We all have some degree of fear – what does yours look like? A recent poll shows that our top current fears are rooted in COVID, gun violence, health and politics. This weekend’s Gospel of Jesus calming the waters is all about Jesus confronting his disciples about their fear. Why? Because fear has a way of controlling our emotions and leading us to actions that are unloving. For the opposite of fear is not bravery. The opposite of fear is love. Check it out and see what I mean…

1. 1 Deacon Jim Knipper
20 June 2021 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time Princeton, NJ
This Gospel story of Jesus calming the seas, appears in Matthew, Mark and Luke – with John’
Gospel providing a variation of the story of the wind and the seas which has Christ walking on
the water. The redundancy of this story signals to us an indication that this event of Jesus
quieting waters and calming fears carries some significance – but in what way?
The basic parts of the story are all familiar to us: Jesus has been teaching and preaching all day
and thus seeks some time to rest away from the crowds and thus departs in a fishing boat with
some of his disciples. It is assumed that it would have been those who were seasoned
fishermen and who were experienced on how to handle the waters of the Galilee. Then
suddenly a storm blew in – which was not uncommon for this body of water…and fear overtakes
the disciples.
It is interesting to note that while the wind is howling and the boat is being swamped with
waters, Christ is sound asleep – basically not attached to the chaos taking place around him.
Once woken by his disciples he rebukes the wind and the seas, bringing great calm over the
situation. And then he turns to his friends and questions their faith and reminds them that there
is nothing to fear.
So, while there is a plethora of symbols and metaphors deeply embedded in this story… what
makes this Gospel story so significant has to do with Christ confronting his followers about their
fears – asking them, “There is nothing to fear…Why are you so afraid? This command of Christ
‘Do not be afraid’ appears more often than any other mandate Christ gave – even more that the
call to love another – albeit as you will see, the two are inextricably linked.
It’s interesting to see how God consistently encourages us to not be afraid. For it is said that
some version of the line ‘Do not be afraid’ appears 365 times in the Bible – providing us a daily
mantra to carry with us. These were the words that Mary heard when an angel told her that
she was to give birth to a son and would call him Jesus. These are the same words of
comfort Joseph heard when he was wrestling with what to do because he found out his soon
to be wife was pregnant. And Zechariah was told "Do not be afraid…Your wife Elizabeth will
bear you a son, and you are to call him John…and you will have joy and gladness.”
So, what does your fear – my fear – look like today? We all have some degree of it – all of
which carries a cost to our personal well-being and thus to humanity. A recent poll shows that
our top current fears are rooted in COVID, gun violence, health and politics. In the past year
alone anxiety and fear have increased by some 62% - with the largest percent increase in 18 –
25-year-olds. So, it would seem, more so than ever, we need to be hearing and adhering to this
central teaching and constant reminder of Christ – Do not be afraid.
For while there are some practical reasons why we need to carry a certain amount of healthy
fear with us, an overabundance of fear has a way of robbing us our ability to focus on what is
happening right now, what is present to us, of what is real before us. Fear has a way of
controlling our emotions and leading us to actions that are unloving. For the opposite of fear is
not bravery. The opposite of fear is love.

2. 2 Deacon Jim Knipper
Love produces hope and comfort – Fear produces uncertainty and despair.
Love is the basis for contentment and forgiveness – Fear is the basis for confusion and anger.
Love is the answer to peace – fear leads to hatred.
Love moves us forward – Fear stagnates us.
In her last book on death and dying Elizabeth Kubler-Ross wrote about ‘love versus fear’ and
said this, “We have to make a decision to be in one place or the other. There is no neutrality in
this. If you don’t actively choose love, you will find yourself in a place of either fear or one if its
component feelings. Every moment offers the choice to choose one or the other. And we must
continually make these choices, especially in difficult circumstances when our commitment to
love, instead of fear, is challenged.”
Pope Francis described people who are filled with fear as individuals who “are constantly afraid
that something painful or sad will occur which will cause their life to go badly or will endanger
their eternal salvation…what an over-active imagination, because he or she can’t love!”
So maybe now we can begin to see why we hear Christ say so many times – ‘Do not be afraid.’
And thus it makes sense why the Gospel writers retold the story of Jesus calming the waters –
and in doing so, taught his disciples – and thus us - that there is no reason to have fear when
our lives are rooted in Christ. For when we lack fear we fulfill Christ’s greatest command – to
love one another.
Thus, the basis for our actions – and the foundation for the decisions that we make – must
reside in love – love of self, love of others and love of God. Jesus taught us that we must listen
to our hearts and souls which are rooted in God’s love – versus listening to our mind which is
often just focused on our own wants and needs and fears.
In closing, last week we heard the Gospel passage that is found just before today’s Gospel. It is
the telling of two parables describing what the Kingdom of God – in other words, God’s love, is
like. And Jesus tells us that the Kingdom of God is like seed that is scattered on the land that
will sprout and grow and will yield fruit that will be harvested. And as I pointed out last week -
the Kingdom of God requires you and me to do the planting of Gospel-based seeds. So today’s
Gospel reminds us that this Kingdom, which is present to us today, requires us to plants seeds
of love and hope which supplant fear – for seeds of fear will only yield a harvest of bitterness,
anger and destructive behavior that give rise to hate.
So perhaps there has been no greater time in the history of our country and of our Church in
where we need to hear this weekend’s Gospel and be reminded that even with all of the chaos
in our lives there are times when we need to be…still…and we need to let go of the fear that we
carry, trusting in the Lord that our waters will be calmed. And in doing we lay the foundation for
God’s love to be rooted in all that we do…which will empower us to refuse to give into fear and
thus live a new creation in Christ where, using the words of St. Paul, the old things have passed
away and, behold, new things will come forth.