1st Sunday of Advent 2009-What Are You Afraid of?

What are you afraid of? Or do you have a Phobo-phobia- fear of phobias?
1. Alto-phobia- fear of heights.
2. Api-phobia- fear of bees
3. Arachno-phobia- fear of spiders.
4. Aviophobia or Aviatophobia- Fear of flying.
5. Claustrophobia- Fear of confined spaces.
6. Coulrophobia- Fear of clowns.
7. Decidophobia- Fear of making decisions.
8. Didaskaleinophobia- Fear of going to school.
9. Dutchphobia- Fear of the Dutch.
10. Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia- fear of the number 666.
11. Homilo-phobia- fear of sermons.
12. Ecclesiophobia- Fear of church.
13. Hadephobia- Fear of hell.
14. Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia- Fear of long words.
15. Novercaphobia- Fear of your step-mother.
16. Peccatophobia- Fear of sinning or imaginary crimes.
17. Peladophobia- Fear of bald people.
18. Theophobia- Fear of gods or religion.
19. Eisoptrophobia- Mirrors or seeing oneself in a mirror.
20. Ablutophobia- Bathing.

Now I cannot be exhaustive but perhaps you have a fear that I did not list. The reality for everyone here is that we all fear something in life- whether we want to accept this or not.

We find in our Scripture passage that King Herod, upon hearing the news that a baby king has been born, is filled with fear. And he then sets off a series of decisions that results in the deaths of numerous young boys- all because a king was afraid of a baby. He suffered from “pedo-phobia.”

Scientists will tell you that there are 3 components to a phobia, 1) the experience of fear, 2) physiological responses (sweating, heart-rate etc.), 3) motor responses (immobilization or flight). However there is little agreement as to where the phobias come from.

Everyone will fear something. There is general agreement that many people seem to inherit at least a predisposition towards experiencing any kind of phobia. For some reason you may be afraid of something and it is a fear that has just come natural to you.

Sometimes a fear can be conditioned into people. If you fall off of a roof you will develop a healthy respect for heights. Fall off a roof a few times and you might become fearful of heights.

But we’re talking theories here.

But one thing that is not a theory is how often people will fear Christ and the subject of Christ. We can talk about God, Allah, Creator and any other name we ascribe to a deity and yet bring up Jesus Christ and the conversation will stall. There is something about Jesus that creates issues for some folks.

1. Herod’s Fear of the Christ-child.

He was not a rightful king.

He was a puppet of Rome.

He was ruthless.

2. Jesus’ Inconvenient Birth.

The scriptures tell us that Jesus came into the world at just the right time. (Romans 5:5) However, to King Herod Jesus’ birth was a very inconvenient event.

a. Jesus was not convenient for Mary.

She had her character brought into question with her family and with the man she was engaged to.

b. Jesus was not convenient for Joseph.

He had a status to maintain among his friends and the community.

c. Jesus was not convenient for the Shepherds.

They had the sheep to guard from predators. Can you imagine leaving in the middle of your shift to go see a newborn king. What kind of excuse do you think that would be to your boss man?
d. Jesus was not convenient for King Herod.

He had a kingdom to safeguard from enemies. If he failed the wrath of Rome would come down on him.

e. Jesus was not convenient for Jerusalem.

When the Magi came to Jerusalem they questioned Herod and verse 3 says that Herod was disturbed by the news that a new king had been born. Perhaps Jerusalem was fearful that the wrath of Rome would not only come down on Herod but they would be oppressed once again?

f. Jesus was not convenient for the Wise Men.

These guys had to travel a 1000 miles to find the Christ child. This was no easy task- or cheap travel. They had no special rates for flying Southwest or any other airline. Come to think of it, there were no air travel options!

In nearly every circumstance, the coming of Christ was a very inconvenient event. For each person involved they had to choose to do something that was inconvenient to their lives and circumstances.

And that seems to be the way Jesus operates. He is never- at least so it seems- convenient for any of us. Now when I look back at various turning points of my life I find that Jesus is always right on time. But when I have my own interests and plans I have found that His ways and thoughts and plans are different from mine and very inconvenient to me.

Something else I want us to take note of is the example of the Magi in their search for Jesus.

