Sermon by Herman Kauffman
Prince of Peace Church of the Brethren
March 2, 2003
They Were Terrified
Mark 9:2-8
Thomas Merton once said that at the root of all war is fear - not so much the fear we have of one another, but the fear we have of everything. How right he is. Fear makes us do strange things. Since 9/11 [September 11, 2001], many persons living in this land have been afraid of terrorism and the results of our fears have made us do some very strange things. Terrorism terrifies us.
Our government was terrified of terrorism and so they declared a "War on Terrorism," targeting unknown terrorists. Later it became clear that an enemy needs a face so the war on terrorism focused on Osama bin Laden and his El Quaida network. President Bush declared an all-out war to destroy Osama bin Laden sending thousands of troops into Afghanistan to search and bomb the caves where he was thought to be hiding. Nearly 18 months later, US troops have destroyed a nation's land and livelihood but have not found the #1 enemy.
Meanwhile, back at home, our government developed and authorized the Department of Homeland Security to keep us safe from terrorists who terrify us. In exchange for this security, we have given up too many freedoms to mention. Fear makes us do strange things.
Our economy has been terrified by terrorism as well. And the economy, in turn, has impacted our education systems. Schools are facing financial setbacks and perhaps teacher layoffs, which in turn will impact our children's education. And then there is Donald who also has a fear of school:
My name is Donald, and I don't know anything. I have new underwear, a loose tooth, and I didn't sleep last night because I'm worried. What if a bell rings and a man yells, "Where do you belong?" and I don't know? What if the trays in the cafeteria are too tall for me to reach? What if my loose tooth comes out when we have our heads down and are supposed to be quiet? Am I supposed to bleed quietly? What if I splash water on my name tag and my name disappears and no one knows who I am?
There is something terrifying about life at every age, something scary about any change we make during our lifetime, something frightening about all the "what ifs" in our minds.
What terrifies you? Perhaps you're afraid of failure, or of success. Some persons have refused to take a single risk their whole lives out of fear of failure ... or of success. Perhaps you're afraid of illness, or death, or of being left alone.
A Sunday School teacher, writing in Christian Educator, relates the following conversation she had with 3-year-old Tommy:
She had told her class a story about family togetherness but noticed that Tommy remained silent. Later, as she asked him to help her put away pictures, he held on to a picture of a mother and father tucking a small child into bed. Finally he said, "My mommy and daddy wented away last night."
"They did?" I prompted
"A lady came to 'sitter me' and I cried.".
Was that it? So many little boys are ashamed of tears. "We all cry sometimes." I commented soothingly, hoping this was the problem. ... Tommy's face didn't show the relief I expected. If anything, he looked as if he might cry again.
"I wonder if my mommy and daddy know that," he said in a wee, choked voice.
"I'm sure they do," I assured him.
"The sitter didn't," he said flatly.
"She didn't?" I echoed....
"The lady said that if Mommy and Daddy knew I was a cry-baby, they'd never come back."
I gasped.... I knew Tommy needed reassurance and he needed it immediately. "Tell Mommy and Daddy what the lady said after church," I advised Tommy. "And tell them you cried. They know you miss them when they have to go away."
After a long moment Tommy nodded.
"Mommies and Daddies often have to go away, but they always come back," (I added). By this time many of the other children ... were chiming in with stories about when their parents had "wented away." They had cried, too, but their mommies and daddies always came back.(1)
As adults, we need to be sensitive to the fears of the children we relate with. But are there not times when we, too, are afraid that our Heavenly Parent will go away from us and not come back? Are we afraid that God does not love us enough to come to us when we cry and feel alone? Or, to turn that around, are we also sometimes terrified that God will come to us? Are we like the little boy who had been misbehaving, only to hear his mother say, "Just you wait until your father gets home!" Are we sometimes terrified that God will come when we're not ready to face God?
What terrifies you? In our text from Mark 9 we find some terrified disciples.
This text marks a transition in Mark's story of Jesus and his disciples. We commonly refer to it as The Transfiguration, which means "to change." And if we look carefully at this story, we discover that it is not only Jesus who is changed in this mountain-top experience, but the disciples as well.
Jesus often went off alone to a quiet place to pray and to center-in on the presence of God. What is unique about this account is that Jesus took Peter, James and John with him as he went to pray.
In the earlier chapters of Mark's Gospel we read of the increasing demands being placed on Jesus.
