doubt

Fear, Cowardice, and Moving Forward

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Fear, Cowardice, and Moving Forward

September 27, 2026*

By Pastor John Partridge

Exodus 17:1-7            Matthew 21:23-32     Philippians 2:1-13

Today we start out, not with a quiz, but with a question that cannot be answered except for in the moment that you experience it. The question is this…

… What do you do with your fear?

How do you react when you are afraid? The famous scientific insight that everyone knows about human physiology is the “fight of flight” reaction. As soon as the amygdala of our brain detects a threat, our fear triggers a rush of adrenaline and cortisol, our heart beats faster, blood flows away from the higher thinking parts of our brain, away from our skin, away from our stomach, and instead flows to provide more oxygen to our major muscle groups. The result primes our bodies to either run for our lives or to fight like it’s the end of the world.

But which will it be?

Planning and training can have an influence, but every individual is unique and it is difficult to know how they will react until faced with a particular situation. Instinct certainly plays a part just we know that adults of many species, especially parents, are famous for protecting their children, even when facing impossible odds and almost certain death.

In the movie True Grit, John Wayne famously said, “Courage is being scared to death, and saddling up anyway.”

In the end, fear is not a theoretical question. At some point, we all face it. In many ways we face it every day. We experience fear when we go to school for the first time, or on the first day of a new school year, or the first day of new job, or when meeting a new boss, or signing legal forms that obligate us for decades into the future, or just reading or listening to the days news, or trying to balance our checkbooks after buying gasoline and groceries. Fear is not theoretical, it is very real, and we face it, in some form, every day.

But what do we do with it?

And that’s where we rejoin the people of Israel in the story of their exodus from Egypt, this time, having had God provide both quail and manna to eat, they once again grumble against Moses because of the lack of water. We hear this in the words of Exodus 17:1-7:

17:1 The whole Israelite community set out from the Desert of Sin, traveling from place to place as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. 2 So they quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.”

Moses replied, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the Lord to the test?”

3 But the people were thirsty for water there, and they grumbled against Moses. They said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?”

4 Then Moses cried out to the Lord, “What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me.”

5 The Lord answered Moses, “Go out in front of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. 6 I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.” So, Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 And he called the place Massah [quarrelling] and Meribah [testing] because the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the Lord saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

You should remember from last week that the people complained about not having enough food and, once again, God provided. Rational people might expect that after being rescued from slavery, walking across the Red Sea on dry ground, being rescued from the pursuing Egyptian army, and then being fed, daily, with quail and bread from heaven, or manna, that the people would begin to trust that God had a plan to provide for them. But no. Instead, they doubled down on their complaining and now they grumbled and escalated their complaining into outright quarrelling and arguing and accusing Moses, again, of bringing everyone out into the desert to die, this time because they did not have enough water. And, once again, God provides.

As we look at the pattern, we begin to suspect that the reason that the people of Israel complained and argued with Moses was not only because of their lack of trust, but also simply because they were afraid. Yes, Moses was born to Israelite parents, but he was raised in Pharoah’s house and then had been banished from Egypt for forty years. He was unfamiliar to nearly everyone and they had good reason to be hesitant with their trust. Likewise, the people had prayed to the God of Israel for hundreds of years and had little or no experience with God speaking to them in return. Although the acts and miracles of God were powerful and amazing, this too was all a new experience for them. Trust is not something that happens overnight, but hunger, thirst, and death in the desert were things with which they were all familiar. And so, when they tested God and asked, “Is the Lord among us or not?” What they were also asking was, “Do we have reason to be afraid?”

But then, keeping this in mind as we read the story surrounding Jesus’ parable of the two sons in Matthew 21:23-32, we once again see fear as an underlying cause, but in it we see an entirely different reaction to that fear.

23 Jesus entered the temple courts, and, while he was teaching, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him. “By what authority are you doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave you this authority?”

24 Jesus replied, “I will also ask you one question. If you answer me, I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. 25 John’s baptism—where did it come from? Was it from heaven, or of human origin?”

They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ 26 But if we say, ‘Of human origin’—we are afraid of the people, for they all hold that John was a prophet.”

27 So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”

Then he said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.

28 “What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’

29 “‘I will not,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went.

30 “Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but he did not go.

31 “Which of the two did what his father wanted?”

“The first,” they answered.

Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. 32 For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.

