In the short-term it unites us. Going
back to tribal days, fear of other tribes and/or outsiders made our
tribe more cohesive. In more recent times, fear of the USSR drove
our push to the moon. And I'm sure there are other examples. But
again, these are short-term situations. In the long run, fear
divides.
It's out of fear that whites put up
barriers to full equality between themselves and blacks, Hispanics,
and other people of color. It's out of fear that men refuse to see
women as fully equal and capable. It was out of fear that
McCarthyism took hold in this country. It's out of fear that
organizations refuse to deal with abuse. It's out of fear that we
would rather build walls than educate and feed people. Fear of the
Other eventually leads to finding the Other in Us, thereby leading us
to continually divide and separate, creating new Others to make Us
feel better. Fear divides. And ultimately, fear kills.
Fear of aliens. Fear of Muslims. Fear
of Jews. Fear of Americans. Fear of any other group. When we feel
threatened by others, we become fearful of them and it allows us to
be okay with finding ways to punish and eradicate them.
We see this in today's scriptures.
But, fortunately, we also see the other side.
In Acts, Saul, on authority from the
high priest, was rounding up people who belonged to the Way. That
is, he was on a mission to arrest anyone who professed to follow
Christ. Imprisonment was a certain outcome. Torture may have been
an outcome. Execution was a possibility. And all of this was done
because those in power were afraid.
Speaking on behalf of Saul and the high
priest, those people were a threat to our way of life. Those people
worshiped a false god. Those people were the cause of all our
problems. So Saul and the religious leaders looked to eliminate what
frightened them by any means necessary. Sound familiar?
That very irrational and imaginary fear
also led to a very rational and real fear by those being persecuted.
After Saul's encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus, the
disciple Ananias also has an encounter with the Lord. “Go and lay
hands on Saul so he might regain his sight.”
I can just imagine the reaction.
“Um . . . what? Dude, I don't think
so. You do know that this guy us rounding us all up to execute us,
right?”
This fear of Ananias is real. Saul is
a very real threat. He (Ananias) may very well have heard of the
execution of Stephen. But God is now asking him to literally step in
front of a person who has the authority to arrest and possibly
execute him in order to live into the commandment to love your enemy.
Ananias has a choice to make. He can
either continue to live in fear and let that fear continue to divide
humanity; or he can take an incredible risk, an incredible leap of
faith, and reach out his hands in love. Obviously he chooses the
latter, and it is this act that pretty much changed the course of
Christianity. Or, maybe more properly, set the course of
Christianity.
And on Saul's side, there was the very
real fear of not only change, but of going against everything he
understood about God. His entire faith system was being upended.
There was the very real fear that he himself would be classified as
an outcast, as a threat to be eliminated. He also had a choice. He
could choose to remain as is, holding onto his pride and his system
of belief, or he could step out in faith, opening himself up to a new
thing. The first choice would continue to divide. The second choice
would begin the process of closing those divisions.
Granted, we're dealing with human
beings here, so that process is taking awhile to accomplish. But I
hope that we are working on it.
Amid all that fear, though, there is
hope. Amid all that fear, a seed of love and inclusion is planted.
In the reading from Acts, that seed
shows up in Saul's willingness to take into account that he just
might be wrong. It shows up in Ananias' willingness to visit a sworn
enemy in the name of Christ and minister to him. This is the
beginning of the breaking down of walls instead of building them.
This is the beginning of unity over division. This is an example of
what love instead of fear can accomplish. And the scales of fear
which blinded more than his sight fell off his eyes.
Were does all this lead us?
In the gospel it leads us to listen to
the voice of Christ telling us to feed, tend, and feed his sheep.
Remember that those sheep of Jesus aren't only Episcopalians. They
aren't only Christians. They are also all those we don't even know:
“I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold.” Jesus is
telling us that his flock is bigger than we know, and we must feed
them, not fear them.
In the reading from Revelation, John
sees myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands surrounding the
throne of God and singing. He also hears every creature in heaven
and on earth singing the praises of God and worshiping. This does
not come about because of fear. This doesn't come about because we
built walls to separate and divide. It doesn't come about because
we've exterminated those not like us.
Rather, this comes about because the
love of God draws all creation into his loving embrace. It comes
about because we have learned to love, not fear, others. It comes
about because, as Saul will eventually write as Paul, “Christ has
broken down the walls which divide us.” It comes about because
humanity has finally learned that love unites.
As we move forward through the Easter
season, let us remember that the Resurrection of Christ gives us the
freedom to live without fear.
Amen.
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