Advent Lutheran Church

"The Second Fear (Good Friday)"

Grace and peace to you from God, the Creator, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Amen.             

            I have a friend who suffered earlier in his life from “Panic Attacks” – a disorder known as “agoraphobia” or literally, “fear of the market-place.” The attacks would come without warning, and would completely overwhelm him and he would be absolutely incapacitated with fear.  While working with a therapist and learning that most panic attacks are rooted in deep, unexpressed emotions, my friend also ran across a small book called The Second Fear which detailed a phenomenon that is often experienced along with these attacks – that is, the very real fear of the potential fear.  However, the author offered a way to help a sufferer regain some control, by stating firmly to oneself, “Relax, and float on by

            It is almost a stereotype to say that human being like to be in control.  Change that we do not initiate is avoided like the plague by most, and often, even the contemplation of change throws us into “the 2nd fear.”

            And yet there are many experiences that require loss of control for them to be what they are meant to be.  Which is why I have always avoided sky-diving, bungee-jumping and anything that requires me to completely let go.  It is also why I was never a great equestrian, downhill skier or even actress – as each of these require you to let go and “give the horse his head,” “commit to the mountain” or “lose yourself in the role.”

            But what does this have to do with Good Friday?  Well, I believe this fundamental fear of losing control contributes greatly to another of our modern society’s phobias:  fear of intimacy.  We do not willingly give ourselves away, unless we have been overwhelmed emotionally and are “head over heels” “swept away” “breathlessly, hopelessly” in love.    Then and only then do we seem to be capable of trusting our lives to someone other than ourselves.  And then, there’s Jesus…

             They say that the only two true emotions are fear and love – and the late theologian, Henri Nouwen wrote eloquently about the juxtaposition of love and fear in a most unique way.  As we ponder together Jesus’ arrival at the end of his personal Lenten journey, let’s hear Fr. Nouwen’s words:

            “Passion is a kind of waiting - waiting for what other people are going to do. Jesus went to Jerusalem to announce the good news to the people of that city.

            And Jesus knew that he was going to put a choice before them: Will you be my disciple, or will you be my executioner? There is no middle ground here. Jesus went to Jerusalem to put people in a situation where they had to say "Yes" or "No".

            That is the great drama of Jesus' passion: he had to wait for their response. What would they do? Betray him or follow him?

            In a way, his agony is not simply the agony of approaching death. It is also the agony of being out of control and of having to wait.  It is the agony of a God who depends on us to decide how to live out the divine presence among us. It is the agony of the God who, in a very mysterious way, allows us to decide how God will be God.

            Here we glimpse the mystery of God's incarnation. God became human not only to act among us but also to be the recipient of our responses.

            . . . And that is the mystery of Jesus' love. Jesus in his passion is the one who waits for our response. Precisely in that waiting the intensity of his love and God's is revealed to us.”*

            As we continue through this day and tomorrow and the darkest hours of God’s life in human form, may we recall just how deeply God loves us…to the point of trusting us by putting his very life into our hands.  Amen. 

*The Path of Waiting – Fr. Henri Nouwen (online devotion)