Learning to fear not.
COVID-19 in the Light of Scripture • Sermon • Submitted
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· 3 viewsHow do we face life in a pandemic without living in fear?
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Facing the Danger of COVID-19
Facing the Danger of COVID-19
Slowly but surely, people are being called upon to return to our pre-coronavirus way of life.
After a couple of months of sheltering in our homes and watching cases climb and people pass away, we are suddenly faced with a restart of life
For some, they are ready to jump back into life and never look back.
But for others there is some trepidation in that this infection is still out there and is just as present and just as dangerous as ever.
Fear is defined as an unpleasant emotional experience that arises when one is faced with a danger.
I think that certainly defines where I find myself when faced with decisions about work, grocery shopping, worship services and socializing. All things which were entirely mundane just a few months ago.
The thought of getting the infection and possibly dying or passing it along to someone else and being the cause of their harm is something that gives me pause lately in almost everything I do outside of the bounds of my home.
COVID-19 is having an impact on how I approach life. It has made me stop and consider how God might want me to step forward in this time of uncertainty.
Surely he still has a plan and a ministry for me and surely that entails more than sitting at home stewing with my concerns.
That said, he did not make me to be oblivious or foolish in the face of hazard.
Fortunately, he did give me an answer book. When life deals me a hand that I don’t know how to play, I know there is one place I can always turn to find the answer and that is to God’s very own word written for me.
For a long stretch of my life I would have thought that statement sounded a bit hokey that a 2000 year old book of stories might have anything for me that my intellect could not deliver on its own. But in recent years I have learned and experienced over and over that God’s plan for me, as revealed in scripture, is infinitely superior to my plan for me.
So lets turn to the Book and see what God might have to share with us about stepping out into this new world, a world where we still have to make disciples and raise them up in maturity despite a very real danger that is going to be right there with us every step of the way.
And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.”
Being afraid has been a part of the human condition since the very first couple. But it was not part of God’s design for us. He made us to live in peace, confident in God’s presence. Confident in his ability to provide for all our needs including our safety. There originally was no harm that could befall us and illness and death simply did not exist as things to worry about.
As we have discussed in previous studies, with the first sin we chose to turn away from what God offered and chose instead to depend upon ourselves.
Instantaneous with this choice, we also learned to fear. We instinctively understood that we were not all-knowing and therefore by depending upon ourselves, we were depending on someone that didn’t have all the answers. Every decision we made came with at least a degree of uncertainty and doubt. That uncertainty and doubt leads directly to a fear that our choices might leave us open to harm. We recognized that we could not provide for ourselves as well God did and yet we had damaged that relationship and had been expelled from Eden.
Therefore we should understand that sin is ultimately the cause of fear. When we know we have stepped away from our Creator we know we have stepped away from the one who loves us and watches out for us.
Cain experienced fear
Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is greater than I can bear. Behold, you have driven me today away from the ground, and from your face I shall be hidden. I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.”
Fear arose because he had chosen to oppose God’s will for him.
King Solomon understood fear and hinted at the solution.
The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion.
In The Book of Job, Job’s friend Eliphaz describes how fear arises.
distress and anguish terrify him; they prevail against him, like a king ready for battle. Because he has stretched out his hand against God and defies the Almighty,
Now I am not suggesting that you experience fear as a punishment for a sin that you have committed. I am saying that it is part of the human condition to be sinful. Sinfulness creates a distance between our heart and God’s and it is in the distance that comes from not having a right relationship with God that fear is borne.
The corollary of this would be that anything we do that serves to bring us into righteousness should serve to relieve our fear just as King Solomon suggested.
Let’s dig in to some of the many places that scripture addresses this very issue.
The prophet Isaiah perhaps gives us one of the most comprehensive statements on how not to be afraid.
fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Behold, all who are incensed against you shall be put to shame and confounded; those who strive against you shall be as nothing and shall perish. You shall seek those who contend with you, but you shall not find them; those who war against you shall be as nothing at all. For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, “Fear not, I am the one who helps you.”
Let’s look at the very first line. The creator of the entire universe, the creator of everything we fear and everything that could protect us, commands us to fear not. Why? Because he is a faithful God and he is right here in the middle of the mess with us.
He is not a distant God that doesn’t understand that we are afraid.
My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.
As our creator and designer, he knows every fear that we have. Every weakness we possess, every infirmity and every shortcoming. He understands completely when we are afraid.
He is not a God that is so busy that he doesn’t notice a mess that we have gotten ourselves into.
And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
In the instant that you experience fear, God knows it. He is there with you in the situation. And he knows that the only answer for that fear is for you to be confident that he is right there in that situation with you.
fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
The second line of Isaiah calls on us to not be dismayed for he is our God. Wow! This isn’t just a trusty fireman or a well trained policeman at our side. Its the God who can do all things. Whatever we are up against, it simply cannot be bigger, or tougher, or stronger than the God of the universe that is there shielding us from it.
Next in the Isaiah passage, God makes us a promise. Here’s the cool thing about God’s promises, HE HAS NEVER FAILED TO KEEP ONE. If God makes a promise, he makes it because he know he can deliver.
He says here that he will strengthen you and he will help you and he will uphold you with his righteous right hand.
