Sermon - Conquering Fear on the Road to Wholeness - Part One

Conquering Fear on the Road to Wholeness – Matthew 25:14-30

I first delivered this sermon at Emmanuel Baptist Church in Brooklyn, NY

on Sunday,31 January 1993.

Brothers and sisters, fear can be the most significant determining factor in our behavior and lives. 

For many of us, fear belies our most crucial choices.  Fear limits our decisions regarding careers, vocation, education, relationships hobbies, gifts, talents and any number of other interests.  Fear impedes our ability to experience abundant and freedom in daily living.  Because we fear failure, we forego the pursuit of heartfelt dreams and goals.  Conversely, some people actually fear the consequences of success; they therefore falsely reason it is better not to challenge themselves.  Serial monogamy emerges because of the fear of love and vulnerability.  Non-committal encounters, sexual promiscuity and non-affirming behavior toward all participants results.  Anxiety about the possibility of rejection forces many people to refuse invitations for dates and other social activities.  Perhaps, some of these opportunities may have proven relationally beneficial and yielded positive outcomes.  This type of apprehension explains why some people isolate socially.  The consequences of prevalent fear are a self-sabotaging pattern of choices, consciousness and character that practically furthers procrastination, resentment, shame, guild, regret and very low self-esteem.  Summarily, fear can be the sole determining factor in a person’s life.

Sigmund Freud said that life consists mostly of love and work.  Indeed, it does!  We spend most of our time at our respective places of employment.  Who does not long for a genuine, trustworthy and growing love relationship?  Love and work are two essential parts of a happy, serene and whole life.  I pray that we may conquer the fear in our lives that prevents us from enjoying an occupation that complements our experience of a self-confident life and inhibits us from giving and receiving love.  Jesus says, “The thief [fear] comes only to steal [our dreams and goals] and kill [our faith, hope, trust, ambition, motivation and determination] and destroy [gifts, talents, drive and actions]; I have come that [you] may have life, and [more abundantly] and have it to the full.” Brothers and sisters at Emmanuel, may we strive to defeat and resolve any fears that plague our choices.  Wholesale annihilation of timidity enables us to live healthy and holistic lives.  Let’s fully and boundlessly enjoy the precious gift of life!

Today’s text, “The Parable of the Talents,” offers invaluable insight about the debilitating nature of fear.  Interestingly, one biblical commentator refers to this passage as “A Parable on the Use of Capabilities.”   A detailed analysis of this provocative biblical portrait contrasts polar opposite responses to emotional, experiential and existential fear.  In contemporary terms, a wealthy and successful businessman summons three employees and gives them oversight of several major projects.  The first employee receives managerial charge of five divisions.  A second worker is responsible for two departments.  The third middle manager must invest a particular aspect of the company’s portfolio.  The chief executive officer grants the assignments in accordance with his assessment of his subordinates’ abilities and potential to succeed.  Straightforwardly, the text states that each employee receives a single or multiple talents relative to his possibilities of actualizing a profit. 

Fundamentally, the distribution of talents depends upon the employee’s character, historical context and personal circumstances.  Almighty God, however, justly gives talents and gifts to each person.  The businessman’s confidence in his workers reflects God’s investment in each of us.  Absolutely no one can say reliably or honestly that he or she does not possess some type of special ability.  Again, God is just.  Whereas fairness dictates an equitable distribution of gifts in quality and quantity to each worker, God’s justice prevails as He, in His infinite providence and unerring wisdom, gives talents to each person according to his or her interests, passions and wills.  An equality of opportunity exists for each work to utilizes and succeed with what he or she receives.  Life’s complexity and diversity precludes any possibility of an equality of ability.  God through natural selection endows humankind with disparate and diverse abilities.  Jefferson in The Declaration of Independence posits this divine prerogative and will as he insists upon the inalienable rights that God grants each human being chiefly among them being the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  A person enjoys these God given rights to the fullest extent of his or her natural endowments; whereas the endowments are not equal, the right to actualize them is.  Natural endowments could only be equal if human origins were to possess uniformity.  The incongruence in a person’s beginnings such as race, class, language, culture, ethnicity, religion, creed, sex, gender and other social distinctions prevents equality of ability.  Such a superfluous uniformity would rob us of our unique personalities that yield the breadth and depth of human creativity as evidenced in art, music, literature, poetry, drama, dance and the disciplines of the natural and social sciences.  Summarily, Almighty God justly gives each of us a talent or talents according to who we are. 

Incidentally, God’s will for each us is the fulfillment of our heart’s deepest desires and intentions in conjunction with our capabilities.  What do you wish to accomplish in life above anything else?  Are you capable of achieving it?  If your answer is “Yes,” then you have quite possibly stumbled upon God’s will for you. 