There were demands for miracles and for healing, there were crowds of people who came to learn and who also needed to be fed. In the preceding chapter, Jesus had taken a boat across the lake to be by himself. But when the people learned where he was, they left their towns and followed by land. When Jesus got out of the boat and saw this crowd, his heart went out to them and he healed their sick and spent his day-off teaching those who had followed him. By the end of the day, the disciples were ready to send the people away to eat, but Jesus suggested that they feed the people. When they pleaded an inability to do so, Jesus breaks the bread and there is suddenly an abundance of food.
Later, when Jesus is alone with the disciples, he asks them the difficult question: "Who do you say that I am?" They may have had different understandings of this man who had commanded their allegiance, and they may have had different reasons for following him, but now Peter proclaims: "You are the Messiah."
Now, just a week later, Jesus takes Peter, James and John for a mountain-top spiritual retreat. There in the presence of the disciples, Jesus is transfigured - he is changed - his clothes become dazzling white, and Matthew tells us that "His face shone like the sun" perhaps reminding us of Moses' encounter with God on Mount Sinai. [Exodus 34:29]
And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, talking to Jesus. What a retreat! An enthusiastic Peter proposes to build three monuments on the spot - for Jesus, Moses and Elijah. But in the next verse, Mark tells us that Peter's words are spoken out of fear. "He didn't know what to say, for they were terrified."
Coming from Mark's Gospel, those words give us insight into Peter and his response. Mark was a later companion of Peter, and is often referred to as Peter's scribe; that is, Mark recorded what Peter preached. I can almost imagine Peter, in later years, confiding to Mark: "We didn't know what to say, we were so frightened by the appearance of Moses and Elijah speaking with Jesus."
Have you ever been so terrified that you said something, in fear, that you would not normally have said? As we said earlier, fear makes us do strange things and we could add - fear makes us say strange things. I have no doubt, that much of the rhetoric spoken in governmental circles these days grows out of fear. Fear of terrorism, fear of weapons of mass destruction in someone else's possession, fear of loss of power and wealth and way of life.
We have all known fear. Children afraid of the dark or the loss of parents. Youth afraid of failing or not being accepted by their peers. Adults afraid of losing a job and not being able to provide for the family. We may be terrified of both the unknown and, all too often, what is known as well.
It is because of human fear, that the Bible is so full of God's reassuring "Fear not's ...."
We live in a world of fear. Even in a land blessed in so many ways, we live in fear; even as Peter, James and John in the midst of a spiritual retreat blessed by the appearance of Moses and Elijah talking with Jesus experienced fear. Their fear is never explained to us, even as we often cannot explain our own fears.
Perhaps the disciples were afraid that they had been right and Jesus was indeed the Messiah! Perhaps they were scared of how their own lives were being changed. Perhaps they were terrified of truly being in the presence of God. Whatever the source of their fear, they were terrified!
Then comes the voice from the cloud: "This is my Son, the Beloved, listen to him!"
Suddenly, as they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus. What a transforming moment in the lives of Peter, James and John. And what a transforming moment it is for us, as well, when we no longer are distracted by images of past or present fears; but in looking around we see only Jesus.
Do you remember the account in John's Gospel [12:21] where some Greeks at the festival came to Philip saying, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus." And in Hebrews [12:1-2] we are invited to "...lay aside every weight and sin that clings so closely, and ... run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith...."
If we wish to overcome our fears, we must keep our attention focused on Jesus. It's easy to be distracted by ghosts of the past or fears of the present or uncertainty regarding the unknown future. Our life experiences and those of the biblical characters, and all others in between bear witness to that fact. In spite of Peter's experience on the Mount of Transfiguration, we know that when the soldiers came for Jesus, Peter was momentarily distracted. He pulled his sword to defend Jesus, only to be admonished by Jesus for his action. And later, in the courtyard, it is a fearful Peter who denies three times even knowing Jesus. Yes, fear makes us do strange things.
It is only when we feel secure in the presence of Jesus, that we can overcome our fears.
As a child, filled with fear from a nightmare or the darkness, it was the presence of a parent - a focused presence that overcame the fear of that moment. For the writer of the 23rd Psalm it was the assurance of the Lord's presence that allows him to walk through the darkest valley without fear. And it is that assurance of God's presence in our lives that Jesus leaves with the disciples at the end of Matthew's Gospel [28:20] when he promises: "I will be with you always, even to the end of the age."
Though we live in an age of terrorism and amidst the rumors of war, be not afraid for God is with you. Keep your eyes focused on Jesus as you run the race set before you. May you like Peter, James and John on the mountain-top, find your fears and your lives to be transformed as you look around you and see only Jesus. Amen.
1. Margaret Shauers, "Living Prayer," Christian Educator, February 1993