Capon: fear of losing

Friday, April 3, 2015
    Good Friday
Meditation:
We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
    each of us has turned to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
    the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed and afflicted,
    yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
    and as a sheep before her shearers is silent,
    so he did not open his mouth.
    —Isaiah 53:6-7 (NIV)
Quotation:
    I’ve already named what I consider to be the great-grandfather of all stumbling blocks: the fear of losing—of looking like a failure, and above all of being a failure. On examination, however, it turns out to be an odd fear. For one thing, it’s clean contrary to the words of Jesus: “Those who save their life will lose it, and those who lose their lives for my sake will save it.”... If that Friday, as we claim to believe, is the best thing that ever happened to the world—if we have been rescued by the world’s champion Loser—it’s got to be surpassing strange that we’re afraid of the very failures that are our personal sacraments of salvation.
    ... Robert Farrar Capon (1925-2013), The Foolishness of Preaching, Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1997, p. 16 (see the book)
    See also Isa. 53:6-7,12; Matt. 16:25; 27:39-43; Mark 8:35; 15:29-32; Luke 9:24; 23:35-37
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You gave all and gained all. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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