After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, ‘Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.’ (Genesis 15:1)
When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he placed his right hand on me, saying, ‘Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living one. I was dead, and see, I am alive for ever and ever; and I have the keys of Death and of Hades. (Revelation 1:17-18)
A consistent message in the Bible is in the title of this post. The phrase "do not be afraid" shows up 67 times in the Bible. Above, I placed the first time this happens in the Bible, when God speaks to Abram (later to be called Abraham) telling him that his descendants would be more numerous than the stars...and I place the last time it happens, at the beginning of the book of Revelation, when Christ himself reassures John (the writer of Revelation) that this vision is meant to be written down and shared.
A similar phrase, "do not fear," shows up 55 times in the Bible. This is a pretty consistent message.
It is consistent because God knows us. We are people who are easily frightened. It is in our biology. A key to survival is perceiving threats and avoiding them.
But we do have to be honest that this instinct does not bring out the best in us. Fear makes us circle the wagons and take care of ourselves and those who are like us. It is, simply put, a survival technique. And God's consistent message of "do not fear" is God's way of reminding us that our survival is not dependent upon us.
The awful divisions in our culture are built on fear. And my question is...can we see each other as fellow human beings and honor the fear we hold?
It is difficult.
On the one hand, it means those who are bothered by Trump's election have to recognize that, no matter how ill-informed they think it is, some of their brothers and sisters are afraid of the demographic changes that are happening in the United States. There is a fear about white people being a minority (which will happen within my lifetime). There is fear about corruption in Washington, and what that means for the peoples' power to effect change. There is fear that Second Amendment rights would be infringed upon. There is fear of terrorism, and the impulse to want to know who the "enemy" is so they don't have the power to hurt me or my family.
Again, whether these fears are reasonable or not is the stuff of public debate. What I am asking is...can we hear the fear and see each other as fellow human beings?
On the other hand, it means those who are excited by Trump's election have to recognize that, no matter how wrong they think it is, some of their brothers and sisters are afraid that being "different" is not going to be tolerated in Trump's America. This is why there are protests happening. If those brothers and sisters are Muslim, they are afraid he meant what he said about making them all "register" so he can keep an eye on them. They are afraid we'll wander back to the era of internment camps. If those brothers and sisters are African-American, they are afraid that the chants of "Make American Great Again" actually mean "Make America White Again" (as some graffiti in the last couple of days has actually said). So before we get angry that some are protesting, can we hear the genuine human fear behind their protests?
Once again, whether you agree with those fears or not is not the point. The point is...we have all been tricked into being afraid of each other...and we can ALL agree that it does not bring out the best in us. My diagnosis of WHY our political divisions have gotten so deep and poisonous boils down to this one word: FEAR. We are afraid of each other.
Fear is not good for you.
Fear is not good for us.
Do not be afraid, brothers and sisters. We must stand together in this time and HEAR each other...and fear makes us plug our ears to the concerns of those who differ from us.
Do not be afraid, brothers and sisters. We must stand together in this time and SEE each other...and fear makes us shut our eyes to the suffering of those who differ from us, so we won't have to accept any responsibility for their suffering or responsibility for alleviating it.
Do not be afraid, brothers and sisters. Why? Because it is God's command. Because God has given us to each other. Because God has given US the ministry of reconciliation. Because freedom is our greatest gift from God, and fear binds us in chains.
Again, I will repeat: Take time today to pray for someone you seriously disagree with. Why? Because it helps soften your heart toward them and helps you see them as people just like you, with equal value.
If you are confused or angered by the fact that some are protesting, pray for those protestors, who are so afraid and angry they don't know how else to be heard. They have reasons for their fear and anger (even if you disagree with those reasons), just as you have reasons for yours. Pray for their health, and wholeness, and happiness, and safety.
If you are upset by the election, pray for those who voted for Mr. Trump. Pray for God to calm their fears and angers. They have reasons for their fear and anger (even if you disagree with those reasons), just as you have reasons for yours. Pray for their health, and wholeness, and happiness, and safety.
This is really, really hard. Seemingly impossible, I know. But it is our only hope; to take God's Word seriously, we must not be afraid. And praying for each other, I believe, is a first step toward dismantling the fear and being able to hear and see each other.
PRAYER:
God, we are all afraid. Some of those fears are well founded. Most are not. Help us to breathe deep today, and give us the courage, the grit, the determination to see common humanity beyond the fears. Open our eyes to the suffering of those with whom we disagree. Soften our hearts toward those we hate. Teach us to see each other more as you see us all. Amen.
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