The connection between fear and faith

This Sunday’s readings pull together two aspects of our spirituality that we sometimes forget are connected: fear and faith. The Bible scholar C. Yoder has compared Proverbs’ tribute of a worthy wife to an impressionist’s portrait. Up close, “the strokes seem scattered and haphazard.” But when one takes a few steps back, the “dots and splatters merge to become the cumulative portrait of a woman.”

Bearing that in mind, we can ask what is so “worthy” about this woman. Yes, she has practical skills; she can spin wool and flax into fibers for weaving cloth. Yes, she ministers to the poor and needy. But there is more to her than her skills. She may have been beautiful or charming, but the text dismisses both of those qualities as fleeting. It is her character that sets this woman apart. She is trustworthy, diligent, focused on good rather than evil, deserving of public praise and, most importantly, “she fears the Lord.” 

In the Bible, the Hebrew word often translated as “fear” is used with greater variety than we use it today. We say we fear situations—loss of a job, climate change, serious illnesses, violence, crime, even strangers. But the Hebrew word for fear, yirah, encompasses many layers of meaning that aren’t easily covered by one English word. Yirah also connotes reverence, awe, a piety that leads to loving obedience. It weaves together the characteristics of emotion, intellect and will in this portrait of a worthy woman.

In this Sunday’s second reading, from 1 Thessalonians, Paul addresses the more mundane fear of missing out. Ignore those who put their faith in the phrase “peace and security,” Paul warns, because it assures neither. “Serious disaster” comes on those who rely on such platitudes as suddenly as the labor pains of a pregnant woman. Instead, stay focused on what you can rely on. “The day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night,” he says. “Let us not sleep…but stay alert and sober” (1 Thes 5:5-6).

Jesus’ parable today from the Gospel of Matthew concerns a wealthy man preparing for a journey. Before he leaves, he entrusts some of his financial holdings to three of his servants. The master returns to find that the first two servants have managed his investments well and doubled their value. Happy with the results, he praises them. “Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities. Come, share your master’s joy” (Mt 25: 21). But the third servant had buried the talent entrusted to him, lest it be lost or stolen. When he returns only the original investment, his master is angry. “For everyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away” (Mt 25:27). 

Fear overcame the faith of the third servant. It happens to all of us as well. Ordinary fears—whether they are reasonable or not—may keep us from acting on our faith so that it diminishes our good works and hinders our relationship with Jesus so that it does not grow or deepen. Jesus’ parable encourages putting God’s investments in us to the best use we can, even if we fear failing. We can continue to look for work, advocate on behalf of the climate or immigrants, attend to our health or work for peace. If we can overcome our ordinary fears, we can aim to fear God in the broader biblical sense, with reverence, awe and the earnest desire to be worthy followers. Let us not bury our faith.