Pentecost 10
19 July 2026
Vineville Baptist Church
Macon, Georgia
W. Gregory Pope
ON KEEPING FEAR IN THE BACK SEAT
Luke 24:36-52. Psalm 56.1-13
“What time I am afraid I will put my trust in God.”
That prayer from Psalm 56 was a lifeline for a mother whenever she faced a challenge that frightened her.
“What time I am afraid I will put my trust in God.”
Those words were a gift she used regularly. And as she did with every good gift she was given, she shared.
The words became a way she taught her children to practice faith. When they were young and scared by the latest thunderstorm, she would come and sit on their bed and they would say together,“What time I am afraid I will put my trust in God.” She wanted her children to grow up choosing faith over fear.
She had put her trust in God all through her life – when she was a little girl and spent much of her childhood interpreting for her deaf parents, when she found the person she wanted to marry, when she was learning to parent her own children, when she and her husband would move into places they did not yet know, but would grow to love, and whenever she had to leave places that had become home for her – all along the way, she put her trust in God.
When the end of her life drew near, and the natural fear of the unknown lay ahead, her children gathered at her bedside and said together with their mother, “What time I am afraid I will put my trust in God.” The God who had always been with her was there to the very end. Even in her last days she chose faith over fear. And in doing so she discovered a kind of confidence that helped her move forward with hope and grace, peace and wonder.
Near the end of Luke’s gospel the disciples are together, talking about these stories that they’ve been hearing – that Jesus has appeared, and that the cross was not the end. While they are talking, Jesus appears to them and says, “Peace be with you.”
They are too startled and terrified to respond. They are terrified because they think they’re seeing a ghost. They’re terrified because they have seen so much so recently that they could never have imagined. They have seen Jesus heal people’s hearts and change people’s lives. Right before their eyes they have witnessed beautiful transformations, new possibilities, and life at its holy best. Right before their eyes: They have seen life at its devastating worst. They have seen the horrific, cruel ways of those who live by fear. They have seen their friend and teacher tortured and killed. They have reasons to be afraid. But Jesus teaches them to move past fear and put their trust in him: “Why are you frightened?” he says. “Why do doubts arise in your hearts?”
Fear and doubt are part of us, part of our fragile, human lives. We may disguise it as anger or bravado, but we keep it around. Scripture is honest about it. So many times throughout the Bible and throughout our lives, often just before something unusual is about to happen, or when
something is about to change, or when we are about to be stretched in ways that confuse us or make us overly cautious, we hear a Voice from within and beyond saying: “Don’t be afraid. Fear not.” Trusting God is listening to that Voice, believing that Voice, and doing what we have to do.
Fear so often keeps us from moving in a better direction. So Jesus says, “Don’t be upset. Don’t let these doubting questions take over. Look at my hands and feet. It’s me. Touch and see.”
And the disciples start to realize that the One they learned to follow three years ago is present with them now, in the middle of their fear, leading them forward. They start to feel something beyond fear. They start to believe in hope for better days. They feel a joy that grows stronger.
But fear rarely goes away permanently. Along with their joy Luke tells us they still disbelieve. So Jesus asks them for food. And as he eats the fish they offer, they remember all the times they ate together, fed the crowds, broke bread and shared a cup. Then Jesus holds a Bible study right there – opening their minds to understand the Scriptures and to help them see the fuller story that they are now part of – one that does not stop with his death and their failure, but one that will continue, that has many more surprising chapters in which they will see the Risen Christ at work.
This appearance of the Risen Christ becomes yet another moment when they grasp his truth again, they see the clearer path, they set fear aside, and follow Christ’s better way. It becomes a moment that will sustain them when in a matter of days the Holy Spirit will come upon them at Pentecost and they will stand before government officials, religious leaders, and their own people to boldly proclaim the liberating justice and life-giving truth of the gospel.
