Jesus offers words of comfort to his little flock of followers in the Gospel lesson for this weekend. We are in the section of Luke’s Gospel where Jesus slowly makes his way to Jerusalem. Luke scholars often note that there is a lot going on in these chapters. There is an energy that you can feel. You will sense it this week, and certainly next week.
We can wonder if Jesus looked at the faces of his followers and could see the panic, the fear created by the tension between the ways of love and the hard-edged complexities of the world. Deeply compassionate, Jesus seeks to offer solace when he tells them to “have no fear, little flock.”
How does it work for you when someone tells you to “have no fear?” For me, it often has the opposite inner reaction; I find myself more afraid. My first thought is, “Why? Is there something more for me to be afraid of?” It feels like the challenge of telling a child not to be afraid of the dark. The child then pauses and asks, “Why? What is out there in the dark?”
Thankfully, Jesus does not stop at the “have no fear.” Jesus continues, “God (Father for Jesus) has chosen to give you the kingdom.” There are gifts given by God for you and me. We can ponder a list of these gifts in worship this weekend. If I start the list now, I might begin with courage in the face of what we might fear. I certainly add love, remembering John’s image that “perfect love casts out fear.” In Luke’s Gospel, the angels told the shepherds not to be afraid because Jesus was born. Then the angels told the women not to be afraid because Jesus was raised from the dead.
Certainly, on the list is the great gift that we are not alone. God is with us, as close as our heartbeat and near to us as we gather to be God’s community. If this is a fearful moment for you, I offer this blessing of the remarkable Cole Arthur Riley from her book, Black Liturgies:
“May you live each day with sacred intuition to the terrors of this world. But may you never be swallowed by them. May you find peace as you let the divine guide you into inner rest in the face of all that might destroy you. May you tremble, but never alone. Amen” (105).
Yours in Christ Jesus,
Pastor Peter