Posted on by Fred Scragg 5

Fear, Forgiveness, Freedom

Matthew 14.22-33

When my boys were younger, they took swimming lesson every summer at our neighbor’s house.  One year, my younger son could not wait to get in the pool for the first time.  He talked about it for weeks leading up to his first lesson and he even counted down the days to his first refreshing dip in the cold water on a hot day.

At this point in time, my younger son had taken swimming lessons for several years.  So, he was more than capable of treading water and swimming without a flotation device.

However, after several years of lessons, something scary happened.

In his overzealous anticipation of getting into the water on the first day of swim lessons, he ran to the deep end and did a cannonball off of the diving board.  

There was no warm up, no wading in the shallow end, no slowly building up to swimming in the deeper side of the pool.

So, off of the diving board he went.  As soon as he hit the water, he began to panic and forgot how to swim.  

The water was splashing and he was screaming as he tried to stay above water.  He was capable of swimming, but in those moments, surrounded by deep deep waters, his fear led him to sink.

His older brother, a complete 4 years older, immediately rushed to his side and gently helped him to the edge of the pool where he could grab on and find safety.

His older brother then reminded him that he knew how to swim and he was just letting his fear control him.  

Shortly after the tears and fears subsided, he was back at it—diving, cannonballing, and swimming, in the deep end of the pool.

In those moments of life, my younger son was saved from sinking and given the confidence that he wasn’t a failure.  He could get back out there and live his life to the fullest.

In this morning’s Biblical text from the Gospel of Matthew, or in other words, Matthew’s biography of Jesus, we once again find ourselves in the middle of a moment between Jesus and the disciple Peter. 

In this Jesus and Peter moment, Peter finds himself splashing and screaming and trying to keep himself from drowning when he is afraid of the  surrounding deep deep waters.

Today’s interaction between Jesus and Peter has us looking into a moment where fear, forgiveness, and freedom all take place.

Let’s hear together what Matthew records for us.

Matthew 14.22-33 says this:

[22] Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. [23] And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, [24] but the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them. [25] And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. [26] But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out in fear. [27] But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”

[28] And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” [29] He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. [30] But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” [31] Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” [32] And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. [33] And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” (ESV)

Peter’s moments of life were very similar to the moments of life that my younger son experienced a few years ago at his swim lesson.  He was in the water.  He was under the water.  He was out of the water.

What brought Peter into the water?  

His faith did.

What put Peter under the water?

His fear did.

What brought Peter out of the water?

God’s grace did.

And, God’s grace gave Peter forgiveness and freedom.

When Jesus revealed himself as the one miraculously walking on water, Peter, who would be the first to publicly confess that he believed Jesus was God in the flesh, God’s Messiah, the Christ, God coming to rescue us, trusted Jesus to hold him up so that he too could miraculously walk on water.

So, Peter gets out of the boat, and with complete faith and trust in God’s presence and power in Jesus, walks on water toward Jesus.

However, as he is walking with faith and trust in God’s power and God’s presence and God’s ultimate control of all things for his ultimate good, Peter gets distracted by the situations and events immediately surrounding him.

You see, when Peter takes his eyes off of Jesus and looks to the left and to the right and up to the sky and down to his feet, all Peter can see in that moment is the waves rising up and crashing down around him, the clouds and lightning and rain in the sky, and the dark shifting water beneath him.

Peter takes his eyes off of Jesus’ person and work for him—the work that is currently helping him do the impossible—overcome the brokenness and dangerous world—and immediately forgets all of that and lets worry, doubt, and fear consume him to the point that he begins to drown and move toward death.

Does all of this sound familiar?

It should sound familiar because it is the ebb and flow of our lives.

It is easier to get into the water and trust in Jesus when we are in church on Sunday or in Bible study throughout the week because those times are designed, if the pastor and church are doing it right, to point our eyes only to Jesus’ power and presence which gives us hope in the midst of life’s difficulties.

However, when we start to take steps out of the Christian boat and into the water of this world—in our homes, in our schools, at our jobs, in our recovery groups—we often forget everything that we were initially trusting in—God’s goodness, grace, power, provision, and protection—as the problems, difficulties, insecurity, and threats of the sinfully broken and damaged world creep up on us.

And, we begin to worry, doubt, and fear to the point we begin to drown and move toward death (defined Biblically as separation from God and eternal torment).  

But, what does Jesus do in these moments for Peter and for you?  He immediately reaches out and gives you his hand and rescues you by pulling you back up above water and helping you get back into the boat where there is safety and security.  Jesus’ mercy gives you hope that you will make it through the storm to the other side of the lake.

That is nothing but pure unconditional grace.

