Stand Up!

Read Luke 21.25-38

First Sunday of Advent (Year C)

From Pharaoh in the first chapter of Exodus to today’s tyrants and autocrats, fear is how we turn those who are different from us into an enemy. Fear causes us to horde. Fear causes us to assume we will never have enough and to see those around us as competitors. Fear drives wedges of distrust into our communities that fracture solidarity and compassion. Fear causes us to define ourselves and those around us not by what we share but by what makes us different. Fear creates an “either/or” and “us/them” mentality. It is nearly impossible to find common ground with that mindset, let alone see each other sympathetically. Fear, in short, drives us inward, hardens our hearts, darkens our vision and stunts our imagination.

Throughout human history, it’s always been true; that is why the most spoken command and promise in all of Scripture is “Do not fear”.