Once again we hear a gospel lesson that contains elements of
fear. Jesus tells his disciples what the Messiah will face: betrayal and death,
the disciples are seized with fear and were afraid to ask Jesus anything.
There was once a town where the thing everyone feared the
most was getting lost at night in the “Cave of Fear
One day, a young man came to town, and, as he heard about
the situation with the cave, he thought that it was unfair. So he decided to
enter the cave and confront the monster. The young man asked for some help, but
everyone was so afraid that not a single person approached the mouth of the
cave with him. He went inside, finding his way with a torch, and calling out to
the monster, wanting to talk with it and discuss the situation. At first, the
monster had a good long laugh, and the young man followed the sound of the
monster's voice. But then the monster went quiet, and the young man had to
carry on, not knowing in which direction to go.
Finally he arrived at a huge cavern. At the bottom of the
cavern he thought he could make out the figure of the monster, and as he
approached it, he felt that something hit him hard on his back. This pushed him
forward towards a hole in the rock. He couldn't avoid it, and fell through.
Believing that he was about to die, he let out one last cry. Then he heard the
great guffaws.
-“Darn it, I think the monster has swallowed me,” he said,
while falling.
However, as he fell, he heard music, and voices. They got
clearer, and when he made a soft landing at the bottom, he heard a group of
people shout: -“Surprise!!”
Hardly believing it, he found himself right in the middle of
a big party. The partygoers were all those people who had never returned to the
town. They explained to him that this place had been the idea of an old mayor
of the town. That mayor had tried to accomplish great things, but was always held
back by the fears of the people around him. So the mayor invented the story of
the monster to demonstrate to people how such an attitude was so limiting. So
the young man stayed there, enjoying the party and the company of all those who
had dared to approach the cave.
And what about the town? In the town they still believe that
to enter the Cave
of Fear
The two New Testament readings for today (James 3:13-4:3,
7-8a and Mark 9:30-37) point to the relationship between faith and fear. I know
you’ve heard me preach on the subject of faith and fear, after all, it’s a
topic that seems perpetually relevant as fear is something we are surrounded by
through images, the daily news – especially political news! – as well as our
own deep seated fears stemming from who-knows-what. We all have fears – and
Jesus knows this and he certainly knew this about his disciples. Notice that
the disciples do not ask Jesus any questions in response to his prediction of
his impending crucifixion because they are afraid. And the next thing you know
they’re talking about securing their place in the coming kingdom. Fear does
that. It both paralyzes us and drives us to look out only for ourselves.
Maybe you have had the same experience as me. Over the years
I’ve made some pretty bad decisions and actions because of my reaction to fear.
Fear has a way of leading us to identify both threats and opportunities
wrongly, sometimes causing irrational behavior, and even narrowing our vision
so it’s difficult to see possibilities. I remember a priest preaching on fear
many years ago who explained the difference between reacting and responding. He
said, ‘we react to fear; but we respond in love’. When we are stressed or
worried or even agitated over something, we can react in fear, or respond in
love. This is why it’s hard to be wise, prudent, or compassionate when we are
afraid. Just look again to the present refugee crisis: the imprisoning and even
dehumanizing of refugees trying to make their way across Europe
is not a response in love, rather, a reaction in fear. (ISIS
itself is gripped by fear. They are obsessed with absolute power because of
their fear of having no power. For them, power can not be shared.)
You see, because Jesus told his disciples that the Son of
Man would be betrayed and killed, fear seized them. They said nothing, Mark
tells us: “they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him.” They were
afraid to even ask! All of us have fears. Sometimes we don’t even realize that
we are afraid. Perhaps in those moments, we become like the disciples and say
or do nothing.
I’m going to take an opportunity now to share with you my
own fear. Not just because I think it might make for a good sermon (although I
hope it does!), but because as I was studying these readings, I came across a
commentary that rang all too true about some fears that I have within the scope
of my own ministry as your rector.
