Sermon 2/6/05
Fear Factor- Matthew 17:1-9
(view lectionary notes for this text)
Have you ever watched that show, Fear Factor? It’s a show where contestants have to do disgusting and fear-inducing tasks in order to win a cash prize. The horrible things include eating insects, jumping from high heights, navigating through underwater courses, and recently, with some media attention, running an obstacle course where the electricity literally might shock you. Fear Factor is not a show on my list of “must watch” TV – but if I happen to be channel flipping and catch a few minutes of this show, I’m overcome with that morbid sense of fascination where I just can’t help but watch for a few minutes, while contestants do the seemingly impossible, terrible tasks.
We all have fear factors of sorts, I think: our semi-private list of rational or more likely irrational fears that are lurking in the corners of our minds, waiting to come out at the least opportune times. For me, as some of you know, one fear factor is flying. You can tell me that flying is safer than driving 100 times. But chances are, I still won’t be able to relax. In fact, I have to thank Mary Cross for helping me not panic on my most recent flight home from Florida, stuck on a smaller-than-hope for plane. Were it not for her, I might still be sitting in the Cincinnati airport! Our fears have amazing power over us, shaping the decisions we make, the paths we choose.
Today we celebrate Transfiguration Sunday. And perhaps we don’t consider this a very fear-producing event. In fact, we often even forget what Transfiguration Sunday is. On this day, we remember the event where Jesus was transfigured on the mountain top in that strange, super-natural sort of way. Last year, on Transfiguration Sunday, we studied the event from Luke’s perspective. Maybe you remember how Peter, according to Luke, offered to build tents on the mountain for Jesus and Elijah and Moses, wanting to prolong this event that they were experiencing. And Luke adds that Peter makes this offer because he doesn’t know what he’s saying – he doesn’t know what’s going on, and responds in confusion. But this year, we’re looking at this event from Matthew’s perspective, and his take on things is different from Luke’s – not drastically, but some small changes caught my attention. Matthew still shows Peter offering to build tents, but he doesn’t add the commentary that makes Peter’s actions seem so foolish. What Matthew adds is what catches my attention. The disciples respond to the events of the day by falling on the ground, overcome with fear, until Jesus comes and speaks to them saying, “Get up and do not be afraid.” What makes the disciples respond in fear to what they witness? In fact, it is not the part where they see Moses and Elijah standing with Jesus, which would certainly cause alarm for me. Actually, what causes them to fall to the ground in fear is when they hear God’s voice, speaking through the overshadowing cloud, saying, as God’s voice said at Jesus’ baptism, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased.” This is their fear factor: God’s voice, out loud, undeniably declaring Jesus’ identity. This is just too much for Peter and James and John to handle.
Is God a fear factor for us? “Fear of the Lord” or “God-fearing” – these are phrases that are thrown around a lot in the Bible, but they have never been ones that I’ve connected to on a rational level. I want to think of God as one who loves us, not as one who instills us with fear. Often figures of power who invoke fear in us are considered abusive, using their power to hurt instead of build up. So why would we want to think of God as one to be feared? I tell myself that I do not view God in this way. But the disciples, who were spending their days with Jesus, following him everywhere, somehow they found themselves overwhelmed with fear when they heard God’s voice in an undeniable, dramatic encounter. They heard God’s voice and they were afraid.
Would we react in the same way? Why would it fill us with fear to see God or hear God so clearly as they did on the mountain? Isn’t that what we want? Proof? Irrefutable evidence that God is there and has something to say to us? I suspect that proof of God’s presence - a clear occurrence where we can’t deny God’s presence, where we hear God’s voice and there is no room for confusion about what God is saying – I suspect this actually isn’t what we desire. It is what we fear. It is what terrifies us. We fear confirmation that someone or something as awesome as our Creator might actually speak to us and have something in mind for us to do. We often think about how God was revealed to people in the scriptures with some jealousy. Moses saw God in the burning bush. The disciples saw God in human form as Christ. The early Church saw God in the coming of the Holy Spirit, tongues of fire. Jacob saw God as an angel with whom he actually wrestled. Why can’t we see God so clearly? But I have to ask myself honestly: what would I do if I witnessed God in such a way? Would I respond with faith and courage, or would I fall in fear like the disciples?
God knows our hearts. If you’re looking for a project sometime, try to count the number of times the phrase “do not be afraid” or “fear not” occurs in the Bible. “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which shall be for all people.” (Luke) “Fear not, Abram, I am thy shield.” (Genesis) “Fear not, nor be dismayed, be strong and of good courage.” (Joshua) “Fear not: for I am with thee.” (Isaiah) “Fear not, from now on you shall fish for people.” (Luke) “Fear not, little flock.” (Luke) “Fear not. I am the first and the last.” (Revelation) In our reading today, Jesus says to the disciples, “Get up and do not fear,” and gives them a comforting touch. God tells us again and again to be without fear, to live without fear. Because even when the people in the scriptures come face to face with God, even when their first response is to be overcome with fear at the magnitude of the event, God remains ever faithful, ever gracious, ever merciful, ever watchful. When the angel appeared to the shepherds, God followed through on the promise of the Christ child. When God told Abram not to fear, God blessed Abram with an unexpected child. When God told Israel not to fear through the prophet Isaiah, God brought the people safely home from exile. When Christ told the disciples they would fish for people, he taught them and guided them and left them with the Holy Spirit as they began their ministry.
Today, as we read of the Transfiguration of Christ, we have a chance to have an encounter with God. Perhaps we won’t be enveloped in a mysterious crowd, but we’ve been taught that we can see God, face-to-face, every time we look into the eyes of another. We can react in fear, and refuse to see God’s presence all around us. Or we can let Christ touch us. We can hear those words, “do not be afraid.” And we can respond, like the disciples, who came down from the mountain with Jesus to return to a difficult but rewarding path to which God had called them. Fear not, God is with you. Encounter God, reflected in the face of the person next to you. Encounter God, present in the communion meal which we share. Encounter God, chasing away our fears, and calling us to live faithfully and boldly. Fear not. God is here. Amen.