Jesus does not tell Peter, nor does he tell you, to show him that you can swim a little bit and tread water in order to make your way back to him, no Jesus comes directly to Peter, and to you, and gently reaches down to raise you up through forgiveness for looking away from Him and not trusting His promise to care for and protect you.  This forgiveness allows you to find yourself once again with faith and freedom for life today, tomorrow, and forever.

Pastor, theologian, and prolific writer, John Piper, has an uncanny ability to capture both God’s awesome unmatched power and God’s gentle, humble love within a single thought, over and over again.

In what is probably his magnum opus, Desiring God, he shares the following scenario:

Suppose you were exploring an unknown glacier in the north of Greenland in the dead of winter. Just as you reach a sheer cliff with a spectacular view of miles and miles of jagged ice and snow covered mountains, a terrible storm breaks in. The wind is so strong that the fear arises that it might blow you and your party right over the cliff. But in the midst of it you discover a cleft in the ice where you can hide. Here you feel secure, but the awesome might of the storm rages on and you watch it with a kind of trembling pleasure as it surges out across the distant glaciers.

At first, there was the fear that this terrible storm and awesome terrain might claim your life. But then you found a refuge and gained the hope that you would be safe. But not everything in the feeling called fear vanished. Only the life-threatening part. There remains the trembling, the awe, the wonder, the feeling that you would never want to tangle with such a storm or be the adversary of such a power.

God’s power is behind the unendurable cold of Arctic storms. Yet he cups his hand around us and says, “Take refuge in my love and let the terrors of my power become the awesome fireworks of your happy night sky.”

2 Corinthians 5:1, 6–7 tells us this:

[1] For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

[6] So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, [7] for we walk by faith, not by sight. (ESV)

Here are a few takeaways from this morning’s text:

First, the will of God sometimes leads us into difficulties.

Jesus told his disciples to get into a boat that would encounter a storm.

Second, focusing on and trusting in Jesus Christ’s sovereign rule and control of all things releases supernatural strength, power, and peace, into our lives, enabling us to walk with God in Christ amidst the storms of life. 

The very familiar Psalm 23 reminds us of all of this.

The author of Psalm 23 says:

[1] The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

[2] He makes me lie down in green pastures.

He leads me beside still waters.

[3] He restores my soul.

He leads me in paths of righteousness

for his name’s sake.

[4] Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil,

for you are with me;

your rod and your staff,

they comfort me.

And, third, when our faith fails, and it will as we have seen in this Biblical text (and if we are honest, as we have seen in our own daily lives), a cry for help brings deliverance. 

We are told this good news in the New Testament book of Hebrews, when the author reminds us that Jesus knows our feelings and thoughts and needs, because he once walked in a body with a mind like ours, and is therefore able to answer us and help us in the exact way we need.

Hebrews 4:14–16 tell you this:

[14] Since…we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. [15] For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. [16] Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (ESV)

I love Psalm 143, because the Psalm writer, who could have been Peter after this morning’s experience, knows God’s grace and mercy and His desire to help him as quickly as possible.

Psalm 143:7–8 has the author praying this:

[7] Answer me quickly, O LORD!

My spirit fails!

Hide not your face from me,

lest I be like those who go down to the pit.

[8] Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love,

for in you I trust.

Make me know the way I should go,

for to you I lift up my soul. (ESV)

In describing the value of the piece of history that we have recorded for us in this morning’s Biblical text, Matthew Green says this:

“It was a pattern both of unbelief and faith.  They were called to go to Jesus, to direct their lives to the walk of faith.  But storms often beset them, and fear chilled them.  In his power they could for a while do what would otherwise have been impossible—until they considered what they were doing and reflected on the size of the waves.  Then, of course, they could begin to sink—until they cried out to the Son of God for his powerful hand to catch them and hold them up.”

What brings you confidently into the stormy and uncertain waters of everyday life?  

Your faith does.

What puts you under the water fighting the feeling of drowning in life’s hardships and heartbreaks?

Your fear does.

What brings you out of the water and puts your feet back on confident ground?

ONLY God’s grace does.

And, it is only God’s grace that brings you the experience of forgiveness and freedom.

When you are in the water of everyday life in a sinfully self-centered body in a sinfully self-centered world and you are splashing and screaming trying to stay above water, Jesus, immediately rushes to your side and gently helps you to the edge of the pool where you can grab on and find safety.

Jesus, in pure grace, reminds you that you know how to swim and that you were just letting your fear control you. 

Shortly after your tears and fears subside, you are confidently back at it—diving, cannonballing, and swimming, in the deep end of the pool because you were saved from sinking and given the confidence that even though you are a failure, Jesus died on the cross to be your forgiver, even forgiving the sin of struggling to trust HIs promise to care for you and protect you and save you.  Knowing you are eternally forgiven and accepted and loved by God sets you free to get back out there and live your life to the fullest.

