Even When Fears Pile up: Peace
Lots of us are pretty ingenious at thinking up things to worry about.
There’s even a site called phobialist.com, where Fredd Culbertson has funneled his lifelong fascination with exaggerated, exotic fears.
He compiled a list of phobias that he says can be found in reference books or medical papers:
arachnophobia
claustrophobia
glossophobia (fear of speaking in public)
alektorophobia, (a fear of chickens)
entherophobia (a heightened fear of mother-in-laws)
Whether or not we suffer from odd phobias, we all have fears—some of which are appropriate and protect us from harm (we would not climb a rickety ladder to reach a second-story window). Fear of microbes (bacillophobia) may even make a certain sense during a pandemic.
But many fears don’t help us. They consume mental energy.
We fix on them or they seize us. Fear’s voice becomes a nagging chorus of discouragement. We give them such pride of place that they hold us back from an abundant life.
Fear can lock us up behind walls of hesitation, reluctance, and all kinds of self-imposed limits.
It was fear that had locked the disciples up after Jesus died. In their fear of the religious leaders, the disciples hid behind a locked door.
With the chaos of Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion, those early followers retreated.They could not figure out what in the world had happened. His death sent their hopes crashing.
They were afraid.
And then, as the Gospel of Luke tells us, Jesus himself stood among the disciples, and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
The only category available to them for processing his presence in front of them is “ghost” or “spirit.” No wonder Luke tells us, “They were startled and terrified.”
But Jesus comes saying, Peace. He meant it not simply as a typical first-century Jewish greeting or farewell, like when we say, “Hey, how’s it going?” Or, “Have a good day.”
He meant that word Peace as a promise. It was a statement of what he was there to bring: peace because of a new freedom from panic--even when fears pile up.
Yes, it all took some processing. Luke says, “In their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering.”
We, too, live amid joyful disbelieving and wondering.
Even amidst fears and questions, though, the peace Jesus brings on the other side of his resurrection tells us about God’s help for the struggles we may face.
If true, Easter changes everything, even our regrets, which look backward, and our fears, when we look ahead.
We all can dwell on the what-ifs, the might-happens, the worst-case outcomes. It’s easy enough.
But to help us look ahead with hope, to help us break that endless word loop of fear in our heads, we can recall how Jesus came to those first followers. Came back from death.
And like the “wondering” disciples, we open ourselves to his coming to us.
What if Jesus were standing in our midst, saying, “Peace!”?
We can imagine him coming into our daily lives, crowding out the fearful voices and the questions that make us hesitate. That rob our joy. That make us afraid. Offering the possibility of a new freedom from what makes us cower.
Peace, Jesus says. Let’s let him say it to us, to our fears.
Peace. Peace—to you!