Wellspring UMC; Third Sunday after Epiphany; January 27, 2008: “Trust and Transformation”:

-Matthew 1: 23, 2: 13-15, 19-23; Matthew 4: 12-25

It’s not easy to trust. After all, we are a self-sufficient and self-reliant people. We like to think we’re in control, it’s up to us, and we are capable of handling everything that comes our way. But as someone once said, “We’re not God.” Instead, as followers of Christ we’re invited to trust God and allow God to, not just transform us, but transform the world through us.

I remember sitting in fifth grade PE class. It was just about this time of year, because we were in the winter “health education” portion of the class. Sitting in desks, listening to lessons on the benefits of healthy living, and receiving basic life skills. We got on the subject of how our bodies respond to stress. Specifically, the teacher talked about what happens to us when we feel threatened. It was there that I first remember the words “Fight or Flight.” Oh, I’d probably heard the phrase before, but it didn’t come together in my mind until that day.

At an early age, we learn that fight or flight is an innate response to danger or more frequently, to the unknown or misunderstood. In such situations of stress, we quickly choose to either stay and fight or turn to run, depending on what our perceptions, emotions, and experiences are. The adrenaline pumps up and parts of our minds shut down so that all of our focus is on responding.

Some in this room are fighters with a tendency to duke it out – verbally, mentally, and sometimes physically. Others tend to flee – either avoiding danger and discomfort or running for safety and comfort. Though, I’d venture to say, each of us at times do both. As they say, “We have to pick our battles,” and we do. Sometimes choosing to defend, and sometimes choosing to run.

And yet, whatever the choice, we almost always have to return, maybe not to the scene, but return to what was. We return in hopes that what we desire might come to fruition. The interesting thing about this return, however, is that instead of the quick, forced choice to fight or flee, this return requires thought, prayer, conviction, and a sense of purpose.

When I was planning out my scriptures for the year, I bumped up against this story of Jesus fleeing Galilee in the wake of John the Baptist’s arrest. I realized that this was not the first time Jesus was forced to leave His home. As a baby, Jesus was forced to flee to the Kingdom of Israel’s enslavement, because Herod was out to kill Him. This saved Jesus’ life and fulfilled the prophecy of God which said, “Out of Egypt I have called my son.” Then that Herod died, and the family returned home to Nazareth and raised a carpenter’s son, though apprenticed to build far more than furniture and homes.

Fast forward thirty years, and Jesus is on the lam again, only this time He leaves at the news of John’s arrest. You remember John, the crazy guy by the Jordan, pointing out the Truth to the world, proclaiming to the Religious Leaders that they had it all wrong, boldly declaring that the rulers of the world are ultimately not in charge, and pointing out the need to turn, be changed, repent for all have fallen short of God’s desires. Such proclamation, such boldness, got him imprisoned, and ultimately beheaded.

Jesus sees the risk. Fight or flight? Stay and chance death or flee and live to see another day. Stay and risk failure or flee and fulfill God’s mission and purpose. Jesus chooses the latter, because He knows His time and place. He, better than any other, knows which battles to choose and when.

Here is when the story really gets interesting, for the choice to flee is about more than just fulfilling the prophecy. It becomes the foundation for Christ’s ministry. He hears that John was arrested, so He returned home to Galilee...to that place which was solace, then he said goodbye, packed his stuff, and left his home, trekking Northeast, to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. There he should be safe, but look at what he does.

Matthew tells us that, “From that time on Jesus began to proclaim, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near’”...or as The Message reads, “Change your life! The Kingdom is here!” Jesus picks up where John left off. If he’s looking for safety, this is not a good plan. Such words got John in trouble, and yet, when we think about Jesus, this makes sense.

After all Jesus, an uprooted refugee, potentially pursued by the powers of the world... always went to the places where refugees of life go. He identified with those uprooted by the world, threatened by the powers, and in need of redemption, but even more importantly, He became one of them. He lived out His purpose as Immanuel, God with us, and Immanuel, sides with the underdog. Immanuel knows and trusts the Truth of God. And He proclaimed it.

Jesus takes upon Himself the message of the prophet who called the world, its’ people, her powers, everything, to turn and be changed. The voice in the Wilderness is usurped by the voice of the Christ, the Messiah...the voice of God, who proclaims, “The time is now. The Kingdom is here!”

Hmm. Maybe with Jesus it was not so much a choice of fight or flight, but about a restoration of how God intends life to be. Just returns to Galilee to reveal just this.

But in typical Jesus fashion, He does more than proclaim the Truth but begins to assemble a force which will reveal God’s Kingdom. He goes to the sea and calls Peter and Andrew. “Follow me, and I’ll make you a fishers of people.” They do.

