Notes from the Pastor: Into the Storm

What is the worst thing that could happen to you? What do you fear?

There is a not so memorable episode of Star Trek: the Next Generation where Captain Picard meets an unconscious version of himself.  We learn that this other Picard is from the future and  in this future the Enterprise is trying to avoid what can only be described as a storm in space.  He sacrifices himself to save the ship, but in the end the ship is destroyed.  The current Picard learns that this choice, which the future Picard is going to do again, is the wrong choice.  The choice that saves the ship in the end is going into the storm.  The Enterprise does just that and the ship is saved.

I’ll ask again, what do you fear?

There are a lot of ways I could answer that question.  But the fear that I am dealing with the most as of late is the fear that our little congregation could close.  

Which in some ways is making progress.  You see, for years I didn’t want to admit that I was fearful of this happening.  I wanted to live in some sense of denial.  We were just in a temporary phase and things will pick up if we try this thing or that thing.  I wanted to live as if this wasn’t a present concern.

As with a lot of things, the pandemic took care of my sense of denial straightaway.  Because it’s hard to maintain a sense of denial when death is staring you in the face.  When you worry that your loved ones or you yourself could die from COVID.    

Everytime I pray, I wonder: will God answer our prayer?  Will the Holy Spirit sweep through our little congregation?  Will others join our community on our faith journey?  Will we be able to sell the property?  Where will we move? Will our new location help us to grow in all the ways a church can grow?

I’ve had to learn to face my fear and that’s not easy.  I would much rather close my eyes and try to fight against the fear.  

Facing fear isn’t the same as fatalism.  The former is working for a good outcome knowing that the worst outcome is a possibility and the latter is basically accepting fate. 

We really live in fearful or anxious times.  We are worried about legitimate fears and some that are not so legitimate.  I watched the first hearing of the January 6 Select Committee and I could see that fear was everywhere.  The police that testified were facing fear and so were the rioters.  The difference is that the officers faced their fear and continued to do their duty.  The fear of the rioters, fear of a changing country, fear of those different from them, fear of the loss of economic security was almost fatalist, leading them to do whatever they could even if it meant crossing every moral boundary imaginable. 

Fear is normal to every human.  What matters is not that we have fear, but what we do with it.  Sometimes we want to ignore the fear and we enter into denial or take booze or drugs to avoid those fears.  Other times we allow the fear to drive us and join in movements that hurt others.  

The thing is, God is present with us when we face our fears. I think one of the things that scares me the most is worrying that I will face my deepest fears alone. But the reality is God, is with me so I am never alone. Philippians 4:6-7 says, “Don’t be anxious about anything; rather, bring up all of your requests to God in your prayers and petitions, along with giving thanks. 7 Then the peace of God that exceeds all understanding will keep your hearts and minds safe in Christ Jesus.”

Our anxiety over life isn’t going to go away. But I think Paul is saying, that we face our fears knowing God is with us and that when that happens, we can have peace. It’s not an escape from fear, but a sense that we face it with the God of the universe.

But the only way we can conquer fear is by going through it.  Not around it. Not avoiding it, but going through it.  When we go through fear, we might find out that our fear isn’t so bad after all.  When we go through fear, we might join in causes that can defeat those fears.  We might find the courage to destroy fear and make the world a better place.

As we begin this month of prayer, I ask that you face your own fears. Pray over your fears. Most of all, have faith that God will get you through the fears.

What’s the worst that can happen?  Possibly the worst or maybe not.  You won’t know unless you walk into the storm.