Fear Not!

It started with some cookies and juice, every Friday afternoon, at the corner of Poplar Grove and Edmondson in Baltimore, Maryland. Four Presbyterians were determined to make peace. The corner was a mile and a half from their church building, but a world away in an area filled with violence, drugs, crime, poverty, and despair. Other members thought they were crazy. One husband wouldn’t allow his wife and daughters to participate out of fear of the neighborhood’s reputation. The pastor, Rev. Deborah McEachran, described the work of making peace, “As the months went by, we began to develop relationships with the residents on the streets of the neighborhood. We strengthened connections….This required attentive listening, lots of patience and a commitment to many meetings and conversations.”

Over the last three years, The Peaceable Corner has expanded to Bible Camps, nature trips, reading groups, volunteering in a local school to share music, dance, time, attention, crafts, and stories; it has expanded to include the wife and children originally not allowed to participate and the husband who was reluctant along with over 50 other peace makers. It has expanded to establish the Rosemont Community Interfaith Coalition. It started with some cookies and juice.

When Jesus says, “Blessed are the peacemakers” he isn’t talking about “people who live in peace, enjoying its fruits,” writes Dr. Douglas Hare, a New Testament professor at Pittsburg Theological Seminary, Jesus is talking about people “who devote themselves to the hard work of reconciling hostile individuals, families, groups, and nations.”

Dr. Rick Love is devoting his life to the hard work of peace making. He co-founded and is President of Peace Catalyst International, an organization focused on reconciliation between Christians and Muslims. He says, “…peacemaking is drinking lots of coffee and tea.” Through sitting down and listening to one another over a cup of coffee or tea, or sharing a meal together, relationships are built over time and the prejudice, stereotypes, and fears that lurk in the darkness behind barriers are exposed to light.

One of the strategies that Peace Catalyst International uses is Love Your Neighbor dinners. A church invites a mosque over for dinner and vice versa. One church in Arizona that had shared these dinners with their local mosque got a call from the imam. A former Marine and a bunch of bikers were coming to the mosque to intimidate. They wore graphic, gross shirts, and they brought firearms. 150 Christians gathered at the mosque before the bikers arrived. They formed a wall of prayer and peace so that there would be no violence. Dr. Love says, “Because of all the relationships and all the people working together, it was peaceful. In fact, there were a number of the bikers that took their shirts off and turned them inside out, because they were embarrassed once they met Muslims that were reaching out very warmly.”

Notice that Jesus doesn’t say “Blessed are the peace keepers.” The Roman government had established Pax Romana. There were no wars within the borders of Rome, mostly because fear and helplessness forced her subjects to swallow their rage and submit. Jesus is not talking about peace keeping.

Jesus is talking about peace making, about working for reconciliation between individuals and God, individuals and others, between groups, and between nations. Jesus is referring to the Hebrew concept of shalom, not just the absence of strife but the presence of good. For those who are peace makers, says Jesus will be called sons of God.

New Testament scholar William Barclay enlightens us to Jesus’ meaning. Saying that peacemakers will be called sons of God is “a typical Hebrew way of expression. Hebrew is not rich in adjectives, and often when Hebrew wishes to describe something, it uses, not an adjective, but the phrase son of…plus [a noun].” A son of righteousness is a righteous person, a son of peace is a peaceful person, a son of God is a God-like person. Those who are peace makers are God-like. Those who work for reconciliation – whether it is inner, personal peace and reconciliation, or interpersonal peace and reconciliation, or social peace and reconciliation – those who work for reconciliation are demonstrating an attribute that is like God.

As I thought about peace being like God, I began to wonder about the opposite of peace. At first, it seems like the obvious answer is war, fighting. But the urge to fight is one of two responses to fear. When we are afraid, our primal response is “fight or flight.” Yet, over and over again in Scripture God’s messengers say “Fear not” and along with “fear not” they say “peace,” “peace be with you.”

Because when fear takes over, the only options our brain considers are fight or flight – that’s useful when faced with a wild animal. But it is not useful in everyday life. The fear response is triggered when we think about what might happen that would be bad and become anxious or stressed. And once the fear response is triggered, our primal brain takes over, our reasoning is impaired, and fight or flight become our only options. The higher brain, the prefrontal cortex that governs impulse control, judgment, decision-making, and moral reasoning is not consulted.

Over and over again, Scripture says “Fear not” because when we allow our fear response to take over, peace is not possible. I have a book printed in 1930 of Dr. Clovis Chappell’s sermons on Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. The book is marked a “Wartime Book” manufactured in accordance with the orders of the War Production Board. In his sermon on “Blessed are the peacemakers” Dr. Clovis writes, “…there is widespread discord and strife between man and man. Men glare at each other individually. Group looks askance at group. Racial prejudices and racial hates abound. Nation glares at nation, and each proclaims itself the people. Many Americans still say, “America first”; Many British “England first;” Germans, “Germany first.” We are still far from seeing in every man a brother for whom Christ died.” He goes on to say, “We need peacemakers because peace will never come of itself. Peace must be made. We may drift into war. We may drowse and trifle our way into confusion and conflict. But if peace is ever realized it must be through conscious, persistent, sacrificial effort. We must do more than dream of peace; we must make it.”

Blessed are those who come to the choice between fear and peace and choose to be peace makers, to pass out cookies and juice, to sit down to coffee or tea, to look eye to eye and listen, to build relationship. It may mean that you are persecuted. It may mean that you face danger. But it will also mean that you have chosen to be like God.