Our stories with God never end. Even when it feels like everything has fallen apart when we feel like we’ve made that fatal mistake, even when we think our story is over, new chapters unfold, inviting us to put our fears aside, trust in God, and move boldly forward in faith with others who seek to trust God. Boldly trusting God is what we must do when justice and truthfulness fall away and we must speak truth to power and live faithfully and creatively as God’s people.
In her book Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear, Elizabeth Gilbert writes about creativity. And what she says about the desire for creativity could also be said about the desire for courage. So where she was written “creativity” I have added the word “courage.” Listen as she tells her story: “Here’s how I’ve learned to deal with my fear: I made a decision a long time ago that if I want creativity (and courage) in my life – and I do – then I will have to make space for fear, too. Plenty of space. I decided that I would need to build an expansive enough interior life that my fear and my creativity (and my courage) could peacefully coexist, since it appeared that they would always be together.
So before embarking on any new project or big adventure, Gilbert delivers this speech to her fear: Dearest Fear: Creativity, (courage), and I are about to go on a road trip together. I understand you’ll be joining us, because you always do. There’s plenty of room in this vehicle for all of us, so make yourself at home. But understand this: Creativity, (courage), and I are the only ones who will be making any decisions along the way. You’re allowed to have a seat, and you’re allowed to have a voice, but you are not allowed to have a vote. You’re not allowed to touch the road maps, . . . suggest detours, . . . (or) fiddle with the temperature. Above all else, my dear old familiar friend, you are absolutely forbidden to drive.
Now that’s a speech worth remembering! Don’t you think?
Keeping our fear in the back seat, refusing to allow our fear to drive our lives, is essential to becoming who God wants us to be – as disciples of Christ and as the Body of Christ. Fear keeps us from the bold and better way of Jesus. Fear can stop us in our tracks.
There’s a movie about a man named Paterson, a city bus driver who lives in Paterson, New Jersey. He spends his days driving around town, listening to conversations, spending time with his spouse, noticing the world around him, and slowly turning his experiences into poetry. Writing brings beauty and meaning to his life, but he’s afraid to share what he writes. He keeps his work in a notebook that he keeps all to himself. When his dog tears up the notebook, destroying his work, the loss devastates him. His poetry disappears. He stops writing.
In the closing scene of the movie, as he sits on a bench looking at his town, a stranger sits down beside him. The stranger has come to see this city where the famous poet William Carlos Williams once lived. He asks Paterson, “Are you a poet?” Paterson pauses, then says, “No.” It is clear in that moment – fear has won. Fear has stopped him from being who he really is.
It happens so often. It is a kind of death that we choose. We are always in danger of letting fear drive us: fear of the unknown, fear of disappointment, fear of ridicule and persecution, fear of failure.
As the stranger stands up to leave, he hesitates. He reaches into a bag and gives Paterson a new journal for his poems. He knows who Paterson is. He knows this is a gifted poet who needs encouragement to put fear in the back seat of his bus and allow courage and creativity to do the driving.
Rosa Parks was told to go to the back of the bus. Instead she sent her fear to the back seat and let courage drive her life. She exposed the fear of those who hated her because of the color of her skin, and she literally changed the world.
There are many people of faith down through the centuries who refused to let their fear drive them toward hate and courageously embraced the bold and beautiful way of Jesus. And in so doing they also have changed the world.
God is forever offering us opportunities to courageously move past our fears and learn to trust: Moments when we have to make major life decisions. Moments when we are passing our faith on to our children. Moments when we are in a new place. Moments when we are deciding to speak up or be silent. Moments when we wonder if God will see us through. Moments when it comes time to die. In those moments God offers us the strengthening gifts we need to become the courageous people God wants us to be.
And so we pray with the psalmist: “What time I am afraid I will put my trust in God.”
Make no mistake: Fear will be riding in the car that carries our lives. The question for us is:
Will fear be driving? Or will we in company with the Risen Christ move boldly into God’s new future? “Do not be afraid,” said the Risen One. “Peace be with you.”
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1. Elizabeth Gilbert, Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear, Riverhead Books, 2015, 25-26