Paralysis

Charlotte Collins Reed

Christ Church Episcopal

June 25, 2017

7 Proper A

          When I was in high school, our youth group took a trip to Six Flags over Texas, an amusement park.  We had washed cars, raked leaves, and sold candy bars all year to raise the money for this trip.  We boarded a bus on a Friday night, arrived at Six Flags on Saturday morning where we spent the day riding the rides, and then got back on the bus and arrived home Sunday morning.  Riding the bus at night saved money on overnight accommodations, and all of our waking hours could be spent riding rides.  My friends talked me into riding the roller coaster, which I am sure was fairly tame by today's standards.  "You will love it," they said.  Against my better judgement, I agreed.   The ride only lasted 90 seconds.  How bad could that be?  Once we got in the cart, were strapped in, and the safety bar had been lowered across the seat, the train started slowly up a steep incline.  "This is not so bad," I thought.  And then, after a brief pause at the top, the bottom fell out.  The roller coaster descended at an alarming rate.  I could hear people screaming, but I couldn't breathe, much less scream.  I was terrified.  In the brief moment I had my eyes open, I could see others with their arms up in the air, eyes open, and their screams seemed to be happy screams.  Apparently, the way to enjoy a roller coaster is to let go and trust the safety bar, but I was having nothing of that.  I shut my eyes, tried to breathe, and learned just a bit about the feeling of being paralyzed with fear.  And I promised God that if God would just get me off that roller coaster alive, I would never, ever get on a roller coaster again.  And I have kept that promise.

          Twice in our readings this morning, we hear the words “Do not be afraid” in circumstances far more dire than any roller coaster ride.  In fact the circumstances we hear about this morning are so dire, that “Do not be afraid” sounds absurd.  When God says to Hagar “Do not be afraid,” she and her child, Ishmael, have just been banished to the wilderness with a bit of bread and some water, which have now run out.  Just when the situation looks most dire, as Hagar prepares to wait while her son dies, God says to her “Do not be afraid.” God tells Hagar that God will make a great nation of Ishmael and provides water for them to drink.  Then, we are told, Ishmael grows up, becomes an expert with the bow, and Hagar finds him a wife in Egypt.  Hagar was able to move beyond her fear and great things happened as a result. 

          Jesus also says to the disciples “Do not be afraid.”  Being a disciple of Jesus is not turning out quite the way the disciples expected when they took the job.  Exorcising demons, healing people of diseases, doing some teaching and preaching, and maybe turning a few loaves of bread and fish into a meal for thousands is one thing.  Sure, they might have no place to sleep at night, or have to rely on the hospitality of strangers, but those were small inconveniences relative to the joy of following Jesus.  Persecution, slander, divided families, and the reality of death is another thing all together.  When there is a great deal to fear, Jesus says “Do not be afraid.”  Had the disciples acted on their fear, nothing good would have happened.  But we know they acted on their faith instead, as they made a gospel difference in the world.

          Neither God nor Jesus say this morning that there is nothing to fear.  In both cases, there is most certainly something to fear.   When the angel of God says to Hagar "Do not be afraid," the angel is telling her not to act based on fear, but on faith in the promise that God will make a great nation of Ishmael.  Even when it seems far more likely that they will simply starve in the dessert, Hagar is asked to believe in God's promise and to live her life based on that promise, not fear.  When Jesus says to the disciples "Do not be afraid," Jesus is asking them to live, not out of fear, which would be pretty normal, but out of faith~faith that neither persecution, nor the unknown, nor ridicule, nor questions, nor failure, nor suffering, have ultimate power over our lives.  The promise of the gospel is that ultimate power over our lives is held, not by any power of this world, but by the God who knows us so well as to have counted the very hairs on our heads.

          The challenges to our faith may not be being cast out into the wilderness, persecution, slander, division of our families, or death for our beliefs.  The challenges to our faith may look more like sickness, broken relationships, conflicted priorities, making faithful decisions with our money, and fear of failure.  Any of those challenges can paralyze us with fear and keeping us from living as people who believe that nothing separates us from the love of God.  When God says “Do not be afraid,” God is not saying that there is nothing to be afraid of.  God is telling us to live like people who believe that God is really present with us, and there will be no end to the incredible gospel work we can do. 

                                                                                      Amen.