Fearlessness
God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. 2 Tim: 1:7
Fearlessness. Stories of fearlessness. Which I fear we confuse with ruthlessness. When it really is about abandoning our fears so we may be more attentive, more present, to the ways of the Lord. Which itself is about risking to use the gifts we have been given profligately, rather than fiercely holding onto them, which results in a false sense of security.
We see this illustrated in the story in Judges chapters 4&5. We are told that the people had sinned. No specific sin is mentioned, but most often it is forgetting that as we have received God’s love and mercy, so we are to extend these gifts not only to one another, but to all others. The narrator tells us the result of this lack of love for our neighbors resulted in God sending a foreign army and a foreign king to reign harshly over Israel for twenty years. Two things in this. First, twenty years is not meant to be a specific amount of time, but rather suggests it was a long, long time. Secondly, it does not mean that God literally sent King Jabin and his 900 chariots under the command of General Sisera. Rather, Hebrew scripture is unique in the world of ancient literature, and assumes that the conquest was a result of the people having lost their way, burying the love of God, ignoring the needs of others, and that therefore it must be offensive to God. That is, they assume responsibility for their actions, or inaction, and accept that their own behavior resulted in a long-time crisis.
Indeed, God’s bountiful love and mercy is evidenced by God raising up a new prophet and leader for Israel to meet the current crisis. A woman. Deborah. We are not told how she communicates with God, and God with her, but she sends Barak of Naphtali to meet the 900 chariots of Sisera and drive out the foreign invaders once and for all. Barak insists that she accompany him. She agrees, but makes sure he understands that it will be a woman who fells Sisera. The armies of Barak prevail, but General Sisera escapes and seeks comfort and a hiding place in a home he believes to be safe. The woman of the tent, Jael, takes Sisera in, covers him with a blanket, and provides him with milk and curds to eat. Weary from running, and filled with Jael’s provisions, Sisera falls asleep, ordering her to tell no one that he is not there. Yes, she says. But then, while he sleeps, she drives a stake through his temple, fulfilling the prophecy of Deborah that Sisera would ultimately be felled by a woman. Deborah and Jael, because of their fearlessness on behalf of the whole community, are two of the most popular female names in Israel to this day.
In what many think is one of the oldest poems in all of the Bible, the Song of Deborah celebrates this saving event: “…when people offer themselves willingly, bless the Lord…Most blessed of women is Jael…of tent dwelling women most blessed. He [Sisera] asked for water, and she gave him milk, she brought him curds in a lordly bowl.” [i] This ancient tale of God’s ultimate forgiveness and mercy still has lessons for us all today. Jabin and Sisera stand as symbols of the many oppressive consequences of human sin. Just as Deborah and Jael highlight God’s choice of these two women to fearlessly remind one and all of God’s concern that oppression needs to be rooted out and not allowed to stand. The commemorative poem also shows surprising compassion for Sisera’s mother: “Out the window she peered, the mother of Sisera gazed through the lattice – Why is his chariot so long in coming? … Are they not finding and dividing the spoil? …Spoil of dyed stuffs for Sisera, spoil of dyed stuffs, embroidered, two pieces of dyed work embroidered for my neck as spoil?” This ancient Israelite poem recognizes the sadness and pathos of so many others on both sides when the battle is over.
Then there is another odd story from Jesus about a man leaving on a journey. He entrusts his property to three servants: five talents to one, two to another, and one to a third. A talent was roughly equal to 20 years wages for a common laborer, perhaps in the neighborhood of anywhere from $1,000 to $30,000 in today’s dollars! When the master returns, the servants are asked to account for what they have done with what he gave each of them. Two invested wisely, and doubled the value of what had been entrusted to them. The third was fearful and had buried the talent entrusted to him. He returns just the one talent to the master. To say the master is unimpressed with the servant’s excessive prudence, has him “cast into the outer darkness where there is wailing and gnashing of teeth.” The story ends with an easily misunderstood proclamation: Ordering the one talent to be given to the servant with ten, the master says, “For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.” [ii]
It's easy to misunderstand the lesson here if we think strictly in terms of the money involved. What if the talents represent the power of the Holy Spirit given to the disciples when Jesus returned to the household of God’s eternal love. Jesus left them with two gifts, two charges: Love God, and Love your neighbor as you love yourself; as God has forgiven and loved you. There was great hope throughout the church that Jesus would return to subdue the Roman Empire once and for all. Jesus’s telling of this odd story suggests that in the meantime, in the days between, his followers are to be fearless in loving God and loving neighbors – all neighbors, including people with whom we have had historic differences like the Samaritans. As the Second Letter of Timothy declares, “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a strong mind!” [iii] And as Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 13:11, “And the God of love and peace will be with you.”
These are the “talents” that have been generously given to us all: the very means to be a people of love and peace, and the promise of God’s presence wherever we may be, no matter what the current crisis may be. Paul further instructs the Corinthian church, and thereby all of us, “Examine yourselves to see whether you are living in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not realize that Jesus Christ is in you? – unless, indeed, you fail to meet the test. … but that you may do what is right, though we may seem to have failed. For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth.” [iv]
This is the fearlessness God in Christ wants for us. Gives
to us. Expects us to use for the spread of the Kingdom of God here and now. The
One who came to us from Love, returned to Love, so that we might be his people
of Love throughout and all around the world. God was with Deborah and Jael. God
was with the two servants who risked using the talents entrusted to them,
rather than give in to fearfulness, saving God’s love and mercy for a rainy
day. Every day is a rainy day. How might
we be the good and faithful servants of the Lord like all those who have gone
before us? How might we, in times of great crisis, be fearless on behalf of the
truth? On behalf of God’s kingdom of mercy and love?
[iv] 2 Corinthians 13:5-10
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