Jesus daily leads you from fear to forgiveness to freedom.

With Jesus, you are capable of walking above the darkest and stormiest waters of life.  

With Jesus, you are free to call out for help at any moment and have the God of Creation strengthen you in your fear.

Worship and praise him today, for surely He is the Son of God come to save you.

This is the Word of God for you today.

This is the Grace of God for you today.

Amen.

Reverend Fred Scragg V.

September 27, 2026.

Posted on by Fred Scragg 5

Where Is God?

John 11.1-45

Do you ever ask questions like…

Where is God when bad things happen?

Where is God when I am suffering?

Where is God when I am mentally and emotionally unstable?

Where is God when marriages fall apart?

Where is God when children are abused?

Where is God when cancer and disease show up?

Where is God when addiction ruins my life and my family’s life?

Have you ever asked these questions? Or, similar questions?

Maybe you asked similar questions this week after hearing some of the top news stories.

Maybe you asked, “Where was God when Hawaii faced record breaking flooding?”

Maybe you asked, “Where was God when Cuba’s electrical grid collapsed leaving millions of people in the dark?”

Maybe you asked, “Where is God as the Iranian war enters it’s fourth week leaving a trail of deaths and destruction causing people all over the world to fear nuclear retaliation?”

Maybe you asked, “Where is God as airport security workers are denied their fairly earned wages as the Washington politicians who are holding their money back continue to get paid?”

When life is interrupted by events that cause pain and suffering, both Christians and non-Christians often ask the same questions…

“Where was God?,”  

“How come God didn’t stop this from happening?,” and

“If God is all-powerful and sovereign over all things, why would He let this tragedy unfold?”

In this morning’s text from John’s biography of Jesus, chosen for us by the lectionary, we encounter a situation in which similar questions were asked about God’s whereabouts when bad things were happening.

Let’s here from John 11.1-45 together now.

John 11:1–45 tells us this:

[1] Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. [2] It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. [3] So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” [4] But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

[5] Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. [6] So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. [7] Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” [8] The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?” [9] Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. [10] But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” [11] After saying these things, he said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.” [12] The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” [13] Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. [14] Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died, [15] and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” [16] So Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

[17] Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. [18] Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, [19] and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. [20] So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. [21] Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. [22] But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” [23] Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” [24] Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” [25] Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, [26] and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” [27] She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”

[28] When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” [29] And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. [30] Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. [31] When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. [32] Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” [33] When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. [34] And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” [35] Jesus wept. [36] So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” [37] But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?”

[38] Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. [39] Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.” [40] Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” [41] So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. [42] I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.” [43] When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” [44] The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

[45] Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him, (ESV)

About 2000 years ago, when Jesus’ close friend Lazarus passes away, we hear the question, “Where was God?,” being asked not once, not twice, but three times by three different people.

First Martha, who runs to find Jesus when tragedy strikes, approaches Jesus on the road and says: “Lord, if you would have been here, my brother would not have died!”

Secondly, Mary, who stays behind to mourn, weep, and grieve, says to Jesus when He calls her to come to him:  “Lord, if you would have been here my brother would not have died.”

And thirdly, some of the Jews who were present and watching the tragic situation unfold, asked: “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?”  

As Lazarus was sick, dying, and then dead, questions arose about God’s love, God’s goodness, God’s care, and God’s concern for those He claimed to love.

Some of those questions being,

“Where was God when I was anxious and worried watching my brother get progressively sicker?,”

“Where was God when my brother died at a young age?,” and

“Where was God as I was forced to deal with grief and loss of a loved one?”

In all three statements we see Jesus being accused of not being present when tragedy struck.  And in the same vein, of not caring about those whom He loved and who loved Him in return.  

In this text from John 11.1-45, Jesus answers the question, “Where is God when we are suffering and hurting because bad things happened?”

But, Jesus answers the question of God’s presence in suffering differently than humanity ever could or would.  

Because of sin, when we don’t get a perfect life with all of our desires, wants, and wishes perfectly met by the “Genie-in-a-Bottle” god, we say that God is no longer there or has left us when we needed Him most.

But, Jesus’ answer to the question of God’s whereabouts in tragedy, suffering, and pain, points us to the truth and good news that He is most present with you at those times.

Psalm 34:15–18 says this:

[15] The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous

and his ears toward their cry.

[16] The face of the LORD is against those who do evil,

to cut off the memory of them from the earth.

[17] When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears

and delivers them out of all their troubles.

[18] The LORD is near to the brokenhearted

and saves the crushed in spirit. (ESV)

Jesus is there with you, speaking loudly to you in the most difficult moments of life.  

