Do not be afraid!
  

“28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, fear the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell! 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father’s will. 30 But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 So do not be afraid! You are worth more than many sparrows. 32 Everyone who acknowledges me before others, I too will acknowledge before my Father in heaven. 33 But whoever denies me before others, I too will deny before my Father in heaven.”
 

In light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the philosopher Peter McCormick of the Institut international de philosophie in Paris remarked: “We are living in a tumbling world.” He is right: the coronavirus pandemic. Ukraine and other wars across the globe. Hunger and displacement as a consequence. Climate change, which – almost daily in the news – is proving to be a climate catastrophe. A bundle of crises that is causing individuals, nations, indeed the whole world, to stagger.

To make matters worse, at this very time the Church, the community of Jesus Christ, is also in the midst of a massive crisis of credibility due to the abuse scandals and its insistence on positions that are hardly acceptable any longer.

There is no doubt about it: we live in a reeling world.

It is precisely into this situation that Jesus speaks – provocatively optimistic, instilling hope, encouraging – his words in Matthew 10:28–33: ‘Do not be afraid!’ (verses 28a, 31a)

Despite all the crises, we are not to be afraid. How is that possible?

Jesus says: No physical death can terrify us. The only One to be feared is ‘who can destroy both soul and body in hell’ (v. 28b) – meaning God. Now, it does not seem very appealing to cope with the manifold fears of a reeling world by, on top of everything else, fearing the eternal destruction of body and soul in hell. Jesus’ warning here corresponds to the time-bound notion of divine punishment, as preached by John the Baptist. What is important is the central focus of the statement: if we fear God, the Lord of life and death, ultimately nothing can frighten us. The fear of God overcomes all earthly worries. And the ‘fear’ of God is by no means primarily fear of the punishing Judge, but childlike trust in the heavenly Father. He Himself watches over even the small, seemingly worthless sparrows and allows nothing to happen to them without His will; how much more does He look upon us humans, know us down to the last hair, and love us (verses 29–31). We may entrust ourselves to Him!

For Jesus, ‘Do not be afraid’ does not merely mean (passively) being free from fear, but leads to active action, to confession. Jesus gifts us with fearlessness and hope so that we may share these with others. Our own experience of comfort and courage should overflow so that we may pass them on to our fellow human beings. “Do not be afraid” is therefore not merely an encouragement, but a commission. The content of this confession is Jesus himself (v. 32): by bearing witness to him fearlessly, we simultaneously profess our courage, for Jesus embodies the foundation of all hope. In this way, we inspire others with this power of courage and hope.

The sociologist Hartmut Rosa, as a non-theologian an unimpeachable witness, vehemently emphasised the importance of religion in a remarkable 2022 lecture entitled “Democracy Needs Religion”. Faith and the Church, he argued, are indispensable for the cohesion of our society.

Since his lecture, the world has become even more reeling due to the escalation of the crises mentioned. How urgent, then, is the courageous confession of Jesus’ disciples – an anchor of hope (Heb 6:18ff.) for many who are stumbling!

Jesus calls out to us – to whom else, if not us? – saying: Do not be afraid! Confess your hope! In its light, make the world a little more worth living in, despite evil and all disasters.

Never has the courage to profess our faith fearlessly been as indispensable as it is today. More than ever, this world that has been thrown into disarray needs to be reconnected (re-ligio) with its Creator, the good Father in heaven, who has drawn near to us in Jesus Christ.

Gerhard Hotze