FACING OUR FEARS (Or… Naked, But Not Afraid)
By j. Snodgrass
Proverbs 3:5-24 (Wildly Abbreviated)
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight. 6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. 7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil. … 13 Happy are those who find wisdom… 15 She is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her. … 21 My child, do not let these escape from your sight: keep sound wisdom and prudence, … 23 Then you will walk on your way securely and your foot will not stumble. 24 If you sit down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.
Proverbs 1:7 tells us that “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge.” Ironically, as we find in Genesis 3:10, knowledge was the beginning of fear. Once Adam and Eve have eaten of the tree of knowledge, their first act is to hide from God. Because for the first time they are aware that they are naked.
Fascinating to find that fear of the Lord did not prevent them from breaking the one rule in the Garden…not to eat of the tree of knowledge, not to break the first covenant with God ‚Äì that the Lord would take provide for them. Their fear begins as they come to realize that they have insulted the Lord by seeking the knowledge to provide for themselves.
Adam and Eve, expelled from the Garden, made clothing for themselves, but they were still naked. They learned to provide food for themselves through toil and hardship, but they were still afraid.
Thousands of years later, we work to buy clothing and food for ourselves, but we are still naked and afraid. Henry David Thoreau described modern life with the expression “quiet desperation.” No matter how well we provide for ourselves, one wrong step on the high-wire and we lose everything, with no Garden of Eden to go back to.
From Genesis three onward, fear is a constant theme in Biblical texts. The words “Be not Afraid” appear eighty-five times in the Bible, twelve times on the lips of Jesus. Maybe because he knew that Adam and Eve ran naked from the Lord, and we’ve been running naked ever since, frightened that God and Man alike will see how exposed we really are.
In paintings, Mary is always shown being calm. But when we first see her in the Gospel according to Luke, she is a frightened girl of maybe twelve or thirteen with an Angel standing over her. And he says, in Luke 1:30, “Do not be afraid.” Paintings of Joseph show him as an older man, calm and patient, but in Matthew’s Gospel he hears about Mary’s pregnancy and an Angel catches him trying to skip town. Joseph was concerned about his reputation. And the angel said, in Matthew 1:20, “Do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife.”
In Mark’s Gospel, Jesus is on a boat with his disciples when a terrible storm hits. Calming the storm he asks them in Mark 4:40, “Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?”
The Gospel of Mark ends with three women going to the tomb of Jesus after his death, to clean the scarred and broken body. But when they get there, they find that the tomb has been opened, and a young man in a white robe is sitting inside it, waiting for them. He says “Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here.” And why would he say this unless they were terrified? Mark’s Gospel ends with chapter sixteen, verse eight: [Mark 16:8 (Original Ending)] “So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.”
Another ending was added later, showing the celebration of the resurrection, the joyful reunion of Jesus and his disciples, but the original ending has a lot more to tell us about the early Christians. This was a message to a frightened, persecuted people ‚Äì if you hide the good news, it will be lost. These witnesses at the tomb told no-one, but I tell you this: SOMEBODY must have told SOMEBODY, else we wouldn’t all be gathered here right now.
Some five hundred years later, Saint Patrick went to Ireland, to live among the Pagans and teach them of Christianity. He met with total disinterest. He tried to tell them the stories, teach them the prayers, but nothing he could do would get through to them. These were the Celts, known to be the wildest warriors the Romans ever faced. How wild, you ask? Well, imagine your average Roman soldier, wearing some sixty pounds of armor. Now imagine your average Celt, wearing some four ounces of blue paint. Anyway, gradually, as Patrick lived among them, they came to notice something about him. Every night, as the sky darkened, they would toss and turn in fear of the darkness, while he would sleep peacefully. Finally they asked him how he had overcome his fear of the darkness, and he told them about theGod who had taught him not to be afraid.
I don’t know how this presentation came to have so much nakedness in it…I guess that tells us something about MY fears. But I do feel exposed and afraid, naked even in my clothing…especially when I’m addressing a room full of people. And then I think of the Biblical heroes, how they overcame that fear through faith. Jesus on that cross was naked but not afraid. As Paul says in his letter to the Ephesians, chapter six…
Ephesians 6:13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. …Fasten the belt of truth…and put on the breastplate of righteousness…Take the shield of faith…the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
In closing, I’d like to share some of the 27th Psalm.
NRS Psalm 27:1-14 (Wildly Abbreviated) The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When evildoers assail me to devour my flesh…they shall stumble and fall. Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war rise up against me, yet I will be confident. …Now my head is lifted up above my enemies all around me…I will sing and make melody to the LORD. Hear, O LORD, when I cry aloud…Do not hide your face from me. Do not turn your servant away in anger, you who have been my help. Do not cast me off, do not forsake me…Do not give me up to the will of my adversaries, for false witnesses have risen against me, and they are breathing out violence. I believe that I shall see the goodness of the LORD in the and of the living. Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!