As the chief priests and the elders of Israel talk among themselves, they admit that they are afraid of the people and that they know that the people believe that John’s baptism was a gift from God. But everyone on both sides knew that the priests and elders did not believe in John’s message of repentance. But believing John’s message carried its own flavor of fear. If the leaders of Israel believed John’s message, as well as the message of Jesus, then they would have to change. Change how they behaved, change how they acted, change how the Temple did business, change their relationships with the people, change their relationship with the Romans, and each of those changes felt just like change feels today. Scary. The leaders of Isreal were not only afraid of the people, not only afraid that the people’s beliefs did not align with their own, but they were deathly afraid of change.

And then Jesus tells them the parable of the two sons and accuses them of being the son that promised obedience but did nothing. Worse, Jesus confronts them with the fabulously insulting truth that tax collectors and prostitutes were entering the Kingdom of God ahead of Israel’s leaders because even when they witnessed how tax collectors and prostitutes were redeemed and brought back to a right relationship with God, they cowardly clung to their fear of change and still refused to believe.

But as we look at these two stories of fear, how should we understand our own? And once again, we find wisdom in the words of the Apostle Paul in his letter to the church in Philippi recorded for us in Philippians 2:1-13 where he says:

2:1 Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

6 Who, being in very nature God,
    did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
7 rather, he made himself nothing
    by taking the very nature of a servant,
    being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man,
    he humbled himself
    by becoming obedient to death—
        even death on a cross!

9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
    and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
    to the glory of God the Father.

12 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.

Paul concludes an earlier argument with a series of statements that begin with “if you have any” meaning that if you have gained any benefit at all from belonging to Jesus and this community of faith, then find a way to act in unity, to love one another and the people around you, and to set aside selfishness or conceit so that you can look out for the interests of others instead of your own. The people of the church should aspire to treat one another as Jesus would.

But then, as if that wasn’t hard enough, Paul says something even more difficult. He says that we should continue to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. And sometimes when we read this, we wrestle with what he meant by the words “fear and trembling.” And so, here I want to go back to the kinds of fear that we just talked about for the last fifteen minutes and the differences between them. The people of Israel were afraid. They were afraid of starving, they were afraid of dying of thirst in the desert, and they complained about it, and they argued with Moses about it, and they asked what God was going to do about it. We criticize them for complaining, and so does Moses, and so does scripture. But when we compare it to the fear that we saw in Israel’s leaders when they confronted Jesus, there is a stark difference.

When Israel faced Moses, they confronted their fear, they asked God what they should do about it, and together they worked through it. But centuries later when Israel’s leaders faced Jesus, they were just as afraid, they faced similar life changing, culture altering shifts in the world they lived in, but the leaders in the time of Jesus simply refused to believe what they were seeing. They didn’t believe John’s message, they didn’t believe Jesus, and it never occurred to them to ask God what they should do about it or attempt work through it together. Instead, they ignored what they saw in front of them, pretended that the miracles that they witnessed never happened, and moved to protect the status quo.

And that difference, I think, is what Paul means when he says that we should work out our salvation with fear and trembling. Faith isn’t always easy. Sometimes life throws stuff at us that makes us afraid, and sometimes outright terrified, and sometimes our fear makes us face our doubts. But working out our salvation with fear and trembling is a mirror of Israel’s confrontation with Moses. Yes, we are afraid. Yes, we have doubts. But rather than pretending that we have never received good from God, rather than pretending that we have never received benefit, or love, or compassion from being a part of this community of faith, and casting aside our salvation, we should ask God what we should do about it, whining and complaining if necessary, and find a way to work through our fear and our doubts together… with fear and trembling.

“For it is God who works in you” so that you can think and act in ways that fulfil his good purpose for your lives.

It is normal to experience fear.

It’s okay to be afraid.

But what you do with your fear makes all the difference if we are to move forward.

Will it be fight or flight?

Will you cast God aside, or will you work through your fear with him?

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*You have been reading a message presented at Christ United Methodist Church on the date noted at the top of the first page. Rev. John Partridge is the pastor at Christ UMC in Alliance, Ohio. Duplication of this message is a part of our Media ministry, if you have received a blessing in this way, we would love to hear from you. Letters and donations in support of the Media ministry or any of our other projects may be sent to Christ United Methodist Church, 470 East Broadway Street, Alliance, Ohio 44601. These messages are available to any interested persons regardless of membership. You may subscribe to these messages, in print or electronic formats, by writing to the address noted, or by contacting us at secretary@CUMCAlliance.org. These messages can also be found online at https://pastorpartridge.com . All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.comThe “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

Called to Doubt and Skepticism

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Doubt. Test. Be Skeptical.

