Fear and Love

Emmanuel Church, Wakefield, Massachusetts

The Rev. Nancy E. Gossling

4 Easter, May 12, 2019

            I have to confess that I am a coward, a nervous ninny, someone who was once called, “Little Miss Much Afraid.” Lori Gottleib, in her new book entitled, Maybe You Should Talk to Someone, claims that all of our decisions, indeed every decision that we make, is based upon two things: fear and love. (3503) For example, I choose where I walk, and what paths I take, when I am alone at night. Fear. I choose to hop on a plane to Minnesota first thing in the morning, no matter the cost, when I learn that my daughter has given birth to premature twin boys. Love.

            There are some very good reasons to be afraid these days. Violence repeatedly erupts in our country and throughout the world. Once again this week in a high school in Colorado, there was gun violence. Our children went to Sandy Hook School many years ago and so we are well acquainted with this kind of grief. Last month, while the news reported a shooting in a synagogue in California, our Presiding Bishop preached about the Way of Love during a Big Tent revival on the Boston Common. We all make decisions, large and small, each and every day of our lives. Love preaches Life, and fear kills it.

            Of course, violence isn’t limited to guns in schools and synagogues. In Christ Church, New Zealand, a bomb exploded in a mosque, while bombs went off in Christian churches in Sri Lanka on Easter morning. Afterwards bishops cautioned their priests to make wise decisions about whether or not to hold worship services, at least until things settled down in their country. Love protects life. Fear kills it.

As members of a beloved community of diverse people created by God, we come from all languages, tribes, nations, and people; and oftentimes our decisions are an odd mix of both fear and love. As a privileged, older white woman, living in a safe neighborhood like Wakefield, I shouldn’t have much to fear; and yet fear is real at all ages and stages of life. When my daughter delivered her twin boys at 25 weeks, I feared that Peter and Nathaniel would never know the beauty of life and the love of their parents. I fear that they are entering into a more violent world with people who fuel hate and exploit divisions. In my fear, I pray fervently that the God of all Creation will save us and sustain us, most especially those I love.

            Here we are smack-dab in the middle of celebrating Resurrection life, and yet we’re still surrounded by death. In the Acts of the Apostles Tabitha has died and the widows are weeping. Often used at funerals, psalm 23 reminds us that we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, and today Jesus talks about body snatchers and those who are perishing. Finally, Revelation mentions people who have come through a great ordeal and had their robes washed white in the blood of the Lamb.

Irvin Yalom names four existential fears that he calls our “ultimate concerns.” They are death, isolation, freedom, and meaninglessness. We are afraid of painful deaths, of dying alone, of losing our freedom, and believing that our lives have no meaning. And yet, Yalom writes that “our awareness of death (actually) helps us to live more fully - and with less, not more, anxiety.” (4017)

In addition to those random acts of violence, we experience death slowly: in our aging populations, with mental illness, addictions, divorces, and fears about this fragile earth our island home. We wonder about our future: How shall we live in the face of these ultimate concerns? Will we make our decisions based upon fear or upon love?

Underlying our fear and anxiety is this uncertainty about the future. Because I don’t like suspense, I often choose movies and books with happy endings. I want that blessed assurance that everything turns out alright, that the good guys win in the end. I want to see and hear that weeping may spend the night, but the wedding song of love will sound in the morning. (Hebrews 6.19) I want the joy of Easter to last forever. And the passage from Revelation tells me that it will.

“How long will you keep us in suspense?” the Jews had asked Jesus. “If you are the Messiah, then tell us plainly.” Now Jesus was in the Temple in Jerusalem for the festival of the Dedication, which is now called Hanukkah or the Festival of Lights. It is a time when Jews remember how they were saved by their leader, Judah Maccabee, during a time of Jewish political and religious oppression.

What I learned in seminary is also summarized in Wikipedia, that “great source of all knowledge.” “The history behind this holiday begins in 198 BC when the Syrian empire took over (Israel). King Antiochus III was fairly tolerant of the Jews and allowed them to continue to live according to their custom. However, in 175 BC, his son Antiochus IV ascended to the throne, massacred many Jews, outlawed Judaism, and looted the temple. Antiochus IV went so far as to erect an altar to Zeus in the temple and defile it by sacrificing pigs on it.”

            “Judah Maccabee and his followers led a revolt and were successful in recapturing the temple. Maccabee ordered it to be cleansed, a new altar to be built, and new holy vessels to be made, after which the temple was rededicated to the Lord. Pure olive oil, with the seal of the high priest, was needed for the menorah (or lampstand), which was required to burn throughout every night in the temple.”

 “Unfortunately, only one flask was found with enough oil to burn for one day. Yet when the Jews lit the menorah, it burned for eight days, when new oil could then be blessed! This miracle is remembered to honor faithful people who are willing to bravely worship God in the face of persecution.” Jesus went to Jerusalem, like Judas Maccabee and like many people today, during a time of religious and political oppression. His followers hoped that Jesus would lead a political revolt; and his opponents feared that he would. Despite those who warned Jesus to stay away, he chose to show up. Jesus made his decision to go to Jerusalem based not on fear but on love.

            While life is a blessing and a precious gift from God, at times like these, life can also seem like an ordeal. And so, we find various ways to manage the suspense of our own unfolding drama; and we have different ways of coping with our fear and anxiety. Who are those who have come out of the great ordeal, whose robes are washed white with the blood of the Lamb? Each and every one of us.

We make decisions about life every day based upon fear and love.

Fortunately we have guard rails and directional signals. Our scripture lessons remind us of our common heritage. In community, we are no longer isolated. We affirm our faith in the words of the Nicene creed, and we offer our prayers for all people. Despite our disagreements and divisions, we are blessed to live in a country that upholds our freedom of speech, and tries to protect our basic human rights. Trusting in an ever-present, all-knowing, life-giving, and liberating God, we can choose to live in the Way of Love.

When fear appears, I like to return to our salvation story in which Jesus has shown us the Way. In both the Old and New Testaments, we remember that we have a good shepherd who will lead us beside still waters and will guide us along right pathways. With generations of people who have come before us and who will live after us, we can affirm our faith in the God who creates, sustains, and saves us - even from our very selves and our poor decisions.

Repeatedly, we hear Jesus remind us, “Do not be afraid. I am with you always, even to the end of the ages.” And no one and not one thing can snatch you away from the palm of God’s hand. Yes, we know that death will eventually come for all of us, but how we choose to live today is quite another matter. We can respond with love instead of reacting with fear. Even as violence erupts all around us we can maintain our hope in the power of God and have faith in God’s promise of eternal life. We can remember our salvation story, how our robes have become white, washed in the blood of the Lamb.

Brother Curtis from SSJE recently wrote,  “The church has this turn of phrase called “resurrection power.” If there is “resurrection power,” we need to know this power not just behind us (in the past), or around us (in others), but within us, in our own lives, (even) now. You are teeming with resurrection power, and you need to claim it and unleash it as clearly as Jesus’ followers in first-century Palestine.”

Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb who has shown us the Way of Love. So go, choose love; for we know the end of our salvation story, and Love wins.

Acts 9:36-43

Revelation 7:9-17

John 10:22-30

Psalm 23