Times being what they are, I hope this message, based on the Andy Griffith Show episode, The Haunted House, will speak a good word to you about facing and overcoming your fears.
The Haunted House:
Conquering Life’s Scary
Places
As this episode begins, Opie and his unnamed
friend are on their way home from playing baseball, discussing whether anyone,
even Mickey Mantle, could hit Whitey Ford’s “dipsy-doodle” pitch. They decide that they can settle their
disagreement with a little demonstration.
Opie’s friend will throw a dispy-doodle pitch like Whitey Ford and Opie
will swing away at it like Mickey Mantle.
That should settle it, right?
Did you notice what Opie did as he settled
himself in for a swing at the ball? He
did exactly what Mickey Mantle always did.
He took the bat and knocked the dirt off of his cleats, only Opie
doesn’t really have any cleats. (He was
wearing the same PF Flyers I wore as a child.) Kids learn so much of what
they do, good or bad, by watching us.
One Sunday morning, when our son Josh was a very
little boy, Linda was dressing him for church in his first little blue
blazer. She tried to button all of the
buttons, but Josh protested. After going around and around about whether the
bottom button should be buttoned, Linda, exasperated, finally asked Josh, “How do you know that you don’t button the
bottom button?” His answer was short
and sweet, “I watched daddy.” Children are watching to see how we deal with
all kinds of challenges, including the one we see in this episode.
Mickey Mantle hits Whitey Ford’s dipsy-doodle
right out of the park and right through a front-door window of the old Rimshaw
place. An important part of their young
lives, a new baseball, has landed in a very scary place. They can go after it and reclaim it or they
can surrender their new baseball to their fears of this old, allegedly haunted,
house. Before they ever get to the front
door, the first frightening sound scares them away from the house and their
lost baseball.
You and I may not have hit a baseball through the
window of a scary old house in a long time, but this story is all about us
too. Some part of your life and mine may
have landed in a very scary place. You
may be afraid to face a problem in a relationship. You may be scared to speak
up for what is right. You may be shaky about inviting people to worship with
you or sharing your faith with people who need to know Christ. You may be afraid to admit that you’re wrong
and ask to be forgiven. Whatever part of
your life is lying inside the old Rimshaw place, you have the same decision
that Opie and his friend faced. You can
face your fears and take it back or you can surrender it to what scares
you. When the Bible says, in Psalm 34:4,
I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.
That experience is no small thing. When God delivers us from our fears, He sets
us free to take charge of our lives again and glorify Him in that victory.
Opie and his friend scurry off to find Andy and
tell him what happened. Andy, not
knowing what’s really taking place in that old house, challenges them to think
like big boys and not let the sound of the wind scare them. He suggests that they stay away from the
Rimshaw house and offers to retrieve the baseball for them.
Since Andy is waiting for a very important call
from the capital, he decides to send “nothing
to fear but fear itself” Barney Fife to rescue the baseball. When Andy gives Barney this assignment, we
see Barney do a very human thing that we all recognize in ourselves. Barney thinks of every possible reason why he
shouldn’t go into a scary place, at
least not right now. Apparently, the
fear therapy he recommends for the boys, “getting
back on the horse right away,” doesn’t seem quite right for him. Aren’t we always better at solving other
people’s problems than we are our own?
“Fearless” Barney Fife tricks Gomer Pyle into taking
a little ride with him, a trip that ends up at the Rimshaw place. Then, instead of going in to find the ball
himself, Barney tries to pressure Gomer into doing it for him. “I’ll
check the timing on the engine. I said
it first!” Some things you have to
do for yourself. Facing your fears is
one of them. Sending someone else into
the scary places in your life won’t help you grow.
My senior year in high school, I was involved in
an automobile accident. The accident was
my fault. I got the ticket. On the day I was to appear in traffic court,
my dad offered to go with me. As we
walked into the courthouse he reminded me of the way things would unfold. “I’ll
be with you,” he said, “but you’ll
have to face the judge yourself.”
We need to face our fears. We can’t send in a substitute. But we have a Father who has made us a
tremendous promise that can help us face our fears.
(Deuteronomy 31:6) Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid
or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you."
Barney and Gomer get no further than the boys had
gone in confronting the fears of the Rimshaw place. When they hear a sound that doesn’t sound
like a baseball, they run away and Barney returns to the courthouse in a
panic. Andy’s had enough. After his call from the capital, he will lead
the baseball rescue mission himself.
Andy, Barney, and Gomer enter the Rimshaw place,
walking as closely together as any three human beings possibly could. They find the baseball, but Andy is not
satisfied. He senses that something strange
really is going on in the Rimshaw house, so he heads off to look around.
Andy is getting the idea that as long as fear
keeps everyone away from this house, something very bad could be going on
inside. As we later learn, he’s right. What he senses about the Rimshaw place is
also true about your heart and mine. If
fear keeps us away from an area of our lives, a wounded relationship, a history
of abuse, unfinished business, whatever it is, then we are surrendering part of
our lives to very bad things.
While Andy’s gone, Barney and Gomer see and hear
all kinds of frightening things. When
you live in fear, everything looks different, doesn’t it? Like the painting of old man Rimshaw above
the fireplace, fear just seems to follow you everywhere you go. You can’t walk away from your fears because
you carry them inside you.
Andy returns from his reconnaissance mission and
sees and hears some frightening things himself.
He yells for them to get out and the three of them scatter. Barney and Gomer get to the car and realize
that Andy isn’t with them. Gomer wonders
if Barney hasn’t just become the new sheriff.
Barney knows that there is something he must do. In that moment, the fearful bumbling Barney
Fife decides that facing his fears, as tough a task as it is, is more than
worth it for the sake of his friend. So,
with gun in trembling hand, he sneaks into the back of the house hoping to save
Andy.
You and I must decide that facing our fears, as
tough as it is, is worth it too, for ourselves and those we love. Years ago I was John Crosby’s pastor. He was a young man with Down’s syndrome who
made one of the most beautiful professions of faith I have ever witnessed. The day of his baptism came and John’s
parents let me in on a little secret. In
thirty-three years, John had never put his head under water. He was scared to death of drowning. I talked to John about how safe baptism
was. His parents comforted and coached
him all they could. His moment in the
service came and he stepped into the water.
While I said the things I say to the congregation before a baptism,
John’s voice was heard too. He stood in
front of me, shaking his clenched fists while saying, quite nervously, “Oooh!
Oooh!” But somehow John
decided not to let his fear get in the way of following Jesus. He went beneath the waters, ever so briefly,
came up choking and spouting water like a statue in a fountain, but very proud
that he had overcome his fear for the sake of Christ.
Andy and his posse ran some bad guys out of the
Rimshaw place because they faced their fears.
How many bad things can we run out of our lives and the lives of those
we love if we will welcome the strength that God is more than ready to give? As the Bible says,
(2 Timothy 1:7) For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love
and of self-discipline.
God doesn’t want any part of our lives to be lost
to our fears. He invites us, in His
strength, to face our fears and come to life.
Taken from Messages from Mayberry: Spiritual Life Lessons from My Favorite Episodes of The Andy Griffith Show, by Dr. Ronald D. Vaughan. Available at Amazon.com.
