“Risk in the face of Fear!”

There were suggestions that I should post my sermon for All Saint's Sunday, November 7, 2010, here on this blog. So here it is....

A few days ago I asked a colleague if he’d figured out what’s to be going on in churches and our society, because I haven’t. I listed places I’ve seen anxiety present in my life and that of those close to me.

The perspective he brought was the perspective of fear. Taking things from bullying, to the political agendas, to international relations to church conflict. Taking things from the movement of the stock market and the winning or losing of a football team, there is a “hunkering down” and a lashing out that grows out of deep anxiety. The anxiety is fear.

This set me thinking. I took a look at some of my behaviors. What feeds my fears? Why gives me the feeling that I need to “hunker down” or take control or become defensive? The list got grew fairly quickly:
The stories of the evening local new gave me reason to fear: gun violence, new taxes and “fees”, and a new turn in the housing market.
The front page of the money section gave me reason to fear: who knows where this recession is going, people are out of work, businesses closing their doors, work is drying up and health insurance premiums are out of control.
The letters to the editor fed my fears: the republicans or the democrats and more about tax hikes, pet problems and big spending.
National news, the weather and a counseling session with a colleague gave me a few more reasons to become afraid.

Then I took another step and thought about some of the other “inputs” I get in my daily life. Sometimes I read espionage books. I know I can only read a couple in a row before I have to move to another genre – I get paranoid. The TV shows recorded on our “list” – NCIS, Chase and several like them. Hum... there’s some food for fear there. And then there are the ads like “Credit Scores.com”, every single political ad and the slough of spam e-mails and ads that eat away at my self-confidence and tell me “You’re not good enough.”

And then, though it is quite (I think) tongue in cheek, the “March to Keep Fear Alive” speaks volumes of truth about current fear and anxiety.

So, what does this have to do with “All Saints Sunday?”
What does this have to do with a day established in the 17th century by Pope Boniface IV on May 1 and later changed to November 1? Pope Urban IV once explained that the day was set aside to provide a time to honor and remember the saints who might have been overlooked during the year. There were so many martyrs that it was not possible for each to have his/her own day, so this day took care of all of them. This day is set aside to take care of us, saints, “... those belonging to the entire community of baptized Christians.” (Big Webster Dictionary)

What does it have to do with today? Well, I’d say just about everything. Because, you see, as you read down the blessings outlined in Jesus’ teaching, everything on that list – poverty (the economy), hunger (job security), death (health care), ridicule (I’m not good enough) – feed our fears. And most everything we think we long for, or will make us happy – riches, being filled, popularity and carefree living -- is in Jesus’ list of woes! It all seems backwards. Yet Jesus is pretty clear. And, in his clarity, is quite challenging.

Jesus’ kingdom prayer is that God’s reign works. Not that some achieve perfection or holiness and others don’t. We all go out of this world with the same blessing at our funeral – commended to God as “lambs of his own flock and sinner’s of his own redeeming.

Not that we need to pretend to be perfect. We aren’t, we never were and we never will be.

Not that we need to draw in, hunker down and just wait. Fear can paralyze us into thinking that we can ignore the world out there and that by not taking risks we can avoid pain and failure.

Now that we need to take more control of our emotions, spirit, calendars and checkbooks. Taking control means that I don’t have to be honest about my fears and gives excuses to not risk.

You see, Jesus’ economy works a whole lot different than all of that. Jesus said, “Have no fear little flock, for the father is pleased to give you the kingdom.” (Luke 12:32)

This writer, Angie Klock, took the words right out of my mouth: “.... we are very aware of how easy it would be to allow fear to take a foothold in our hearts. Like every phase of treatment and every change we encounter in our lives, whether we plan them or not, there is always room for fear. But, that place is not where God is. ... Fear says, God I do not trust that what you have in store for me is good, even though You are good and loving. Fear says that I know what is best for me and it would be the path that I choose for myself. So how do we go forward without fear? How do we go forward rejoicing and not looking back over our shoulder for words like relapse or metastasis?”

In Jesus’ economy we look risk the Kingdom promise that Jesus is pleased to give. To take God literally (that’s the real mark of sainthood) and trust God’s pleasure to bless us even in the deepest times of trouble. To be everyday humans, ordinary sinners, who step forward in faith, who risk being confident in the face of fear, to struggle doggedly with bravery and truth. To take action – to be generous, to trust, to love to, to stand against injustice, etc. -- even against the odds of fear. You see, in the kingdom economy this is where God is and this is were we see the miracles of God’s holy reign in the lives of the likes of us.

I think I’ve told you before about Justin. Justin is a 6th grader, playing organized football. When asked by Bishop David what his favorite part was, he said, “I like the huddle. Calling the plays, being part of the team, being close to the guys, that’s what I like. But I have to say, I don’t much care for what happens after that.”

Sometimes that’s the way we approach our life of faith. We huddle up and enjoy the places where we feel safe and secure. We hunker down and block out our fears (the parts we don’t like about life). We find ways to not take the risks of the Kingdom promises of God.

Sainthood is to live life “out loud”. Live as an authentic saint, not moved and motivated by fear, but by faith, not a fan of Jesus but a follower. Not just in love with Jesus, but looking more and more like Jesus.
"For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline." (2 Timothy 1:7)
Let’s can the fear. Let’s risk living in the Kingdom promise, in the spirit of the power and promise we have as saints in His kingdom.

Amen.