Be not afraid
Video link to sermon: https://www.facebook.com/stlukesferndale.org/videos/219551115917342
Clare L. Hickman
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Ferndale
March 22, 2020—Lent 4A
John 9:1-41
In ancient times, as Greek legend would have it, there was a group of women called the sirens, who lived on an island surrounded by rocky shoals. And they sang so beautifully that sailors were irresistibly drawn to them and wrecked upon the shore. Well, I recently heard homiletics professor David Lose tell this story as a way to think about the role of a preacher.
Bear with me. Two Greek heroes, we are told, survived their encounters with the sirens, but in two very different ways. Odysseus had his crew stuff cotton in their ears so they couldn’t hear, but had them tie him to the mast. That way, he could hear the beautiful song, but wasn’t able to steer them all to their doom. It got dicey, but it worked. And Lord knows, the church has sometimes preached the faith just like that: trying to bind people so they can’t destroy themselves.
Jason and his Argonauts took a different approach. The Oracle at Delphi had warned them to take the musician Orpheus with them on their journey. They didn’t know why, until they passed by the sirens’ island, and the sirens began to sing, drawing them to their deaths on the rocky shoals … when suddenly, Orpheus began to play. And his song was even more beautiful than the song of the sirens, and it broke the spell.
This, Lose suggests, is different way to understand the role of the preacher: to offer a more beautiful song, a more life-giving story. In a world in which so many of the stories we hear are death-dealing (stories like, “you are what you own” or “there isn’t enough to go around”), the bible tells a more beautiful story, a story that can drag you off the rocks.
In today’s gospel, we see Jesus confront one of these worldly songs head-on. It’s one of those old stories that we can’t seem to let go of: the one that tells us that bad things happen to bad people. That someone must have sinned somehow, somewhere, and whatever is happening is the punishment.
But Jesus sings another song. And it is indeed, far more beautiful. The disciples and the Pharisees are focused on blindness and punishment. That’s what their song is about. But Jesus? Jesus sings a song about healing, about being able to see, about joy, and about a person’s desire to spread that kind of great good news! Now, THAT is a song that stands a chance of saving us from the world’s destructive forces!
And here’s another one: Be not afraid. In the Biblical story, over 120 times, God and the prophets and the angels and Jesus sing it to us: Be not afraid. Have no fear. Do not be afraid.
Not because there isn’t danger. There often is, and there isn’t always an easy escape from it. Right now, we are in a very frightening time, and nothing in scripture tells us we should pretend that isn’t so.
What the song of scripture does … is remind us, assure us of God’s abiding power and presence, even in times such as these. Because our fear so often blinds us to this. Shuts everything out, drowns everything out, until all we can see and hear is what scares us. Which is a very lonely place to be. Because all you want to do when you’re panicking is save yourself. Save yourself from getting sick. Save yourself from societal chaos. Save yourself from financial collapse. Save yourself somehow, either by fight or flight.
Into that swirling void comes the voice of God: Do not be afraid. I am here. I’m not going anywhere. Open your eyes, and we’ll face it together. Open your eyes, and I’ll help you see beyond the horizon of your fear. Do not be afraid.
Now, I have to admit, that does not feel like quite enough. Easier said than done, I mutter. Got anything more than that?
As it turns out, the bible does have more than that. It has stories. Just for an example, Nadia Bolz Weber[i] points us toward one in Luke 13, in which the Pharisees come to Jesus and warn him to flee because Herod wants to kill him. And essentially, Jesus responds: Go tell that fox I’m too busy curing people and casting out demons to be afraid of him!
Have no doubt: there is danger here. Herod is a powerful man, and in the end, he does help put Jesus to death. But he doesn’t get what he really wants, which is to have Jesus FEAR him. Not because Jesus doesn’t realize how much danger he is in, but because Jesus knows that what casts out fear is love. And Jesus is way better than we are at the business of loving people. So, even while a despot is stalking him, his focus is on the people of Israel. Like a mother hen, he says, he’s busy gathering all the hurting and the lost under his wings.
In the face of danger, he loves them. In the face of danger, he reminds them whose they are and where they belong.
The danger is still real. We don’t get some kind of magical protection from our faith or our goodness. Even the mother hen cannot dispel the danger, can’t fight off the fox. What she can do, does do, is ease the fear. She can quiet the heartbeat, can allow her chicks to be something other than terrified.
Because perfect love casts out fear (1 John 4:18). Which is to say that love is the only thing that can calm us down enough to see beyond all the fearful things that threaten us in this world: God’s love for us, and God’s love that dwells in us.
My friends, I’m not peddling some kind of “don’t worry, be happy” thing. The situation is extremely serious, and requires us to be informed and take all the necessary precautions. In fact, it probably requires that we spend some time freaking out, hiding in a closet, pacing around, or carb-loading. But … once I’ve taken in the hugeness, and let myself feel all my feelings for a while, maybe then I’ll be able to quiet down and hear the biblical song.
Do not be afraid. Do not let yourself be overwhelmed by fear, because that kind of fear will blind you. Do not be afraid, because you are surrounded by love, you are filled with love, love is your identity and your calling in this world.
You are God’s, and wherever you go, the wings of God’s love surround you. Not like a bomb shelter to protect you from harm, but like a superhero cape. Because it will go with you everywhere, into and through every danger. Even, my friends, into and through the shadow of death. God’s love is with you, in you, and for you. Be not afraid. May it be so. Amen.
[i] Nadia Bolz Weber, facebook post, 3-19-2020, “A mini-sermon in a fearful time.” Manuscript: https://nadiabolzweber.substack.com/p/be-not-afraid-um-yeahok?r=3dw94&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&utm_source=copy