Fear Not!

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid (Easter 6C, John 14:23-29). 

The peace of the Lord be always with you…[“And also with you.”] We say this every week, don’t we? Do you remember where exactly in the liturgy this happens?...Right at the beginning of the service of Holy Communion. Right at the start of the celebration of the Sacrament of Christ’s on-going presence. Jesus promises us his presence in today’s Gospel reading, and he promises to send us the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, to teach us and remind of what Jesus has said to us. What is it that Jesus has said to us? One of the first things that comes to mind is Jesus’ summary of the law: “love God, love your neighbor as yourself.” The second thing might be what we call the Great Commission: “Go to all the world, making disciples and teaching.” But you know, based on number of occurrences, can you guess, throughout both the New and Old Testaments, in all of Scripture, what is the one thing that God says to us more times than anything else? How many of you vote for “do not sin?” Well, lucky for me, and probably for us all, you’re wrong! I counted, and almost twice as many times as Scripture says “do not sin,” Scripture says…“do not fear.” Over and over again, to Abraham when he answered the call and left his homeland, to the Israelites as they ran in terror from Egypt’s army through the sea, to Mary when she learned she would bear the Messiah, to the shepherds in the fields who saw the angelic choir, to the disciples…and to us, today. “Fear not: through you, all the peoples of the world will see my light. Fear not: I go before you, beside you, and behind you. Fear not, you are full of grace. Fear not, I give you my peace. Fear not: I am with you always.”

Click for full size version to print

“Stop being afraid!” is the Bible’s most common refrain. In today’s Gospel, we hear: “do not let your hearts be afraid.” We should keep in mind the context of this speech—it’s the first Maundy Thursday, the Last Supper. Jesus is at his final meal with his disciples, even the disciple who would betray him. Jesus knows they will all soon abandon him. Jesus knows he is going to his death!... And Jesus is saying, “Stop being afraid. Because of the things I am saying, you can stop being afraid. Because I am with you always, you can stop being afraid. Because I’m sending you my Holy Spirit, you can stop being afraid. Because I give you my peace, you can stop being afraid...” After I counted, I made a poster of the 103 places in the Bible we are told “Fear not!” I made you all your own copies to put on your fridge or at your desk, and I hope you will take one as you leave today.

I made these because I think the most pernicious threat to our faith and life as Christians today is fear. My proposal to you is that the opposite of faith is not unbelief, it’s fear. It’s not unbelief that keeps us from being disciples, it’s fear. Walk through almost any public space, and many offices, this week, and you’ll find a never-ending proclamation of doom from one broadcast media channel or another; Look at any of the feeds on your social media sites, and you see an endless stream of posts and stories trying to trigger your adrenaline response and fill you with fear. Twenty-four-seven, 365, we see and hear messages intended to frighten us: from resistant viruses, to terrorist threats and attacks, to financial ruin, to natural disasters, to supposed destruction of our democracy from the left or the right. These messages are clear: “You are in danger… Be very afraid.” Jesus’ promise of his peace and the Holy Spirit’s guiding was in response to this same kind of fear.

When we fear, we tighten our grip and close our minds, our hands, and our hearts. As a result, we become uncharitable, inhospitable, and unchristian. This is the richest and most powerful country the world has ever known—richer and more powerful than the Kingdom of Israel ever was, even than Rome in Jesus' time. And yet, we are so consumed by our fears that when I say that God commands us—in more than 50 different places in the Bible—to find ways to open our hearts and have compassion for the immigrants and strangers in our land—it is heard by everyone as a partisan statement. The more we allow our lives to be shaped by fear, the easier it becomes to love the things of this world that falsely claim to provide safety—rather than to love God, in whom we live and move and have our very being. I think it’s just as accurate to say, instead of “where your treasure is, there is your heart also,” to say, “where your safety from fear is, there is your heart also.”

“I give you my peace…stop being afraid.” Jesus said this just after he had washed the feet of Judas Iscariot—his friend and disciple who would then leave the upper room to go and betray him...Jesus said this just after he had predicted that his friend and disciple, Peter—the Rock—would deny him three times. The peace that Jesus gives, he says, different from the peace the world gives. What does that mean? Well, when I think of the worldly peace, I think of calm, quiet moments free from conflict. But Jesus was heading straight into conflict—even torture and death. And he knew that many of his disciples would find the same thing. I wonder if it is peace in the midst of conflict that Jesus gives, peace that enters into conflict—confident, not in an easy outcome, but confident in God’s eternal love and God’s constant presence.

Fear makes us feel vulnerable, exposed, and weak. We hear things like “face your fears,” and “overcome your fears,” and “be brave”—but those are misguided because the antidote to fear isn’t bravery—it’s trust. In the face of danger, violence, persecution, and even death, God says, “Do not fear.” Psalm 27 says, “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” To pick an obvious, recent example: It wasn’t bravery that enabled Martin Luther King, Jr., to continue on his mission of justice in the face of threats of racial violence and even death—it was faith in God and it was the peace of Jesus, the peace that passes understanding. We’re bombarded minute by minute with alarmist media trying to convince us the world around us is on fire—our response as Christians must not be to run or hide or barricade ourselves in fear—our response must be to find our strength in the peace of Jesus. We are God’s “First Responders,” running in, following right behind our Savior, Jesus, to rescue and heal and bind up wounds. As Christians, we know that nothing this world offers can ever keep us safe and secure: not our money, not our 401K, not our insurance, not our vitamins and treadmills, not our alarm systems, and not even our guns—only our God. And we need never fear losing our God, because through the Holy Spirit, God and Jesus have come to us and made their home with us. Through Jesus, we are given peace that can never die.

Jesus promised the Holy Spirit not as a private companion to each disciple, not as our own personal bodyguard, but as an abiding presence in the believing community—in this believing community. The Holy Spirit lives and moves among us, and a Spirit-filled community is God’s cure for our individual—and society's—fears and anxieties. As we support each other and the world through hardships and sickness and joys and baptisms and funerals and weddings, as we bring hope and God’s love to each other and to our neighbors and to our city and to our world, we share and spread the life-giving and healing power of the peace of the Holy Spirit. We help teach the world that faith and a loving community, rather than fear and armaments, is the only path to peace. So this week, please take my little poster home and remember: “fear not.”

My prayer for us all this week is that the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep our hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God; that Jesus the Son of God will be the light in our darkness, banishing all darkness from our paths and all fear from our hearts, and that the Holy Spirit will be our advocate, our counselor, and our guide, filling us with all hope and peace in believing…The peace of the Lord be always with you…[“And also with you.”] Amen.