Matt Wright Faith In The Face of Fear 11/16/14

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Kellie Lawrence
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1 Matt Wright Faith In The Face of Fear 11/16/14 When I was around 13 or 14, my brother Chris and I used to watch this show on Channel 4 every Saturday night at 6:30 called Thrillseekers. It was hosted by The Rifleman, Chuck Conners, who would ride into camera range on a hot motorcycle, skid to a stop and intone with the utmost gravity: IT S BEEN SAID, IT S BETTER TO MEET DANGER THAN TO WAIT FOR IT. IN THE NEXT 30 MINUTES, YOU RE GOING TO MEET A VERY SPECIAL BREED OF CAT: MEN WHO CAN T WAIT TO MEET DANGER. THEY CHASE IT. CHALLENGE IT. AND LICK IT. FOR THE NEXT HALF HOUR: THE THRILLSEEKERS! I was fascinated by Thrillseekers. The sky divers, the wire walkers, the bungee jumpers, the alligator wrestlers, the guys who bet millions on a single hand of poker, freeze themselves in a block of ice, or free-climb up the face of El Capitan in Yosemite. I would ask myself, Am I going to be a guy who meets danger, chases it, challenges it, and licks it? Even then, I knew that if it involved jumping out of a plane or climbing up the side of a mountain the answer was a definite, no. 1

2 So, I am not a Thrillseeker. Not a gambler. Not reckless. Not generally a throw caution to the winds kind of guy. I m pragmatic, reasonably prudent, moderately thoughtful. Which means some part of me can empathize with contestant number three in today s Gospel reading: the slave who buries all that money in the desert, figuring, Hey, I may not make anybody rich this way, but at least I won t get a tongue lashing, or worse, from the master. Like him, I, too, have lived with a would-be master who second guesses my every move. At every major turning point in my life, he s been there questioning, mocking, trying to block my way. When I had to make my first life decision of any lasting consequence, he was watching carefully. After a happy freshman year at Chandler High School, we learned, at the very end of that year, that the high school would not reopen that fall, and that we would have to find new schools immediately. While other elite private schools welcomed us, I knew somehow that my place was at John Muir, a public school widely considered a big step down from Pasadena Poly or Flintridge Prep. There he was, chiding, First big decision and it s the wrong one. Watch your friends leave you in the dust, dummy. When I wanted to choose an unorthodox college major, he was quick to offer an opinion, What are you, insane? Do you know what the odds are against success? You ll never get in, and if you do, you ll never get a job. 2

3 When I decided that the work I really wanted to do was not listed in the job descriptions of any going concern, and that I d be better off creating my own job and being my own boss, he chimed in, See? Four years of school wasted, and now - unemployable. More recently, as a board member at Emily s school I faced a decision about whether to take on debt and go forward with construction of a new middle school campus in the middle of the worst economic downturn in decades. His unsolicited advice? You ll never make it. You ll be lucky to survive this economy anyway, you ll be stuck with millions in debt, the school will close, and it ll be on you. And giving to others time, money, whatever Don t even get him started. Give them a few bucks. Whatever gets your name in the annual report. They ll be happy to get it. Don t over commit. You are not responsible for them. They ll sink or they ll swim and you don t make a difference one way or the other. The poor slave in the parable heard that voice. We all hear that voice. It s a natural impulse to preserve what we have. Not to over commit. To find reasons why almost anything won t work. To discount our instincts and play to conventional wisdom. And, like the slave, sometimes we don t just hear. We listen. We give in. 3

4 The slave thought he heard his master s voice. But it wasn t his true master. It was that would-be-master that never stops trying to get us to listen: Fear. Fear is clever. Fear is convincing. But Fear is a bully. Fear is sadistic. Fear is cowardly. Fear destroys what you create. Fear wants you to think his way is the only way. But there s another way. And it starts with one, simple step. QUIT. WORKING. FOR. FEAR. All you need to do is remember that you are a person of faith. And faith will liberate you from fear. You can find it in writing in the employee manual: Psalm 27: The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? Second Timothy: For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Deuteronomy: Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. 4

