Leawood, Kansas, United States - The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection Daily Guide grow. pray. study. for Saturday, 31 May 2014 "Repeated twice, the ultimate 'Don't be afraid'"

Leawood, Kansas, United States - The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection Daily Guide grow. pray. study. for Saturday, 31 May 2014 "Repeated twice, the ultimate 'Don't be afraid'"
Daily Scripture: Matthew 28:1 Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. 2 Behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from the sky, and came and rolled away the stone from the door, and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. 4 For fear of him, the guards shook, and became like dead men. 5 The angel answered the women, “Don’t be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus, who has been crucified. 6 He is not here, for he has risen, just like he said. Come, see the place where the Lord was lying. 7 Go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has risen from the dead, and behold, he goes before you into Galilee; there you will see him.’ Behold, I have told you.”
8 They departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring his disciples word. 9 As they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, “Rejoice!”
They came and took hold of his feet, and worshiped him.
10 Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Go tell my brothers[a] that they should go into Galilee, and there they will see me.”
Footnotes:
a. Matthew 28:10 The word for “brothers” here may be also correctly translated “brothers and sisters” or “siblings.”
Reflection Question:
On Resurrection Sunday, the women who went to Jesus' tomb twice heard the words we've read several times this week. First the angel at the tomb, and then Jesus himself, told them, "Don't be afraid." Mind you, the same people who put Jesus to death on Friday were still in power on Sunday. The same Roman soldiers who nailed Jesus to the cross were patrolling the streets of Jerusalem that day. And yet everything had changed, and they did not need to be afraid. Jesus was alive—and his followers were safe forever.
The apostle Paul wrote to a group of his Christian friends from a dank Roman prison cell, "Don't be anxious about anything; rather, bring up all of your requests to God in your prayers and petitions, along with giving thanks" (Philippians 4:6). Would such a sentiment be possible without Jesus' repeated words "Don't be afraid"? In what ways can you more fully incorporate Jesus' repeated counsel into your day-to-day life (e.g. put Jesus' words on your bathroom mirror, dashboard, desk or computer screen, use them as a breath prayer)? Cultivate an awareness of the events or inner messages that trigger your fears. As you see fear rising to shape your life, practice meeting it with those simple yet powerful words: "Don't be afraid."
Family Activity:
As a family, discuss how you prepare for events or activities. Do you save money for a vacation, study for a test, or walk often to build stronger muscles? Typically when we prepare, we are able to handle the event or activity in a more healthy and helpful way. Since life will bring about times of struggle and challenge, we can prepare now by growing stronger in our faith. Talk about how you might do this as a family (consider learning Scripture, being in prayer, serving others, being in worship and sharing in Christian community). As a family, choose one or two ways you can build your "faith muscles" this summer. Commit to following through and pray, asking for God's help as you grow!
Today's Prayer:
Lord Jesus, over and over you said, "Don't be afraid." Help me to hear your words more clearly, and to live them out more fully—and fearlessly. Amen.
Insight from Dave Pullin
Dave Pullin serves as the Director of Technical Production at The Church of the Resurrection. The Technical Production ministry handles all audio/visual/technical support for the church including worship services and events.
“The guards were so afraid that they shook and became like dead men.”
It’s hard to imagine what this scene must have been like. But the amount of fear the guards experienced must have been quite significant—it paralyzed them!
This reminds me of when I was in college. I worked as a rock-climbing guide for an outdoor adventure company. A significant part of that role was guiding people through activities that naturally trigger higher levels of fear, especially for people who have limited exposure to rock climbing or heights in general.
Through that experience, I found that fear is a very interesting thing. A little bit of fear is good, as it prevents us from being over-confident and cocky. A beginning climber needs to make certain that the hand and footholds are extra secure. But too much fear can be crippling, prevent us from functioning, and create very dangerous situations.
One day a group of four of us had finished a double-pitch climb (2 full rope lengths) in the Oklahoma Wichita Wildlife Refuge and it was time to descend. Now it’s one thing to keep climbing up and up and up, but the moment you look down from the top of a 400 ft. rock slab, that change in perspective has quite an impact. It did that day on one of our team members (call him Tom). Tom had been on many of our climbing trips, was a very skilled climber and was quite comfortable with heights. Yet this was his very first multi-pitch climb, and fear can creep in on anyone completely unannounced, as it did to Tom.
Once Tom was hooked into the rope and was 10-12 feet into his decent (just beyond my reach), he froze. Fear overwhelmed him, and due to the nature of the rock, there was very little anyone could do to assist. Two of our team were already at the bottom of the first part of our decent, clipped into an anchor on the side of the cliff, waiting for us to descend so they could continue down the remaining 200ft. I was at the very top and could not lower down to Tom, and the climbers below could not climb up. The situation was becoming sever. Something had to be done.
As I evaluated the situation and began assessing ways to assist Tom, I quickly realized that the only useable resource I had with me were my words. I could not treat this problem like a physical injury. I couldn’t take time to convene a committee meeting, even if the team below could actually hear me. I had to somehow use my words to try to alleviate Tom’s fear.
I think maybe that’s why the words, “Do not be afraid” continue to be a theme in these verses. In our moments of fear, doubt and struggle, what we may want is someone to “fix it,” someone to rescue us from our plight, someone to magically make the pain go away. Yet we are often met with words like “Do not be afraid,” or “Fear not,” or “I am with you,” or “Be still and know that I am God.”
We all know personal growth does not happen when someone constantly rescues us from our fears, because that means we did not have to face those fears. We did not have to search the depths of our soul for whatever courage we might be able to muster. We did not have to act even in the presence of our fear. Show me someone who has faced their fears, and I will show you a person who embodies strength.
Tom is one of those people. Frozen by fear on that cliff, he was fighting an internal battle, one only he could fight. I could not fix it for him. All I could do was encourage him, and be present with him. He told me later that logically he knew he was safe because the equipment was secure, but emotionally the fear was seizing his entire body, mind and spirit. When he was able to recognize that he had a choice and could act in spite of that fear, he was able to control his breathing and focus on the small steps he had to take to get down the cliff. In the end, he did not let his fear take control, and he was able to slowly descend the entire route without incident.
Fear can be crippling, no matter what form it takes. Yet here we have this repetitive phrase instructing us not to be afraid. Jesus’ words are not so much him telling us not to have fear, but to be able to recognize that fear does not have to control us. We can still operate in spite of our fear, and that, I feel, is the definition of courage.
I learned a great deal from Tom that day. He showed me that fear can control us only if we allow it to. Courage is not the same as being fearless. Courage means taking back the control our fears stole from us. In what way has your fear taken control in your life? Do you feel like Tom, paralyzed on the side of a cliff somewhere? If so, the good news is that God is present with you. God is encouraging you, “Do not be afraid; don’t let your fear take control. You are strong and powerful, you’ve totally got this!”
-------