For the hearer’s of Jesus’ words, the talent was a unit of money worth approximately $10,000.  Some biblical commentators posit that a talent was a certain weight of gold, silver or copper.  Those three precious metals differ in the value of their worth which depends largely upon the use of these elements.  To reiterate, all of us have been given a gift but some of us may have to mine deeply to find the treasure and talents that lies within us.  Like some pursuers in the California gold rush of 1849, some people immediately discover gold.  Others of us stumble upon silver after digging for a while.  Then, some other persons mine tirelessly and interestingly find coal.  What happens to coal in time?  It becomes diamonds which are rarer and more precious than the other metals.  Whether monetarily or in terms of precious gems and minerals, a talent symbolizes God’s gracious bestowal of innate abilities and endowments within each person.

In the sixteenth verse of this passage, we observe the worker who was given five talents “went at once (immediately) and put his money to work and gained five more.”  This worker seized the moment and momentum.  He resolved to take full advantage of the opportunity which his master gave him.  Was he merely the recipient of good luck?  It is quite possible.  However, I agree with friend of mine who describes luck as a meeting of preparation and opportunity.  Nonetheless, this servant’s industry yielded a dividend of one hundred percent (100%).

Sermon - Conquering Fear on the Road to Wholeness - Part Two

Conquering Fear on the Road to Wholeness – Matthew 25:14-30

Part Two

Similarly, the worker given two talents followed the same path as his coworker with five talents.  These two employees promptly responded to God’s grace and gifts.  They forsook wishful thinking and anxiety.  As they began to seek a return on their master’s investments, they overcame any doubts or fears that they may have felt.

In stark contrast to his fellow employees, the third servant chose a different path.  The text states, “[he] went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.”  Grotesquely, the evangelist’s description is reminiscent of the act of defecating.  He literally sat on the gift that he received. 

Suddenly, “after a long time, the master …  returned and settled accounts with them.”  The text provides no details about the master’s abrupt and seemingly unexpected return.  Parenthetically, although many contemporary pastors forego preaching about the Second Coming of Christ and His imminent return as past generations of clergy did, we believe and affirm that the Lord Jesus will come again as the Bible says.  It shall be quick, sudden and unexpected.  How will we fare in settling accounts concerning our stewardship over talents, gifts and responsibilities that the Lord entrusts to us?

Jesus; audience understood this parable as a lesson regarding the spread of the gospel in His absence.  The evangelist envelopes “The Parable of the Talents” between two other “signs of the End of the Age” parables, “The Parable of the Ten Virgins” and “The Parable of The Sheep and The Goats.”  All three parables warn believers of the necessity of duty in preaching the Gospel and faithfulness in daily living. 

The Scriptures teach “to whom much is given, much is required.”  Consequently, the master summoned the servant with five talents to assess his profits and losses.  Not surprisingly, this servant confidently rectified his accounts.  He forthrightly acknowledged the initial investment that his master made in him.  He explains his use of the talents.  With superlative self-esteem and personal assurance, this servant summarizes his activities during his master’s absence.  “Here are five more that I have gained.”

The twenty-first verse teaches the importance of faithfulness and stewardship.  The evangelist emphasizes these virtues as he utilizes the word, “faithful,” twice.  The master responds, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful with this small sum [with a few things].  Because of your faithfulness in these small matters, I will give you charge of a great one [put you in charge of many things.] Come and share your master’s happiness [joy].” 

A few lifelong lessons are readily evident.  Faithfulness primarily qualifies disciples for God’s work.  He prefers persons who are faithful over people who are multitalented.  Throughout the Bible, the one criterion that God’s human instruments share is faithfulness; for example, consider the lives of Noah, Joseph, Joshua, Gideon, Hannah, Mary, Phoebe, Lydia, etc.  These inductees in the “Faith’s Hall of Fame” as the eleventh chapter of Hebrews details possess unrelenting faithfulness.  If you wish to serve as an instrument of God’s will and vessel of His love, then cultivate the quality of faithfulness.  Additionally, faithfulness often requires small steps; proverbially crawling before one walks.  One biblical commentator suggests, “Fidelity in small things leads to much greater reward, a reward which consists in still greater responsibilities.”  If we have not been trustworthy and responsible over small, less challenging affairs, can we reasonably expect control of larger and more important matters?  Third, faithfulness often solidifies the characteristic of discipline which yields productivity and success which in turn creates myriad possibilities for happiness.  The unbridled joy of completion, accomplishment and victory is an incomparable feeling.  That emotion eradicates fear! 