That may seem like an odd statement because when we think about God, we want to think “happy” thoughts like joy, peace, rest, and heaven.  We don’t want to hear or think that God comes closest in the hardest and most painful moments of life. We want God to eradicate pain and suffering instead.

But this is the truth of scripture.  It is only when sin shows its full power—to kill, destroy, damage, and hurt—that we are able to understand the predicament of humanity.  It is in suffering that we see the brokenness that needs to be fixed.  It is in pain that we realize our imperfection.  And it is in those moments that we recognize our need for a fixer, a healer, a rescuer, and a giver of perfect and unending life.

David Kinnaman, president of The Barna Group points out that 

“National and global events can get our attention for minutes and weeks, but personal crises—divorce, losing your job, death, and economic instability—really can recalibrate spiritual priorities.”

Jesus begins, before Lazarus passes away, by telling His disciples that Lazarus’ sickness was for the purpose of ensuring that they and others would believe that Jesus was in fact the Son of God sent to save men and women from their sin.

And, to show them the hope that they had during this time of loss, Jesus demonstrates His power, right there, on the scene, in the very moment, to turn mourning into dancing, to bring life out of death, by raising Lazarus from the dead so that God our Father in Heaven would be glorified and people would come to faith through repentance of sin and belief in God’s Savior.

Jesus, God in flesh, simply calls Lazarus’ name and he comes walking out of the tomb, raised back to life, for all to see and hear about.

You can even imagine that as Lazarus is making his entrance back into the world of the living, House of Pain’s Back From the Dead is playing as the soundtrack with the lyrics:

“Erase my name from off the tombstones

Alive and kickin’, breathing the air

Call out my name…and I’ll be there

…’Cause I’m back from the dead.”

The historian Paul Veyne calls himself an “unbeliever,” and yet he extols the message of human dignity that we find in the sacrificial love and death of Jesus. Veyne writes:

“[In the gospel, a person’s life] suddenly acquired an eternal significance within a cosmic plan, something that no philosophy or paganism could confer … The pagan gods lived for themselves. In contrast, Christ, the Man-God sacrificed himself for his [people] … Christianity owed its success to a collective invention of genius … namely, the infinite mercy of a God passionate about the fate of the human race, indeed about the fate of each and every individual soul, including mine and yours, and not just those of the kingdoms, empires and the human race in general.”

For Martha and Mary, Jesus was present in their suffering, pain, grieving, and mourning.  He was with them, listening, comforting, and healing.  The text says that “when Jesus saw [Mary] weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled.”  And when He visited the place of burial with the family members, “Jesus wept.”

In their moments of sorrow Jesus was there.  

In their moments of questioning the pains of life Jesus was there.  

In their moments of weeping Jesus was there weeping with them.  

Jesus was troubled by the brokenness of life because of the effects of sin on humanity and Jesus stood by those suffering to have compassion on them, comfort them and provide hope that this is not over, this is not how life will end.  

And, the same is true for you!

In the threats of death and destruction there is always the promise of resurrection and eternal life.

This life, often defined by pain and suffering is not all that there is.

With Jesus, we are not nihilists.

With Jesus, we are awaiting our resurrection and Heavenly home where we are promised that there will be no more pain, no more sorrow, no more suffering, and no more tears.

In your moments of sorrow Jesus is there.  

In your moments of questioning the pains of life Jesus is there.  

In your moments of weeping Jesus is there weeping with you.  

Jesus is always troubled by the brokenness of your life because of the effects of sin on humanity and Jesus stands by you to have compassion on you, comfort you and provide hope that this is not over, this is not how life will end for you who have faith.

In the midst of your sorrows, Jesus calls your name, bringing you into the hope of eternal life, where no bad things will ever happen.

There is meaning and purpose in everything that happens even when you don’t understand.

Jesus is the resurrection and the life. Believe in him and even though you die, you shall live.

The is the Word of God for you.

This is the Grace of God for you.

Amen.

Reverend Fred Scragg V.

March 22, 2026

Posted on by Fred Scragg 5

God Only Knows

Matthew 2.13-23

One of my greatest fears, a fear that sometimes keeps me up at night pleading with God, is the fear of losing a loved one.

I worry, with an extreme intensity, about things like my wife getting in a fatal car accident when she is driving around without me (you know, because I have a god-complex that leads me to believe I have the ability to protect her from ultimate harm when I am around).  

And, I worry, with the same extreme intensity, about outliving my own sons for a wide variety of reasons.  

The world can be violent and therefore emotionally devastating.  

Just listen to the news from any hour of any day — lives are always being taken away due to drunk drivers, overdoses, stabbings, shootings, people falling off ladders or down stairs in their own home, cancer, suicide, wars, genocide, and the list goes on and on and on.

