Homily for Pentecost Sunday- May 23, 2010

As the basis for my message on this Pentecost Sunday, I want to put two brief sentences side by side. The first is from our gospel reading. It says: “The disciples had locked the doors of the place for fear of those who killed Jesus.” The other sentence is from our reading from the book of Acts. It reads: “They began to make bold proclamations.”
Mark the contrast – on the one hand “locked doors for fear”, on the other “bold proclamations” in the streets of Jerusalem. Those two statements were made concerning the same group of people. Obviously, they had found a way to conquer their fear. This is the dimension of Pentecost that we seldom consider, but it is definitely there. In a matter of seven weeks, those first followers conquered the fear that had put them in prison and walked bravely out to face the world. How did they do that? Most of the people I know, including myself, would do well to learn from their experience.
With these scripture readings as a background, I want to offer a few suggestions concerning the conquering of fear.
First this: Whenever life becomes threatening and fear closes in, we can look for the challenge instead of the fright. Those original followers of Christ apparently did that. Initially, they cowered behind closed doors, paralyzed by fear, thinking of nothing but their own safety. The streets of Jerusalem were a dangerous place, and they knew it. Those people out there had killed Jesus, and there was a good possibility that they would kill His friends as well. So, they were frightened half to death. But on the day of Pentecost, they took a different approach. The danger was still there. The hostile people were still there. But everyone of them was a potential follower of Christ. So the disciples accepted the challenge, rolled up their sleeves and went to work. The result was incredible. Right there in Jerusalem, they won three thousand converts in just one day.
In every dangerous situation, two elements are present. One is threat, the other is challenge. Most of the time, we have a choice as to which way we will respond. Danger does different things to different people. Some, it paralyzes with fear. Others, it stimulates with excitement. Look around and you will see a strange spectacle. Some people are so challenged by danger that they go looking for it. Why else do people climb mountains. They don’t have to. They could sit safely at home, but they are challenged by the danger.
In this kind of world, very few people are never afraid. There are plenty of things of which we should be afraid. But that is only half the story. Remember we have choice - one is threat; another is challenge - to move on with life.
My second suggestion is this: Loyalty and devotion can make fear a secondary consideration. I expect the disciples experienced that on the day of Pentecost. They were frightened. But their loyalty to Christ and His cause, pushed that into the background, and they did what they had to do.
Do you suppose Jesus was afraid that night when He prayed in Gethsemane? Of course He was. He knew the pain and public humiliation that awaited Him the next day. His anguish was so intense that His sweat became as drops of blood. But His loyalty to God, to Himself, to His friends pushed fears into the background. Sure, He was afraid. But what difference did that make? St. John may have been remembering that night when he wrote, “perfect love casts out fear.”
Courage, more often than not, is a corollary of loyalty and devotion. We are almost automatically brave on behalf of causes that we believe in and persons that we love. When something else or someone else becomes more important than personal safety, then fear is put in its place. And it ceases to matter whether we are afraid or not.
My third and final suggestion is this: If ever we conquer fear it will be through the power of faith. Those two are in constant conflict, one against the other. When fear prevails, faith is defeated.
When faith prevails, fear is defeated. That first day of Pentecost is a classic story about the victory of faith over fear.
Some sixty or so years ago, a British physician names A.J. Cronin became ill and was forced to take an extended vacation. For a long time he had wanted to write a novel. So he decided to take advantage of the opportunity. But when the manuscript was about half done, he became discouraged. He feared that his efforts were wasted, that he really had no ability to write. So he gathered the whole thing up and threw it in the garbage can. Then he went for a walk in the Scottish countryside.
Along the way, he saw an old Scotsman digging a ditch trying to drain a bog and turn it into a pasture. The old man explained that his father before him had worked on the same project, without success. Then he added, “But I cannot help but dig, for my father knew and I know that if we only dig long enough, this bog will become a pasture.” Dr. Cronin went back to the garbage can, pulled out the manuscript and finished it. The title was “Hatter’s Castle”. It sold over 3 million copies and was translated into 20 different languages.
I wonder how many here today have thrown away some worthy project when it was only half finished? You made a good start, but fear crept in, and you decided to quit – a half finished character, a half finished education, a half finished relationship, a half finished marriage, a half finished dream. The garbage cans of life are filled with half finished treasures that have been thrown away because of fear. Make no mistake about it, the thing we fear the most is really ourselves – we fear failure, our weakness, our inadequacies, our insecurities. The only solution is a faith that grows stronger than our fear. Faith in God and in ourselves finally conquers it.
God Bless you!