FEAR IS DEFENSELESSNESS

In his Inaugural Address in 1933, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt delivered his oft-quoted words: “Let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” Zygmunt Bauman, one of the foremost social thinkers of our time, writes,

Fear is at its most fearsome when it is diffuse, scattered, unclear, unattached, unanchored, free floating, with no clear address or cause; when it haunts us with no visible rhyme or reason, when the menace we should be afraid of can be glimpsed everywhere but is nowhere to be seen. ‘Fear’ is the name we give to our uncertainty: to our ignorance of the threat and of what is to be done – what can and what can’t be – stop it in its tracks – or to fight it back if stopping it is beyond our power….Fear is another name we give to our defenselessness. (Z. Bauman, Liquid Fear, p.2)

We live in uncertain times. Due to COVID-19, shutdowns, the turmoil over race, cancel culture, China, and political division there is much fear about and the news is depressing. We do not know what the future will bring. What should be our attitude in the face of all this uncertainty?

Goliath struck fear into the hearts of the Israelites. He was a massive soldier: over nine feet tall, a mercenary. He was arrogant, blasphemous, relishing his popularity with the Philistines, and the fear of his foes. His arrogance led to over-confidence. He had faith in himself, that he could handle whomever the Israelites could produce to fight him. His bronze armor protected him from harm. When he challenged Israel to a duel, and defied them to kill him, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified. “When the Israelites saw the man, they all ran from him in great fear.” (1 Samuel 17:24) It took David, a most unlikely opponent, the youngest of the sons of Jesse, a shepherd boy, to face this fearful giant. What did he have that none of his fellow-combatants had?

“You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the LORD will hand you over to me, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head….the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.” (vv.45-47)

In this faith, faith in a sovereign God, David, moving quickly, unencumbered by armor, agile, with only a slingshot as his weapon, felled the giant and killed him. “Greater mobility, and greater striking-power, in the hands of higher intelligence, and a higher morale based on a burning faith, had won the day.” (E.M. Blaiklock)

Goliath stands for the sum of our fears that threaten to overwhelm us. Goliath is the effects of globalization upon us. “There are no local solutions to globally originated and globally invigorated problems, and there cannot be.” (Bauman, p. 128) The only response that can fell the Giant Fear is faith in the knowledge that it is the Lord of heaven and earth, who has a purpose for his creation, and a mission for his people; it is this Lord, the Lord of David, who can save. The battle is the Lord’s. Therefore we are called to pray for guidance, for a burning faith, in the One who is Sovereign over all, and who is working his purpose out as year succeeds to year. We are called to face our fears in the faith that we are enrolled in the armies of the living God.

It was this kind of faith that enabled President Abraham Lincoln to face the future without fear in the midst of “this mighty scourge of war.” In his second inaugural address, while acknowledging that “the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous all together”, and that much suffering remained to be endured, he called for “malice toward none, charity for all, and firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, to strive to finish the work we are in.”

The disciples had to learn this lesson, that the Lord is in control, and that they were called to trust in his purpose. They were sailing on the lake when, without warning, a furious storm sprang up, and the waves swept over the boat. The disciples were terrified of drowning. Jesus was asleep, a calm in the midst of the storm. There was no fear in him. They woke him with cries for help. “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!” He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him.” (Matthew 8:23-27)

As Campbell Morgan put it:

the deeper thing they learned was this; that no storm can wreck the program of God; that though all hell be let loose, and though it have power over elements, and events, and the hearts of men, and the passions of the world, to stir them into storm, and wreck the apparently frail boat where Christ lies asleep, it is all useless. If He is there, all is well….There ought to be no panic in the heart of a man, when he knows Christ. We may be sure that Christ is at the heart of every storm. He apparently sleeps in the hour of our anxiety…All such panic is unnecessary and unworthy. The Lord is at the heart of the storm, and we may rest in him, and smile at the storm.

David chose five smooth stones to defeat Goliath. Let me give you five verses of Scripture you can use to defeat fear when it attacks you.

John 14:1 – Jesus said, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.” Solid faith means leaning all our weight, risking all that we are and have, on the trustworthiness of God in Christ. We can trust him for the present and the future. He is faithful. We can rely upon him.

Hebrews 11:1 – “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” Solid faith means confidence in the future, and certainty in the face of uncertainty, for our Savior is in the future. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last. He is the Living One. He is alive for ever and ever. He holds the keys of death and Hades.

2 Timothy 1:7 – “God did not give us a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.” Solid faith is a gift of the Spirit. When we invite the Spirit of Christ to enter into us we receive power to overcome fear, love to conquer vulnerability, and self-control to resist intimidation.

1 John 4:18 – “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” Solid faith is found in knowing that God loves us, that he has only our good at heart, that he has forgiven us, and does not intend to punish us. We are safe in the arms of the God of love in Jesus.

1 John 5:4 – “This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.” Solid faith in Christ, who came to bring us salvation, so that we will not be drowned by the storms of life, enables us to triumph over fear.

We can be full of fear, or full of faith in the Lord who is sovereign over all, and who is ultimately in control. Let us not be people of little faith, but people like David, who are willing to trust that the battle is the Lord’s, that he is in command, and we are called to trust in him and do his bidding, even if the world is uncertain. Solid faith overcomes the world!