Triskaidekaphobia

By Rev. James Leistico

Friday the 13th was my birthday. It started with my baby peeing all over me while I changed her diaper. Ugh. I wondered what else would go wrong. Friday the 13th. Hmmm.

Our world has a number of superstitions about good and bad luck. Last spring, my oldest daughter suddenly started squealing in our yard, “I found a four leaf clover! I’m lucky!” But the Chinese zodiac says she is not so lucky. The chart at the Chinese restaurant we go to says that, according to the years we were born, she should avoid my wife and me because our animals bring her bad luck.

Weddings have their own share of superstitions. The bride should have something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue for good luck, and it is bad luck for her to see her groom before the wedding. When I encourage couples to get as many photos done as possible before the service, I tell them, “We are to fear love and trust in God above all things, even superstitions.” The Lord is our light and our salvation. Shall we be afraid of bad luck because a bride and groom saw each other before the wedding? Shall we be afraid of Friday the 13th? No, the Lord is the stronghold of our life (Psalm 27).

Now, we might be afraid of God...or at least be uncertain about what He thinks about us. After all, we have not kept that First Commandment, especially when we act as if luck has more control over our lives than the Lord does. After all, it’s the Lord who can destroy both body and soul in hell forever.

Yet consider this: when His people are frightened in the Bible because either He or His angels arrive in His world, scared sinners consistently hear this message from God: “Do not be afraid.” Adam and Eve hide in the bushes, terrified. But God does not come to destroy them. He invites them out into His salvation in the Son of Man who will come years later to destroy the Devil’s work.

Remember the Easter Scripture of the disciples locked away behind the closed doors for fear of the Jews. After defeating death and rising from His grave, Jesus appears to them but not to destroy them for abandoning Him and being a bunch of faithless cowards on Good Friday. Jesus does not hold a grudge. But neither does He simply ignore their failure and pretend they never sinned. Rather, our Lord forgives it to release them from the condemnation that is worse than any imagined bad luck.“Peace be with you,” He says.

And then God sends them out as His ambassadors. “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent Me, even so I am sending you...If you forgive the sins of anyone, they are forgiven; if you withhold forgiveness from anyone, it is withheld” (John 20:21, 23). It was not enough that the Father sent the Son to suffer and die for the sins of these disciples. More sinners remain scared to death, and they must be made alive until His Kingdom is filled with people from every tribe and people and language. Jesus puts forgiveness in the apostles’ mouths for a world imprisoned by the same sins and fears that once held these men. He sends His Word of peace to people locked in the darkness where we hide from bad luck. He sends His Word of pardon for our false beliefs based on superstitions and fears. The times we have been ungrateful to God for His goodness because we were too busy trusting good luck are all forgiven by the Lord who says to you, “Peace be with you.”

The Scriptures say, “This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it” (Psalm 118:24). That is always true, whether today is Friday the 13th or not.The Bible does not speak about good luck or bad luck, but it does speak about blessings and curses. And whatever curse does come your way, let us rejoice because God knows about it, and He will work the curse into something that will eventually be good for you. Whether Good Friday was on the 13th or not, look what God did with the evil murder of Christ on the cross. “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree” (Galatians 3:13). The Holy God was willing to take upon Himself the curse of hell that we deserved. There is no sin of yours that He did not wrap up in His sacrifice. His cursedness results in your eternal blessing in paradise, the place where no one will even think about bad luck.

We can rejoice and be glad in this day for your eternal Christ has blessed you with the freedom from fearful lives controlled by false beliefs in superstitions. You have no bad luck...or good luck for that matter! You have something better. You have the goodness of the Lord who blesses you with sins forgiven in the name of the crucified and risen Jesus.

Rev. James Leistico is pastor of Saint Peter Lutheran Church in Evansville, Illinois. E-mail him at leistico@htc.net.