The Church of the Advent - Sermon by Fr Warren, March 21, 2008, Good Friday

One of the worst things that can happen to a person is fear. And I say happen because fear, though it may be thought of as an emotion, acts more like a power - a power in itself and a power of itself. In persons and in communities - even nations - fear can take on a life of its own - a power - and the effects of that life are almost always destructive, unhappy, and sometimes disastrous. As I said, one of the worst things that can happen to a person is fear.

All emotions are irrational to some degree; fear, however, can at times be entirely irrational, spontaneous and unexpected, with no discernable cause, making no sense. A couple of weeks ago, for instance, it was my turn to lead one of the classes here at the Advent. The subject was something I have taught over and over again for the past thirty or so years. But I was terrified. Terrified. Throughout the afternoon as I prepared for the class, I kept thinking things like, “How can I get out of this?” “Can I pretend to be sick?” “What can I do?” I was terrified; I felt almost paralyzed; and it made absolutely no sense. After the class was over, and I was still alive and no harm had come to me - in fact, the class had gone rather well - I thought to myself, “What was that about?” “Why was I afraid of something I could almost do in my sleep?” “What came over me?” “What happened?” Fear seizes one, and, as I said, it can do so for no discernable reason, and one finds oneself paralyzed with fear, and not knowing why.

There are, of course, quite legitimate objects for fear, and there are circumstances where fear is a natural reaction. The world can be a very scary place and there are plenty of things to be afraid of: adversity, hostility, accident, war, natural disaster, uncertainty, illness, reversal of fortune, loss of family, loss of friends, hatred, shame and more. We’ve been singing the Litany during Lent; there we find a pretty good list of things to be afraid of. And yet, with regard to all that I just mentioned and which the Litany details, there is often a positive aspect to fear: it is a warning and it leads us to avoid things and situations and actions and persons which might hurt us or destroy us. It is, for instance, out of a kind of fear that we check the pressure of our tires and the pressure of our blood. It is out of a kind of fear that we teach our children about cars and stop signs and crossing the street. It is out of fear that we put aside some money “for a rainy day.” As long as it does not become obsessive and take on a life of its own, fear is a natural part of what it is to be mortal and can even serve to prolong that mortality.

There are two other fitting objects of fear which I have not yet mentioned. It is with them that we are most concerned tonight: pain and death. This was the mixture in the cup which Jesus prayed to have taken from him - the cup of pain and death. This was the cup which he drank to the dregs as he hung on the Cross. And these two fears are closely connected to that which was the essential issue of the Cross - the question of obedience. Could . . . would . . . Jesus obey?

Let us not be falsely pious or reverent without thinking. Jesus was afraid. As he faced the cup of pain and death, he was afraid. All four gospels record Jesus’ agony of fear. Luke, and John mention it only briefly, as if it were too much or too puzzling. Mark and Matthew give us a fairly lengthy account. Jesus took his disciples to Gethsemane to pray, and, the gospel tells us, he

began to be greatly distressed and troubled. And he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death” … And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. (14:32-35)

This happened, he prayed this way three times. And though his prayer ended in acceptance - “yet not what I will, but what thou wilt” ( 14:36) - Jesus remained afraid. And this should not surprise us, for acceptance here is not the removal of fear. In fact, fear is one of the powers which Jesus will take on in the trial, the contest, the combat of the Cross. Through acceptance and obedience in the midst of pain and confronted with death, he will break the power of fear.

It is not only in the Gospels that we hear about Jesus agony and fear. It is recorded also in the Epistle to the Hebrews It is interesting and, I think, no coincidence that this New Testament book which argues Jesus’ divinity most unambiguously also presents his human experience of fear most vividly. The Epistle to the Hebrews tells us:

In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard for his godly fear. Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered; and being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him. (5:7-9)

Again, Jesus was afraid. In his incarnation, the Son of God took on, entered into all that it is to be human in order to save all that it is to be human and to deliver humanity from those things which would destroy it. And an almost defining part of that human, creaturely reality - which Jesus assumed - is fear. Fear is about limitation; fear is about uncertainty; fear is about loss. And so, the one who is limitless, the one who is truth, the one who is fullness emptied himself and embraced uncertainty, limitation, and loss. And that embrace results in fear. That embrace is fear. It could have paralyzed him. That’s what fear does. And pain makes it worse; pain intensifies the fear, for on the Cross pain - horrible in itself - pointed to the unavoidable approach of death.

It could have paralyzed him. It could have compromised his acceptance of the Father’s will. But it did not. Jesus obeyed. In the grip of fear, seized with human creaturely fear, the Son of God obeyed. That obedience has brought about our salvation. The victory of his obedience and his acceptance of the Father’s will has broken the ultimate power of fear.

Listen once more to Holy Scripture:

But we see Jesus who for a little while was made lower than the angels, (now) crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. … For because he himself has been tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted. … Since therefore his children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same nature, that through death he might destroy him who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to life-long bondage. (Hebrews 2:9, 18, 14, 15)

Praise be to Jesus! Thanks be to God!