Why You Keep Quiet About Jesus (Even Though You Believe)|06.08.25|Facing Giants pt.4
Have you ever noticed that there are unwritten rules about how to act in public with a group of people?
Maybe you’re at the grocery store and you see some young parent trying to corral their kids, and your heart goes out to them because you know they are feeling the social pressure to keep their kids well-behaved and not climbing the displays.
Or you’re at a sporting event, and you’re looking around to see how many other people are shouting out, or standing up, or when to cheer. [story time]
And I’m sure you’ve noticed that there are unwritten rules about how you’re supposed to act at church! Do we raise our hands here? Maybe clapping during a fast song is okay, but not other times?
You can cheer or tear up during a baptism, but don’t show emotion other times. And if you can’t find the Bible verse quick enough, just don’t let anyone know.
And if you’re struggling with doubt, just don’t be a downer.
Have you ever felt those things? Have you ever felt the fear of being “too much”?
“I have questions about the Bible, but I don’t want to ask too many questions.”
I think the fear of being too much keeps us from being honest. It keeps us hidden. And really, I don’t even think it’s because of a lack of knowledge or ability… the real reason is that we fear other people’s opinions.
We all experienced peer pressure in high school, but maybe you didn’t realize how prevalent it still is even when you become an adult.
“What will people think if I speak up?”
“What if I invite my friend to church and they say NO?”
“What if I bring up Jesus and it just gets awkward?”
I truly think the biggest thing that stops Christians from letting their light shine is the fear of what other people MIGHT think. And in our Bible story today, we’re going to see that exact fear play out with the wife of King David.
[Scripture Reference]
So open your Bibles with me to 2 Samuel 6, which can be found on p??? Of the OT in the black, seat-back Bibles. And as you’re finding it, this story actually comes earlier in the life of David than last week’s story about HIS hidden sin. This picks up right after King Saul has passed away, and so David is now officially king, and his first act as king is to unite the country of Israel and to fight the Philistines to get back the Ark of the Covenant, which had been stolen.
So they do that, and then David starts a parade to bring the ark back into Jerusalem, solidifying his kingship and worshiping the Lord who leads them with love and power. Let’s read… >>> [2 Samuel 6:1-5, 14-22]
[2 Samuel 6:14-15]
This is King David's inauguration parade, but he’s not acting like the last king did. Instead of riding in like a regal war hero, David dresses a little differently. He dresses like a priest.
And he’s dancing in worship at the front of the procession that is all focused…not on the king, but on the Ark of the Covenant.
The ark represents God’s presence, and so the whole parade is showing honor and respect for God’s glory. David isn’t just announcing his official kingship, but he’s putting God at the center of the nation again in this public, visible, celebration moment.
[2 Samuel 6:16]
But his wife, Michal, doesn’t seem to share his feeling of joy and celebration. David is so focused on pointing people’s attention to God, that he isn’t focused at all on the attention that’s on him.
He doesn’t care if people have questions about why he’s dressed like a priest and not a king. He’s not focused on whether there are questions about why he’s the opening act for the parade, rather than the main event, riding in on a war horse.
In fact, it seems like David didn’t care at all how he looked in front of others, because he wasn’t performing for THEM.
But Michal DESPISES him in her heart.
Why? Why would she care so much about how David was dancing before the Lord? I think it’s because of how it made HER feel.
[blank]
I don’t think she was just afraid for David’s reputation. I think she was afraid of how HER reputation would be affected by her husband’s actions.
How many of you married people have tried to “manage” your spouse because you didn’t want them to make a fool of themselves? Okay, yeah, now keep your hands up if you admit that the REAL reason was because you didn’t want them to show the world that you married a fool?
Ooh, harder to admit, right? And it’s not just one or the other, because even when we truly care for our spouse, there’s a part of us who also carries the fear of how their actions will affect US, right?
And my spiritual director has been helping me understand my feelings better recently. I’ve been sharing this in multiple counseling sessions, and with my men’s discipleship group I’m a part of, but I think it will really help a lot of people today.
[Fear]
When we are feeling FEAR, our heart is trying to communicate the fact that we need protection, help, refuge. But most of us don’t know how to name our feelings, and so we don’t know how to communicate our needs.
It’s like when you’re feeling overwhelmed at home, and your spouse says one wrong thing—and suddenly you snap. Not because of them. But because your heart has been screaming for help, and it’s gone unheard for too long.