They walk down the line, and this time Jesus turns to James and John. They are tended their nets, mending them, preparing them, doing the detail work to accomplish their job, when Jesus gives the invitation. They too tag along.

Fight or flight? Neither. He left, but comes back to place the Kingdom of God first in His life and the lives of others. He assembled His followers with the message of liberation, a call to trust and look to God for transformation, then that’s what happens.

The Matthew says, “Jesus went throughout Galilee.” That is, He returned to the place where he was threatened,“...and [He] began to teach in their synagogues.” “Repent! Change! The Kingdom is here!” He proclaimed to the powers, “There is freedom for the downtrodden.” Then it says,“He cured every disease and sickness, and...people brought him their sick, demoniacs, epileptics, paralytics, AND HE CURED THEM.”

Fight or flight? No. Jesus simply trusted God and let God transform the world. In the face of secular and religious power, He proclaimed and gave release to those who suffered. Despite the religious laws that said he should not touch them, He healed the sick, exorcized demons, cured epileptics, and made the lame to walk. In the midst of life, He reveals to all, the power of God to transform, if we Trust and follow.

For us, in situations of stress, perceived danger or discomfort, or even in the face of the unknown, it is easy for the ‘fight or flight’ reflexes to bubble to the surface, but it does not have to. By the example of Jesus, instead of fleeing He turned to God, and in turn God transformed the world through Him. He did go to Capernaum, but while there He centered Himself on what God needed Him to do. He returned to do God’s will, to minister, to usher in the Kingdom.

Yes, He put Himself at risk. He associated with those others avoided. He revealed light, and the Truth of the matter is, that those who perpetuated darkness didn’t like it. They didn’t want it, because it meant that they would have to change. They resisted it, because if they accepted Jesus’ call, they’d have to admit that the powers and principalities only seemed to be in control. Ultimately, God was in control, despite the oppression, despite religious rules of uncleanliness, despite any message to the contrary.

Fight or flight was not part of Jesus’ make up. Instead, Jesus turned to God. He allowed the Spirit to lead Him, and He followed. He trusted and did God’s will, and God’s Kingdom was revealed.

As followers of Jesus Christ, fight or flight does not have to be part of our make up either. Instead, WE can allow the Spirit to lead us and follow. WE can trust and do God’s will, so that God’s Kingdom is revealed. We can, but the reality is that we MUST. The world needs us to reveal the Kingdom. Christ needs us to be light to those in darkness. God needs us to resist the powers of this world, so God’s healing power of Love will flow freely.

Individually, we are invited to focus on and trust in God, then follow. It’s as difficult and simple as that. Whether it’s the uncertainty of a diagnosis or the realities of circumstance, Christ invites us to listen to His voice which cries out, “Repent, Change! The Kingdom is here!” To listen and respond when He says, “Follow me!” We don’t have to fight, we don’t have to flee, we just have to do God’s will.

Collectively, we are called to do the same. To not insulate ourselves behind walls or worship or the ways things have always been, but to focus ourselves on Christ and trust God will reveal the Kingdom through us. Christ invites us to listen to that collective voice which cries out, “Repent, Change! The Kingdom is here, and I need You to be my voice...to help build the Kingdom!” “Follow me. Heal the sick. Make a way, especially for those who have no voice.”

With Jesus as our model, the call is before us to become the voice of Christ, the light of life, that source of wholeness to a broken world.

This week in reflecting upon what this means for us individually and as a community, I couldn’t help but get excited about the possibilities. After all, the hub of who we are is caring as Jesus cares. It is our mission and purpose, and it should permeate everything we are about as Christ followers and as the people of Wellspring. Caring starts with trust and it leads to transformation.

To live outside the bounds of fight or flight and into the world of trust and transformation, we personally let go of the fears of uncertainty or risk. We individually take a stand for ourselves, and say, “I’ll do this by God’s help, or I won’t do it at all.” Corporately, we can take risks. From letting some of our ministries go, to focusing what kinds of ministries we take on, we have to seek God’s will and trust that God will lead. Whether individual or corporate, it’s not about fight or flight. Instead it’s about trust and transformation.

Our scriptures both include Jesus becoming a refugee. However, they also include examples of trust and transformation – Joseph trusted a dream, Jesus trusted the Spirit, the disciples trusted the Christ, the sick and unclean trusted that Jesus could change their world. In that trust, through that trust, transformation came, not just for them, but for the world.

In such trust, through such trust, transformation comes for us as well, but not just for us. It comes for others, the community, and the world.

May we be bold enough to trust the Christ, that in doing so, transformation and new life will come, and God’s Kingdom will be established through us. Amen.