
foreign soil teaching andpreaching, that meant that she
would need to fly.
And it didn't mean that she hadto love flying.

(27:52):
It didn't mean that she had tolike flying.
It didn't mean that she had topretend that she was fearless,
overflying.
It just meant that she couldmove forward, afraid, yet filled
with joy.
There are some things in thislife that you just gotta do if
you want to serve God.
Parenting is hard, I'm told.

(28:13):
It's scary.
You're responsible for thesetiny human beings who grow into
big human beings and no mattertheir age, because of your
humanity and theirs, your kidsget on your nerves.
You get on your kids' nerves,and they get on the nerves of
other people.
Amen.
Somebody.
To discipline your child tolovingly with appropriate

(28:36):
consequences, discipline yourchild to teach them how to avoid
fools and to make provisions notto be a fool themselves.
That's a scary prospect, butdoing it afraid is better than
the alternative.
Maybe like me, you've neverlearned to swim and you're
scared out of your mind when itcomes to most things water

(28:59):
related.
But you hear an angel thismorning and Jesus saying, do not
be afraid.
So here you are at 43, floppingaround in the pool like some
crazy person trying to learn howto swim.
I'm just saying, you gotta do itafraid.
Maybe you've been shocked bytrauma and, and hardships in
your life and, and you knowthat, you know, that, you know

(29:21):
that you need counseling.
You, you just gotta do itafraid.
Maybe in your heart of hearts,you, you want to call good, uh,
good.
And you want to call evil.
Evil, which is good.
You want to honor God, but it'sscary because you don't wanna
lose your prize position inschool As a cool kid, I get
that.
But you just gotta do it afraidthere's a surgery or, or a

(29:46):
procedure or a scan or aconversation that you know it is
best for you to have, eventhough you'd rather not.
And so I'm just suggesting thismorning that you gotta do it
afraid.
Finding community where you canknow others and be known
yourself, where you can serveand be served, maybe hasn't been

(30:07):
an easy experience.
You've been hurt along the way,and it's a scary prospect to
start yet another search in thisseason of your life.
As spring is on the horizon, yougotta do it afraid.
Loving your enemies is scary.
Giving a biblical percentage ofyour income to the church, which

(30:30):
let's be honest, is all alonefrom God anyways, is still
scary.
Forgiveness is scary.
Patience is scary.
Self-control, conflict,marriage, singleness,
singleness, all of these thingsare scary face-to-face with our
fears.
However, it's possible to befilled with joy as you commit

(30:52):
yourself to God, and his workcommitment is another scary
thing.
As much as I would invite you tojoin a church like Maplewood
this morning, we of course wouldlove to have you.
The biggest offer that I have isfor you to file divorce from
darkness and relocate to theKingdom of God this morning,

(31:16):
that your name can be written inthe Lambs book of life.
You cannot let fear incapacitateyou from serving Jesus.
When I was a kid, I was afraidof the dark, like really afraid
of the dark.
I, it kind of gave me the hebejeebies, uh, felt like there was
monsters that might spring upfrom underneath my bed and all

(31:39):
kinds of stuff.
It was like a real thing.
And so what my parents did wasthey gave me nightlights, praise
the Lord for nightlights.
I had nightlights so I wouldn'tbe paralyzed of the dark.
And at the age of 20, I was ableto have the light of Jesus
Christ come on in my life.
I was 20 years old.
I was a student at theUniversity of Maryland.

(32:00):
My football career was over as awalk on, and I went to church
this place called Maple SpringsBaptist Church.
First time really in church, andI heard the gospel preached and
proclaimed, and by the end ofthat service I said, I, I just
believed that the wages of sinis death.
But the gift of God, his eternallife.
And I believe this dude namedJesus died for me, and I want to

(32:23):
give my life to him.
And so on this Easter Sunday,all I'm saying is that if you
don't know Christ, you can do itafraid and surrender to Him.
And if you already know Christ,there's a lot that you need to
do afraid one day, one step at atime to contribute to the
kingdom of God.

(32:45):
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Let me pray.
Gracious, loving God, we thankyou for the gift of life you've
given us today.
We thank you that he has risenand that he has risen indeed.
God, would you give us all thatwe need through your Holy
Spirit, uh, to be convicted, tomove forward with boldness and
the things that you've called usto, even though they may be

(33:05):
scary and God to know that we'renot supposed to do it alone, but
God, we're supposed to do it incommunity.
In Christ's name we pray.
Amen.