[Fear > control]
When you aren’t getting your needs met by someone else, you’ll try to create your own protection and refuge by trying to CONTROL the situation. Trying to CONTROL the person. Trying to MANAGE their actions.
And if you can’t control the situation or person, you operate with a constant underlying ANXIETY, hypervigilance of always trying to keep your guard up to maintain the false protection you need.
[fear > control > rage]
And when left in isolation, when you never name your feelings or needs, your fear-fueled anxiety and control turns to RAGE, because you feel like a trapped animal with your back against a wall and you need to lash out to create the protection you need.
And that’s exactly what happened with Michal and David. She wasn’t afraid for his reputation. She was afraid for her own. She was afraid of the opinion of everyone watching.
And fear turned into control. Control turned into contempt.
And any time we are experiencing a fear of others, a fear of their opinion, a fear of how they’ll see us — if we let that continue unnamed, if we leave it hidden … it leads to a quiet rage … and we take it out on the people closest to us.
[2 Samuel 6:20]
So when David heads back to the palace, Michal comes out to confront him and mock him for his actions, claiming that what he did was too disgraceful for a king to do.
“You weren’t dressed in your royal robes. You were dressed in a simple robe that a temple attendant would wear. You seemed like “any vulgar fellow.”
(And that would make her “the wife of a regular fellow.” See how this is playing out?)
[2 Samuel 6:21-22]
But David responds without reacting to her attack. “I was bringing attention to the Lord. The one who chose me to replace Saul. So yeah, I WILL DANCE before the Lord.”
“In fact, I’ll become even more undignified if it means giving more attention to God.”
And this moment in David’s life is often lauded as a moment of true worship, where he’s got his priorities straight. He’s worshiping God alone.
[blank]
And it reminds me of the time when Jesus is gaining popularity, and the followers of John the Baptist give him a report and expect him to be jealous of that. But John simply replies, “He must become more. I must become less.”
Because John knew his role was to point to Jesus. So more pointing to Jesus and less pointing to him was a good thing.
And it also reminds me of Jesus himself. Because Jesus was constantly directing all the attention he was getting back to God the Father or the coming kingdom of God. He kept telling people that he wasn’t trying to build a platform for himself, he was trying to get them to turn back to God and accept him as Lord of their lives.
And imagine how different the entire history of the world would be if Jesus had given in to the fear of man? The fear of others? The fear of their opinion?
He would have never upheld the needs of the sick or the poor or the outcast.
He would have never stood up to injustice in the religious leaders of the time.
He would have never taught his followers what it meant to lead with love, love that sacrifices and serves.
He would have never allowed himself to be arrested, beaten, and executed…for YOU.’
[Hebrews 12:2]
Hebrews 12 tells us that Jesus endured the cross, SCORNING IT’S SHAME, for the JOY set before him. And what was the joy that made the incredibly awful and excruciating shame and torture of the cross worth it?
You were. The joy that made it worth it was that YOU would be offered forgiveness and grace and life and salvation and freedom.
Jesus didn’t shrink back when it got uncomfortable. He wasn’t ashamed of the sinners and lost people. He wasn’t ashamed of YOU.
He stood for what he knew was right, even when it cost him. Because he wasn’t a slave to the fear of others. And he invites US into that freedom as well. He invites us to take that stand and not hide for fear of what others might think.
[Matthew 5:14-16]
Matthew tells us this in an incredibly memorable and simple teaching from Jesus. (READ)
Remember the last time you had a power outage and you had to break out the candles? The candle’s job is to bring light so you don’t stumble around in the darkness. So OF COURSE you’re going to put it somewhere where it casts the most light to be the most help.
Jesus is saying that our friends and neighbors and family who live here with us in the Sauk Valley…they’re stumbling around in the dark. 90% of the people who live here are not connected to a church.
They’re out there trying to figure out life, trying to figure out parenting, trying to figure out paying the bills and climbing out of debt, climbing out from under addictions…ON THEIR OWN! Without the help of a church family. Without the hope that comes from knowing that God is working to bring help and healing to them.
They’re in the dark, and Jesus says that YOU are the light. So stand up and shine!
[blank]
But that’s hard isn’t it? Because we don’t want to be known as one of “those Christians.” So many of us have the fear of sticking out, of saying too much, of coming off too bold.
We fear that if we shine our light more, if we talk about faith more out there in the community…we fear that someone might look a little too closely at our life. We fear they might realize we don’t have it all figured out and we still have questions. We fear they might look at our family…and they might judge us.
