Living in South Africa right now is not for sissies.  The country's transition to democracy has been miraculous on one hand, and yet is fraught with the societal ructions every country that has ever made this transition has discovered.  In particular, in the past few months, there seems to have been an upswing in violence, and crime aggravated by violence.  A national debate has ensued on crime, reaching all the way to the Office of the President.

How should Christians respond?  69 times in the NIV, we are instructed (!!): "Do not be afraid".  But what does that mean?  What difference does it make that we are Christians when faced with fear?

I preached a sermon on this issue this past Sunday.  It felt inspired, and the feedback has been amazing.  It is available as an MP3 download.  45 minutes, 3.12 Mb.  Right click here, and save as.  (Note, quality of recording has been daramatically reduced to ensure small file size).

I have had some requests - so my (unformatted) sermon notes are below (the DP marks are for a data projector slide).

Fear

 

BBC – 25/02/07

 

 

We live in a fear-filled society.

 

Friends (Wayne and Raylene) moved to Aus.  Love SA, moved for studies and specialization.  Key difference – they say:  “Can feel the tension leaving their system”

 

Just recently seems to have escalated.

 

Why?

 

JP Landman recently sent out an analysis – DP:  www.tmtd.biz, search:  Landman

 

Stats say we are on the mend:

• SA Institute for Race Relations – 8 / 12 crime categories down since 1994
• DOWN include:  murder (by 41%), attempted murder (by 36,5%), car theft (by 32,8%) & commercial crime (by 28,9%).
• UP “only”:  rape (by 1,6%), indecent assault (by 106%), aggravated robbery – i.e. with violence involved (16,8%) and drug related crimes (72,4%)

 

AND crime is not about black on white – the stats show that crime is much worse for black people in our country.  It’s a sad statement on how far we have yet to go in SA that some journalists and people have used the crime situation to talk about blacks driving whites out of the country.

 

Whites = 1 / 11 of population (just over 9%) but only 1 / 33 of murder victims.

Your best chance of being a murder victim is if you are Black, male and young.

 

DP – blank slide

 

So, why does it seem over last few months that there has been a huge escalation:

• Because there has been an increase – stats from short term insurance payouts for Oct – Dec show increase in aggravated assault and carjacking
• Reason: Violence – more cellphones stolen in London 2006. No-one killed.
• Main reason:  its come into our homes and our cars – these are our castles

 

 

So, how do we fix it?

 

Not just as simple as saying get more police on the roads.  Do you trust the police?

Or bring in army.  Or have curfews.  Do we really want a military state?

Or bring back the death penalty – stats show that this does NOT work as a deterrent.

Or run away – that fixes (maybe!) your problem, but not THE problem.  And remember that this type of fear is emerging all around the world:

  * 9/11 in and 7/7 in London

  * Teenage murders in London last week, and letter bombings last month in

So, what should be done?

And what difference does it make that we are Christians?

Four responses:

 

1.  This is a societal problem, and requires a societal response:    (DP)

• In 81% of murder cases the murderer knew the victim.
  i.e. in only 19% of murders was the victim unknown to the murder.
• Rape the numbers are 76% vs 24%
• Serious assault 89% vs 11%.

 

Is this the normal way citizens treat one another?

What about you?  Road rage?  Anger?

 

Is it just SA that’s so violent? 

Some researchers have proven that most violent crime is committed by males under the age of 35.  If the age group 15 and 29 in a society is more than 30% of the total population, violence follows.

There are 67 countries in the world with such youth bulges now and 60 of them are undergoing some kind of serious killing, civil war, insurgency and so on.  

According to the latest Actuarial Society of SA demographic projections, precisely 30% of the SAs population are now in the age cohort 15 - 29.

 

It doesn’t help that many of these have been parentless due to AIDS and economic migration. 

 

What about you?  Think of the women who work in your homes – they’re mothers.  Where are their children?  Do you even know?

 

How do we fix it?  Part of the answer is to have less children. 

Another part is adoptions and looking after orphans. 

 

Another part leads me to my second point, and it is related to helping people out of poverty.

 

 

2.  This is an economic problem, and requires an economic response      (DP)

 

Obvious – poverty and unemployment is a root cause of our society’s issues.

Not to say that all poor people eventually become criminals.  That would be insulting and arrogant – half the world’s population earns less than $ 2 a day.

 

The history of the world tells us that we cannot sustain such a wide gap between the haves and the have nots. 