5 I am grateful to be a person of faith. I believe in a God who loves me, and wants me to share my gifts with the world. But God does not want less than the best I can give, and so I believe God helps me step into my own great unknowns to find challenge, and joy, and purpose, and fulfillment. Throughout my life, God has helped me turn away from Fear; to reject the bluster that makes me want to second guess; follow convention; keeps me from jumping in with both feet; forces me to look for the escape hatch before I start the journey; and tells me to quit at the first sign of trouble. I went to Muir, not Poly, not Prep, and I have been grateful every day since. My view of the world and my place in it was shaped there. I developed street smarts, and real empathy for others. The best teachers I had at Muir were equal to the best I had anywhere. I made friends I will love forever. Those three years set the table for an exciting, rewarding future. I majored in theater, despite others thoughtful advice. It wasn t easy to get into the major. There was no job waiting with a major corporation. But it was the path I had to follow and I did not let fear talk me out of it. I started a company right out of college. Now, people would call it a start up. I d be cool. But, in the corporate 80s, people freely told me I how stupid I was. And, to be honest, there were a few times when I thought 5

6 they were right. But, for me it was the way forward, and I did not let fear overcome me. We re still going strong after 30 years. At Chandler, we made the difficult decision to build a new campus when other very capable people told us we were foolish to do it. We understood their reluctance. But we also saw the need, believed thoroughly in our mission, and did not fear the outcome. We had faith that our decision would be the right one. And it was. Times were tough, but money was cheap, labor was plentiful, and the community was motivated. Our faith was rewarded with a flourishing capital campaign, a school that has facilities to match the quality of its program, and capacity enrollment every year. Here at Saint Mark s, when Father Colville asked Marianne to step in as senior warden ahead of his retirement, no one felt less qualified than she. And yet, because she felt God s hand there to guide her she did not fear the challenge. She didn t know she would be in the hot seat for three years. She had no way to anticipate the challenges that lay ahead. But she did it. Our church community has every reason to be grateful that Marianne rejected fear and stepped forward in faith. Now, in 2014, take a look around you, see what this parish has accomplished by turning away from fear and stepping forward in faith. We have a vibrant, growing community of people who have found their spiritual home here. We have identified and funded ministries that serve God and enrich lives from Altadena to Port Au Prince. We have 6

7 more people involved more deeply in church life than at any time I can remember. We are leaning into challenges, not shrinking from them. We all face challenges that force us to decide whether to step up or step back. We all keep an internal ledger of triumphs and regrets. As a great singer once sang, Regrets, I ve had a few. But God has taught me to ask these questions: Who will face these challenges if I don t? What can I contribute to my family, my friends, and my community besides lip service? How can I ask others to help with their time, talent, and treasure if I haven t given as much as I can? No matter what fear tells you, there is always time enough, and there are always resources enough. Deep down, we all know, as I suspect that slave knew, that fear will betray us. Fear doesn t care for others, Fear is not a builder, Fear is not compassionate, Fear is not a comfort. Ultimately, Fear doesn t make the world a better place. Faith does. When I reflect on this parable, I think of it as a referendum on fear. Who knows what happened to the other two slaves after this episode? What 7

8 kind of responsibilities did they get? Was their judgment infallible? Was life a bed of roses forever after? Maybe not. But at least they took a step forward, and probably many more. And who knows how much of their world they changed by reaching out for something better, by stepping forward in faith? I said before that I was not a Thrillseeker. But we do have something in common. Thrillseekers can t do what they do without stepping, climbing, diving, or jumping forward in faith. And neither can any of us. Besides, if you walk forward on God s path, you ll never have to be a Thrillseeker. The thrills will seek you. 8

Faith at the Water s Edge Joshua 3:1-17

Faith at the Water s Edge Joshua 3:1-17 Rev. Jeff Chapman ~ May 31, 2009 ~ Pentecost/Baptism Sunday ~ Faith Presbyterian Church Early in the morning Joshua rose and set out from Shittim with all the Israelites,