May 2026

by John Partridge

There is an internet meme that says, “Don’t believe everything you read on the internet” and is then sarcastically “signed” by Abraham Lincoln. While obviously false, the admonition is justifiably accurate. We are constantly reminded to doubt what we have read on the internet, to check for the accuracy of the sources of information, and to double check the information before reposting or ranting about what we thought we knew. Several recent stories have been widely misinterpreted and misrepresented by political partisans on both sides rather than admitting uncomfortable truths. There really isn’t any point in saying which ones that I saw, because next week, and next month, there will be different stories and different truths that have been similarly abused. The reminder, however, remains true, we should remain skeptical, doubt everything, check sources, and then double check.

I have heard secular friends make similar accusations about what we teach at church. They have said things like, “The church just twists the truth for their own profit.” Or “Scripture is interpreted and twisted however it best benefits the church and the clergy.” As disappointing as this is to hear, the accusations aren’t new, or even secular. Charlatans and unscrupulous churches and clergy have twisted and misinterpreted scripture since before the Bible was collected into a unified whole. As a result, when Paul writes to the church in Thessalonica, he tells them to “Test everything” and “hold fast to what is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21). And Luke praises the Berean church above the Thessalonians because they “examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true” (Acts 17:11). This is consistent with what Paul said as well in his letter to the church in Galatia when he declared that “even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse!” (Galatians 1:8)

Jesus himself said that his followers should “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them.” (Matthew 7:15-16) Jesus knew that people would come who acted as if they spoke for God, but who only spoke words that would gain them an advantage, profit, or power. For these, Jesus said, we should watch to see what “fruit” was produced for their ministry. Did they raise lots of money? Then what did they do with it? Did they spend money so that the false prophets could live in luxury? Or did they feed the hungry, clothe the naked, speak for the voiceless, and do the work that God’s people have been called to do?

It may be true that sometimes the clergy or the church twists the truth for their own profit. But that isn’t anything new. The Old Testament prophets knew it, the disciples knew it, Paul knew it, and Jesus knew it. And just as it is today with the internet, they all warned us to be skeptical of everything and everybody. Test everything your teachers preach against the scriptures. Check sources. Double check. Then watch to see what kind of fruit is produced and look to see if the work of God’s kingdom is being accomplished.

We must follow Jesus We must be faithful. But we must also doubt, test, and be skeptical.

As Jesus said, “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore, be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.” (Matthew 10:16)

Fear and Peace

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Fear and Peace

April 11, 2021*

By Pastor John Partridge

John 20:19-31                                    Acts 4:32-35                           1 John 1:1 – 2:2

In his description of soldiers at war, in his novel “War and Peace,” Leo Tolstoy describes how disciplined and trained soldiers would be marched into battle, but once they came under fire would be seized by fear, become a disorganized rabble, and chaotically flee for their lives.  But, once having reached the rear, and being no longer afraid, would once again fall under the discipline of their command, reorganize, and march forward into battle.  But, once they came under fire, would again be seized by fear, and the process would repeat itself.  This observation led Tolstoy to conclude that,,,

“Man cannot possess anything as long as he fears death. But to him who does not fear it, everything belongs.” (Leo Tolstoy, “War and Peace”)

While the resurrection story doesn’t contain the same sort of warfare that Tolstoy was describing, we do see many of the same human reactions to fear at the beginning.  However, the power of Jesus’ resurrection allows us to see a transformative change in the disciples and other followers of Jesus, particularly as it relates to fear.  We rejoin the gospel story on Easter Sunday evening as described in John 20:19-31.

19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

24 Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”

But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

30 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

When we join the disciples, they are hiding behind locked doors because they are afraid that the church leaders who had rigged an illegal trial to convict Jesus would be looking for them next.  But in the middle of their fear, Jesus arrives and his first words to them are, “Peace be with you.”  Jesus knows that the disciples were missing something, and immediately shares two things with them.  First, Jesus gives them purpose by declaring that the mission that God had given to him was now being passed on to them, and second, Jesus gives them the gift of the Holy Spirit that will empower them and give them the strength that they will need to do that work.

But not everyone was there.  Thomas was not among them when Jesus appeared and, as clearly as they tried to explain it to him, and regardless of the trust that they had built among one another over the last three years of their ministry together with Jesus, he remained skeptical.  And his skepticism remained until he met Jesus for himself and put his fingers in the nail holes and his hand where the spear had pierced him.  But Jesus knew that not everyone would be able to see him and touch him to cure them of their skepticism.  And of those people, to whom the disciples would be sent, Jesus declares a blessing for their ability to overcome doubt and skepticism and find faith.