 

What about you? 

How much do you contribute to getting people out of poverty?  Give away? 
Pay people who work for you?  Job creation?

How rich are you?   (EXPAND)  www.globalrichlist.com     DP

 

We’re prepared to get into debt to finance the extension of our lifestyles.  Yet, we don’t consider getting into debt to finance the extension of God’s kingdom.

 

What are you doing to share what God has given to you?  You have an obligation – clear from the beginning of the church in Acts (DP – Acts 2:42-47)  – believers sold their possessions to ensure that no-one lived in poverty.  They gave freely – and people were saved.  What do we do?  We’re comfortable that no poor people come to our church.

 

The Bible talks about poverty and economics more than almost any other subject, and much more about it than the Kingdom.  As Christians, we have a responsibility to help sort out the economic situation in our country.  As our own church’s motto states:  we are blessed to be a blessing.

 

And this leads me to my third point.

 

 

3.  This is a kingdom problem, and requires a kingdom response       (DP)

 

Our task as Christians is to identify where God is working in the world, and join Him in that work.  This is what we mean by Kingdom building.  Not our own Kingdoms – our own castles, cars, cash balances and careers – but God’s Kingdom.  Its simple really – we can ask a simple question to help us know what God wants us to work on. 

 

He instructed us to pray “May your Kingdom come on earth, as it is in heaven.”  So, we simply ask:  “is there poverty in heaven?”  If the answer is no, then part of our work on earth is to get rid of poverty.  We ask:  “is there crime in heaven?”.  We ask, “Is there peace in heaven?”  Yes?  Then our task on earth is to promote peace.

 

Mother Teresa had some thoughts on what she called "eyes of faith."         (DP)

 

When you start looking and thinking with the mind of a medic: You will see what is needed and not available. When you look with the eyes of a social worker: You will be discouraged, because you are powerless to create long-term solutions. When you look with the eyes of a politician: You will turn away your head: You don't get votes there. When you look with the eyes of a banker you will see no profit ... But if you want to look with the eyes of faith, you will discover people who want to talk to you, who are longing to feel your care and your love. If you want to give that, it is easy.
Mother Teresa, Volunteering with the Sisters, Mother Teresa Website, Tisv.be/mt/vol.htm.

 

 

We have said much about this, and will continue to do so at this church, without embarrassment.  So, I will say no more on the kingdom this morning.

 

Finally, then ...

 

 

4.  This is a spiritual problem, and we need a spiritual response      (DP)

 

We’ve mentioned that we all have repressed anger in us.  In SA, we are an angry nation.  We need healing from this.  We are a fearful nation.  We need healing from that, too.  But, what difference does it make that we are Christians?

 

“Do not be afraid!”  This is a command from God.  69 times in the NIV!

 

Matthew 10:28-31  (NLT)      (DP)

“Don't be afraid of those who want to kill you. They can only kill your body; they cannot touch your soul.  Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell.  Not even a sparrow, worth only a few cents, can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it.  And the very hairs on your head are all numbered.  So don't be afraid; you are more valuable to him than a whole flock of sparrows.”

 

How are we to respond when we feel fearful.  Just suck it up?  Don’t fear?

 

No.  Look at context:

 

verse 17 - he says, "Be on your guard against men."  

Or verse 16, "Be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves."

We are not called to be naive as Christians, or to take needless risks.

 

Christian does not equal no life jacket on a boat, or leaving your car unlocked, because it is protected by Psalm 91.

 

Many of our fears are very real dangers. We are not protected from these problems. All of these bad things, illnesses and violence on the streets and things like that, happen to Christian people.

 

In verse 23 Jesus tells them, "flee persecution."  When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another.  This is something that the Apostle Paul did.  When he got into trouble in one city, he fled and went to another.  So he didn't have to prove his faith or his courage by staying there.  Be careful – very few of us are being persecuted for our faith – which is the context of this passage.  Very few of us have ourselves in the face of danger and crime for the sake of the Gospel.  AND, there are times you can't escape; there are times when you are called by God directly not to escape.

 

So, when it comes down to personal life, it means that if there is a danger out there, it's okay if you lock your doors.  This is not a faith issue.  You are supposed to use your common sense.  It's okay to be more alert if you are in a parking lot and there have been dangers in the community.  It's okay to have Neighborhood Watch and private security.  These sorts of things are the normal responses that we are to have in a world where we have to be on our guard about other people.  So, Jesus gives us that permission. He tells us that caution is wise.

