Don't Be Afraid...

It never ceases to amaze me how often in scripture an encounter with God begins with these words. “Don’t be afraid”. Even in very first chapters of Genesis, Adam’s first reaction when he hears God walking in the garden and he knows he is naked is fear. And yet God extends him grace and allows him to take off his itchy fig leaves. One of my favorite verses of all time is Isaiah 43:1 “But now, this is what the Lord says, he who created you, Jacob, he who formed you, Israel: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.” Herein lies the motivation for not being afraid. Knowing who we are and more importantly whose we are. Because we have been formed and created and called by a God that knows us intimately and deeply, we need not be afraid. However I must confess that (as often is the case) I have heard these words so often that they have started to become ordinary for me. I seem to skim over them realizing that after having seen them so often, they have lost their meaning to me. What I realize is that they have unfortunately come to mean something else to me, “Don’t put yourself in situations that scare you.” Now obviously fear can be a rational and healthy thing to have. I am afraid of jumping out of a perfectly good airplane without a parachute. This is a good fear to have if I value my life. However, I realize I take God’s advice a little too far sometimes. 

I was once told that there are two types of risk takers- physical risk takers (skydivers, NASCAR drivers, bungee jumpers, etc.- obviously NOT my idea of fun) and there are emotional risk takers (move half way around the world to a country where you don’t speak the language- sign me up!) I think it is this second group of risk takers that need to hear the words “don’t be afraid”. What would it look like to actively practice not being afraid by in fact “doing something that scares you every day” (okay, maybe once a week is more like it). Eleanor Roosevelt’s words may seem nice as an inspirational quote left on facebook, but in the reality of facing your fears head on, it is a much different story. Yet I think that like anything else in life, “not being afraid” is something that is learned through practice and training of seeking God's presence in the midst of situations that do in fact scare the hell out of us at times. In my first few weeks here in Brazil I have had to repeat these words to myself often. As with any new beginning you often face newness with fear and trepidation: “Did I get myself in over my head? Can I really do this?” But yet those questions, those moments of fear and uncertainty are the very intersection of the reality of God’s grace with our own weakness. It is the place where the proverbial rubber of God’s grace hits the road and we step out of our comfort zone to understand the tangible presence and reality of grace in a way that has escaped us before. God’s grace has been real to me in many ways in the past two weeks that it has never been before. And much of that is because I am in an environment where I cannot depend on myself. I can’t fool myself into thinking I have control over life like I can in the states. I don’t have the ability to decide to not do something that scares me. I come face to face with the reality every day that my existence, every move and breath I make is because of the grace of God. 

I also realize however, that the words “do not be afraid” take on completely different meaning when looked at through various lenses of class, power, gender, etc. Fear is after all, a relative thing that is shaped by our context. As someone who is a middle class, white, female, United States citizen, etc. I (generally) have the option of facing my fears or not. However facing fear on a daily basis is not an option for many people (especially women who continue to occupy more and more space within the term “poorest of the poor”.) Fear of not getting enough (or anything) to eat. Fear of quenching your thirst with water that may or may not carry diseases. Fear of violence. Fear of abuse. Fear of not getting proper health care for your child. Fear of accepting and acknowledging your full identity. 

A friend recently reminded me that abundant life is found in the struggle. “A luta continua”- the struggle continues. And I think sometimes those of us in privilege need to be reminded of this. That we must take steps out of our comfort zones, our of our places of security, where nothing scares us. That the choice to even face our fears is in and of itself a privilege. We must take steps to engage in the struggle. Take an emotional risk of investing in someone that is different than you. Take the risk of getting involved in the mess of someone else’s life. Take the risk of engaging with someone in their native tongue, especially if it isn’t yours. Take the risk of feeling inadequate or uncomfortable, especially if it is a sign of hospitality for others. Take the risk of getting yourself, your church, your community, out of your comfort zone, whatever that may be, and risk feeling a little bit of that fear. Because it is only when you feel a little bit of that fear, that you encounter God’s grace in new and real ways. It is a choice for those of us with privilege. And I hope it is a choice that both the church and those of us Christians who are privileged begin to make. Maybe it is in fact when you step out of your comfort zone and allow yourself to enter into the struggle that you will encounter a glimpse of the abundant life that Jesus wants for us all. And maybe that is the scariest part.  

Don’t be afraid.