John declares that his reason for writing this gospel was so that those people, people like us, could hear the story from the eyewitnesses who, saw it, felt it, and lived it, and believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and by believing might find life that was unafraid, bold, and courageous.  That transformed life, that started in fear of the church leaders, ended with disciples and followers of Jesus who were unafraid to preach the gospel and share the stories about the things that they had seen, heard, and lived.  And Luke describes how that transformation changed them, as individuals, and as a group, in Acts 4:32-35 saying…

32 All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. 33 With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all 34 that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales 35 and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.

One transformation that was caused by the three years of living beside Jesus, and of the resurrection, was that the disciples and followers of Jesus became a family that not only shared their life experiences together, but a family that shared their finances together.  They shifted from claiming that they individually owned their possessions, to recognizing that God owned everything and entrusted their possessions to them.  I don’t think that’s the same as declaring that all their possessions were owned collectively, because the owners of those lands and houses still oversaw and administered the wealth and the possessions that they had, but they now shared that wealth in a new, and deeply generous, way so that everyone in their community of faith was cared for and had the things that they needed.

In 1 John 1:1 – 2:2, a letter that was written to circulate among established churches and gathering places of believers, the apostle John wrote:

1:1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 2 The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. 3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 We write this to make ourjoy complete.

5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from allsin.

8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.

2:1 My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

John reminds the churches that from the beginning, the disciples, apostles, and followers of Jesus took up the mission of sharing what they knew.  They shared their experiences, what they had seen, what they had heard, and what they had lived, with the people, and the world around them.  They shared the story of Jesus Christ, they shared the story of the resurrection, and they shared the stories and lessons that Jesus had taught them.  John particularly notes that they do these things, not only as an act of obedience, but that by sharing their stories, and by sharing the story of Jesus, they receive joy.  It makes them happy to share with others the things that they had been given.

And just to be sure that no one was confused about what he was talking about, John drills down to the specifics, that the message we share is the message that we heard from Jesus, that God is light and cannot have any part with darkness.  That means that if we want to be a part of what God is doing, and be a part of God’s kingdom, and a part of God’s church, then we must do our best to walk in the light and live the way that Jesus taught us to live.

At the same time, John is clear that he was not perfect, that we are not perfect, and that the church itself is not perfect, that we sin, and that we fail to live up to the truths that we have learned.  But if we confess our sins, Jesus will forgive us and purify us.  It is John’s hope that the followers of Jesus will not sin, but if, and when, we do, we can find comfort in knowing that Jesus is our advocate.  He paid the price for our sins and stands beside the throne of God to speak for us in our times of need and to speak words of forgiveness when we fall short.

Just as the disciples were transformed by the events of the resurrection, when we put our faith in Jesus, our lives are similarly transformed.  Where we were afraid and tossed about by the events of the world around us, we become unafraid, bold, and courageous.  Our faith leads us to repentance, our repentance brings us forgiveness, and that forgiveness takes us to a place of hope, healing, recovery, joy, and peace.

Tolstoy may have been talking about something completely different, but the gospel story, and the story of Jesus’ resurrection assure us that there was truth in his words.

“Man cannot possess anything as long as he fears death. But to him who does not fear it, everything belongs.”

And, through our faith in Jesus Christ, we no longer fear death, or life, or principalities, or powers, or peer pressure, or anything else because we know that our trust and faith can only lead to joy… and peace.

You can find the video of this worship service here: https://youtu.be/M8cRsBa8GVI

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*You have been reading a message presented at Christ United Methodist Church on the date noted at the top of the first page.  Rev. John Partridge is the pastor at Christ UMC in Alliance, Ohio.  Duplication of this message is a part of our Media ministry, if you have received a blessing in this way, we would love to hear from you.  Letters and donations in support of the Media ministry or any of our other projects may be sent to Christ United Methodist Church, 470 East Broadway Street, Alliance, Ohio 44601. These messages are available to any interested persons regardless of membership.  You may subscribe to these messages, in print or electronic formats, by writing to the address noted, or by contacting us at secretary@CUMCAlliance.org.  If you have questions, you can ask them in our discussion forum on Facebook (search for Pastor John Online).  These messages can also be found online at https://pastorpartridge.wordpress.com/. All Scripture references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.