Read Luke 12:22–34
ALSO IN SCRIPTURE
“So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, ‘Abba, Father.’” (Romans 8:15 NLT)
Whenever Friday the 13th rolls around, my first thought is usually Jason, or his mommy dearest. I love the Friday the 13th films, and right now I’m watching Crystal Lake, the prequel series filmed in and around Blairstown, New Jersey, where the original movie was filmed. There’s something fun about watching a horror story unfold on streets you recognize. And for all the dread the date is supposed to inspire, Friday the 13th has always been a bit of a lucky day for me. I always look forward to it.
So how did an ordinary square on the calendar get such a reputation? Friday and the number thirteen each had older associations with bad luck. Some Christian explanations point to the Last Supper, with Jesus and the twelve disciples at the table, and to the crucifixion on Friday. Then there’s the lore about the Knights Templar. On Friday, October 13, 1307, King Philip IV had Templars arrested across France. Years later, as their grand master Jacques de Molay was burned at the stake, legend has it that he cursed the king and the pope from the flames. In one telling, those arrests are how Friday the 13th got its unlucky reputation.
Fast-forward six hundred years. In 1907, American novelist Thomas W. Lawson used the date as the title of his novel Friday, the Thirteenth. Then, in 1980, the original Friday the 13th gave the date a place in horror cinema. The title was already doing some of the work of scaring us before anyone set foot in the woods.
A good scare is part of what I love about horror. I can spend an evening waiting for something terrible to come out of the woods and enjoy every minute of it. But there’s a different kind of fear in wondering whether I should change my plans because of a date on the calendar. A black cat crosses the street. A mirror breaks. We say something hopeful or negative and then knock on wood. It can be a harmless habit, even a joke we share. But when we start to feel responsible for what might happen if we skip the ritual, the superstition has found something to prey on. Most of us would like a little more control over what happens next.
Jesus speaks to that desire in Luke. He asks his disciples to consider the ravens and the lilies as he talks about food and clothing. Those are real needs. Anyone who has stood in a grocery aisle doing the math before putting something in the cart knows why a person might worry about tomorrow. Jesus points to creatures that live within God’s care and reminds his disciples that God already knows what they need. Then he calls them his little flock and tells them they needn’t be afraid. God delights in giving them the Kingdom.
Notice what Jesus asks of them next. He tells them to give to those in need. The people worrying about having enough are invited to look around and see who else needs something. That takes trust. It’s hard to open your hands when you’re busy trying to hold on to everything that might keep you safe.
Paul puts it in the language of family. In Romans 8, he tells us that the Spirit we received brings us into God’s family, where we can cry out to God as beloved children. Scripture comes back to this reassurance again and again. Jesus calls us a little flock. Paul calls us adopted children. In both passages, the reason we can face what scares us is that we belong to God. We can bring our fear into that relationship, even on the days when we can hardly get the words out.
So how do we move from fear to faith when the thing we’re afraid of could really happen? We can begin by telling God what we’re afraid of. Sometimes that prayer is as plain as, “God, I’m scared I won’t have enough to get through the week.” That’s a prayer we can offer while we’re still standing in the grocery aisle. Paul says the Spirit gives us a place in God’s family, and from that place we can cry out. Even that frightened prayer is an act of faith.
Then we can ask what trusting God makes possible today. Maybe it means telling someone we need help instead of carrying the worry alone. Maybe it means sharing a meal with someone else who is wondering how they’ll get through the week. Jesus gives his disciples something they can do while tomorrow is still uncertain. They can care for one another. And when we let someone care for us, we may find that God’s provision comes through hands other than our own.
So enjoy the day and/or the movie if you’re into that sort of thing. I certainly will. And the next time a broken mirror or an unlucky date makes you hesitate, give yourself a moment to ask what you’re afraid might happen. You might discover that beneath the little ritual is a real worry you can name and bring to God. You might even find that the time you would have spent looking for signs of trouble can be spent checking in on someone who could use a little company.
What would you pray today if you trusted that God wanted to hear exactly what scares you? Start there. Then take the next step you can take in love, even if your hands are still shaking.
THOUGHT OF THE DAY
When fear makes us reach for something we can control, Christ reminds us that we already belong to God.PRAYER
God, you know what we fear and what we need. Help us bring our worries to you and trust your care when we can’t see what’s coming. Give us the courage to open our hands to someone who needs us today. Amen.
Devotion written by Rev. Todd R. Lattig with the assistance of ChatGPT (OpenAI).