Jesus said to the twelve, "So have no fear...."

Do you recall how old you were when you first felt fear? Was it during the first seconds of your life when the doctor slapped you on the backside to get your breathing up to snuff? Or when Mom introduced peek-a-boo into the game repertoire? Or when Dad tossed you impossibly high in the air as a part of his game repertoire? Chances are you cannot recall the day when fear first came into your life - it has always been part-and-parcel to who you are.

I've shared before what the polls tells us what frightens most people the greatest. The number one fear that grabs people the worst? Can you guess it? Probably. Let me get at it with this story:

Back in the days of the Roman Empire during an event in the Coliseum, a Christian was thrown to a hungry lion (just an aside - no wonder the disciples were frightened). As the spectators cheered, the lion pounced. But the Christian quickly whispered something in the lion's ear and the beast backed away in terror. After this happened several times, the emperor sent a centurion to find out what magic spell could make a ferocious lion cower in fear. A few minutes later the guard returned and said, "The Christian whispered in the lion's ear, 'After dinner you'll be required to say a few words.'"

It seems public speaking is the greatest fear, a fate worth than death. But I don't think this was on the mind of Jesus in our Gospel text as not once, but twice, Jesus urges his followers do not be afraid. These are words spoken by a perceptive man, this Jesus, spoken because he can tell his disciples are frightened. Religious leaders are already calling Jesus, Beelzebul, meaning Satan, or literally, Lord of the Flies. "And if they call me that, Jesus says, think what they'll do to my followers. So have no fear of them." And Jesus goes on to talk about God's love and concern for the children of God. He goes on to talk about sparrows ... and if God loves the sparrow, God loves people in spades. Why God knows the number of hairs on your head.

In a clergy Bible Study here earlier in the week, one of those participating is a good friend who happens to be bald as a cue ball. I said to him, "You should begin your sermon, 'My friends, what an awesome God we have! A God who knows even the number of hairs on my head!" He just looked at me, shrugged and said, "Well, you know what they say Tim, 'hair today, gone tomorrow.'" But in all seriousness, the idea that God knows us so intimately and loves us so deeply, is only hinted at when Jesus tries to comfort his disciples, "and even the hairs on your head are counted."

Jesus is in the midst of sending his disciples into the world - knowing full well that the people in God's world will not welcome God's Word with open ears, open hearts or open arms. That's not surprising, either - this notion that the Good News gets such a bad reception. Not when you consider that much of the message has to do with forgiving those who wrong you, loving those who hate you, turning the other cheek toward those who strike you and a host of other things that tend to make us uncomfortable because they go so much against the human grain. Small wonder the disciples are fearful. The religious leaders are hostile toward Jesus and thus the disciples. That does not bode well. It takes no fortune teller to recognize that soon enough, the secular authorities, the Romans will get in on the act. The religious authorities may wish Jesus harm. The Romans can bring it about.

Winston Churchill warned the people of England to expect "blood, toil, tears and sweat." Jesus gives an even darker warning: "behold I send you as lambs in the midst of wolves!" The new faith would bring the followers before kings and courts and synagogue rulers. It would divide homes and families, so that brother would persecute brother, father against son, mother against daughter. And the warning was tragically fulfilled. And still, Jesus said to the twelve, "So have no fear...." Knowing that as they followed Jesus, they would not be delaying their mortality ... but moving more quickly toward their final breath.

What does Jesus know that the others as yet do not? How could Jesus be so confident? Of course, the simple answer is not what Jesus knows ... but Who Jesus knows! Jesus knows the Father! A God so intimately bound up with women and men that God knows even the number of hairs on their heads! Why God even cares for the sparrow - a bird sold in the market place at two for a penny. Jesus proclaims that if God can spare time for the sparrow - how much more does our Father in Heaven, our Father, take note of your life and mine? Not only your death and mine ... but your life and mine! For this reason, Jesus could say with confidence, "so have no fear...." And yet, as much as we wish to face each day with faith and courage, our fears often get the better of us.

Some years ago, Robert Fulghum wrote a wonderful book with wise advice, Everything I Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten. He spells out things which have nothing to do with spelling. Fulghum enumerates things which have nothing to do with numbers and math. This is what is really important ... and we hopefully learn it in kindergarten. It has to do with sharing our cookies, playing fair in the sandbox and the importance of an afternoon nap. Toward the end of the narrative, Fulghum says this: "And it is still true, no matter how old you are, when you go out in the world, it is best to hold hands and stick together." What an antidote to fear: hold hands - and stick together.

It is no accident that when Jesus sends out his followers, he sends them out two-by-two ... partners in spreading the Gospel in a hostile environment. It is no accident that God's Holy Spirit calls and gathers us into the Church - this community in which we pray for one another, uplift one another, hold hands with one another. We support one another as we face our fears ... and face our fears in faith. Jesus encourages us not to be afraid. Certainly the God who know the number of hairs on our head knows also that things in life frighten us. The economy is sliding and our job is in jeopardy. Our 401k is tumbling toward a 301k. Our son is in pain, or our daughter. Our doctor looks at our chart and say, "oh, oh." And yet, even as the hairs stand up on the back of our necks ... we find a measure of comfort that our God knows us so intimately, and loves us so deeply, that our God knows the number of hairs on our head.

And for another measure of comfort, again Fulghum, "And it is still true, no matter how old you are, when you go out in the world, it is best to hold hands and stick together." And so, as we stick together, you and I, we also hold the hand of Jesus - the same Jesus whose own hands were once stuck upon the face of the cross. Even from that cross, Jesus would counsel, "Don't be afraid - and do not fear that which can kill the body; the Father who is concerned with the sparrow, will lift you upon the wings of an eagle. God will send you soaring through the worst life has to offer - all the way into the Kingdom, the best God has to give."