Throughout the summer between third and fourth grade, my parents and I would go to our neighborhood trail once or twice a week and spend an hour helping me learn to ride a bike. 

They would always be there to accompany me, ensuring that I had my helmet, knee pads, and shoulder pads on, and that one of them was loosely holding onto the bike while the other stood on the other side to catch me if I fell. 

Even though I had all the necessary protective gear on and had my parents beside me at all times, I was afraid; afraid of falling, hurting myself, damaging my new bike, disappointing my parents, and embarrassing myself in public. Week after week, many of my fears would come to fruition—I would occasionally fall off and scrape my arm or leg and notice looks of frustration on my parent’s faces.

But one day as we practiced once more, my parent’s voices became distant and difficult to hear, the trees that lined the trail were moving past faster than ever, and I began to notice that there was no one holding onto my bike except myself. I finally did it—I was able to bike on my own.

I was amazed and I was afraid.

I was amazed that I was finally able to achieve my goal, and that I was able to go for such a long distance. I was afraid of falling and hurting myself again.

Fear is no stranger to anyone. It definitely is no stranger to me. We experience fear in terms of being frightened, horrified, and anxious, of being in situations where we are faced with something that seems to threaten our very wellbeing. However, the fear we find in scripture is far more than this.

In Hebrew, there are numerous renderings—or translations—of the word fear, among them being yirah. Not only can it mean terror, it can also mean wonder—to be in awe of something. Time and again throughout the Hebrew scriptures, yirah expresses the complexity of humanity’s relationship with the divine, calling us to fall on our knees in humility and veneration of the living God. In this way, we are both amazed and afraid—amazed by God’s glory and mystery while afraid of going against the Love that forms all things.

We heard Moses asking the distressed Israelites not to be afraid of him, for he is among them to serve as a messenger and not a bringer of divine judgement (Ex. 20:18-20). In the midst of their anxiety, he brings clarity, assuring them that these signs of thunder, lightning, trumpets, and smoke are proof of God’s presence and not God’s wrath (Ex. 20:18). To a people cowering in fear, Moses asks them to lift up their heads while posturing themselves in humility, knowing that God’s will has been made known to them in these commandments so that they may live into the fullness of life rather than condemn themselves to death.

Likewise, the Psalmist consoles us in our worry, reminding us that despite the many things that threaten our very selves, “[we] shall not fear the terror of night, or the arrow that flies by day,” for we are shielded by God’s divine mantle (Ps. 91:4-5). He beckons us to transform our anxiety into trust, placing our confidence in God who is both creator and companion, and who, in the face of evil, has the last word.

In writing to the church in Rome, Paul tells them that “for you all did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall again into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption through which we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’” (Ro. 8:15). To a people who have experienced subjugation, oppression, and persecution, he calls them to see how the living God pours out the Spirit on them so that they may be liberated from captivity and brought into this sacred relationship in which we are not slaves to a master but children to a parent (Ro. 8:19-21). A people once silenced have now found their voice in the One who hears them.

And in Luke’s gospel, amidst uncertainty and potential shame, Mary proclaims that “God’s loving-kindness is for those who fear God from generation to generation” (Lk. 1:50). Rather than succumbing to fear of social ostracization and societal transgression, she chose to magnify the Lord who throughout history has sided with the marginalized, raised up the downcast, and liberated the oppressed (Lk. 1:52-55). Her song, marked by language that parallels the prophets, matriarchs, and patriarchs of the Jewish people, affirms her trust in God’s faithfulness and loving-kindness shown not to those who are afraid of the divine, but to those who show due reverence.

Fear is embedded in the human experience, but as creations of the living God, we must not allow ourselves to be defined by it, nor should we define it so narrowly. 

I fear standing here and speaking before you all today, but in light of yirah, I can bring myself out of emotional confinement to be both amazed and afraidamazed by this opportunity to help us encounter God’s Wordand afraid with a healthy anxiety that leads me to craft each word I speak with care.

Rather than paralyzing us, fear can lead us to be thoughtful & intentional. 

There is such a thing as healthy fear—in which we place our trust in God who sustains all things and calls us to be bold, to have courage, to show up in the world, and to embody the divine Love from which we are formed. It is possible for us to fear something by having the vulnerability to know we are not alone, the humility to let go of our ego, the sensitivity to be considerate, the courage to press on, and the willingness to find the silver lining. 

Let us place our trust in God who empowered and inspired Moses, Mary, Solomon, and Paul, and may we allow ourselves to be both amazed and afraid at what God has done, is doing, and will do. Amen.

This text is of a sermon I wrote and preached for the Fourth Sunday of Advent (Year B), with the scriptural passages set out by the Revised Common Lectionary.

The scriptural passages assigned to the Fourth Sunday of Advent by the Lectionary are Exodus 20:1–21, Psalm 91, Romans 8:14–25, and Luke 1:46b–56.

This sermon was preached at my home congregation of St. James’ Episcopal Church in Fremont, CA—within the Episcopal Diocese of California.  Linked below is the service recording/livestream, with my sermon beginning approximately at 17:45.