CMLC 2025-05-18 Sermon

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.