Taking on the pastoral leadership of any congregation is no
small task. Sometimes as leaders we wonder why things at church aren’t going
the way we think they should. This past week I had a talk with two staff
members who have improved their ministries steadily since they began here at
St. Christopher’s: those staff members are Resale Shop manager Aprille Williams and our Day School director, Monica Cadavid . I brought my questions and fears to
them to see how we might respond to instances like why a particular Sunday such
as Invitation Sunday brought such a low turnout when the opposite was expected.
I asked what I can do as a leader to inspire our congregation to be more
engaged and to follow Jesus a bit more closely. I asked questions around how we
and our parish members might increasingly become better stewards of the gifts
God has freely given. I asked them how we might be more hospitable to those
seeking a relationship with Jesus through this faith community. My fear was
that there must be something I’m doing or not doing.
Immediately after speaking with Aprille and Monica, I read a
post from David Lose, President of Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia and biblical scholar, who wrote on this
exact topic for congregational leaders. The similarity between my discussion
and this posting was uncanny. Lose writes to pastors:
“What fears pursue
you during the day and haunt you at night? What worries weigh you down so that
it’s difficult to move forward in faith? Is it the fear your congregation will
shrink or die? Fear that you will not make budget? Concern that you don’t know
why what you’re doing doesn’t seem to work like it used to? Or anxiety about what
will come next? Perhaps it’s simple anxiousness about whether there will be
conflict at the next meeting of your church vestry.
These fears have a
way of sneaking into our very being and robbing us of the abundant life Jesus
came to announce and to share.
Only after naming
our own fears, I think, is it fair to ask our people what they may fear. (And,
to be sure, they may overlap.) Fear about being alone, fear about losing a
loved one or a relationship ending, anxieties about health or employment,
concern for the future of one’s children or grandchildren, dread about the
return of mental or physical illness, apprehension for the environment and the
world we will leave behind? All these and more strip life of pleasure and joy
and make it very difficult to be wise and faithful stewards of the present
moment and resources with which God has entrusted us.
Jesus’ response to our fears and anxieties is an invitation
not to faith intellectually – as if believing in God somehow prohibits fear –
but rather to faith as movement, faith as taking a step forward (even a little
step) in spite of doubt and fear, faith as doing even the smallest thing in the
hope and trust of God’s promises (davidlose.net).
All of us in one way or another have a Cave of Fear that we
dread and try to avoid. It is only by entering that Cave, do we end up
controlling our fears rather than our fears controlling us. I believe this
theology is wrapped up in our Baptismal theology and proclamation. Taking a
step in faith, even a small one, in the hope and trust of God’s promises is
what we just proclaimed in the baptismal liturgy: “Do you put your whole trust
in [Jesus’] grace and love?”
Today, we renew our faith and our trust in God through the
salvation power of Jesus. As I always share with the family of those being
baptized, baptism is not a get-out-of-hell-free card, but rather the initiation
into the life of grace; the life of grace promised by God through the life,
death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is not a call into a life of
fear, but rather the entrance into a life of faith, trust, and promise.
Talking about my fears with two trusted people on my staff
helped to remind me that we are about the work of God in this place. We are not
about our own work, but God’s work. Leading an Episcopal Day School is God’s
work. Serving and managing a Resale Shop that benefits people beyond our walls
is God’s work. Serving and leading a congregation to come to the knowledge and
love of Jesus Christ is certainly God’s work – not my work or your work or
anyone else’s work, but God’s work. We are simply and gracefully called into
this work by our baptism.
Let us pray:
Almighty God, we thank you that by the death and resurrection
of your Son Jesus Christ you have overcome sin and brought us to yourself, and
that by the sealing of your Holy Spirit you have bound us to your service. Renew
in us, your servants, the covenant you made with us at our Baptism. Send us
forth in the power of that Spirit to perform the service you set before us;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy
Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
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