12th Sunday Homily
I have read a story about a woman who once went to a psychiatrist to discuss her fear. “Every time I lay down on my bed,” she said, “I get this terrible fear that there is something hiding underneath.”
The psychiatrist told her that hers was an interesting fear and that it would take about 20 sessions to work through it. The woman asked how much a session would cost, and when she learned it would be $90 each time she went home to discuss the doctor’s recommendation with her husband. Her husband, not wanting to spend that kind of money decided to take matters into his own hands and sawed off the legs of the bed! Problem solved.
We laugh because some fears seem silly when we look back on them. Sometimes our fears are exaggerated, and sometimes they can be solved more easily than we imagine. But not all fears are like that. Some fears are very real. We fear illness. We fear losing someone we love. We fear financial difficulties. We fear failure. We fear rejection. We fear uncertainty about the future.
Fear is one of the most powerful forces in our lives. It can paralyze us. It can keep us from pursuing our dreams, reaching our potential, and embracing the opportunities God places before us. Fear can rob us of peace and joy.
Someone once calculated that the Bible contains 365 verses encouraging us not to fear—one for every day of the year. Again and again throughout Scripture, God tells His people, “Do not be afraid.”
In today’s Gospel, Jesus says those words three times: “Do not be afraid.”
Notice that Jesus does not say this because there is nothing to fear. In fact, He knows the disciples will face opposition, criticism, misunderstanding, and rejection. They are being sent out as witnesses into a world that will not always welcome their message.
Jesus understands something important: courage is not the absence of fear. Courage is trusting God more than we trust our fears.
Fear is a normal human experience. God created us with the ability to recognize danger. Fear can protect us from harm. But fear can also become distorted. It can make criticism feel like catastrophe. It can make rejection feel unbearable. It can convince us that if people disapprove of us, everything is lost.
When fear takes over, our vision becomes narrow. We see only the problem in front of us. We forget the larger picture. We forget God’s presence. We forget His promises. We forget that our lives are in His hands.
This is the fear Jesus addresses today. He is speaking about the fear that keeps disciples silent. The fear of being judged. The fear of being different. The fear of standing up for what is right. The fear of openly living our faith.
Many of us know that fear.
Perhaps we hesitate to speak about our faith because we do not want others to think we are overly religious. Perhaps we remain silent when we should defend the truth because we fear criticism. Perhaps we compromise our values because we want acceptance.
Jesus knows these fears. That is why He doesn’t simply tell us to be brave. Instead, He reminds us who God is.
“Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father’s knowledge.”
In Jesus’ time, sparrows were among the cheapest birds sold in the marketplace. Yet not one of them is forgotten by God.
Then Jesus says something even more remarkable: “Even the hairs of your head are all counted.”
Think about that. God knows us so intimately that nothing about us escapes His attention. He knows our struggles, our worries, our joys, and our hopes. He knows every burden we carry.
And then Jesus gives us the reason we need not be afraid:
“You are worth more than many sparrows.”
That is the heart of today’s Gospel.
Our courage does not come from our own strength. It comes from knowing how precious we are to God. The disciple can stand before the world because he first stands before the Father. The disciple can endure criticism because he knows he is loved. The disciple can face uncertainty because he knows he is held in God’s hands.
The Lord does not ask us to be fearless by nature. He asks us to trust Him in the midst of our fears. He asks us to remember that the Father sees us, knows us, counts us, and cares for us.
So today, whatever fear you may be carrying—fear about your health, your family, your future, your finances, or your faith—bring it to the Lord.
Listen again to the words of Jesus:
“Do not be afraid.”
The Lord is with us. The Father knows our worth. Christ walks beside us. And if we acknowledge Him before others, He will acknowledge us before His Father in heaven.
May that promise give us the courage to live our faith with confidence, hope, and trust.
Amen.