Howdy Today we're talking a bit about What we
do with fear and how oftentimes? We take fear
that we're feeling and we sometimes try to pretend
that it's some form of holiness instead Yeah,
I was going through some some photos that I had
in a in a box. I was looking to put them in an
album so for kids Photos used to be these physically
printed things. They didn't have phones to scroll
through them and everything. We had to put them
in books so that they stayed there. That's why
floods are such a terrible thing. I was looking
through some of them and I saw this one from
my cousin's wedding. I was 18. It was right after
I finished summer camp and I was about to go
to A &M for the first time. As I was there, I
remembered, I saw a picture. I had been dancing
with one of the bridesmaids. I was a groomsman.
There was a bridesmaid. Yes, as cliched as it
sounds. And it was like, she was cute. She was
nice. I got her number. We were talking a bit
with each other. And it's like, oh, that sounds
really sweet. Maybe that was one of pastor's
first opportunities to have a girlfriend. Nope.
Because I walked away. I was afraid. I was very
afraid. See, I had absolutely no idea what I
was doing. I wasn't the confident man that I
am today. I know, I'm never awkward. But, what
we're realizing though, is that I was about to
leave and I didn't know how to even have a relationship,
let alone a long distance one. And more than
that, I didn't even know myself. I didn't even
know what I wanted. I didn't even know what I
was looking for. And so, even though I had this
opportunity there, I walked away. But what was
even more than that is that I told myself it
was God's plan. I told myself that I had to walk
away because if it were God's plan, everything
would have been easier. Everything would have
been more straightforward. It would have been
more obvious. I took my fear and I explained
it away as faith. And that's sometimes what we
do is that we sometimes take what we feel as
fear and we translate it into somehow being our
faith. We even use God language to justify it.
I need to be holy so I have to stay away. I need
to be careful and cautious. God wants me to be
meek. God wants this from me. And somehow then
we put a separation from the very people in our
lives. Because we turn holiness not into stepping
away from sin, but instead we see it oftentimes
as just staying away from people. But what if
God is calling us to cross the lines that we've
drawn ourselves? What if we find God especially
clearly when we stop running from people in fear
and instead we start moving toward people in
love? We see this when we look at Acts 11. When
the Jewish church is looking at Gentiles entering
we see it when in John 16 When his disciples
are about to lose him when Christ is about to
go to the cross we see it in Revelation 21 Whenever
the world that we see with all its fear and chaos
passes away Whenever we see each of these they
are showing us what it is to step away from the
fear that grips our heart in Acts 11 God is speaking
to Peter, and he needs for Peter to be the one
to show the rest of the church. It is time to
end the separation that you've created that I
never had in mind. You see, what we end up seeing
here is that Peter is seen eating with Gentile
believers. Remember, Gentile just means you're
not Jewish, okay? It's like... Here's the Jewish
community, and then there's all you other people.
Gentile was a derogatory word. It wasn't nice
and fun. It was just, you're the outsiders. And
so when the Jewish community saw Peter eating
with them, they saw Peter doing something that
was just unheard of. Because not only was it,
you're supposed to eat different things from
what the rest of the world does, you're not even
supposed to be with them. Not associated at all.
And they were worried about the idea of being
contaminated, if you will. See, that's the thing,
is that they were afraid of losing their identity,
that their sense of being pure, their sense of
being apart. And I'm sure we've never had that
sense before, right? The times whenever we say
things in our mind like, Oh, maybe this person
listens to the wrong music and, you know, heaven
forbid if they never listen to Christian music.
Or the times whenever we're like, oh, I saw how
you raise your kids. Oof, that is not okay. Or
even more than that, oh, maybe these people cuss
too much. Or occasionally, I don't think they
cuss enough. And you're like, which are the people
I should feel comfortable with? But when they
saw this, It was this question of who gets to
be in and who's kept out. See, who is clean enough?
If they already had an issue with the disciples
didn't wash their hands, how much even worse
if the person themself was completely unclean?
See, fear thrives in separation. The fear that
they were feeling... was getting stronger the
more they kept themselves away from other people
because it feels safer to isolate ourselves.
