“At that very hour some Pharisses came,  and said to Jesus “Get away from here,  for Herod wants to kill you.”  And he said to them,  “Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow,  and the third day I finish my course…’"  

   Luke 13: 31-32

Back in early February a cardboard box was placed on a busy sidewalk in downtown Boston.  Inside were some small electronic cartoon characters from the late-night show ‘Aqua Teen Hunger Force.  People were supposed to look in the box, spot  the characters and ‘get’ the gag.   Instead it sparked the evacuation and shut-down of the entire downtown of Boston.  Security forces thought it might be part of a terrorist  plot to blow up downtown Boston.

See how they run?  We are so on ‘edge’ since  911 that an silly ad campaign can actually trigger shut down of a majory city!  The fear in this nation is palpable…and it’s holding us all hostage.  Some politicians like fear because they can use it to manipulate people -  they can garner support for whatever they want to do in the interest of ‘national security’.   Fear is a great motivator…it can send principled, common sense people running in panic.

The Pharisees try to use fear on Jesus in today’s text in Luke’s gospel.  He isn’t in Jerusalem but he’s getting close,  and they don’t want him there.  So they pretend to be concerned for his well-being.   ‘Get away from here’ they say,  in other words ‘run, go in the opposite direction because Herod is out to kill you.’  Jesus already knows Herod well enough to know he might want him killed.  After all,  it’s Herod who had John the Baptist beheaded.  But Jesus also knows enough about these Pharisees to be suspicious of their motives.  Either way,  it doesn’t matter.  Whether Herod is out for blood,  or this is just a scare tactic,  Jesus remains steadfast to his mission that leads to Jerusalem,   not nothing, fear itself can dissuade him.  “Go and tell that fox ‘I’m casting out demons,  I’m performing cures…today and tomorrow,  and the next day before I’m finished my course.  Nevertheless,  I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following’  for it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem.’   ‘I must go on my way’  … - the word ‘must’ comes from the Greek ‘dei’ which means ‘it is necessary’  and speaks to the divine necessity of Jesus’ ministry.   That divine imperative echoes through the entire gospel.  We first hear it at the beginning of Luke’s gospel when Jesus is just 12 years old.  His parents have lost him on their way home from the Passover feast took 3 days to find him again.    Mary says  ‘Your father and I have been looking for you anxiously.’   And he replies  ‘Didn’t you know that I must be (dei) in my Father’s house?’  We hear it at the end of the gospel when the risen Christ tells the two disciples on the road to Emmaus : ‘Was it not necessary (edei) that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?’     

    And in between we have these Pharisees trying to detour Jesus from God’s unfolding plan.  But Jesus refuses to react out of fear… his life is not focused self-preservation but on the God’s plan.  His has set his face like a flint for Jerusalem and nothing will get in his way of carrying out God’s plan.  He’s going forward,  not back.

    This same Jesus has already announced to his disciples  ‘Whoever would save his life will lose it’  and whoever loses his life for my sake,  will save it.’  (9:24)  To some that sounds like bad news…as though it’s hopeless to try to save your life…but actually it’s good news – it reminds us that with Christ on our side, we have nothing to fear – our lives are safe & secure in him.   The Apostle Paul understands this most clearly when he says ‘If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord’.  And our own church confession understands it most clearly too,  it begins this way ‘In life and death we belong to God’.  

Now other cultures have learned this lesson better than ours:  during the bombings of WW2 people in Briton refused to fear…they would hear the bombs dropping but they didn’t run off in a panic,  they rode it out,  cleaned up the streets each day and kept their cool each night.  Today’s culture could take a few pages from their book…because we have found  all sorts of things to go Henny Penny over today.   We’re afraid of terrorists (obviously)  to the point of being suspicious of anyone Islamic or looks Islamic.  We’re afraid of  sexual abusers …you can now go online and track where they live in various neighborhoods,  and in Ohio they may soon have bright green license plates so you can track them on the roads too.  We’re afraid of global warming – afraid of getting hit by a hurricane or tornado,  afraid of the power going out for an extended time,  afraid of  the dark,  afraid of strangers,  afraid of getting sick,  catching a cold or the flu.  Afraid of losing our jobs,  afraid that Christianity is losing ground and may one day be obsolete  (which is really what the dispute over the Wren Chapel cross at William and Mary Colllege is all about).

  We are living in an age of fear.  But fear is not a Christian virtue…Jesus never said ‘blessed are the fearful’.   We are called to live by faith,  not by fear.   We’re called to love…because  ‘perfect love casts out fear.’  (1 John)   

Now I know that’s a tall order,  to never fear at all.  Who here can say they’ve never been afraid?  I’m told that even John Wesley was afraid…of thunderstorms!   The story is told that he came over to Georgia to do missionary work in the 1730’s.  On his return voyage in 1738 the ship he was on ran into storm (hurricane?)  and was nearly lost.  Apparently John Wesley was in a panic,  running all over the ship,  trying to find a safe refuge from the storm.  He came across a Moravian family that was calmly seated together,  praying amidst all chaos all around them.  John said ‘How can you be so calm at a time like this’   The father replied ‘You must have faith’  To which John asked ‘And what if I cannot?’
 ‘Then act as if you do’ said the father. 

We live by faith,  not fear.   When the storms of life rage around you – have faith.  And if you cannot …act as if you do…because even that is a sign of faith.

Amen