Live Life Unafraid

We're well into the thick of it. Lent begins with Ash Wednesday and then before we know it is time to hunt Easter eggs and consider meal options for Resurrection Sunday.

Yet we have this lingering sense in our soul that to dig deeper might be good for us and that our look at the cross might change us in a profound way.

Our study guide during these sacred days has been Witness at the Cross by Amy-Jill Levine, and it invites us to consider all those who gathered around the cross.

My invitation for all of us is to find our place with them and to see how truth and grace offered by Jesus is being lived out in our journeys.

These times in which we live have heightened our fears and left us anxious and sad or even mad. As we stand at the cross here is the verse to remember and let sink into your soul:

“But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.” (Isaiah 43:1)

Because we are baptized, we are called to live differently. Our vocation is to not let fear defeat or dominate us. Every person then and now who is a witness to the cross is deeply loved by the Savior who hangs on it.

Walter Bruggeman, the insightful Old Testament scholar, offers the truth that those who change the world will not be the frightened but the ones empowered by a confidence that is relentless in its trust in God.

In his book, Devotions for Lent, he is suggestive of how we better the world when we live unafraid.
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“The UNAFRAID are open to the neighbor, while the frightened are defending themselves from the neighbor.

The UNAFRAID are generous in the community, while the frightened, in their anxiety, must keep and store and accumulate, to make themselves feel safe.

The UNAFRAID commit acts of compassion and mercy, while the frightened do not notice those in need.

The UNAFRAID are committed to justice for the weak and the poor, while the frightened see them only as threats.

The UNAFRAID pray in the morning, care through the day, and rejoice at night in thanks and praise, while the frightened are endlessly restless and dissatisfied.”
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There you have it. I encourage you to dig deep. Give your fears to God. He knows us by name! That is an amazing gift.

God’s love will not let us go and never abandon us. Our scary world calls us to trust in God’s unfailing love and to know that we are not alone. 


+Dr. Harry Durbin, Minister of Discipleship