Fear no one.
Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed,
nor secret that will not be known.
We need a functional fearlessness, with which we can avoid the temptation to conformity. With it we can be and say all which we ought for the sake of Jesus and his mission. This first point is not so much about our feelings as it is about not letting our feelings get in the way of living as faithful disciples. There will always be the temptation to hide our Christianity in the darkness, in the safe spaces where we know it is tolerated. But we are meant rather to proclaim it on the housetops, sometimes in words, but always through the way we live. More to it, our secret will get out eventually. It is better to reveal it ourselves than to have it revealed on the day of judgment. Do we affirm Jesus through the way we live? If so, there is nothing to fear. But if we deny him by refusing to be seen as his disciples we are implicitly asking him to deny us. If our lives indicate we don't want to be associated with Jesus and his message our eternity may tragically reflect that choice.
rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy
both soul and body in Gehenna.
We need not be afraid of those who can hurt our feelings, take our possessions, or even kill us. We may be intimidated by them but we can't allow that fear to determine our choices. Rather, the fear that can be a healthy motivating force is that which pertains to our eternal destiny. We know that we are altogether too likely to betray Jesus at times, even as Peter did during his arrest and trial. We are rightly afraid of our own weakness and propensity to failure. We are right to fear the pains of hell and the loss of heaven, and even more right to fear offending our God who is good and deserving of all of our love. But even such healthy fear as this can lead to paralysis or even despair if it is not offset by our confidence in the love God has for us.
Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin?
Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father's knowledge.
Even all the hairs of your head are counted.
So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
Fear of God must be tempered by constant remembrance of the great lengths to which he went for our salvation. We may sometimes have the mistaken impression that God is looking for an excuse to punish or condemn us. But it is precisely the opposite. He is always looking for even the slightest opening to unleash his salvation in our lives. If we have doubts about God's motivation we need only gaze upon the crucifix and things will quickly become crystal clear. Yes, it is possible to mess things up to the extent that we forfeit our salvation. But that is not what God wants, and he is thus constantly at work to ensure doesn't happen. He never ceases to supply his Spirit, helping us to be courageous and bold in choosing him as he first chose us. Even when we do stumble along the way it is he himself who invites us to stand up again, he himself who gives us the grace to do so. This life is not a battle we fight alone, any more than it was for Jeremiah, though for all of us it may seem that way at times. Life may well seem to be "Terror on every side!", but the words of Jesus in the Gospel today help us to learn to say, together with Jeremiah, "the LORD is with me, like a mighty champion: my persecutors will stumble, they will not triumph". And we come at last to believe the words of the psalmist:
See, you lowly ones, and be glad;
you who seek God, may your hearts revive!
For the LORD hears the poor,
and his own who are in bonds he spurns not.
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