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Quaker
Life
December 2001
Do Not Be Afraid!
By David L. Johns
My childhood faith was shaped by my grandmother and Warner Sallman. You don't know the first, but you probably know the second. Sallman was a Chicago born painter whose portraits of Jesus in the 1940s and 1950s gave many of us our most vivid and enduring mental images of the man from Galilee. Serene but sturdy, smooth olive skin, long flowing hair, the Jesus of Sallman's "The Lord Is My Shepherd" and "Christ at Heart's Door" have become icons of Christian piety. His famous 1941 painting "Head of Christ" has alone been reproduced over 500 million times.
But the Sallman painting most often in my mind is titled, "Christ Our Pilot." A strong young man is standing on the deck of a ship tightly gripping its wheel. Although a storm is raging, the sailor's face is calm, determined and focused. Behind him is Jesus, one hand on the lad's shoulder, the other pointing the way.
When I was about seven years old, I made a Popsicle stick picture frame in Vacation Bible School for a copy of this painting. When I showed the picture and its lackluster frame to my grandmother, she took it into her hands, looked long at it—longer than anyone else had—then smiled.
"Oh, David," she said, "This is beautiful! You know what this picture is, don't you?"
I had spent so much time gluing Popsicle sticks together I had not studied the picture. I thought I knew what it was, but from the tone of her voice I could tell that it held more meaning than I had seen.
"The boy on this ship, the young sailor, is you."
I looked at the picture again.
"This is you. And standing behind you is Jesus. He holds onto you during the hard times and he always points in the direction you need to go."
"But sometimes I feel lonely, grandma," I said.
"I know. But any time you feel lonely or lost or frightened, and anytime you feel like the waves are washing over you, be very still—you will feel a hand touch your shoulder and see a hand stretch out in front of you."
She turned the picture toward me so I could see it and whispered: "The boy is you, and Jesus is always with you."
For many years that picture sat on my dresser; I looked at it often enough to not be afraid. In its own way it taught me Christ really does lead us and really is our constant companion. In fact, Warner Sallman helped me understand one of the most important elements of Advent/Christmas: "Do not be afraid, for I am with you."
Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, was visited in the temple at the altar of incense by an angel who said: "Do not be afraid, Zechariah, your prayer has been heard."
The mother of our Lord was troubled by her unexpected visit from Gabriel. "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God."
Joseph, the patron of fathers and all working people, was ready to dismiss his betrothed. When Mary's story was too much to believe, an angel visited Joseph in a dream and said: "Do not be afraid...what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit."
Huddled together, cowering in fear from the brilliant light of an angelic presence, the hillside shepherds were reassured: "Do not be afraid, I bring you good news!"
I am astounded how often this simple message is repeated throughout the scriptures—"do not be afraid." Undoubtedly, these words say as much about us as they say about what God unfolds before us; we must fear much to need reassuring so often. Of course, as adults we know there are no monsters hiding beneath our beds or lurking in our closets—it's worse than that. What we know to be true about our world makes those childhood fears look desirable; each one of us could easily compile a litany of legitimate reasons why we should be afraid.
Yet, throughout Advent, this startling commandment rings through the texts—"do not be afraid." In the four angelic visitations just mentioned the heart of the Christmas season is outlined: "your prayer has been heard," "you have found favor with God," "what is in her is conceived of the Holy Spirit" and "I bring you good news." Each of these is an evangelical message, filled with good news, and each begins with a divine call not to fear; in my mind's eye I see a painting in a Popsicle stick frame, a calm young sailor with the present Christ.
Advent turns our world upside down; this is its gift to us. We have occasion to be uneasy and fearful about many things, but Advent says, "Do not be afraid." This message is repeated throughout the scriptures. "Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not let them be afraid." At the transfiguration Jesus reassured his frightened friends, "Do not be afraid." To the women at the garden tomb on Easter morning: "Do not be afraid." To Jairus who grieved his daughter's death: "Do not be afraid." To Paul: "Do not be afraid...for I am with you." In the Revelation, Jesus placed his right hand on John and said, "Do not be afraid, I am the first and the last." From beginning to end, from the expectation of Christ's first coming, to his ministry, to the anticipation of his coming again, the message remains consistent—"I will be with you, fear not."
Christmas comes too suddenly for us casual Friends because we haven't learned how to prepare and wait through Advent, and without Advent, we learn little about Christmas. Sallman is more instructive than Currier & Ives, because we must not prepare for Christmas in just commercial or sentimental ways. Advent brings together the past, the present and the future. In our expectant waiting and preparation for the birth of Jesus in our own time, we are kin to Simeon and Anna who longed to see God's salvation.
Additionally, all of God's creation even now groans and waits for the full work of God to be revealed. I once saw an icon depicting King David seated on a royal throne; in one hand he held a harp, in the other he held the infant Jesus. The icon is jolting in its historical impossibility. Yet, like Advent, it invites us into GodŐs time and it invites us to see ourselves from a different point of view.
"What is in her is conceived of the Holy Spirit."
Advent opens us to God's time. When we live in God's time, we understand ourselves in a fuller way than we do when we see only this present moment. Christians as early as the fourth century recognized this and observed a season of four Sundays prior to the Christ mass. Although the first Sunday of Advent appears late in the calendar year, it is nevertheless our Christian "New Year" As the world's year comes to a close, the Christian year is just beginning. Advent turns our world upside down, and when it does, it is a message of hope.
"Your prayer has been heard; do not be afraid."
We cannot underestimate the importance of this new sense of time Advent establishes for us. I must not forget the past; but if I live only there, nurturing nostalgia for all that has been, then I need only to lie down, my death has already come. If I know only this moment and cannot see beyond the suffering and the fear that grips so many in our time, then I am paralyzed and my lips fall silent. If I cannot feel the hand of Jesus on my shoulder, then I am lost at sea. Yet, if I can but for a moment, glimpse time from God's perspective then hope is possible, change is likely and surprises are most certainly guaranteed.
"You have found favor with God; do not be afraid."
It is much easier to accept bad news than it is to believe good news. If the angel had informed Zechariah, "Sorry, you and Elisabeth will never have a child," or if Gabriel had said to Mary, "I am here because God is displeased with you," it would be easier to accept. Many of us are quick to believe "bad-tidings-of-no-joy."
Glad tidings?
Good news?
Great joy?
These we are slower to believe. How can it be? Yet, with God, how can it not be? By inviting us to live in God's time, Advent dares us to imagine what is impossible.
"Fear not; I bring you good news of great joy!"
David Johns is Assistant Professor of Theology at Earlham School of Religion. He also has taught at Wilmington and Malone Colleges. He and his wife, Terri, live in Richmond with their four children.
Copyright (c) 2001 Friends United Meeting
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