Isaiah 41:13-20
For I am the LORD your God
who takes hold of your right hand
and says to you, Do not fear;
I will help you.
Do not be afraid, you worm Jacob,
little Israel, do not fear,
for I myself will help you,” declares the LORD,
your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
“See, I will make you into a threshing sledge,
new and sharp, with many teeth.
You will thresh the mountains and crush them,
and reduce the hills to chaff.
You will winnow them, the wind will pick them up,
and a gale will blow them away.
But you will rejoice in the LORD
and glory in the Holy One of Israel.
“The poor and needy search for water,
but there is none;
their tongues are parched with thirst.
But I the LORD will answer them;
I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.
I will make rivers flow on barren heights,
and springs within the valleys.
I will turn the desert into pools of water,
and the parched ground into springs.
I will put in the desert
the cedar and the acacia, the myrtle and the olive.
I will set junipers in the wasteland,
the fir and the cypress together,
so that people may see and know,
may consider and understand,
that the hand of the LORD has done this,
that the Holy One of Israel has created it.
• The first part of the reading today contains repeated use of the first person pronoun, “I,” as God addresses those who are fearful and afraid: “Do not fear . . . do not be afraid . . . do not fear.” God’s promise is simple: “I am the Lord your God . . . I will help you . . . I myself will help you.”
• Recall a time recently when you have dealt with fear. What were you afraid of? What emotions were associated with your fear in that situation? In what tangible way(s) did you experience the “help” of God? Have a conversation with God about what you have uncovered within yourself related to that experience.
• As usual, when God does a new thing, all of the created order is involved. Deserts which had been dry become fertile with flowing water. Barren wastelands grow vegetation of all kinds. These symbols powerfully tell of God’s work in our lives.
• Consider your own experience of dryness of soul or barrenness of spirit. Can you see something growing within you now in a space that was once barren or dry? What response to God would you make for this new life where previously there was only dry land?
Showing posts with label fear. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fear. Show all posts
Thursday, December 12, 2019
Wednesday, December 14, 2016
Angels: Heavenly Messages Brought to Earth
The birth narratives are filled with angels . . .
• in the promise to the parents of John the Baptist, Elizabeth and Zechariah (Lk. 1:5 – 25) . . .
• in the announcement to Mary (Lk. 1:26 – 38) . . .
• in assuring Joseph that Mary’s pregnancy is legitimately of God (Mt. 1:18 – 25) . . .
• in announcing Jesus’ birth to the shepherds (Lk. 2:8 – 20) . . .
• in warning Joseph to flee with Jesus and Mary to Egypt, escaping Herod’s wrath (Mt. 2:13 – 15) . . .
• in telling Joseph to return with his family to Israel after Herod’s death (Mt. 2:19 – 21)
Angels are messengers who carry good news. They bear messages from God to humans. Most always, they embody the Good News . . . something significant is happening . . . something invites our attention . . . something is coming that will wake us up. They come proclaiming peace, joy, and glory (as in the scene in which they announce Christ’s birth to the shepherds).
In the scriptures, angels frequently show up saying, “Don’t be afraid” or “Do not fear,” even as they peel back the veil to uncover the mystery of God’s work in the world. The presence of the angel, even in its brilliance, may not be as fearful as God’s new order which the angel announces. Their announcement of a new future threatens the status quo and proclaims that God is doing a new thing. When angels announce a new future, a different way of being with God, they know that talk of newness and change stirs up anxiety and fearful clutching among humans, who prefer clinging to old and settled realities.
What part of me, then, resonates with these angelic appearances? The angels represent the part of me that is in sync with God, that knows God and bears Good News. This part of me knows and receives God’s truth, God’s goodness, God’s love at a deep, deep interior level, and then bears it to the world in word and action.
This is the part of me that is able to say to other people – and to the other more fearful, more anxious parts of my own being – “Do not be afraid . . . this is good news.” “Fear not . . . God is at work here.” This is the part of my personhood that is not fearful of the future, that steps into God’s preferred future with confidence and courage. This is the part of my being that does not run away from uncertainty.
For Reflection:
We rarely – if ever – see fully what God is doing in the world or in our lives. As we are ready to see, the veil is pulled back. Sometimes we require a “messenger” from God to help us see, to point out the mystery of God’s work. Consider a time when this has happened in your experience . . . that is, when a “messenger” announced to you something that helped you see more fully what was actually at work in a situation. Who or what was the messenger? What was the message? In what ways did that experience shape your life? your connection with God?