If you have children, whether they are still in your care or grown and out on their own, I know you share my feelings, or at least have shared my feelings at one point, of being afraid for their safety.  

In this morning’s text, chosen for us by the lectionary for this first Sunday after Christmas, Jesus’ parents find themselves in a violent world that is emotionally devastating causing them to fear the death of their 2 year old son.

Let’s hear from Matthew 2.13-23 now.

Matthew 2:13–23 tells us this:

[13] Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” [14] And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt [15] and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

[16] Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. [17] Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah:

[18] “A voice was heard in Ramah,

weeping and loud lamentation,

Rachel weeping for her children;

she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.”

[19] But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, [20] saying, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s life are dead.” [21] And he rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. [22] But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee. [23] And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, so that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that he would be called a Nazarene. (ESV)

In 2022, Ozzy Osbourne released the record, Patient Number 9.

On that album, he has a track called “God Only Knows.”

The gut-wrenching lyrics strike a chord with us because the hopelessness contained within the words resonate with the dark places and dark thoughts that often define our human condition and experience.

Osbourne hauntingly croons:

Facedown on the pavement like a wounded animal

Don’t know if I’ll make it but I’m giving up control

The sky is laughing at me, shivers through my bones

Does it have to end so badly? Am I out here on my own?

God only knows what’s going on

My life has become the saddest song

Even though Christmas was just three days ago, do you feel like your life is the saddest song right now? Or, can you look back to a place that you would have said that your life had become the saddest song?

For Joseph, not too long after Jesus’ birth, he could have defined his life as becoming the saddest song.

After celebrating the birth of his first son, a son whom was actually the Son of God given to him to save him and the world around him from being eternally separated from God, Jospeh finds himself being told to run and hide in a foreign nation because the head of the government was searching for his son so that he could kill him.

If Joseph is like you and me, which he is because he is human, he spent time facedown on the ground crying out in prayer, not knowing if he was going to make it through this present trouble, thinking that maybe God is laughing at him in his pain, asking why things have to be so bad, asking if he is actually all alone.

In a relatively short period of time, Joseph went from singing, “Celebrate good times, Come on!” (Kool & The Gang, 1980), to singing, “God only knows what’s going on” (Ozzy Osbourne, 2022).

Why was this happening to Jospeh, Mary, and Jesus?  The answer is the self-centered living that Sin causes.

King Herod felt personally threatened when he heard the news that a child was born that people were calling, “the King.”  Herod feared losing his throne that gave him power and control.

So, in an attempt to preserve his ego, Herod, in his arrogance, calls for those at his beckon call to go to the place that Jesus was born and terminate the child’s life.

Unable to pinpoint young Jesus’ exact location, Herod has every single male child under the age of two (the estimated age of Jesus at the time) killed.

Each of us is similar.  We feel threatened when hearing about Jesus being the true King.  We feel threatened because we, like Herod, like believing that we are in ultimate control of our lives and have the power to control the lives of others.  We don’t want to believe that there is someone else that is able to hold us accountable for our thoughts, words, and actions.

So, like Herod, we try to deny Jesus’ Kingship and get rid of him by any means necessary. 

The interesting thing is that Joseph did not try to get rid of Jesus.

Joseph could have easily said,”This isn’t my biological child. I didn’t sign up for this. I am walking away so that I don’t have to deal with the problems that this kid is causing.”

Why didn’t Jospeh throw in the towel and call it a day?

Why didn’t Joseph take his ball and go home?

It wasn’t because Joseph is better than you or me.

Joseph persisted because Jesus’ presence with him resulted in God actively leading and protecting him.  With Jesus’ presence in Joseph’s life, God was reminding him of the promises God had made to him and the world for thousands of years.  With the knowledge of God’s promises and the evidence of fulfilling those promises in Jesus, Joseph was able to trust that God was good, God was in control, and God was working all things out for his good—even if it was hard to see in the current moment of violence and devastation.

When God tells Joseph to go to Egypt, God is reminding Joseph (and you) that just as God saved His people from slavery in Egypt, Jesus’ return from Egypt is your return to God as He saves you from slavery to Sin.

When God spares Jesus from Herod’s slaughter of the young children, God is reminding Joseph (and you) that just as Israel had hope and life in the midst of the hurt and death of being conquered by Babylon, Joseph (and you) will have hope and life in the midst of the hurt and death that is experienced over the course of your days.

And, when Joseph is diverted off course to the city of Nazareth and not allowed to go home, Joseph is reminded (and you are too) of the words of promise that Jesus will be one who is despised, rejected, and not accepted by those he came to save.  

