Sunday, June 25, 2023

The Fourth Sunday after Pentacost

Matthew 10:24-39

The Rev. Canon Joann Saylors

The opposite of fear is faith. You may have heard that before. And yet, my faithful sisters and brothers, we fear. An image I read recently stuck with me, probably because it was so close to my reality this week: “Fear hangs on us like humidity on a summer night. It coats us front and back, and attracts all kind of grime, so that even when it’s dries it’s still sticky.”[i]

There are plenty of things to be afraid of: The Chapman University Survey of American Fears (CSAF), in an ongoing research project, listed the following top 10 fears of participants in their 2022 survey: In order, corrupt government officials, people I love becoming seriously ill, Russia using nuclear weapons, people I love dying, the U.S. becoming involved in another world war, pollution of drinking water, not having enough money for the future, economic/financial collapse, pollution of oceans, rivers, and lakes, and biological warfare. [ii]

The first one, government corruption, has been at the top of the list since 2015, although the 62.1% of people who were “Afraid” or “Very Afraid” in 2022 was a big drop from 2021’s 79.6%.[iii] I don’t have high hopes for 2023.

Maybe your greatest fear was on that list; maybe not. Maybe you are afraid of dying – interestingly, of those surveyed, only 29% named fear of dying themselves, while 58.1% were afraid of a loved one dying.[iv]

I don’t know whether this wasn’t one of the choices, or if people didn’t want to admit it, but how many of us are scared to death of people finding out what we try to hide? How much energy do we spend trying to keep our realities hidden, that our marriage is in trouble, we’re broke, our house is a mess, our children are struggling, we have health problems? How much time do we spend trying to protect our image: that we’re competent, talented, and successful, completely free from inner thoughts of critique and failure?

It’s the fear that we’ll be “found out.” That the mask will fall off. That it will get out that we don’t have our act together. That others will know that we have problems in our lives. Serious enough to distract us and keep us up at night. Or lead us to alcohol or other addictions to mask the pain.

But Jesus says, ““Have no fear,” “Do not fear,” and “Do not be afraid.”

Don’t fear the teacher. Or the boss. Or the next-door neighbor. The TikTok influencer with the carefully curated persona. Your surprisingly successful high school classmate who has their own hedge fund. The person who critiques your work…your art…your sermon. Do not fear them. You don’t need to fear, because God has counted your every hair, your every wrinkle, your every cell. And you are loved. The messed up, barely hanging together but putting up a front, maybe even hiding from yourself people that we are. God loves us. Unreservedly. No matter what we do or say or think. God loves us. What is there to fear, with that to fall back on?

Now I’m not saying that’s easy. Our brains are biologically wired to fear danger and death. Our culture has psychologically wired us to need to be “successful,” with a very helpful, albeit impossible, definition what that success is supposed to look like.

But we can resist that. The Rule of Saint Benedict contains any number of spiritual truths, including “Keep death daily before your eyes.” In other words, intentionally recall our mortality every day. Remember every day that one day, maybe today, we’re going to die. Recognize that, because for Christians death is nothing to fear. It’s not an end, but a new beginning. That should change our perspective.

So it doesn’t ultimately matter if we didn’t get into our first choice college, or the new design didn’t work out, or the shoes really don’t go with the outfit, or our front hall closet could be a SuperFund site, or if a friendship has fallen apart, or if we’re considering filing for bankruptcy, or if we can’t get past a second interview, or if we’re found out.

It’s ok. We’re ok. Even those who lose their whole lives will be ok, along with their every hair.

Brené Brown, one of my heroes, interviewed Dr. Pippa Grange, author of the bestselling book Fear Less, on her podcast. Brené summarizes one of her best takeaways from the book on her blog:

[Grange] describes “winning shallow” as a win that comes when we’re “winning to avoid not being good enough, winning to beat the other guy, winning to be seen as good enough.” It’s winning born of comparison and scarcity and self-doubt—and it’s not tied to our worth. “Winning deep,” on the other hand, is “where you actually can feel the richness of your journey, you are attached to the joy and the struggle, you are attached to the mess, and it is generally done for reasons outside of yourself and the fulfillment of our egoic needs. It is done more from a soul level—it’s done because we can and because there’s a wild desire in it.”[v]

If we let go of our fear, one bit at a time, if we “win deep,” how might our lives change? Wouldn’t it be great to find out?

AMEN.

[i] http://www.rickmorley.com/archives/3071, accessed June 24, 2023.

[ii] https://blogs.chapman.edu/wilkinson/2022/10/14/the-top-10-fears-in-america-2022/, accessed June 24, 2023:

Top 10 Fears of 2022

% of Very Afraid or Afraid

1. Corrupt government officials 62.1

2. People I love becoming seriously ill 60.2

3. Russia using nuclear weapons 59.6

4. People I love dying 58.1

5. The U.S. becoming involved in another world war 56.0

6. Pollution of drinking water 54.5

7. Not having enough money for the future 53.7

8. Economic/financial collapse 53.7

9. Pollution of oceans, rivers, and lakes 52.5

10. Biological warfare 51.5

[iii] Ibid.

[iv] Ibid.

[v] https://brenebrown.com/articles/2021/07/22/what-ive-learned-from-the-work-of-dr-pippa-grange/, accessed June 24, 2023.