Our 17th-Century Puritan ancestors had some wonderful names: “Dogood”; “Prudence” (and her sister “Patience”); and my hands-down favorite, “Fearnot”. I’m not sure that I’ve ever actually met someone named Fearnot–yet that’s just as sensible as “Moondog”, or “Zeppellin”. Parents often choose a name to convey a good wish for their child’s life. How wonderful to be blessed with a family wish of having no fear!
Jeremiah felt too green to be a prophet. After all, he’d seen pictures of prophets: old graybeards, bald & stooped, leaning heavily on a staff, perhaps with halos…. “You certainly can’t mean ME, Lord: I’m only a KID! What do I know?” (1:4-10) “But the Lord said to me, ‘Do not say, I am only a boy; for you shall go to all to whom I send you, and you shall speak whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you,’ says the Lord.”
The author of the Letter to the Hebrews remembers how fearsome Mt.Sinai’s volcanic rumblings could be! She points out that the Hill of God is no longer seen as a place of horror, but a dwelling of God, angels, saints, and (especially) Jesus. (12:18-24) In Christ, believers are called to move beyond fear to a Kingdom which cannot be shaken, a firm foundation for life… “Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken, Zion, City of our God.”
The Gospel, Luke 13:10-13, can be seen as an analogy: a woman was so crippled that she could no longer look anywhere but down. We meet her every day in those whose baggage is so heavy that they can see only one step at a time. When she met Jesus, she was able to straighten up and take in a broader horizon. Here again is the Good News of Fear Not!
How many times in our scripture does God or holy messengers appear with the greeting, “Don’t be afraid!”? To Abram under the oaks of Mamre, to a virgin named Mary, to shepherds abiding in the fields, to storm-shaken disciples…. There will be people in pews near us–and in the hospital corridors and the frozen-food aisles–who’re bent double by the stuff they carry. Will I point to Jesus and say, “Fear Not”?
God Bless Us, Every One H B King
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