Promises, promises… Both our readings promise a lot to those who do not fear but act boldly and decisively. To Jacob and his tiny tribe straggling into Egypt. To the Twelve and the little band who will come after them struggling in a hostile society. Do not worry—you have God on your side. Do not worry—God is coming soon.
But we live in a worrying world and on the whole our worries are very different. On the whole we worry not because we are strangers in a strange land but because we are the settled majority. We have order, we have power, we have all the odds stacked in our favour. We want things to stay the way they are. We are on the winning side. Our fears are the fear of the rich: that what we have will be taken away. And rightly so. We fear terror. We fear those who have conquered fear to act boldly and decisively for the promises of their God.
But it isn’t entirely true that we worry along with the majority. There’s a minority spirit in us too that will not let us rest. We too dream dreams of a different world. We too hear the echoes of distant promises. We too are stirred to the heart by a voice that knows our name.
And that’s our dilemma and that’s our call. To follow Jesus on his wild quest for a better world. To be sheep among wolves. To be cunning as serpents yet harmless as doves.
What if we were to listen? What if we were to follow?