Do not be afraid. As the Lord said to Lady Julian: ‘All shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.’
Dame Julian lived in Norwich in the late 14thcentury, early 15thcentury-- during the time of “Black Death,” the Peasant’s Revolt, and the suppression of the Lollards. It was, to say the least, a difficult moment in history to be alive. There was much to fear. But, from her writings: “Revelations of Divine Love” you do not learn of these things. She does not mention them. What she writes were the words of Jesus to her, words that came to her in a vision: ‘All shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.’
In the sermon on the mount, Jesus said:
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?......Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matt 6:25, 31, 34)
Do you know what the most oft- repeated command is in the Bible? Not “Be holy” or “Be good” or “Sin not.” It is: “Be not afraid! Fear not!”[1]
In Luke’s telling, the shepherds were told to “Be not afraid, Fear not!” They lived on the fringe of society, like those who subsist on day work. They were the last to be hired, the first to be fired. They were among the most vulnerable in that society. But, the angel—messenger from God--said to them: "Be not be afraid, fear not!” Knowing how close fear lives to our hearts; knowing that to do anything worth doing for ourselves or for the world, we must walk through our fear—God’s message: “Be not afraid.”
Before the angels delivered God’s message to the shepherds, an angel had appeared to Mary. Mary was an innocent young lady, barely more than a girl, from a pious, God-fearing family, respectable, upright. She was also poor. Young. A woman. Poor. In her world, she was very vulnerable. An angel, a messenger from God, appeared to her. The messenger said: “Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favor with God.” Fear not. And a few moments ago we sang of her “and blessed is she…blessed is she.”
According to Mark, on Easter morning, three women – Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome – had come to the tomb where Jesus was buried. A young man, dressed in a white robe, was sitting in a tomb. They were, understandably, alarmed. The young man’s first words were, “Don’t be afraid.”
Fear most often controls our anxious hearts and minds. It stops us in our tracks, it hides all that is beautiful in the day, it kills our creativity, it keeps us from being who God made us to be.
So the young man says, to the three alarmed women, “Be not afraid” – which means more than “be not afraid of me,” but be not afraid of life, of yourself, of all you are about to experience. Of women witnessing the risen Christ, we sang a few moments ago: “and blessed are they…oh, blessed are they…”
In the book of Genesis, we read of Hagar and Ishmael cast off and wandering in the desert. The skin of water that Abraham had given Hagar the day of the departure was now empty. She and her son were about to die of thirst. She placed her son under a bush and walked a distance away and said, I cannot bear to watch the death of my son.
But, God came and spoke to her and said, “Fear not…” God opened Hagar’s eyes and she saw a well of water. This story tells the beginning of a people, a story dear to the hearts of our Muslim neighbors. God saved Ishmael as God would save Isaac and as God continues to hear the cries of us all.
And, that brings me to another well and another woman.
Jesus was passing through Samaria. He came to a Samaritan holy place, Jacob’s Well. He was tired and thirsty. So, he asked the woman for a drink of water. The woman, no doubt, was startled by the request. Here is a Jewish man asking a Samaritan woman for a drink. There are at least three boundaries Jesus is crossing here: religion, race, gender.
Some boundaries need to be maintained. During the outbreak of a novel virus, we need to follow the counsel of our public health professionals. Helping to mitigate the spread of an infectious disease is not about being afraid. It is about being helpful. You don’t wash your hands because you are fearful. You wash your hands because it is the loving thing to do, out of empathy for those around you. When you are sick, you self-quarantine; not because you are afraid, but because you don’t want to take the chance that you might accidently be spreading a novel virus.
But, not all boundaries are healthy. So, despite (no doubt) being startled by the request, she does not flee; and she and Jesus have a conversation. In the course of the conversation, she says she believes the messiah is coming. Jesus says: “I am he.” The woman becomes the apostle to the Samaritans! And, of her we sang a few moments ago: “and blessed is she…blessed is she.”
In his letter to the Philipians, the Apostle Paul wrote:
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (Phil 4:6-7).
Paul speaks of the calm serenity that characterizes the very nature of God—Peace which transcends understanding. God’s peace, guarding our hearts and our minds.
It was that peace Julian of Norwich found, even as she lived in a tumultuous moment in time, a time when everyone was fearful, afraid. She heard Jesus say to her: “All shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.”
[1]N. T. Wright, Following Jesus(Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1994), p. 66.
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