Loading...You just have to go to the bookstore or the movie theater (or, read the articles and synopses about books or movies): One of the major themes or plot lines in storytelling is to move from fear to promise to fulfillment (or resolution).
There are, of course, other plot lines. But this is a great story arc.
This past week, my husband and I went to see Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. With an effort to not give away the story if you’ve not seen it, here is a basic synopsis:
The movie is a prequel to the Harry Potter series. A wizard from England arrives in New York City in about 1925 and encounters significant fear:
•fear of the “non-mag” people (the word that American witches and wizards use instead of “muggle” of the European wizarding lingo);
•fear of the fear that the non-magical world has for the wizarding world (and the fear that the wizards and witches have of being discovered for who they really are);
•fear of anyone breaking societal norms;
•fear of anything different (although, of course, almost everything is unusual!); and, yes,
•fear of the Fantastic Beasts!
The story has adventure, challenge, learning, wonder, amazement, sadness, and resolution. At the end of the movie, the promise of life without fear (or, at least, with LESS fear) comes to fulfillment.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We are living with fear around us, and have been. It hasn’t just been this last election cycle that has promoted fear. Some may feel that it’s more pervasive or accentuated now. But, fear and anxiety have been a part of our culture, our lives, and our stories for a long time:
The Israelites were in exile in Babylon for generations. Many were convinced that they’d never return to their homeland. They feared that they would die while in exile, the promise from God forgotten and broken.
People in Jesus’ time back living in the homeland (they DID get to return from Babylon!), but now living under terrible oppression from the Romans. Yet, the one (John the Baptist) who had spoken with such fervor and passion that The One promised by God to turn the world over was, well, filled with fear and questions.
(This did make sense though – he was in jail!)
In our time, there are communities who’ve lived through slavery, persecution, “Jim Crow” laws, and subtle and not-so-subtle racism who had been celebrating inclusion and civil rights and have now begun to fear the loss of gains, rights, and protections.
Individuals who have known hardship but who’ve been able to meet and overcome difficulties are now encountering losses, debts, illnesses, or strains that they’ve never known before, and don’t feel like they can meet.
Whole generations of people who feel lost or overlooked.
And fear takes root. And it grows.
It grows and grows so much that it takes over reason and logic.
Fear and anxiety gets so loud
that you cannot hear anything but its roar in your head.
Then you may lash out at others;
Or, like John the Baptist, ask plaintive questions like “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?”
Or, you may give up, as so many people (especially “Millennials”) have given up on the church.
This question that John asks isn’t just a question,
it’s a poignant plea for understanding and reassurance –
something we probably all know about.
Jesus answers this question and the plea with absolutely no judgment or shame in his response. Jesus’ answer is “Look around you! You see the blind who can see again, the lame who can walk, the outcast lepers are cleansed and welcomed back into community, the deaf can hear, the dead are alive again, and the poor have good news brought to them.”
Jesus reminds John the Baptizer, John’s disciples, and us
that he (Jesus) did not come as the Victorious Conqueror that many of them expected and that many now try to make Jesus out to be.
Jesus says, “Look around you! See how God’s good news of great joy is here amongst you! See how God is here amongst you!”
See that you are not alone in your troubles, your illnesses, your grief or your fear. God doesn’t eliminate any of it, but walks with you through it.
God doesn’t keep our world from falling apart, but holds onto us in the midst.
God doesn’t stop struggles or hardships, but enters into it with us so that we know that we are not alone.
Jesus’ answer to John the Baptist, John’s disciples, and us
is an invitation to look around with open eyes and hearts to see God at work;
it is ALSO an invitation to be a part of what Jesus has been doing!
In the midst of fear, worry, and even impatience, we can act now to make our communities and congregations, our country and our world more peace-filled, more just, more hopeful, more healthy, more kind, and more loving.
Jesus’ answer is also a call to action and participation. We aren’t the people of God who sit around and wait for God to fix things or to serve us. Rather, we are the people of God who have been given the gifts of the Holy Spirit – gifts of abilities, of time, of energy, of courage, of wisdom, of endurance!
With John the Baptist, we may ask: Is Jesus the promised one, or are we to wait for another?
Jesus IS the promised Messiah, Emmanuel (God with us) who calls us into full life with him through loving service and action.
Today, tomorrow, and all the days.
In this beloved world that God has made!
Amen
