19th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Wisdom 18:6-9
Hebrews 11:1-2,8-19
Luke 12:32-48
There is much to fear in our times: The threat of war, environmental destruction, economic decline and very personal disasters that can affect any of us.
‘Fear not, little flock!’ says Jesus. But how?
Should we simply ignore the dangers? Perhaps with positive thinking? Just close our eyes and dream of a better world? That is childish. As adults, we have to take reality seriously.
Should we heroically endure the dangers like the Stoics and suppress our feelings? That is inhumanly harsh. After all, we are not only afraid for ourselves, but above all for the people we love. Fear for them is a sign of love.
So, must we despair because of all the fear?
Jesus says: ‘Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.’
God wants to give us eternal life in his presence. It is this firm promise, it is the Christian hope of salvation that allows us to overcome our fear.
This does not mean that the dangers of this life simply disappear. Our journey is often difficult and dangerous. But it leads us to God. And we know that it is God’s will that we reach the goal.
As Christians we got faith, love and hope. Equipped with these gifts from God, we can endure the often terrible reality of this earthly life without having to childishly ignore the dangers, without becoming hard and unloving, and without despairing.
Our hope is not weak. A weak hope would be saying: ‘There is, perhaps, under fortunate circumstances, the possibility that we will be saved.’ Our hope is much stronger.
Christian hope is closely linked to faith. ‘Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen’, we have heard in the second reading. We cannot yet see the goal. We are still on our way. But in faith we are certain that the goal, heaven, exists and that God wants us to reach it.
In the first reading, we heard about the Israelites who lived as slaves in Egypt. But ‘the night of their liberation was made known beforehand’ to them, ‘so that they might rejoice in sure knowledge of the oaths in which they trusted.’ It is the same with us who are waiting for our redemption. It has already been announced to us. And we can rejoice in sure knowledge of God’s promise.
But we do not yet see this promise fulfilled. St Paul writes in his letter to the Romans: ‘For in hope we were saved. Now to see something does not involve hope. For why should we hope for what we have already seen?’
The Letter to the Hebrews reminds us of Abraham, Sarah and Isaac, who travelled their entire lives as believers and hopers: ‘These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.’
This is also our situation: We live as strangers and exiles on the earth. When I am a stranger, I feel that something is missing. The country I am living in is not the country I am familiar with. I don’t have a strong network of family and friends there. The people speak a language that I don’t understand properly. They have customs and traditions that I’m not used to. Living in that country can be frightening.
Should we go back to the country we came from? That is often not possible. And if we do go back, our old home has also changed, and we too have changed, so that we end up being strangers there too. Living on earth means living in exile.
But faith and hope offer us a different perspective. We don’t look back, we look forward! God has prepared a city for us in heaven. We should long for this city, not for our old, earthly home, which is already lost. Christian hope makes us walk the path to our hometown in heaven without fear.
We do not have to reject our host country. But we must realise that it is only a transit station. We should learn to live in transit and see this as something positive.
Jesus even advises us to actively burn bridges behind us: ‘Sell your possessions!’ On the other hand, we should take care of the people around us: ‘Give to the needy!’
This is how we can practically express our hope in heaven: by not being too much attached to material things and by acting generously towards others. In doing so, we provide ourselves ‘with a treasure in the heavens that do not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys.’
‘Fear not!’ – This is how Jesus begins his words to the disciples. But then he adds another statement: ‘Be ready! For the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.’
Not to fear does not mean to take it all easy. There is a danger of once again settling down here on earth saying: ‘Nothing can happen to us anyway, because we will all be saved one day.’ This attitude is dangerous. It makes us lose sight of heaven. We lose faith, love and hope. And ultimately we lose contact with God.
There is a kind of fear that is good. It is the fear of God, which is a gift of the Holy Spirit. Jesus points us to this good fear. The fear of God can exist alongside Christian hope. Yes, the two are even interdependent. The more we realise how great the hope is to which we are called, the more we should cooperate with God’s grace ‘with fear and trembling’ in order to achieve our salvation. It is God himself who brings about the willing and the doing in us. But we are not completely uninvolved. ‘Blessed are the servants, whom the Lord finds awake when he comes!’
