Tag Archives: fear

Fear and Love

abundant life 2Eastertide
May 1, 2015

Scripture Reading: 1 John 4:7-21

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. We love because he first loved us. Those who say, ‘I love God’, and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also. __1 John 4:18-21

Some are just angry, others are very much afraid. It demonstrates itself sometimes in paranoia and sometimes in downright hatred. It is an interesting time to be white in a world that is more and more a continuum of flesh tones reaching from white to deepest ebony. It is an interesting time to be in the role of the “emperor” when we worship a God who champions the oppressed.

The answer is quite simple. We are to love each other, but the doing of that basic task is hard for we must strip away layer by layer the preconceived notions that we have about ourselves and about the other before we can love them and they can learn to love us in return. This means we have to take the time to really get to know ourselves and to know the individual others. For some reason, some of us who call ourselves Christian, have adapted the language of exclusion and exceptionalism. Being chosen by God does not mean we are better than anyone, it means we have been called to be a blessing to everyone. All of God’s children are exceptional and all children, even when they grow to being adults, are God’s.  Unique as the varied snowflakes, we have each been created to serve a distinct and vital part in the kingdom of God.

Those of us who find ourselves living in relative comfort, even prosperity, are faced with the challenge of loving the rest of the world in ways that will enable them to know the abundance of life of which Jesus spoke: John 10:10, The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. God calls us to be seekers of justice.

Prayer: Lord, I lift myself to you. Mold me and make me like thee. Erase my fear, enable my courage, and strengthen my ability to love like you. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

 

Why Do We Fear?

EphesusLent March 12, 2015

Scripture Reading: Ephesians 2:1-10 You were dead through the trespasses and sins in which you once lived, following the course of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient. All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of flesh and senses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else. But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— Ephesians 2:1-5

What has made us so afraid? Rather than loving our neighbors, we fear them. Rather than rejoicing in the diversity God created, we cling to exclusivism. I sometimes wonder if we have invested so much time in reading the rest of the Bible we have forsaken the four gospels. We have turned our backs on the one who got us here in the first place. Following Jesus Christ is not just a matter of wearing a wristband or t-shirt imprinted with WWJD. Christianity is not like a sports team that we cheer and declare, “We’re Number 1.”

In our scripture today Paul is writing to new Christians in Ephesus who were surrounded by statues of various gods and temples. These Christians’ status in society was actually reduced because of their choice to follow this one called Jesus Christ. What we do not see now is that we occupy the chair of the elite and rather than being faithful to our calling in Christ, we have adapted the same ways of those ancient elites. We are emulating not only the Greek elites but also our ancestors in faith, the people of Israel who got caught up in their own worth and lost sight of their covenant with God and were taken into exile. We have not been called to license we have been called to responsibility. We have not been called to hate and exclusivism but to love and inclusivism.

When and if we choose to follow the path of love and inclusivism we are made alive in Christ for it is by his grace that we have been saved and while life is frightening to us at times, we never need to be afraid again.

Prayer: Lord, forgive us for our lack of trust, reinforce our faith so that we can run and not become weary in our marathon to live your love. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Helpless

Fruits of the SpiritAdvent
November 27, 2014

Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 1:3-9

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus, for in every way you have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind— just as the testimony of Christ has been strengthened among you— so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ. — 1 Corinthians 1:3-7

It is appropriate that on this Thanksgiving Day in the United States of America the lectionary provides us with Paul’s oft used salutation, I give thanks to my God always for you…so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ. As I write this, yesterday Ferguson, Missouri was rent asunder in anger and frustration following a Missouri Grand Jury decision that there was no probable cause to indict the policeman who killed a young black man accused of stealing a handful of cigars. Today, I do not feel anyone should be thankful for me as I feel so terribly helpless to respond.

While, I am sure, there will never be consensus on what actually happened in Ferguson a couple of months ago, I am sure that an indictment was issued by God yesterday in Ferguson against this entire great nation and all our people. This indictment found more than probable cause to show that we are a broken nation torn apart by hunger for power and greed fueled by fear. We have lost sight of the fact that our most valuable resource is our wonderfully diverse people all blessed by our creator with gifts of which all are necessary for our country to thrive. It is our job as citizens to remove any barriers to the fruition of each of those gifts being fully realized.

