DO NOT BEAFRIAD

“Do not be afraid. . .” These were the first words Zechariah heard as he stood alone in the Temple. A huge change was coming in his life and the angel of the Lord said, “Do not be afraid.” “Do not be afraid. . .” These were the first words Mary heard when the Angel Gabriel came to her. “Do not be afraid. . .” These were the first words Joseph heard during a dream he had about his fiancée, Mary. “Do not be afraid. . .” These were the first words Abram heard and later, the very same words his wife, Sarai heard. All through the Bible we hear messengers from GOD saying, “Do not be afraid. . .” And we see that when they trusted in GOD and in His messengers, there was really no reason for fear. But, even though we have their example to live by, we live in fear. We fear failure. We fear rejection. We fear being wrong. We fear being embarrassed. We even fear success. We fear doing something new and different. So too often we do not attempt anything new.
Perhaps Jacob felt this way. In the midst of his concerns and frustrations, Jacob heard GOD speaking to him, comforting him with the words, “Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt . . .” Those were the first words Jacob heard that night when he camped at Beersheba. The message from GOD to Jacob and to every one else in the Bible comes in two parts: first there is the message of hope, ‘do not fear’, which is always followed by an assurance, declaring why the person has no reason for being afraid. For Jacob, the second part of the assurance from GOD stated: “. . . for I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will surely bring you back again.” These were GOD’s words of promise to Jacob, words which became a promise fulfilled. For GOD did as HE promised. GOD went with Jacob to Egypt and brought him back safely.
Like Jacob, we too fear going to new places. Sometimes we fear striking out on our own. In the Gospel of Mark the word ‘stay’ does not exist in the ancient Greek text. The word ‘remain’ can be found only twice. Both of these times the word refers to remaining silent; not to remaining in one place. To counter the absence of ‘stay’, the word ‘go’ is used by Jesus 27 times and the word to ‘come’ is used 61 times!
In our church there are two young women who have heard Jesus say, ‘Go!’ And they are going. These two women, one of whom is my middle daughter, Rachel, are going without fear, although I’m not sure the same can be send of their parents! Like Jacob from the Bible, they also heard the messenger of GOD saying, “Do not be afraid.” And, without fear, knowing that GOD is going with them, they are going. They are leaving our Valley for an unknown world, the Dominican Republic, where they will work as short-term Mission Volunteers with Orphanage Outreach. In the Dominican Republic, in the village of Monte Cristi, they will work and live with the very poor and the forgotten, orphaned children. Leaving everything familiar behind, like language and food, customs and culture, they are fulfilling what Jesus said, when HE instructed all of us to “Go!”
“Go!” Jesus said. Most of the time we take this command as these two women did, and we physically get up and go somewhere. Most of the time I think this is true. However, sometimes the idea of going is not to take a physical trip, as much as going on a spiritual journey. Sometimes the idea of going is to go into the future, which can be just as frightening as going to a far-off land. As we begin a new year, we are going into the future. A brand new year has opened before us. No one, not one of us has ever stepped into February 4, 2009 before. We really do not know what it holds for us. The unknown is always a little scary. It is a little frightening to go where we have never been before. Nevertheless, we all have the promise from Jesus assuring each of us, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” With a promise like that, what more can we ask for as we begin a new year together?