To say, you stay there and I'll be over here.
But Peter knew that things had to be different
because God showed him a vision to go forth to
the Gentiles. See, one night Peter... is dreaming
and he sees this blanket coming down with all
of these animals that God says kill and eat but
they were all these unclean animals that he was
not supposed to in his mind eat you know including
pigs which means that this was the very first
pig in a blanket in history I know right there
was right there thank you but when seeing this
is that God was communicating Don't stay away
from the people that you saw as unclean. And
he went to the house of Cornelius, a Gentile.
And Cornelius had also had a vision that someone
would come to him. And when Peter proclaimed
the Gospel to Cornelius, and all those other
Gentiles who were there, God's Spirit was upon
them. They were speaking in tongues, proclaiming
the Gospel in all these other languages, just
the way they had done at Pentecost with the Jewish
believers. So if God is already with them, then
why should they even avoid baptizing them in
the first place? That's the thing, is it was
the same spirit, the same grace, and it was meant
to be the same baptism as the Jewish believers.
See, with that, the Jerusalem church finally
realized that they needed to stop. Is that they
needed to glorify God because even the Gentiles
have been reached. See, the gospel reveals God's
desire to include. It's not trying to exclude.
People may do that with themselves by rejecting
God, but God is trying to bring people in. And
He wants us baptized into His name because it's
not just baptism of repentance. That was John
the Baptist. But it was also a baptism of grace
where God reaches down and says, this is my child.
It wasn't just waiting for the Gentiles to get
themselves like the Jewish believers, they were
already loved as God's children right then and
there. But if God's Spirit shows no partiality,
then should we? Because fear doesn't go away,
it's not just by saying, I'm going to include
others, but rather there is something deeper
in there as well. Which shows us how God's Spirit
was conquering fear even as dealing with the
separation that we might feel. See, that's what
we end up seeing in John 16, the back and forth
and the back and forth with all of that phrasing.
We end up seeing that Jesus is trying to help
His disciples with what they don't understand
at all. they're going to see that Jesus has been
taken away. And isn't that one of the things
that we would end up feeling so much of is confusion,
fear, uncertainty, what is happening next, what
is meant to be. But Jesus is saying, my spirit
will be with you. And not only even when he comes
back to life, but even at the time when he would
ascend into heaven, is that his spirit would
be there to comfort and to guide. Because how
do we feel when we feel like we're abandoned?
Because Jesus' death was going to feel like abandonment.
It would feel like being left behind. But even
in the midst of that separation, what would that
have done to the disciples? Because whenever
you've been following something full force with
your whole life and your whole being, then all
of a sudden it just fell apart. What would it
be like being around all the other people who
watched you follow someone who now is dead and
how alone and separated they must have felt until
Jesus had risen again? The resurrection though
brought a nearness not just with God himself
but also how much more they felt that they could
then go to the very people all around them. because
they knew that their sorrow had been turned into
joy. Now, I may be wrong. I think that this is
meant to be hyperbole that a woman does not remember
the pains of childbirth after the birth. I don't
know. Maybe that's surprising. But at the same
time, how wonderful it is to know who you're
holding in your arms. And that's what it is that
God is doing with us on the other side. of his
son's death. See, that fuller joy, it's not just
supposed to be for us, but then for us to bring
to the rest of the world. Because that same spirit
that led Peter is the one that Jesus then led
him to go find. See, joy does not just come from
trying to keep ourselves safe. Joy is not about
trying to cling to control. What can you control?
What can you hold off? How can you protect yourself?
Rather, it's being vulnerable to what God is
doing with us. What God is doing in and through
us will always be so much more amazing than anything
we'd ever imagine on our own. Which is so striking
about what we see in Revelation. You know, we
think about Revelation... And we think about
four horsemen and a bunch of bulls and weird
angels with eyes and wings everywhere and wondering
what's going to be happening with the pit. But
you know, the thing about Revelation is that
the whole point of it was to encourage. They
had lost their temple. It had been destroyed.