 

So if our heart starts pumping and we throw the shower curtain back and listen, because we hear a funny sound in the house, that's not a wrong thing.  That's a natural thing.  That level of just survival instincts and things like that, that is a part of who we are that keeps us safe.  Just like the reflexes that help us pull our hands away from a hot stove.

 

But what does Jesus mean when he says, "don't be afraid?"

If being a Christian doesn't mean that you have a carte blanche protection from evil, then what difference does it make?  What then should I do?  How should I act differently because I am a Christian in the face of very real threats and fears?  Another way of stating that is, what does God say about how we should face our fears?

 

Isaiah 43:1-3  (NLT)      (DP)

    But now, O Israel, the Lord who created you says: "Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine.  When you go through deep waters and great trouble, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown! When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you.  For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of , your Savior.

 

NOTICE – no promise about NO problems.

I think he means a deeper kind of fear, a kind of fear that ends up controlling our lives.  So all of these things are going to be out there.  All of these dangers are very real, but don't let the fear of that control your life.  Fears can make us do something wrong that we know we shouldn't do.  Fears can keep us from doing something right that we know we should do.  At times like that, fear is in control, and that's what Jesus is saying: “Don't be afraid.  Don't be afraid like that.  Don’t let fear win.”

 

Back to our verses.   Image of sparrows.

 

Lessons:    (DP – builds up)

• God knows everything – he knows what we are worried about, he knows when a sparrow falls to the ground, he knows your fear
• God cares – he not only knows about the sparrow, he cares about it, too.  God is devastated that you, his child, have to live in fear.  God’s heart breaks because his creation is broken.  He can’t wait to renew all things and restore this world to the paradise He intended it to be, where lion and lamb lie down together.
  “Your Kingdom come on earth, as it is in heaven”.
  What a wonderful vision for our lives – to restore paradise on earth.
• God is in control – nothing takes him by surprise.  God will never be overpowered by the things that threaten us.
• God is with us – Isaiah passage.  If he allows danger to come close, He's there to keep it from overwhelming us or from doing any eternal, permanent damage to us.

 

We have very real problems out there and God will allow some of those problems to touch our lives and we don't always know why.  There is a mystery to it. Sometimes it is because he is trying to build our faith, so we stand against the problem and claim the deliverance that he is willing to offer.  Other times, he allows that evil to shape us and to change us into new people.  But in the midst of those fears, we need to remind ourselves that God knows, God cares, God is in control and God is with us.

 

So Jesus tells us, "Do not be afraid."

 

Is fear stopping you being part of the solution?

 - the societal solution

 - the economic solution

 - the Kingdom solution

 - the spiritual solution

 

This is not just a simple solution.  There is much to do.

 

In 1994, the Christians got together and prayed.  Remember how we begged God to give us a peaceful transition and beautiful country to live in.  We don’t have that yet.  We need to get down on our knees and beg God to finish the job.  I have a feeling, though, that God might say that the next phase of building this country is up to us.  We are rich and fat, and live in our castles, protected from the people God has called us to serve.  Yes, we are called to be a blessing. 

We are blessed to be a blessing.  That’s the ultimate solution for fear!

 

SONG                                    CLOSING PRAYER – Psalm 91

CD:  God With Us, Track 7

 

Ps 91:1-16

 

1        He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

2        I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust."

3        Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare and from the deadly pestilence.

4        He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

5        You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day,

6        nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday.

7        A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.

8        You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked.

9        If you make the Most High your dwelling-- even the LORD, who is my refuge--

10      then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent.

11      For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways;

12      they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

13      You will tread upon the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

14      "Because he loves me," says the LORD, "I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.

15      He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him.

16      With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation."

Thank you for these kind & inspiring words. Less than a month ago, my wife and I, together with four of our dearest friends were in an armed robbery (you can read more about it on http://www.roadtalk.blogspot.com....) It is difficult to describe in words what I have gone through emotionally and intellectually. There has even been times of talking about going overseas. But about two weeks ago my wife and I read Matt 5 and the words about learning to love our enemies - not the kind of words I wanted to hear! I am learning that we have a responsibility to establish God's kingdom on this earth. Its not about making a difference anymore! Its about making this world different!

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Posted by: jacbor 08 May, 2007 - 12:32:37

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