The three quotations from Scripture used to describe Jesus are signs that God is doing what God said He would do.  God is giving you a Messiah.  God is giving you a Savior. God is giving you the One He has promised you from the very moment that Sin entered the world in the Garden of Eden.

Stress kills.

Literally.

Sixty percent of all illnesses and diseases are related to stress.

Seventy-five percent of all doctor visits are connected to stress.

Thirteen percent of all Americans between ages 18 and 54 suffer from acute stress.  That’s 19 million people.  

Forty-four percent of all Americans lose sleep every night because of stress.

If you’re 65 or older, your number one health issue is stress.  We have a greater chance of having a heart attack, heart disease, or stroke because of stress.

Why are we stressed? Because we walk around with the world’s weight on our shoulders, convinced that if we work more, exercise more, party more, and make more money, life will work out.

Life in these finite bodies will always give us reason to be stressed into a mess.

As our text for this morning proves, life will always have it’s ups and downs. 

One minute Joseph was celebrating the birth of his first son.  Not just a normal son, but the Son of God, Jesus who would fulfill every promise of God including saving men and women from their Sin.

And, a few minutes later, Joseph was grieving and mourning the death that the birth of Jesus led to.  

Christmas is always about two trees.

Two very different trees.

The first tree is the Christmas tree.  Even though there were no Christmas trees in Jesus’ day, the historical development of the Christmas tree provides us with a visible symbol of the festival and celebration of Jesus’ birth.  The Christmas tree is signal to world that Advent and Christmas are upon us.  Advent being the time you rest in the truth that in Jesus’ birth, you are given the only gift you ever need.  In Jesus’ birth, God comes to you and is with you.  In Jesus’ birth, you are given hope and peace in knowing that all the wrong in your life is made right and all of the darkness in your life is made light.  And, in Jesus’ birth you are given reason to rejoice because God’s love has been poured out upon you and will never be taken away from you.

The second tree is the wooden cross on which Jesus was crucified.  Death is always part of the Christmas story.  If death wasn’t an integral part of the Christmas story, you would have no hope, no peace, no joy, and no love.  In Jesus’ birth, and eventual death on the cross and resurrection from the grave, your self-centered and selfish Sin is forgiven.

Howard Rutledge was an American fighter pilot during the Vietnam War who was shot down and captured by the North Vietnamese in 1965.  They locked Rutledge in a prison in Hanoi, North Vietnam.  The prison was infamously known as, “The Hanoi Hilton.”

Howard Rutledge was locked in a 6×6-foot cell.  There were no books, no magazines, and no newspapers.  The colors were drab gray and dirt brown.  He fought to keep his sanity.  

Sometimes life gets really dark when those in power choose to harm and hurt us.

The most accurate translation of Hebrews 13.5 is this:  Jesus says, “Never, never, never, never, never, will I leave you or forsake you.”  Howard Rutledge believed that.  He prayed for God’s presence while imprisoned by the North Vietnamese in the Hanoi Hilton.  One day, a glimmer of light dawned through the bottom of his prison door.  That was all he needed.  From that point, Rutledge knew that God would set him free.  And, He did!

When Jesus was with Joseph and Mary, they were set free from fear.  They were set free from fear because when Jesus was with them, God actively led them and protected them.

When Jesus is with you, God is actively leading you and protecting you.

How is God leading you and protecting you?  

God is leading you away from death and protecting you from the punishment that your Sin deserves.  

What you see in this morning’s text is that Jesus escapes death for you.

Through the love of God for you, God ensures that Jesus is able to give you hope, peace, and joy by escaping death as a toddler so that He could later escape death by rising from the grave three days after crucifixion so that you, through faith which unites you with every aspect of Jesus, can also escape Hell and find the comfort of God’s presence in Heaven.  

This is the Word of God for you today.

This is the Grace of God for you today.

Amen.

Reverend Fred Scragg V.

December 28, 2025.

Prayer:

Loving Father, help us to pray with Jesus, “Your will be done,” and follow where You lead. Amen.

Posted on by Fred Scragg 5

Inspired By Awe

Psalm 34.11-14

In 2022 Chapman University surveyed adults on 95 fears. It turns out that the majority of Americans suffer from tremendous fear. Many–perhaps as high as 85 percent of the population–live with a sense of impending doom. (This is) a classic sign of clinical anxiety.

The survey follows trends over time and identifies new fears as they emerge. The survey is a nationally representative sample that gives us insight into what terrifies America. Fears are ranked by the percent of Americans who reported being afraid or very afraid.