There’s a bit to understand here. No matter what fear you are facing, he will not leave you to your own abilities to deal with it. Where you are weak, he will add strength. Where you might falter and stumble, he will steady you. When you are not enough to overcome the situation, he is and he wants you to be an overcomer.
The other side of this coin, is that God is not impressed with you trying to do it on your own. Believing we could do it on our own is what got us into this mess in the first place! God wants you to rely upon his strength. God wants you to believe that you individually matter enough to him for him to show up and fight on your side. Even with all your warts and moles and stench and sin…he is going to be right there beside of you making sure you have everything you need to face your fear.
Behold, all who are incensed against you shall be put to shame and confounded; those who strive against you shall be as nothing and shall perish. You shall seek those who contend with you, but you shall not find them; those who war against you shall be as nothing at all.
Isaiah tells us that once we accept God being right there on our behalf our enemies and those that would seek to do us harm will melt away. Once we let God fight for us, we can look for the things that we fear but we will not find them.
For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, “Fear not, I am the one who helps you.”
So when you are experiencing fear, the first thing to do, is to look down at your right hand. Stare at it and understand in your heart that the God of the entire universe is present and he is actually and truly holding that hand. He is walking right there with you. He is the fountain of a strength beyond any which you alone could possess and he will make sure you have everything you need.
We have separated ourselves from God and that separation opens the door for fear. The only way to overcome that fear is to remind ourselves that the only way past fear is by going back to God. By holding tightly to his presence. Its an incredibly important concept and
God goes to great lengths in scripture to remind us of this over and over.
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
You shall not be in dread of them, for the Lord your God is in your midst, a great and awesome God.
Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.”
Fear not, nor be afraid; have I not told you from of old and declared it? And you are my witnesses! Is there a God besides me? There is no Rock; I know not any.”
“Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.
I could go on, but I think the point is made that the answer to dealing with our worldly fears lies in drawing close to God and trusting in his love for us.
But scripture does remind us that there are times when we should fear
And 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.
God reminds us that we need not fear the loss of the things of this world but we should fear things which could lose us the inheritance of the world to come.
We are repeatedly counseled to be afraid of the temptation to sin and to flee when we recognize it.
Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.
Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.
But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness.
So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.
God does not want us afraid when we face the fears of this world, but he does want us to be afraid of carelessly losing an eternity with him. Coronavirus should not overcome us with fear, but being forever separated from God should.
Now remember that it is our sin that brings about fear. God wants to get us back to Eden where there is no fear, but to do that, he must eliminate the sin that generated the fear.
He has done that is the sacrifice of his Son, Jesus.
Christ erased all of the sin for those who accept him as their savior. He took it all upon himself and redeemed us.
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
So in Christ, the sinful nature of man that breeds a world of fears are corrected in the sacrifice on the Cross. But to avail yourself of that freedom from fear you must accept that sacrifice on your behalf and acknowledge Christ as your savior.
Now here comes the really cool part. God doesn’t want us to just not be afraid. He doesn’t want us tiptoeing carefully and holding tight to his hand with our eyes squeezed shut.
He wants us to totally and completely experience peace.
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.
I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.
And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
As we mature as Christians, we grow closer to God in love, we move from terrified individuals chasing all the many things this world says we should value. Money, fame, power, influence. These are the prizes of the lost. Every time these prizes are threatened, the lost grow afraid.
But then we have an encounter with the transforming presence of Christ. Initially our fears drop down to trepidation. We experience hope in someone bigger than ourselves.
As we learn to lean on God and have the experience of him being there every time, we learn to let go of fear. Trust in a loving God replaces that.
Ultimately as we learn to reliquish the earthly prizes and fix our eyes and our hearts on the only prize that matters, the lack of fear is changed into something serene, the peace of God.
When this world can only take away things that you realize don’t matter and when you possess something that you know nothing in this world can take away. You have arrived at the peace promised by Jesus.
The apostle Paul gives us a glimpse of this
For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again.
Paul is torn between two competing joys. He is at risk for losing his life…losing everything of this world. Yet all he can see is his chance to gain an eternity with Christ. Something which he knows in his heart to be far better.
If he lives he gets the peace and joy of doing the work of bringing more people into the Kingdom. If he dies he gets to be with Christ. He experiences the peace of knowing that all of his options are good and he cannot lose. He is there because he no longer has anything to fear.
COVID-19 may intrude on many things you value. We cannot socialize as freely with friends and family, vacation options are restricted, birthday parties and anniversaries are harder to celebrate, job are being lost, finances have become precarious, our health and even our lives are jeopardized.
If these are the things you are holding tightly to, then anything which threatens them will generate fear that gnaws at your heart.
Christ wants you to have more. He wants you to empty your hands of this world so that he can fill them up with a firm grasp on the next.
He knows that once you are holding on to your ticket back to Eden, you will finally know an end to fear and experience that all encompassing peace. He loves you and he very much wants that for you. He is giving it to you as a free gift. He simply needs for you to let go of your fears and hold on to him.
For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”
do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written,
“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure 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.
Coronavirus and the crisis surrounding it cannot take from you anything that ultimately matters. Sure the trappings of this world may be threatened. But some day you will lose all of them regardless of how you fare in the current crisis. But nothing can separate you from the love of Christ, which is the only treasure worth holding onto because its the only one that’s forever.
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.