Do Not Fear What They Fear

A sermon preached by The Rev. Erika Takacs at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church on Sunday, May 10, 2026, reflecting on 1 Peter’s seemingly reassuring question, “Who will harm you if you are eager to do what is good?” Rev. Takacs explores how this “failed” rhetorical question exposes the real suffering of early Christians and of our own fear-saturated world, and proclaims the call, drawn from Isaiah and 1 Peter, to “not fear what they fear” but to orient our lives toward Christ, who blesses us even when we suffer for doing good.