Sermon Blog
|
Sermon Blog
|
Do not be afraid?
Emmanuel Episcopal Church, Greenwood, Virginia Last Epiphany, Year A February 23, 2020 The Rev. John Taliaferro Thomas “Don’t be afraid, this won’t hurt a bit.” How many of you heard that as a child just before you got a shot or had blood drawn? I know I did. Nobody was fooling anyone, because the received tradition of transferred wisdom from older siblings and good friends had already warned us that the “this won’t hurt a bit” business was all a ruse – a code word – for ‘this is going to hurt but I don’t want to tell you,’ or ‘I believe you will believe me the medical person as an authority figure and live in blissful denial of impending agony or blood-letting just because I say it won’t hurt a bit.’ Maybe if they call it booster, they thought, kids would not know what was coming. But kids are not so easily fooled. Back in the day, I am not sure that medical folks gave much thought the inner workings of childhood anxiety, anticipation, or their basic intelligence. All I know is that, thankfully, from my time to the time our children went to the doctor for immunizations and check-ups, some progress has been made. As you may know, I live with one who is on the front lines of pediatric medicine. She gives lots of shots and draws lots of blood in her line of work. And because she has been known to bring the flu shot home for me, I know her to be a pretty good shot giver. Through more thoughtful training and intuitive compassion, she goes about the whole process carefully. First, they focus on telling them about all they are doing to help them be well. They only focus on what they are doing at the moment because anticipated pain can be much worse than that momentary stick that is over one it is felt. And if the child asks, they tell the truth, but go about it quickly and carefully. It helps that there is an ice cream store next to the office and the promise of reward, with the parent’s permission, is really helpful. One of the realities of modern life is that we receive and process more information than ever. Technology has given us many gifts, but its shadow side is that we are on the receiving end of all that might go wrong, thus, our consciousness is flooded with threat assessments: to our health, our safety, our way of life, and our future. There is nothing wrong with being informed and making good decisions for our health and safety, but for sure, anxiety, depression, and worry is as bad of an epidemic as all of those external threats. Thankfully, we are learning more and more about how connected our emotional and mental health are to our overall well-being. The stigmas surrounding such disorders and diseases are fading as we appreciate and realize that most of us are directly or indirectly affected. The anxiety and depression spiral has been part of my own landscape and I am grateful for the help I get, and have gotten, to name it and work with it as but one of life’s challenges. “Do not be afraid, Jesus tells his disciples.” He does this more than once, in fact, he says it 33 times in his life and ministry. It always gets my attention, because there has to be more, and there always is because he is always responding to something that is deeply troubling or difficult. If we take the one line, it rings hollow as something akin to ‘this won’t hurt a bit.’ But Jesus never says it as a stand-alone panacea or a shallow advice to distract or deny pain or struggle. Today’s delivery of “do not be afraid” happens as he has withdrawn to a mountain, retreating from the grueling tour of teaching, feeding, healing, helping, and then, being threatened with bodily harm from those who he troubles and upsets. Even Jesus needs a break, so he leads them to a place apart – a mountaintop. Mountaintops are important places all over the Bible. They tend to symbolize a time and place of closeness to God. Moses got the ten commandments on Mount Sinai, the prophet, Elijah is taken up to God in a whirlwind. In this encounter, God is not some far off mist or thunderous wind. Here, God’s light and image is infused in Jesus himself. Moses and Elijah are there too. And the words that come from heaven “This is my Son, the beloved, listen to him” are the same words that came at Jesus’ baptism. What they see is that Jesus is not just as god as the biggies, Moses and Elijah, he is One with God. The disciples fall on their faces in fear, because in all of holy history, it is not good to see God directly. “Get up and do not be afraid,” Jesus tells them. In effect he says you can see God because you see me. And with that, the whole cosmology, the whole picture, the whole image of God changes. God is Jesus for us to know, to love, and to follow. This whole business is called transfiguration: a re-figuring, a re-calculation of how we see, know, and understand God. As they return to their work in the world, Jesus tells them not to tell people about all of this until he is raised from the dead. Why? Because Jesus is in this for the long game. He knows that in the short term, it will look like he is defeated and that God’s love will be overcome through the machinations of human fear, hate, and recrimination. And he knows that there will be pain and anxiety and confusion for those he loves. When Jesus says do not be afraid, he never stops there. And he never says this will not hurt. As human, he knows how it feels. As God, he knows that pain is only temporary and joy is never far from the horizon. To be honest, we have lots of fears. We have lots of worries. We are not in control. The reason we look to Jesus and the reason we come to Church is to remind ourselves and to remember that we are always in God’s presence, to remember that we are always part of God’s wider picture of life, and that even when pain happens, it is not going to last forever. As we go on our way, I close with the words of a Mary Oliver poem. Don’t Hesitate If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, don’t hesitate. Give in to it. There are plenty of lives and whole towns destroyed or about to be. We are not wise, and not very often kind. And much can never be redeemed. Still, life has some possibility left. Perhaps this is its way of fighting back, that sometimes something happens better than all the riches or power in the world. It could be anything, but very likely you notice it in the instant when love begins. Anyway, that’s often the case. Anyway, whatever it is, don’t be afraid of its plenty. Joy is not made to be a crumb. Amen. Comments are closed.
|
AuthorThe Rev. John Thomas is Rector of Emmanuel Episcopal Church, Greenwood Archives
October 2024
Categories |
Telephone |
|