No Pride. No Fear. Only Faith.

Text: 1 Peter 5:6-11

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

We have all heard of fight-or-flight before. It is a psychological way of describing how our minds and bodies often respond to danger and threats. For example, the fight response says, 

"I need to confront this problem. I need to deal with this. I need to take care of business. I need to tackle it head-on.”

And so, with the fight response, a person can become tense, angry, amped up, and ready for action. Metaphorically speaking, a person with the fight response is a person who wants to fight the dragon. They want to march right towards the fire-breathing dragon with their shield and sword in hand.  

On the other hand, though, there is a flight response.  The flight response says, 

"I need to get away from this problem. I cannot handle this. This is too much. I need to find a place to hide." 

And so, with the flight response, a person can become anxious, panicky, and overwhelmed with racing thoughts. Metaphorically speaking, a person with the flight response is a person who does not want to fight the dragon.  Instead, when they see the dragon and feel the heat of the dragon’s fire, they run to the hills.  

Now, this begs the question: 

Is fight better than flight?  

Or, 

Is flight better than fight?  

Or – perhaps – 

Are they both wrong?  

The answer: neither.  That is to say, they are simply a way of describing how human beings react to danger and threats. Some people naturally move toward threats. Others naturally move away from threats. Some people run into the burning building to save, while others run from it to protect. Some people are inclined to confront. Others are inclined to withdraw.

But this raises another question: what does any of this have to do with the Christian life? What does this have to do with the church?

Actually, quite a bit. Let me explain! 

Listen again to the Apostle Peter. He says, 

"Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God…" 

And then Peter says, 

“Casting all your anxieties on Him, because He cares for you." 

In other words, Peter is addressing two old temptations of the human heart: pride and fear.

You see, pride often goes the way of fight. The person given to pride is often tempted toward self-reliance and control. Pride says, 

"I can handle this. I will secure my own future. I will take care of this problem. Everything depends on me." 

And so, when trouble comes, pride puffs out its chest and says, 

"Stand back. I have got this."

Fear, on the other hand, often goes the way of flight. The person given to fear is tempted toward anxiety and despair. Fear says, 

"I am not safe. I cannot trust anyone. I cannot trust God to care for me. I need to escape." 

And so, when trouble comes, fear begins racing with worries and imagines every possible disaster that could happen.

And so, theologically speaking, we Christians must guard ourselves from these two ditches. We must guard ourselves against trusting in our prideful self-reliance and our fearful anxiety. You see, when fight and flight are disconnected from faith, we are no longer resting in the assurance of Christ but reacting emotionally with pride and fear.  And if left unchecked, we can bounce back and forth between pride and fear – fight and flight – like a bouncing ping pong on a ping pong table.  One day, we may be charging headlong into problems with our chests puffed out, saying, 

"I've got this. I can handle this. Look out, world, here I come." 

Then in the next moment, we are ducking for cover, saying, 

"This is too much. I am overwhelmed. I need to shut down. I need to hide."

Dear friends, don’t we do this all the time?  

Just think back to the days of COVID. So many responses, both in society and even in the church, were either fight or flight. Some responses were chest-beating and prideful. Other responses were panicked and fearful. And between these two reactions, there wasn’t much resting in faith.  Lord, have mercy.

If we are honest with ourselves, these temptations are not limited to extraordinary moments. Turn on the nightly news. Before long, fear can creep into our hearts. We begin worrying about our children, our finances, our health, our nation, and our future. Our minds race with endless possibilities of what might happen. 

Or perhaps we go another direction. We look at the problems around us and appeal to our own grit and strength. We say to ourselves, 

"People are weak. I know what needs to be done. I can handle this." 

And before we know it, our chests are puffed out, and we are trusting ourselves. 

Again, Lord, have mercy!  

Dear friends, please listen up!  Peter is calling us away from both pride and fear.  They are both sins, and they wreak havoc in our lives.  The sin of pride and the sin of fear break things.  

Listen to the Apostle Peter, he tells us, 

"Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God."

But we may protest – we can’t be mousy and timid in this world!  If we are, we will get run over in life – we have to have a little bit of fight! 

Dear friends, the humility that Peter speaks of is not being mousy. It is not pretending that hardships do not exist. It is not walking around with your head hanging low. Instead, this Christian humility is simply recognizing that you are not God. You are not sitting on top of your own mighty throne, ruling your own tiny kingdom. You are not the master of your own future. And thanks be to God that you are not.

Instead, humility knows that you belong to Christ. That is right, the humility that Peter speaks of is knowing that Christ has snatched you from darkness and brought you into His marvelous light. It is having assurance that Christ has redeemed you by His blood and made you His own in Holy Baptism – that you belong to Him. And because you belong to Him, you can live under His mighty hand.

That changes everything. This kind of humility knows that when things are going well, Christ is still in control. And when things are not going well, Christ is still in control. It means that when life is full of abundance, Christ is still in control. And when life is marked by hardship and loss, Christ is still in control.

This is why faith is so different from pride and fear.

Pride says, "I can do it."

Fear says, "I cannot do it."

Faith says, "Christ is in control."

Pride says, "Everything depends on me."

Fear says, "Nothing will be okay."

Faith says, "I belong to Christ, and Christ is enough."

This is why Peter can say, 

"Cast all your anxieties on Him, because He cares for you." 

Notice those words: The Lord cares for you. Not humanity in general. Not people in the abstract. You. He cares for you. Listen up: every burden, every worry, every racing thought, every uncertainty of yours can be cast upon Him because He cares for you.  Indeed, do not fear; you have Christ and Christ has you.  

* * *

Let’s tie this all together, the Apostle Peter says, "Be sober-minded." In other words, be disciplined and steadfast in the faith. 

But what does this look like?  

Baptized Saints, there may indeed be times when we need to avoid certain threats. But we do not flee with fear. We flee with a sober mind of faith. And, there may indeed be times when we need to confront difficult problems. But we do so, not with pride. We do so sober-minded in faith.

You see, faith in Christ is assurance in a world gone mad. Faith in Christ is contentment in abundance and in loss because of Christ. Faith in Christ is being anchored while the world rages like a stormy sea around us.

* * *

Dear Baptized Saints, today your hope does not rest in your ability to fight, nor does your hope depend upon your ability to flee. Your hope rests in Christ. You are under His mighty hand. He cares for you. He holds you. And He will sustain you through this vale of tears until the day He brings you safely into His everlasting kingdom. 

No pride. No fear.  Only faith – receiving and resting in Christ, who is for you.  

In the name of Jesus. Amen.