Not surprisingly, fidelity in love relationships strengthens those bonds and furthers nurturing, caring and enduring partnerships.  As with professional rapports and friendships, faithfulness in marriage and committed relationships defeats fear. In 1 John 4:18, the apostle of love declares, “There is no fear in love.  But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.  The [person] who fears is not made perfect in love.”  The possibility of infidelity creates and maintains a pervasive and looming danger of betrayal, deceit, distrust, duplicity and other types of punishment.  Fidelity, in contrast, allows emotional security, faith and trust in your relationship.

The evangelist uses the twenty-second and twenty-third verses to reiterate the necessity of good stewardship.  Regardless of the composition, number and diversity of our gifts, God expects appropriate and thorough us of them.  Success and joy are our personal rewards for faithful use of our talents and abilities.  Irenaeus, one of the early Church fathers, posits, “The glory of God is the human person fully alive.”  We cannot underestimate both the affects and effects of faithfulness and good stewardship.

With the twenty-fourth verse, we must consider the dilemma of the one-talent worker.  This parable centers upon this man, as Matthew devotes twice the amount of time and space to the third worker.  This servant begins his settlement response with excuses.  He does not acknowledge his inability to produce a return on his master’s investment.  The servant says, “Master, I know that you are a hard man.  You reap where you have not sown and you gather where you have not scattered.”  None of his words are relevant to the fundamental issue which is the servant’s failure to earn a profit on his talent.  The worker offers simple excuses instead of justifiable reasons.  Still in heavy usage contemporarily in the American South, there is a great word that perfectly describes this one-talent servant.  He is trifling!

How do we understand the servant’s failure to utilize his God given talent?  He himself explains his shortcomings in the twenty-fifth verse, the most pivotal verse of the parable.  The servant says, “I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground.  See, here is what belongs to you.”  Allow those there most lethal words to reverberate in your minds and hearts.  “I was afraid.”  “I was afraid.”  “I was afraid.”  “I was afraid.”  How many times have we said something similar to ourselves and other people in a feeble attempt to rationalize professional and personal failures?  Fear paralyzes this this third servant thereby preventing him from bettering his life.  Risk is inherent and non-negotiable if you expect progress and success in any financial, material, emotional, spiritual and relational matters.  The servant’s fear of failure obliterated any chance of success.

What exactly is fear?  One of the best ways to define fear is considering its practical results.  The Oxford English Dictionary states one of fear’s salient effects.  It causes people to feel perpetual alarm lest something dangerous should happen.  It leads other persons “to be afraid of an anticipated event or state of things as painful or evil.”  As an example, an employee who justly desires and asks for a raise or promotion but feels apprehensive about whether he or she will receive it.  If you wish to hold a leadership position within an organization to which you belong, would you forsake any fears and run for office?  Fear also motivates people “to have an uneasy sense of the probability of some unwelcome occurrence in the future.”  Specific to the thrust and premise of this sermon, fear induces people “to defer from a course of conduct.”  The third servant certainly allowed his fear to derail his ambitions and abilities.

Sermon - Conquering Fear on the Road to Wholeness - The Conclusion

Conquering Fear on the Road to Wholeness – Matthew 25:14-30

Part Three

How many of us have permitted gut wrenching fear to rob us of joy and liberty in daily living!  Fear prevents a return to school to earn high school equivalency or college or graduate degree.  From day to day, we utilize shallow excuses to cloak penetrating fear.  Unfortunately, some of us settle for a severely reduced standard of living in regards to relationships because our fears coerce us to tolerate “unacceptable” situations.  We remain in unfulfilling, unrewarding and possibly disrespectful relationships.  The most extreme example is a battered spouse who stays because he or she is afraid to leave.  For such an unfortunate person, fear becomes larger than life as he or she no longer believes that life offers any better possibilities for love, communication, trust and respect.  Other people’s internal terror and anticipation of their spouse’s reaction tolerate emotional and verbal abuse.  As people settle for meager modes of living, fear turns them into zombies.  They cease to dream or pursue the life that they imagined within the innocence of their youth.  Practically, they fail to reach for anything more, higher, greater, or deeper.  I firmly believe that a person who stops dreaming has stopped living!  Each of us possesses a dream file in the deep recesses of our consciousness and hearts.  I reason that our dreams connect to our purpose for being.  Sarah Vaugh, the late jazz vocalist who hailed from Newark, New Jersey, sang, “You’ve got to have a dream.  You’ve got to have a dream.  ‘Cause if you don’t have a dream.  How you gone have a dream come true?”  Fear destroys dreams and kills our efforts to achieve them.  With contrasting encouragement, the enduring words of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt empowers us to forsake fear.  In the height of the Great Depression, he exhorted the nation, “The only thing that we have to fear is fear itself!” 