Top 10 Fears of 2022 by % of Very Afraid or Afraid were:

  1. Corrupt government officials 62.1

2. People I love becoming seriously ill 60.2

3. Russia using nuclear weapons 59.6

4. People I love dying 58.1

5. The U.S. involved in another world war 56.0

6. Pollution of drinking water 54.5

7. Not having enough money for the future 53.7

8. Economic/financial collapse 53.7

9. Pollution of oceans, rivers, and lakes 52.5

10. Biological warfare 51.5

A general overview of America’s top 10 fears in the 2022 survey suggests that Americans’ fears center on five main topics: corrupt government officials, harm to a loved one, war, environmental concerns, and economic concerns numbers.

Do you fear anything on this list?

Do you have a fear that you would add to this list?

What are you afraid of, right now, as you sit there in the pew on this beautiful September Sunday morning?

In this morning’s Biblical text, once again from Psalm 34, we are going to hear King David talk about fear.  But, the fear he is going to talk about is not a fear that makes you run away, cover your eyes, and cower in a corner.

Instead, King David is going to talk about a fear that gives you hope and confidence for today and tomorrow.

Let’s return to Psalm 34 together now.

Psalm 34:11–14 says:

[11] Come, O children, listen to me;

I will teach you the fear of the LORD.

[12] What man is there who desires life

and loves many days, that he may see good?

[13] Keep your tongue from evil

and your lips from speaking deceit.

[14] Turn away from evil and do good;

seek peace and pursue it.  (ESV)

The first thing that King David does in these verses is to ask us to listen to him.

Now, in my arrogance, whenever someone says, “Listen to me,” I angrily and internally ask, “Who are you? Who do you think you are? Why should I listen to you?”

So, let’s ask that question, “Why should we listen to King David?”

Well, as we read through King David’s life story in the Bible, we come to learn that he has had many experiences with God providing for his needs, protecting him from harm, and most importantly forgiving his sin. (See the past two messages on Psalm 34)

King David isn’t just talking talk.  

King David is walking the walk about which he talks.

So, in listening to King David, and being obedient to what he says when he instructs us to repent of sin, believe in a good and gracious God, and rejoice in the forgiveness of sin and enteral life that God freely gives us, we can trust the source.

When I teach leadership courses, I always teach that a leader can only lead someone as far as they have personally gone in their life. 

David has gone all the way into the hell of sin and has been brought all the way back to joy of Heaven by God’s grace alone. 

Therefore, since King David has been there, he is able to help us know and understand that the only way from the hell of sin to the joy of Heaven is through the help of a gracious and merciful and loving God who is found in the person and work of Jesus for us.

Ok, now we are trusting and listening to King David (hopefully).

The first thing King David tells us to do is to fear the Lord.

What does it mean to fear the Lord?

Does it mean to be scarred of him?

In one sense, yes.  We should have a healthy fear of God because in His holiness and power, he could choose to crush us and destroy us for our sin which is disobedience to him and his commandments for life and love.

However, to fear the Lord also means to stand in awe of him.  

Awe is a feeling of reverential respect and/or healthy fear mixed with wonder.

We stand in awe of God because even though he has every right to punish us at ever turn because of our sin, he instead chooses to love us and lead us to repentance and forgiveness of sin through faith in the work that he has done for us and completed for us in Jesus’ perfectly lived life, Jesus’ death on the cross, and Jesus’ resurrection from the grave.

In one simple statement, we stand in awe of God because he is nothing but gracious to us.

Now that we understand what a healthy fear of God is, let us see what the Bible tells us about this healthy fear of God.

Job 28:28 says:

[28] …‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom,

and to turn away from evil is understanding.’” (ESV)

Psalm 111:10 says:

[10] The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom;

all those who practice it have a good understanding.

His praise endures forever! (ESV)

Proverbs 1:7 says:

[7] The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge;

fools despise wisdom and instruction. (ESV)

Proverbs 8:13 says:

[13] The fear of the LORD is hatred of evil.

Pride and arrogance and the way of evil

and perverted speech I hate. (ESV)

Proverbs 10:27 says:

[27] The fear of the LORD prolongs life,

but the years of the wicked will be short. (ESV)

Proverbs 14:26 says:

[26] In the fear of the LORD one has strong confidence,

and his children will have a refuge. (ESV)

And, Proverbs 14:27 says:

[27] The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life,

that one may turn away from the snares of death. (ESV)

The Bible says many more things about the benefits of living with faith in awe of God.

But, in these few examples, we hear that for you who trust is God’s power, grace, and mercy, and stand in awe of God, you will be wise.

When you stand in awe of God, you will turn away from evil.

When you stand in awe of God, you will will have a Godly understanding and knowledge to help you make decisions day after day.

When you stand in awe of God, you will have a strong distaste in your mouth for evil and wrongdoing.

When you stand in awe of God, you will have a prolonged life.