Tuesday, December 6, 2016
Herod: The Inner Landscape that Wreaks Havoc
You have to summon some courage if you dare to seek out and find the Herod within you, especially in light of the actual Herod’s horrendous actions. He was so threatened by the birth of a new “king” that he put to death all the male children of the region who would have been born around the time of Jesus’s birth, just to make sure he had no challenge to his throne. (Historians remind us that he also put to death many others during his rule, include several sons who Herod viewed as threats to his throne.)
While his actions are deplorable – and don’t parallel the extent to which most persons would go – they are driven by Herod’s interior state, by his inner landscape. And it is Herod’s interior state that we’ll likely find not all that different from our own.
These are a few words I’ve used to describe Herod, not to reduce him, but in order to help me find where he lives within me:
threatened
fearful
insecure
privileged
powerful
in control (of himself and his world)
scared
managing (situations, taking them into his own hands)
scheming
manipulative
unsatisfied
ego-threatened
maintaining (his own kingdom)
small (but wants to be big)
Once I name some of the qualities that drove Herod, I can easily find him within me, because these states also describe my life on a regular basis.
I’m very familiar with having my position or my status threatened . . .
I can be consumed by fear, whether that fear relates to my health, to my job, or to a national election . . .
I control and manipulate those around me, including those closest to me, in order to arrange my world the way I think it should be . . .
I try to move heaven and earth to maintain what I have, even if it means someone else has less . . .
I often strive to be big when I feel dissatisfied with being small . . .
I can scheme and plot my own self-interest to the detriment and harm of those in the world, perhaps not to the extent of Herod; nonetheless, I can do actual damage in my world, and even be oblivious to the harm I perpetuate.
The words I listed above are dividing words. They separate. They set us against others. For example, I realize that when I feel threatened or fearful, anger usually lives just beneath the surface of my consciousness. I respond sharply, even profanely, to those who stumble unknowingly across my emotional landmines. Love and mercy become distant, unreachable goals. Retribution and hatred follow my anger.
And I realize in those moments that I don’t have to take a life literally – as Herod did – in order to do major harm to others.
For Reflection:
Look at the list of words above again. With which of the words do you seem to be most familiar? If you notice 3 or 4 words that describe your interior from time to time, take them out one word at a time. For each one, spend a few moments thinking about times in recent days when you have experienced that word.
As that way of being was living and active within you, what did it feel like to be you?
Were there particular behaviors that arose . . . an argument with someone else, an angry rant whispered under your breath, or a physical reaction?
As you explore these things, do so without judgement; rather, the goal is to notice and become more aware of what lives within you, not to condemn yourself over it.
While his actions are deplorable – and don’t parallel the extent to which most persons would go – they are driven by Herod’s interior state, by his inner landscape. And it is Herod’s interior state that we’ll likely find not all that different from our own.
These are a few words I’ve used to describe Herod, not to reduce him, but in order to help me find where he lives within me:
threatened
fearful
insecure
privileged
powerful
in control (of himself and his world)
scared
managing (situations, taking them into his own hands)
scheming
manipulative
unsatisfied
ego-threatened
maintaining (his own kingdom)
small (but wants to be big)
Once I name some of the qualities that drove Herod, I can easily find him within me, because these states also describe my life on a regular basis.
I’m very familiar with having my position or my status threatened . . .
I can be consumed by fear, whether that fear relates to my health, to my job, or to a national election . . .
I control and manipulate those around me, including those closest to me, in order to arrange my world the way I think it should be . . .
I try to move heaven and earth to maintain what I have, even if it means someone else has less . . .
I often strive to be big when I feel dissatisfied with being small . . .
I can scheme and plot my own self-interest to the detriment and harm of those in the world, perhaps not to the extent of Herod; nonetheless, I can do actual damage in my world, and even be oblivious to the harm I perpetuate.
The words I listed above are dividing words. They separate. They set us against others. For example, I realize that when I feel threatened or fearful, anger usually lives just beneath the surface of my consciousness. I respond sharply, even profanely, to those who stumble unknowingly across my emotional landmines. Love and mercy become distant, unreachable goals. Retribution and hatred follow my anger.
And I realize in those moments that I don’t have to take a life literally – as Herod did – in order to do major harm to others.
For Reflection:
Look at the list of words above again. With which of the words do you seem to be most familiar? If you notice 3 or 4 words that describe your interior from time to time, take them out one word at a time. For each one, spend a few moments thinking about times in recent days when you have experienced that word.
As that way of being was living and active within you, what did it feel like to be you?
Were there particular behaviors that arose . . . an argument with someone else, an angry rant whispered under your breath, or a physical reaction?
As you explore these things, do so without judgement; rather, the goal is to notice and become more aware of what lives within you, not to condemn yourself over it.
Monday, December 19, 2011
The Fourth Monday of Advent -- December 19, 2011
Luke 1:5 - 25
In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly. But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both well advanced in years.
Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside.
Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. Many of the people of Israel will he bring back to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.”
The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.”
Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he stayed so long in the temple. When he came out, he could not speak to them. They realized he had seen a vision in the temple, for he kept making signs to them but remained unable to speak.
When his time of service was completed, he returned home. After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. “The Lord has done this for me,” she said. “In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people.”
The birth of John the Baptist to Zechariah and Elizabeth is no less improbable than the birth of Jesus to Mary and Joseph. Zechariah and Elizabeth were advanced in age and found the report that they would be parents to be completely ludicrous.
Zechariah responded to Gabriel's message with fear and hesitation. You and I might have responded the same way.
Zechariah's response to the angel's message was typical in the Bible. When angels showed up on the scene it signaled that some kind of change or alteration was coming. The persons involved in the angelic message would need to adjust their lives if they were to fully participate in what God was bringing to pass in the world.
Zechariah hears a message that his life is going to be turned upside down. God will do something amazing in his life, but it would require his participation and obedience. It scared him. It would be enough to scare any of us.
Most always, the God-invitation is to let go of old ways of being and doing. We are invited to let go of the things we hold onto for meaning and purpose.
Letting go is frightening. It threatens our sense of self. We are afraid that without the thing we are giving up, we won't know who we are.
"If I let go of this, what will be left of me?"
"Who will I be then?"
It is scary to move into a place where I have no idea what is going to happen . . . no control and no capacity to influence outcomes.
This is authentic faith . . . stepping forward, carrying our fears with us, but at the same time walking into the room that is not yet lit and trusting that somehow we will find God there.
I suspect this was Zechariah's fear, and that it became his faith, the source of his beautiful Benedictus (The Canticle of Zechariah in Luke 1:67 - 78).
And I know Zechariah's fear (and faith) is not that different from mine, and probably yours, too.
In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly. But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both well advanced in years.
Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside.
Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. Many of the people of Israel will he bring back to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.”
The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.”
Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he stayed so long in the temple. When he came out, he could not speak to them. They realized he had seen a vision in the temple, for he kept making signs to them but remained unable to speak.
When his time of service was completed, he returned home. After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. “The Lord has done this for me,” she said. “In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people.”
The birth of John the Baptist to Zechariah and Elizabeth is no less improbable than the birth of Jesus to Mary and Joseph. Zechariah and Elizabeth were advanced in age and found the report that they would be parents to be completely ludicrous.
Zechariah responded to Gabriel's message with fear and hesitation. You and I might have responded the same way.
Zechariah's response to the angel's message was typical in the Bible. When angels showed up on the scene it signaled that some kind of change or alteration was coming. The persons involved in the angelic message would need to adjust their lives if they were to fully participate in what God was bringing to pass in the world.
Zechariah hears a message that his life is going to be turned upside down. God will do something amazing in his life, but it would require his participation and obedience. It scared him. It would be enough to scare any of us.
Most always, the God-invitation is to let go of old ways of being and doing. We are invited to let go of the things we hold onto for meaning and purpose.
Letting go is frightening. It threatens our sense of self. We are afraid that without the thing we are giving up, we won't know who we are.
"If I let go of this, what will be left of me?"
"Who will I be then?"
It is scary to move into a place where I have no idea what is going to happen . . . no control and no capacity to influence outcomes.
This is authentic faith . . . stepping forward, carrying our fears with us, but at the same time walking into the room that is not yet lit and trusting that somehow we will find God there.
I suspect this was Zechariah's fear, and that it became his faith, the source of his beautiful Benedictus (The Canticle of Zechariah in Luke 1:67 - 78).
And I know Zechariah's fear (and faith) is not that different from mine, and probably yours, too.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
The Second Thursday of Advent -- December 9, 2010
Isaiah 41:13 - 20
For I am the LORD your God
who takes hold of your right hand
and says to you, Do not fear;
I will help you.
Do not be afraid, you worm Jacob,
little Israel, do not fear,
for I myself will help you,” declares the LORD,
your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
“See, I will make you into a threshing sledge,
new and sharp, with many teeth.
You will thresh the mountains and crush them,
and reduce the hills to chaff.
You will winnow them, the wind will pick them up,
and a gale will blow them away.
But you will rejoice in the LORD
and glory in the Holy One of Israel.
“The poor and needy search for water,
but there is none;
their tongues are parched with thirst.
But I the LORD will answer them;
I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.
I will make rivers flow on barren heights,
and springs within the valleys.
I will turn the desert into pools of water,
and the parched ground into springs.
I will put in the desert
the cedar and the acacia, the myrtle and the olive.
