"A Faithful Response to Fear"
There is a legend from the Orient about a traveller making his way to a large city. One night he meets two other travellers along the road --Fear and Plague. Plague explains to the traveller that, once they arrived, they are expected to kill 10,000 people in the city. The traveller asks Plague if Plague would do all the killing. Oh, no. I shall kill only a few hundred. My friend Fear will kill the others. Fear, whether real or imagined, can discourage us, overwhelm us, strangle us. It can be like the terror of our dreams that has us trying to scream with no sound coming from our mouths.
The three texts that we shared this morning, the Psalm that we used as our call to worship, the Lamentations text and even the text from Second Timothy talk of Biblical responses to fear. The first two texts are part of a tradition known as the Lament tradition The readings come from the time of the Babylonian exile. Although they seem full of despair they are actually a testimony to the faith of the people brave enough to utter those words, even as they lived in the midst of fearful times. You will notice that the people of Israel did not lament at their captors but went right to God. For them they were the days when they weren't sure about getting up in the morning, when they didn't have the place or the space to worship, or to experience what the valued and cherished the most. All that they loved and trusted in was mocked and trivialized by their captors. But instead of letting go and giving into hopelessness they raised their cries and fists to God. They uttered devastating words about their enemies: "May their babies be dashed against the rocks." The founder of Methodism, John Wesley excised the closing words of that Psalm from the Sunday Service saying, "they are not fit for Christian mouths." Indeed they are awful words, but given to God, not acted on. Have you ever felt so helpless and alone that the only thing you could do was stand and rant and rave to God? Sometimes in the face of what is, those words are all we have left.
Along with many of you I am a West Wing fan. Meetings finish on time when West Wing is airing a new show. A few years back the season finale was Mrs. Landingham's funeral. After sitting quietly through the funeral service the President asks for the National Cathedral to be cleared for a time. (one of the perks of being president, such things can happen for you!) In the emptiness of the cathedral he yells his lament to God in two languages: "She bought her first new car and you hit her with a drunk driver. What? That's supposed to be funny? Have I displeased you, you feckless thug? Am I really to believe that these are the acts of a loving God? A just God? A wise God? I was your servant here on earth. I spread your word and did your work." The scene ends with President Bartlett in a gesture of defiance crushing out a cigarette on the floor of the cathedral. That was a classic lament in the Biblical tradition. On the surface such words about killing the babies of one's enemies, actions such as grinding out a cigarette on the floor of the church seem blasphemous…and indeed they can be if acted on….but when such things are lifted up to God as a prayer, rest assured that God is big enough to receive them and somehow work hope from our hopelessness and despair. It is a sign of faith to bring our whole self to God, and not just the parts we are comfortable with showing…so let us bring our laments and angers and fears…as well we should be doing in these difficult days.
Grounded in that place we move to the reading from Second Timothy. Another reading about fear. To understand what the writer is talking about you need to read between the lines a little here. The letter is written out of concern for Timothy, the challenges and hardships he faces. Throughout the letter, there is a call to faithfulness and loyalty. Given that we can infer that there is concern about Timothy in that regard. The question for Timothy is how to keep faith in difficult times. A minister in Berkeley, California asks it this way: "How does one keep the faith through difficult times? Does one? How can we continually claim vitality and new life on our faith journey as we face huge life-changing events like the news of cancer, a child robbed on the way home from school, the death of a spouse after a long marriage. How does one live alone in a house year after year without sharing an intimate life? How do we deal with a job promotion, or demotions, what about sudden wealth, or sudden poverty? The list of difficult choices and life issues goes on and on and on. And how do we find faith in a world where children kill children, where millions are made homeless by floods, where there are devastating illnesses, terribly calamities? Life is so fragile." It is those very challenges that this third generation Christian leader faces in Second Timothy. Not so very different from our own times.
On this World Wide Communion Sunday we gather ever more aware of our connection with all people throughout the world. We are aware in ways that were unthinkable a few ways back. The Chinese have a saying: "The wind caused by the brush of a butterflies wings changes the world." How true that the tiniest events in one place can set massive events off through the globe. As the church we are called to take ever so seriously our global connections and interdependence.
And in the face of all that the world brings us we are being called to confront our fears and doubts, and to keep the faith. We do so this morning in light of our lament tradition. A tradition that reminds us in the words of James S. Lowry: "For us there is no prayer so honest it will not be heard." From time to time the prayers we are called to utter is a raised fist to God! For that is all there is.
And then with Timothy we are called to guard our faith, for life is fragile. We are called to guard the good treasure entrusted to us with power, love and self discipline. In another place Paul reminds us that we did not receive a spirit of fear, but a spirit of kinship with God. We are not ruled by fear, but stand firm in our faith that proclaims the God is enough for whatever life brings to us. Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!