It is easy to condemn the third servant whom I charitably characterize as “Mr. Trifling.”  However, we must humbly admit that we share his pain and suffering.  We can relate to his predicament.  This servant lacks self-confidence.  Unsurprisingly, he surrenders to his fears like a victim of circumstances.  Fundamentally, fear is a self-centered emotion yielding unwillingness to accept on its terms and not ours.  Risk is a necessary precursor to achievement and success.  The third servant wanted advance assurance of success before trying to earn an investment.  Whatever the origins and causes (past experiences, dysfunctional family or previous failures) of his low self-worth, they did not justify the servant’s resentment of his master’s success.  Biblical commentators concur that the words of the third servant to his master are ones of bitterness, envy, jealousy, contempt and resentment.  Some people have equal feelings towards their friends, neighbors and coworkers.  We resent them for conquering their fears and then succeeding.  We focus on other people instead of examining ourselves.  It is easier to assassinate other people’s character and denigrate them instead of undergoing slow, excruciating and painstaking self-evaluation which inevitably yields personal growth and spiritual development. 

The twenty-sixth verse suggests that fear leads to perversion, evil and wickedness.  Fear lies beneath much untoward behavior that we classically label as sin.  I define sin as “choices of patterns of behavior that work against me.”  Fear compels choices that impeded a person’s progress toward wholeness.  Fear of intimacy and its necessary vulnerability are the source of a lot of sexual promiscuity.  Fear contributes to countless and immeasurable societal problems such as alcoholism, gambling, drug abuse, debt and mental illness. 

In closing, as we travel the road of wholeness, how are we to conquer fear in our daily lives?  How are we to defeat this thief who comes to kill, steal and destroy our joy?  I would like to offer a few practical suggestions.  First, Jesus Christ came to impart abundant and eternal life to anyone who genuinely believes in Him.  Practically speaking, Christ delivers believers from fear: Deuteronomy 31:6-8; Joshua 1:9; Psalm 27:1-2, 34:4, 46:1, 46:10; Isaiah 41:10-13, 42:16, 43:1-3, 50:7, 52:12, 54:17; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Romans 8:1, 28-39 and 2 Timothy 1:7.  Second, the Word of God calms all fears and soothes each doubt.  As you progress along your journey to wholeness and clouds of fear and doubt burst on the horizon, you can find relief and solace in 2 Corinthians 5:7, “We walk by faith and not by sight,” among other scriptures.  This verse assures you that Christ walks with you; when you walk by faith in Almighty God, you are never left to walk alone.  Moreover, the Psalter enduringly says, “Yea, thou I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.  Thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff comfort me.”  As the title of an encouraging and empowering book pertaining to cancer survival by the late Larry Burkett posits, There Is Nothing to Fear.

Prayer alleviates all forms of anxiety.  One author proposes, “Courage is fear that has said its prayers.”  As we obediently and faithfully pray without ceasing, we cultivate courageous faith to surmount any adversaries and adversities that we might face.

Build a support network of fellow disciples.  Attend services with your church family as often as possible.  When you feel alone, afraid, weak and abandoned, someone within your fellowship will have an encouraging word from the Lord.  Someone else will intercede on your behalf.  Yet another person may offer an empathic word of testimony.

Additionally, you might consider supplementary sources of help in conquering fear.  Pastoral or psychoanalytic counseling may prove helpful.  A twelve-step program or some other type of support group might meet your needs. 

Allow me a final reiteration as my last point.  The Apostle Paul exhorts the Ephesians, “Be strong in the Lord and the power of His might.”  I accordingly urge you to utilize God’s word and power to conquer any fear in your life.  Personally, I rely upon Psalm Twenty-seven (27) in time of terror.  It says,

The Lord is my light and mu salvation

Whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the stronghold of my life

Of whom shall I be afraid?  …

Though an army besieges me

My heart will not fear

Though war breaks out against me

Even then will I be confident …

When evil men advance against me

To devour my flesh

When my enemies and my foes attack me

They will stumble and fall …

Though my mother and my father forsake me

The Lord will receive me …

I am still confident of this

I will see the goodness of the Lord

In the land of the living …

Wait for the Lord

Be strong and take heart

And wait for the Lord

Weep not!  Wail not!  Mourn not!  Fear not!  God does not leave abandon or forsake.  He gives His power to you to enable you to conquer fear on the road to wholeness.