I will set junipers in the wasteland,
the fir and the cypress together,
so that people may see and know,
may consider and understand,
that the hand of the LORD has done this,
that the Holy One of Israel has created it.
In the Bible, messengers of God usually introduce change with the words, "Fear not" or, "Don't be afraid." They arrive with the understanding that humans resist change. In fact, humans are so seduced by the familiar and the comfortable that they are likely to stay in a dangerous, unhealthy situation that is known rather than move into something life-giving that is unknown.
"Fear not" is a threshold phrase. Thresholds are transitions from one room to another, from an old framework to a new framework. Thresholds signal change and movement. As a human person, if you are open to growth, maturity and fullness of life, you will hear, "Do not be afraid" often in your life.
During Advent we ramble eloquently about the coming of Christ. We repeat the biblical birth narratives. We imagine the difference his light makes in a dark world. We sing the birth songs and Christmas carols passed down to us through the centuries. We become misty-eyed romantics for a few weeks before Christmas.
Really though, the birth of Christ signifies the upset of the way we live life on our own terms. God-in-the-flesh, if taken seriously, suggests that life in the world must be lived differently, that a radical reordering of mind and heart is necessary to fully participate in a meaningful life. The birth of Christ turns our world on its ear. Jesus' coming indicates that the prestige of the wealthy and the power of the achievers are illusions that do not represent the kingdom of God.
There is plenty of reason to be told, "Fear not." Fear is the human response that leads to holding onto life as it is and resists change.
Spiritual growth is not always safe. It means crossing thresholds, greeting change, opening ourselves to that which we may be scared to fully embrace. Sure, there is plenty to fear.
In one of the best exchanges in the C. S. Lewis classic, "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe," Mr. and Mrs. Beaver are trying to describe Aslan, the Christ-figure, to the human children.
The children ask, "Is he safe?"
"No, he's not safe!" the beavers answer. "He's the King of Beasts, I tell you. But he's good."
That tends to be how it goes with God.
For I am the LORD your God
who takes hold of your right hand
and says to you, Do not fear;
I will help you.
Do not be afraid, you worm Jacob,
little Israel, do not fear,
for I myself will help you,” declares the LORD,
your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
“See, I will make you into a threshing sledge,
new and sharp, with many teeth.
You will thresh the mountains and crush them,
and reduce the hills to chaff.
You will winnow them, the wind will pick them up,
and a gale will blow them away.
But you will rejoice in the LORD
and glory in the Holy One of Israel.
“The poor and needy search for water,
but there is none;
their tongues are parched with thirst.
But I the LORD will answer them;
I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.
I will make rivers flow on barren heights,
and springs within the valleys.
I will turn the desert into pools of water,
and the parched ground into springs.
I will put in the desert
the cedar and the acacia, the myrtle and the olive.
I will set junipers in the wasteland,
the fir and the cypress together,
so that people may see and know,
may consider and understand,
that the hand of the LORD has done this,
that the Holy One of Israel has created it.
In the Bible, messengers of God usually introduce change with the words, "Fear not" or, "Don't be afraid." They arrive with the understanding that humans resist change. In fact, humans are so seduced by the familiar and the comfortable that they are likely to stay in a dangerous, unhealthy situation that is known rather than move into something life-giving that is unknown.
"Fear not" is a threshold phrase. Thresholds are transitions from one room to another, from an old framework to a new framework. Thresholds signal change and movement. As a human person, if you are open to growth, maturity and fullness of life, you will hear, "Do not be afraid" often in your life.
During Advent we ramble eloquently about the coming of Christ. We repeat the biblical birth narratives. We imagine the difference his light makes in a dark world. We sing the birth songs and Christmas carols passed down to us through the centuries. We become misty-eyed romantics for a few weeks before Christmas.
Really though, the birth of Christ signifies the upset of the way we live life on our own terms. God-in-the-flesh, if taken seriously, suggests that life in the world must be lived differently, that a radical reordering of mind and heart is necessary to fully participate in a meaningful life. The birth of Christ turns our world on its ear. Jesus' coming indicates that the prestige of the wealthy and the power of the achievers are illusions that do not represent the kingdom of God.
There is plenty of reason to be told, "Fear not." Fear is the human response that leads to holding onto life as it is and resists change.
Spiritual growth is not always safe. It means crossing thresholds, greeting change, opening ourselves to that which we may be scared to fully embrace. Sure, there is plenty to fear.
In one of the best exchanges in the C. S. Lewis classic, "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe," Mr. and Mrs. Beaver are trying to describe Aslan, the Christ-figure, to the human children.
The children ask, "Is he safe?"
"No, he's not safe!" the beavers answer. "He's the King of Beasts, I tell you. But he's good."
That tends to be how it goes with God.
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