[4 Gs]
That’s why I’ve been sharing with you these gospel statements so that we can preach the good news to ourselves. So that we recognize that God is Good, he’s the only one we need to satisfy our desires.
God is Great, so we don’t need to try and manage and control others, because he’s actually working behind the scenes!
God is Gracious, so we don’t have to prove ourselves or EARN our forgiveness. Instead we can come clean and experience the freedom to share grace with others!
[God is Glorious]
And today, we need to preach to ourselves that God is Glorious — so I don’t have to fear others. And this word, “glory,” needs to be understood as “weighty.” The fact that God is glorious is supposed to remind us that his authority, his power, his OPINION…has more weight than anyone else’s.
And because of Jesus, we already know his opinion of us: HE LOVES US! He came to show us life and then die for us to create a path beyond death so that we could be reconnected to him…even AFTER we ran from him and disobeyed him and tried to hide.
God created you, gave you the gifts of who you are, placed people in your life to help you and point you to him, and has never given us calling you back to his presence.
And now he’s involving you in his mission of sharing the good news of his love with others. Because he TRUSTS you to join him in his work!
So next time you feel that fear of others, what if you just imagined God standing next to the people you’re worried about. Whose opinion matters most?
Next time you feel that urge to let your light shine with your coworker, or that friend, or that stranger at the store… imagine God standing right next to them. Who is more glorious?
God is Glorious – so I don’t have to fear others. I don’t have to think that their opinion has any power over me. Because I’m a child of the King of kings. I’m a torch bearer of the flame of the Holy Spirit, sent out to share the good news in everyday ways with the people I meet.
[Willing]
And just to be clear: Jesus isn’t calling you to be weird — he’s calling you to be willing. Jesus doesn’t need you to stand out in an unnatural way. We’re not all called to preach sermons, or have perfectly memorized Scripture, or have the gift of praying in tongues.
But we’re all called to let our light shine.
[This week]
So where is God calling you to shine your light this week? Where are you going to have an opportunity to live out loud this week?
Maybe you’re going to have an opportunity to invite someone to join us for Father’s Day. Not because you have to, but because you GET TO.
Maybe you’ll have an opportunity in regular everyday conversation to bring up your faith, or the fact that you go to church, or mention that you’ve been learning more about Jesus.
It’s not something that needs to be forced, but you can be open and honest.
Maybe you can just have an opportunity to share a bit of your story. Where has God changed you? Don’t let it be your best kept secret.
[blank]
When Jesus was talking about a city on a hill, he said that it “can’t” be hid. Really, when a city is built on a hill, it’s not SUPPOSED to be hid. When you put a light on top of a tall tower, it’s there to MAKE SURE it stands out.
And that makes me think of when I first moved here and had a conversation with a real estate agent about our church. [story time]
New Life Lutheran Church…we are LITERALLY on a hill. We are a LIGHT to our community. And we’re not supposed to keep that light hidden.
Which is why I’m so proud of the ways that God is working through all of you. I’m so proud to be a part of this church that uses its campus to host the United Way all summer so they can provide almost 50,000 meals to kids this summer.
I’m so proud of the members of our church family who collected over 17 TONS of hurricane relief supplies last fall. I’m so grateful for the folks from our church who drove it down to Asheville to help people we had never met in the name of Jesus.
I’m so proud of the people who are taking a stand for their faith and saying YES to God’s invitation in baptism, and then turning around and sharing that faith with the people they know, which leads to even MORE people accepting God’s love and grace!
Did you know that in the last 12 months, we’ve celebrated almost 30 baptisms?! That’s more than DOUBLE all the baptisms of adults in the first 15 years of our church! Jesus is on the move!
Jesus has given everything to you, not so that you could blend in to the community around you. But so that you could SHINE.
So don’t hide your light. Don’t keep your transformation quiet.
You don’t have to be loud. You don’t have to be polished. You just have to put more WEIGHT in God’s opinion of you and be unashamed.
So this week—when you have the chance to speak up, to invite someone to church, to share a glimpse of your story—don’t let fear win. God is already at work. He’s just inviting you to shine.
Because when Jesus gave us our mission of helping others follow him, “Go therefore and make disciples…baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit…and teaching them to OBEY everything I commanded you…”
He also said, “I am WITH YOU always, all the way to the end.”
Jesus is already at work in our community. He’s already at work in your friends and the strangers you meet. He’s inviting you to join him, and he’s promised to never make you do it alone. He’s put the light in you, and he’s giving you the opportunities to shine that light to others. Isn’t that good news?