Don’t Be Afraid; You Are Worth Jesus!

Often, when you play the game “Telephone” the original message changes. To begin the game, you need to arrange a group of people together into a circle. Then, one person comes up with a message that is whispered in the ear of the person to their right, and that person whispers it into the ear of the person to their right until the message arrives back at the one who came up with the message. Finally, the beginning and ending messages are compared. The differences between the original message and final message often cause lots of confusion and giggles.

The consequences for changing the message in the game of “Telephone” are very different from changing God’s message. The political and religious leaders over the Southern Kingdom of Judah had changed the narrative about God. They had lost their fear of God and caused God’s people to lose their fear of God as well. So God sent Jeremiah to restore that fear, call them to repent and point them to God’s deliverance. God called to Jeremiah in 627 B.C. and he served as a prophet for about 40 years. In our Old Testament reading for today, we pick up with Jeremiah in Jeremiah 20. Israel’s abandoning of the one true God for false gods, brought them to embrace the sinful rituals of the pagan societies around them including human sacrifice and male and female prostitution. They faced personal, political and spiritual destruction for abandoning the truth and the proof that God would allow that to happen was evident because God had already allowed the Northern Kingdom of Israel to be destroyed for the same thing about one hundred years earlier. God sent Jeremiah because he did not want Judah lost, but they hated Jeremiah. One of their violent reactions is recorded just before our Old Testament reading in Jeremiah 20, 1 When the priest Pashhur son of Immer, the official in charge of the temple of the Lord, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things, 2 he had Jeremiah the prophet beaten and put in the stocks at the Upper Gate of Benjamin at the Lord’s temple. The situation in Judah was so bad that one of the priests had Jeremiah beaten, handcuffed and jailed. Then, we hear Jeremiah’s words, from our Old Testament reading from Jeremiah 20,

8 Whenever I speak, I cry out proclaiming violence and destruction. So the word of the Lord has brought me insult and reproach all day long. 9 But if I say, “I will not mention his word or speak anymore in his name,” his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot.

Jeremiah 20:8-9

Jeremiah shared the Lord’s message, even when it meant insults or physical retaliation.

Like Jeremiah, Jesus’ disciples would also face persecution for sharing Jesus’ message. In our Gospel reading from Matthew 10, we pick up with Jesus encouraging his twelve disciples as they were sent out with his message. Jesus did not hide it from them that they would face many insults and retaliation like Jeremiah. One of the truths Jesus shared with his disciples addressed the fear they would have as they were met with hatred and violence. In Matthew 10, Jesus said, 28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. It would be natural for the disciples to be afraid when they were not only threatened with but endure violence to the point of death for sharing Jesus with others. Yet Jesus reminded them that there was more to them than their physical bodies; they also had a soul. And the same is true for you. You carry the label “Christian” and are called to share Jesus with others meaning you also face insults, rejection and perhaps even physical harm. So, you often withhold who you are to avoid conflict. But then you feel guilty for not claiming your Christianity or sharing Jesus, so you have developed coping mechanisms like your age, gender, personality, education level, personal history, income, laws, socially acceptable topics, etc. to excuse hiding your Christianity and the full truth about Jesus. There is no middle ground when you are asked about your Christianity or Jesus. There is no, “Maybe” as an answer. And it is difficult to hold on to the two truths that you believe in Jesus, and you are afraid most will hate you for it. It is difficult because of fear. You fear those who can kill the body, which are people. And when you fear them more than God, it threatens your eternal future of body and soul. People cannot judge you for eternity, but God does. You have not always acknowledged Jesus and you are more afraid of people’s opinions and weapons than of God, which puts people in place of God. It becomes idolatry, and your pattern of sin leaves you without excuse or defense of God’s judgment of which you should be most afraid.

Jesus reminds you who holds the power. Jesus’ disciples faced social, religious and political judgment. The many powers of their time opposed them, but this is the rest of Jesus’ message to them in Matthew 10, 28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Jesus taught them not to fear people, but God. God is able to destroy both body and soul in hell. At the same time, God is able to keep body and soul alive in heaven forever. So, for all your guilt from failing to acknowledge Jesus before others, Jesus reminds us that he is more powerful than they are. More than that, Jesus went on to describe the depth of his power and love. In Matthew 10, Jesus said, 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. 30 And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. Jesus pointed out God’s ability to track the movements of a common sparrow, a bird often unnoticed and of little value. Also, God’s superfluous knowledge of every hair on your head. The point Jesus made with these two details was to show how valuable you are to him. Because he loves you so much, he considered your life, body and soul, worth his life, body and soul. Jesus publicly acknowledged who he was when you have been afraid and for that he was condemned to death on the cross. The price he put on you was his life. His motivation was love, not fear. Despite your sins, God did not want you lost and condemned. God wanted you to be his, so he bought you with the price of Jesus. Now, whenever you are filled with fear of the world’s judgment or God’s judgment, you have Jesus. The world’s hatred could not stop Jesus because he rose from the dead. You are free from God’s judgment because Jesus already suffered hell on the cross in your place.

Jesus’ love removes fear. When you return to the Bible to hear that God considered you worth sacrificing Jesus, his love drives out all fear. Your motivation to claim your Christianity and Jesus is not fear or guilt, but God’s love. God’s love cannot be contained as Jeremiah said, 9 … his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot. Jesus gave this encouragement to his disciples, which applies to you as much as it did to them and even to Jeremiah before them, 32 “Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. 33 But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.” Jesus stands in heaven acknowledging you by name as one of his people, a citizen of heaven. But most of the people around you still do not acknowledge Jesus as the Savior. In fact, what Paul wrote to Timothy in our New Testament reading from 2 Timothy 4 is still true almost two thousand years later:

3 For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. 5 But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.

2 Timothy 4:3-5

As Paul wrote this to Timothy, he knew the time for him to be taken home to heaven was near. Paul endured decades of persecution, which would culminate in a martyr’s death. He encouraged Timothy as a young pastor to endure by holding on to the truth, to sound doctrine, the true Word of God. His encouragement remains true for all pastors. It is also an encouragement to those who listen to pastors or anyone with a spiritual message to hold to the truth and reject what is false, even if it means persecution. In the midst of hardships and at the end of your life, by holding on to Jesus, you will get to share in these words from our Old Testament reading from Jeremiah 20, 11 But the Lord is with me like a mighty warrior; so my persecutors will stumble and not prevail… 13 Sing to the Lord! Give praise to the Lord! He rescues the life of the needy from the hands of the wicked.

Often, when you play the game “Telephone” the original message changes in a silly way. Fear leads people to change the message of Jesus. The consequences for changing the message of the Bible and wrongly teaching Jesus are dangerous and lead to hell. Yes, most will reject and hate you because of Jesus but God is the one to be feared who can destroy both body and soul in hell. He is also the one who gives eternal life to body and soul in heaven. Your loving God considered you worth Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross to save you from your sins, death and hell giving you eternal life in heaven. As you acknowledge Jesus before others, do not be afraid; you are worth Jesus. Amen.