You say the hill's too steep to climb; just climb it.
Yesterday, while on the way to my office, I saw a guy in a blue pickup truck driving down the road giving himself a haircut.
Now I know what I have said about "In Christ, we have nothing to fear." I believe that. Most of the time. But I have to confess, O faithful bloggerland reader, I was a little wigged out at that one.
But Houston drivers aside, we have nothing to fear. By the way, don't let the advertising industry know that you know that. Many of their tactics involve frightening you into worshipping at the altar of consumerism. Here, buy this car; it will keep you safe. Yeah, as long as you don't give yourself a haircut whilst driving it.
But again, we have nothing to fear.
Ironically, while driving next to the idiot in the big ole pickup truck, the song playing in my car was an old Pink Floyd song called "Fearless." It begins with the line, "You say the hill's too steep to climb; just climb it." It's all about being fearless in the face of what we fear. In fact, it is a precursor to their masterpiece, Dark Side of the Moon, which is all about the things we fear the most. Interestingly enough, at the end of "Fearless" they interpolate the old Rogers and Hammerstein song, "You'll Never Walk Alone." They recorded it at the Liverpool football stadium where the fans sing the song at the beginning and end of each game.
Being a Liverpool football hooligan, from what I hear, is like being a Cubs fan: You carry a desperate devotion for a mediocre team. In an interview I heard recently with one of the Liverpudlians, he explained the singing of "You'll Never Walk Alone" as a song of suffering. They know that more than half the time, their favorite team is going to lose. So they sing.
When you walk through a storm
Keep your chin up high
And don't be afraid of the dark.
At the end of the storm
Is a golden sky
And the sweet silver song of a lark.
Walk on through the wind,
Walk on through the rain,
Tho' your dreams be tossed and blown.
Walk on, walk on
With hope in your heart
And you'll never walk alone,
You'll never walk alone.
I like the last thing Jesus said in his public ministry in John 16: "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart, I have overcome the world."
And then they killed him. But only for a minute. Fearlessness in the face of fear.
In this world...
In this world, we have plenty to fear. To say things like, "In Christ, we have nothing to fear" is really a world imagined, a world hoped for we do not yet see. We are getting there, but not yet.
To say "We have nothing to fear" is to practice an exchange. We exchange the fear this world cultivates for the promised ongoing presence of God's Holy Spirit. We practice fearlessness in the face of fear. The world is filled with bullies and Scousers and self-grooming pickup drivers. So we sing "Fearless" while also singing to one another "You'll Never Walk Alone," even though we know the odds are stacked against us. Or so the world would like us to believe.
I think that's probably the greatest argument for Christian community. Not for church and classes and big buildings. But for Christian community. A place where you can come and join together with others committed to never letting you walk alone, never letting you walk in fear. We need to remember that every day, that in Christ, we have nothing to fear.
And every day is the right day.