They were ostracized. When they were just this
Jewish community, they were accepted within the
Roman Empire. But now, as people who followed
Christ, their place of safety was gone. But God
is reminding them that in Christ, there is a
kingdom to look forward to. Because that's what
we end up seeing, is that this coming kingdom,
it has no fear. It is not about separation any
longer. See, the new creation is what we have
in Christ. The new heavens and the new earth.
And they are together. There is not a separation
between us and God. And it says, the sea will
be no more. And you can't help but wonder, God,
why do you not like beaches? What is the issue?
Don't take away the sea. It's lovely. Just put
a little umbrella. It'll shade you. You'll be
great. You'll be fine. But the thing about the
sea, though, is that the sea in a dream, especially
among the people, meant chaos. and fear. Because
you don't know what's in it. You don't know what's
in the ocean. You don't know what's in the sea.
But you also don't know what storms might hit
while you're on it. Whether you might drown.
And even more than that, whether you can even
see beyond it. Because if there's no more sea,
then there's nothing to fear and there's nothing
keeping you from the rest of the world. Being
united with God ends up bringing us closer to
one another as well, because God calls all people
to Himself in Christ. The right hand and the
left hand of the Bride of Christ are not meant
to look at one another and figure out which one
of them really belongs. They are supposed to
be united in the God who has wiped away all death,
all pain, all tears. Because as God is personally
wiping away every tear, He is then calling us
to do the same for one another. Because he says,
I will be their God, they will be my children.
That the promise begun in Jesus and seen with
Peter and the others in Acts is now to be completed.
So from Jesus' promise to the disciples, to Peter's
surprise with the Gentiles, to John's vision
of the future kingdom, it's all been pointing
to God wants connection for all of us. But what
do we do? How often do we still let fear define
our faith? How often is it that we still cling
to separation and we sanctify it in the name
of Christ? Do we face our fears? Are we willing
to know others? Because if we do, that it means
that we might have to let go of control. We might
have to let go of thinking we've somehow got
it all figured out, somehow thinking that we
know where we want to draw our lines, where the
walls in our hearts are meant to be. We keep
ourselves safe by keeping ourselves separated
from others that haven't somehow met our expectation.
But like Peter once did, like we are all called
to, How can we stop seeing our desire for safety
and separation and pretending that it's holiness?
Because holiness is not about separation to protect
us. Holiness is about being different ourselves
so that others see it and want to be different
as well. But how can they see it if they never
see us? Separation is not about protecting us,
it isolates us and hardens our heart, but the
gospel is on every side of every line. It is
meant to be on every side of any barrier we put
up. Because the gospel crosses over to Cornelius,
to the disciples, the cross, to each and every
one of us. We're meant to lay down the fear of
our neighbor to love our neighbor. We're meant
to let go of the small idea that we have of God
in order to see something bigger. Because isn't
that what He had to do for us as well? How many
of us in this place needed to be welcomed? How
many of us here at Christ Memorial had to leave
a church that fell apart? How many of us had
to step away whenever there was a controversy
or a drama that drove us out? How many of us
had to leave a home, a place that we thought
we'd never have to abandon, but we needed to
know that there were others who would love us?
How many of us needed to walk away from a life
that we had, whether we liked it or not? How
many of us needed to know that there was a place
where people didn't care if you had the same
interests or hobbies, or even the same background,
but that would just love you? How many of us
needed that here? And how many people out there
need the same? Because the promise of grace,
it's not just for us. It's not for you, it's
not for me. It's not just our kind of people.
It's for everyone. Because everyone thirsts.
And everyone is in need. The gospel changes all
of us into we. Because the only way to decide
who is in and who's out is that we proclaim the
gospel to everybody and then try to bring everyone
in with the only thing that can. So my hope for
each and every one of you today, let's not walk
away. Let's not try to figure out who we're going
to separate from. Let's not use God as an excuse
to keep distance from the people that we just
don't feel comfortable with. but instead let's
see that Christ has brought joy and hope to all
people and let's find opportunities to share
that with each and every one of them as we step
into the fullness of life together. Thanks be
to God.