3. The Magi Search for Jesus.

Have you ever been so hungry and desirous of something that you would do anything- or almost anything- to get what you wanted?

How about truth? How about peace? How about a relationship with God?

These Magi from the east travelled at their expense to find the Christ-child. And when they did they offered gifts- gold, myrrh and frankincense.

My question is how did these wise men know that the star belonged to Jesus? What made them connect the coming of the king of the Jews with the star? What made this star different from the other incidences of special stars from this one? What would incline them to worship him when they found him?

Whatever the answers, we do know that they came into Jerusalem looking for the Christ-child.

a. They were over-joyed when they found Jesus.

I remember where I became a Christian- the joy was incredible. To know that my sins were forgiven and that my heart was clean made me feel good. I remember standing near the fire-barrel that night knowing that my life was finally different. I was overjoyed.

And I still am. Even in the darkest times my heart is filled with joy in spite of the sorrows and troubles. To just know Jesus is enough and should be enough to fill our hearts with joy.

b. They paid homage to Jesus.

They were prepared to worship the newborn king. This had to unnerve Kind Herod to have these high affluent individuals to arrive to Jerusalem, enter his presence but not offer homage to him but to some baby born somewhere else in his kingdom.

These Magi were more than smart- they were obviously filled with wisdom to have such an attitude. They wanted to find Jesus so that they could worship him.

Why do you want to find Jesus? Do you look for Jesus so you can worship him or do look for the benefits that perhaps knowing Jesus might bring you?

c. They presented gifts to Jesus.

They came with offerings that brought respect to Jesus. Their intent was to treat him as the king he was. Jesus was not born to become king; he was born a king. He was born to rule over our hearts to such a point that even the most expensive and most meaningful thing in all of the world means nothing to us in comparison to knowing Christ.

What is your response when you encounter Jesus? The Magi didn’t fear him but went in search of him. Herod feared him and avoided looking for him. What about you?

Conclusion- There is a choice to be made.

Lots of people become paralyzed with fear to a point that they cannot make a choice-even if it is to save their lives. And this includes people who are fearful of what Christ wants to do in their hearts and lives.

Maybe you are here this morning struggling with this concept: What does Jesus have to do with me?

 Receiving Christ into your life.
Some worry that their life will become different if they become a Christian.

On one hand, no- you are still who you are. Your name will stay the same, your home, your likes and dislikes will probably remain. But your heart is different.

Yes, there is change in your life as you seek the forgiveness of the sins that you have committed. You begin becoming different. But don’t worry, God is a loving and compassionate God who will give you the Holy Spirit to help you with each new day and to deal with the changes that will happen in your life. You will never regret choosing to become a Christian.

 Selling out completely for Christ.

This is where you give up something, someone and yourself to follow Christ. These things may not be necessarily sinful or wrong or negative. But God calls on you to surrender yourself and all of your interests to Him.

This can be a fearful thing. When we give up those things we hold dear to our Lord, there is a fearfulness in doing so. On one hand, we are fearful in obedience to God because we know we have to be obedient to him. On the other hand, we are fearful that we will lose and lose big. But when you give up your interests to Christ he has a way of making your life better and happier for it.

 Buying in to Christ’s Plans and Purpose for your life.

This is the most difficult for a Christian. A good basketball coach will push his players to surrender their interests for the coach’s way of doing things and yet never really believe the coach is right. But if you look at the successful team- in any sport- it is usually the team that has not only sold out to their coach but have bought in to the way he wants them to play.

I am convinced that the same concept is true for every Christian. When I sell out- that is actually the easy part. I can still begrudgingly do what my Lord wants and go with without those things that my Lord wants me to do without. But to buy in to His plan and purpose for my life- well that takes a true commitment to Christ.

But here’s the thing, despite the fearfulness of buying into God’s plan and purpose for my life, I discover a power of the Holy Spirit that I have never had before. I begin to see life differently and live life more exuberantly.

What about you? Where do you stand on this day before our Lord? Are you fearful of the next step that He is calling you to?

You need not be afraid. Allow the Holy Spirit to empower you to choose wisely this day.

You will be glad forever that you did.