FEAR

FEAR

“The only thing to fear is fear itself.” So spoke President Roosevelt of the United States at his inauguration in 1933.  Fear blocks off the future. It is a red light that never goes green. We know what it is. We have felt it many times. Sometimes we have managed to overcome it. Often we have succumbed to it. We have a sense that every time we give in to it we lose an opportunity. We lose a little of our humanity. We have betrayed ourselves. It is an unpleasant feeling.  

The one saying that Jesus repeated again and again was, “Do not be afraid!” He said this – and he says this - because we only grow when we move out of our fear, when we take a risk, when we step out of the boat with Peter and walk on the water. Jesus used these words once when he was instructing his disciples. They may have understood. They may have even resolved to follow his advice. But when the crunch came, when Peter met a servant girl who said, “you were one of his friends”, his heart crumbled and he was overcome by fear.

It is one thing to know in our heads that fear cripples us. It is quite another to actually overcome the fear, take the risk and face the consequences. Jeremiah faced “Terror on every side” (Chap 20) but he also found within himself the power to say, “the Lord is at my side.” That is the great gift of our faith: the power to face threats and obstacles. It is a power that we cannot presume to have.

The power to overcome fear comes from a humble trust in God. We might be puzzled by what Jesus says next; “Everything that is now covered will be uncovered.” Fear actually hides the truth. Courage unmasks what causes fear. What really makes us afraid is a false view of life. When Sir Ernest Shackleton called for volunteers to accompany him to the South Pole a hundred years ago he wrote a small advert in the paper: “WANTED: Persons for dangerous journey, small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger, safe return doubtful, honour and recognition if successful.” He wanted 28; he had 5000 applications. A challenge unmasks our fears and makes us human.

Nelson Mandela never bowed under the conditions to which he was subjected for 27 years. It seemed like the reverse; it was as though he was in charge – not his jailers. Angela Merkel, the leader of present day Germany, welcomed a million refugees last year at a time when other countries were putting up laws or fences to keep them out.

Courage is our true nature. We are truly human when we rise to it. Fear drags us back and makes us less than human.

25 June 2017                 Sunday 12 C

Jeremiah 20:10-13                   Romans 5:12-15            Matthew 10:26-33