It is our job as Christians to follow the example of Jesus Christ in living our love of God fully among all peoples, welcoming all people as our neighbors, and loving our neighbors as we love ourselves. And whether we feel like it today or not, God has already equipped us to do that very job through the gifts of the Spirit in each of our lives and in our combined lives as the Body of Christ in the world today and for that let us all be thankful and let it be so.

Prayer: Lord forgive us for feeling so inadequate to respond in such a time as this. Please turn our inadequacies into inspiration for finding your way, your truth, and your life in each step we take over the coming months toward wholeness, oneness, and justice. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Life’s True Constant

Living in the Spirit
July 25, 2014 

Scripture Reading: Romans 8:26-39 

Who is to condemn? It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written,
‘For your sake we are being killed all day long;
   we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered.’
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. —Romans 8:34-39

Fear mongers win when we let them write the story. Bad news makes better press than good news. If we hear the same thing over and over again, we begin to believe it is true. During the run up to our first primary election this year, I got so sick of hearing the nothingness of those Super Pac ads, I started hitting the mute button as soon as they came on and I eventually gave no credence to any ad unless that statement by the candidate that he or she approved this message was included. I also generally wrote off any candidate that only defined themselves by one or more of the various wedge issues. Some never addressed any issue with which they might actually deal.

Fear can separate us from the love of Christ. Fear of the unknown is probably what kept the Israelites in Egypt’s slavery for so long and caused them to cry out so many times at Moses when the least travail occurred on the trip to the Promised Land. Fear is what caused the Israelites at the foot of the mountain to craft a golden calf to worship (Exodus 32). My ancestors sang I’m Bound for the Promised Land* as they migrated west into the great unknown. Our greater fears and challenge today may be learning how to live where we have been planted in our city, state, country, or world with whatever neighbors we may find there. Jesus called it becoming ONE.

Paul when writing this scripture from Romans faced and met death head on but he clung mightily to Christ throughout his adventurous undertaking as he kindled the fire of church throughout the known world. We too need to cling to this Christ risen as we rekindled the fire of church in our world today.

Prayer:  God of Grace and God of Glory, grant us courage for the facing of this hour**. Amen.

*Lyric from On Jordan’s Stormy Banks I Stand by Samuel Stennett
**God of Grace and God of Glory, by Harry E. Fosdick (written in 1930 at the beginning of the Great Depression and events that led to World War II)
All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Fear Begets Fear

Living in the Spirit
July 24, 2014

 Scripture Reading: Romans 8:26-39 

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. — Romans 8:26-27

Who knew that all that memorization I did in school would still impact me or that Rudyard Kipling’s poem, If for Boys*, would pop into my head when considering the trials of our times? Here is the first verse. I would encourage you to read the full poem.

If you can keep your head when all about you
 Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
 But make allowance for their doubting too:
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
 Or, being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated don’t give way to hating,
 And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise;

Fear is permeating the very fiber of our beings across the world. There are, in fact, some things out there about which fear is a most appropriate response. But fear seems to beget fear and when we are facing very real threats we also tend to imaginee ones that are not present. Such fear can make us do things that we would never do under normal circumstances. A plane was destroyed over war torn Ukraine. Some 300 people heading for the south pacific, many on vacation, were killed. The cause is not fully known, but it was most likely a byproduct of war or terrorism. Do we never get on another plane because of this incident? Good friends apparently returned from a trip through Israel just in time to miss the start of warfare again there. Do we no longer seek peace in the Middle East? Murder is becoming routine here in Oklahoma City. Do we stop loving our neighbors and welcoming strangers? God never said the world wouldn’t be scary. God said “Fear not”.

I have not the words to pray regarding seeking solutions to the dangers that face us every day but I take great heart in our scripture today for I know the Spirit is praying with me and knows exactly what to say.

Prayer: Spirit of the Living God, thank you for your indwelling presence. Please pray the words I cannot form. Amen.