When you stand in awe of God, you will have confidence and hope for the day because you know that regardless of what happens to you, you have a God who loves you and will bring you home to His Kingdom in the end.

When you stand in awe of God, you will have life eternal in Heaven and not death eternal in Hell.

The March/April 2016 issue of Psychology Today attempted to give readers several reasons to cultivate a sense of awe and wonder with their article “It’s Not All About You!” The article mentioned the following non-biblical sources about our need for awe and wonder:

  • University of Pennsylvania researchers defined awe as the “emotion of self-transcendence, a feeling of admiration and elevation in the face of something greater than the self.”
  • A popular theoretical physicist wrote: “Awe gives you an existential shock. You realize that you are hardwired to be a little selfish, but you are also dependent on something bigger than yourself.” Being enraptured is a way “to remove the tyranny of the ego.”
  • Therapist Robert Leahy, PhD writes: “Awe is the opposite of rumination. It clears away inner turmoil with a wave of outer immensity.”
  • Social scientists have found that when people experience a sense of awe, they feel more empathetic and more connected with others. One scientist concluded, “Wonder pulls us together—a counterforce to all that seems to be tearing us apart.”
  • The Wharton School of Business evaluated the New York Times’ most emailed articles and found that the ones that evoked awe were the most shared.

In his book, Desiring God, pastor and theologian, John Piper, wrote the following:

Suppose you were exploring an unknown glacier in the north of Greenland in the dead of winter. Just as you reach a sheer cliff with a spectacular view of miles and miles of jagged ice and snow covered mountains, a terrible storm breaks in. The wind is so strong that the fear arises that it might blow you and your party right over the cliff. But in the midst of it you discover a cleft in the ice where you can hide. Here you feel secure, but the awesome might of the storm rages on and you watch it with a kind of trembling pleasure as it surges out across the distant glaciers.

At first, there was the fear that this terrible storm and awesome terrain might claim your life. But then you found a refuge and gained the hope that you would be safe. But not everything in the feeling called fear vanished. Only the life-threatening part. There remains the trembling, the awe, the wonder, the feeling that you would never want to tangle with such a storm or be the adversary of such a power.

God’s power is behind the unendurable cold of Arctic storms. Yet he cups his hand around us and says, “Take refuge in my love and let the terrors of my power become the awesome fireworks of your happy night sky.”

Where do we learn to stand in awe of God?

In His Word, the Holy Bible.

Why do we learn to stand in awe of God?  

We learn to stand in awe of God because He, the Creator and Redeemer of all that exists in time and space, has the power to punish us because of our sin against Him but, instead, has chosen to continue to love us to the point of dying for us.

In the person and work of Jesus Christ, God, our Father in Heaven, stepped into the flesh of Jesus Christ and lived a perfect and innocent life when measured against God’s standards for life and love, died a sacrificial death to pay the price of the debt incurred because of our sin, and rose from the grave three days later completely defeating the power of sin and death that had a hold on us.

And, simply through faith in Jesus alone, we are given credit for that perfect and innocent life when measured against God’s standards for life and love, that death to sin, and that defeating of sin today, tomorrow, and forever.

David next moves on in this Psalm to encourage us to properly respond to God’s goodness that leaves us standing in awestruck fear of a grace that is unlike anything else we have ever known or experienced.

In response to God’s unconditional and unending goodness toward us, David tells us that our response should be both faith and action.

King David mentions two faith empowered changes in our life that affect our actions.

King David encourages us to live our faith in Jesus through honoring God with the words that come out of our mouth and always choosing to seek peace in relationships instead of conflict.

These life changes that come through faith have benefits for us and the world around us just like fearing God did.

Let’s hear a bit about words and seeking peace from other places in Scripture.

Proverbs 18:21 says:

[21] Death and life are in the power of the tongue,

and those who love it will eat its fruits. (ESV)

Ephesians 4:29 says:

[29] Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. (ESV)

Psalm 37:37 says:

[37] Mark the blameless and behold the upright,

for there is a future for the man of peace. (ESV)

And, Matthew 5:9 says:

[9] “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. (ESV)

In Jesus, we don’t just have forgiveness and a place in Heaven.  We also have a new life on this earth where we are empowered everyday by the Holy Spirit to be more like Jesus on this earth.  We are strengthened and given the ability (although still often tainted by sin) to love God and love our neighbor.

As you walk in faith this week, living in awe of God’s goodness and grace toward you, make Psalm 19.14 your morning prayer.

Psalm 19:14 says:

[14] Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart

be acceptable in your sight,

O LORD, my rock and my redeemer. (ESV)

This is the Word of God for you today.

This is the Grace of God for you today.

Amen.

Reverend Fred Scragg V.

September 15, 2024.