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/if/

 

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Fear

Living in the Spirit
July 23, 2014

 Scripture Reading: Psalm 128 

Happy is everyone who fears the Lord,
   who walks in his ways.
You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands;
   you shall be happy, and it shall go well with you. —Psalm 128:1-2

Fear is an interesting emotional state. It can freeze us into inaction or give us the extra adrenaline to do things we never thought we could. Merriam-Webster Dictionary* list several definitions. Let’s look closer at three of them:

  1. agitated foreboding often of some real or specific peril
  2. calm recognition or consideration of whatever may injure or damage
  3. profound reverence and awe

I am somewhat claustrophobic. I never intend to ever have another MRI in one of those closed tube things again. The open sided MRIs were invented for me. Claustrophobia is an irrational fear, not based in reality, and taken to an extreme can be debilitating. I have “talked” myself out of being controlled by the fear when needed in some situations. I think that may be what is meant by the calm recognition or consideration of whatever may injure or damage.  I have also found that by facing the fear over time it has lessened in intensity. I overpower the fear when my need to not let it control me is greater than its control of me.

A lot of fear is not irrational. Soldiers going into battle, fire fighters searching burning structures, and parents trying to dislodge whatever is choking their baby are experiencing real fear. In each situation they have chosen to turn their fear into a tool for the survival of others without concern for their personal safety.

The fear of God encompasses both of these traits. The all-powerful, ever present God is the source of our strength in overcoming irrational fears and the source of our bravery when protecting others. We are privileged to experience flashes of the wonders of God in bits and pieces of our lives. It is almost impossible to comprehend the full force of God’s power and might, but that awe is the only fear we really need.

Prayer: Almighty and Ever-present God, thank you for gracing us with your gifts of strength and bravery. May we use them wisely. Amen.

* http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/unabridged/fear

 

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

 

He Lives

Living in the Spirit
June 21, 2014

 Scripture Reading: Matthew 10:16, 24-39 

‘See, I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves….

‘So have no fear of them; for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known. What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops. Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground unperceived by your Father. And even the hairs of your head are all counted. So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.– Matthew 10:16, 26-31

As Christ’s servants we are sent out into a broken, scary world where people of faith fight each other and where old wounds fester and rot the very heart of those who suffer them, where promising young basketball players get shot in the crossfire of gang warfare while home from college on summer vacation, where children are shuffled across borders as refugees to save them from their own neighbors, where young women—children even—are sold as sex slaves,  and that is just the headlines from this week’s news.

Anybody in their right mind would experience fear if caught up in any of these circumstances, wouldn’t he or she? Jesus says have no fear of them…do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Jesus is calling us to live through his death into the fullness of life offered in the Kingdom of God while we live in a world torn asunder.  The only way anyone could really do that is to accept without reservation that they serve a risen savior who is in the world today*.

Prayer: Lord, remind us often that we serve a risen savior. Amen.

*Taken from He Lives by Alfred Ackley

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

But Some Doubted

Living in the Spirit
June 15, 2014

  Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’–Matthew 28:16-20

My Dad’s father died suddenly, unexpectedly when my Dad was ten years old. His father had contracted blood poisoning from a boil that a doctor had lanced with an apparently unsterilized instrument.  My grandfather has always been bigger than life to me because he was bigger than life to my father. By all measures he was a successful farmer and businessman and well respected in the community. He died in 1928 and in 1970 or so I met with an older, local attorney about something to do with my work. When he heard my name he asked, if I were related to Emery Knott and I said that he was my grandfather. The lawyer said “Emery Knott was one of the finest men I have ever known.”

My grandfather’s death came at a very bad time in the history of the world but particularly in Oklahoma. Within the next few years after he died, his farms had turned to dust and the top soil had blown away. The entire world was in an economic depression and my father had essentially become the primary bread winner of his family at the age of 12 in a world turned upside down. I cannot image the emotions my Dad experienced losing his Dad, eventually dropping out of school to work, trying to hold things together the best he and his siblings could. I am sure that some mornings when he awoke or some evenings when he fell into bed exhausted, fear and doubt were with him.

The eleven remaining disciples were just as human as my Dad and they, too, experienced the full range of emotions that goes with sudden loss and increased responsibility. But just like my Dad, they had the choice of letting their fears defeat them or using them as catalyst for change. Those eleven men, with the teachings of Jesus fresh in their minds and the power of the Holy Spirit literally changed the world.

God gives us that same opportunity today.

Prayer: Lord, transform our doubts and our fears into energy powering our service to you. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.