June 9, 2013
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Fear divides and love unites
Ruth 1:1-19a
In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land. So a man from Bethlehem in Judah, together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a while in the country of Moab. 2 The man’s name was Elimelek, his wife’s name was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to Moab and lived there. 3 Now Elimelek, Naomi’s husband, died, and she was left with her two sons. 4 They married Moabite women, one named Orpah and the other Ruth. After they had lived there about ten years, 5 both Mahlon and Kilion also died, and Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband. 6 When Naomi heard in Moab that God had come to the aid of the people by providing food for them, she and her daughters-in-law prepared to return home from there. 7 With her two daughters-in-law she left the place where she had been living and set out on the road that would take them back to the land of Judah. 8 Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back, each of you, to your mother’s home. May God show you kindness, as you have shown kindness to your dead husbands and to me. 9 May God grant that each of you will find rest in the home of another husband.” Then she kissed them goodbye and they wept aloud 10 and said to her, “We will go back with you to your people.” 11 But Naomi said, “Return home, my daughters. Why would you come with me? Am I going to have any more sons, who could become your husbands? 12 Return home, my daughters; I am too old to have another husband. Even if I thought there was still hope for me—even if I had a husband tonight and then gave birth to sons— 13 would you wait until they grew up? Would you remain unmarried for them? No, my daughters. It is more bitter for me than for you, because God’s hand has turned against me!” 14 At this they wept aloud again. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth clung to her. 15 “Look,” said Naomi, “your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. Go back with her.”
16 But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. 17 Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.” 18 When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her. 19 So the two women went on until they came to Bethlehem.
2 Samuel 1:17-27
17 David took up this lament concerning Saul and his son Jonathan, 18 and he ordered that the people of Judah be taught this lament of the bow (it is written in the Book of Jashar):
19 “A gazelle lies slain on your heights, Israel.
How the mighty have fallen!20 “Tell it not in Gath,
proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon,
lest the daughters of the Philistines be glad,
lest the daughters of the uncircumcised rejoice.21 “Mountains of Gilboa,
may you have neither dew nor rain,
may no showers fall on your terraced fields.
For there the shield of the mighty was despised,
the shield of Saul—no longer rubbed with oil.22 “From the blood of the slain,
from the flesh of the mighty,
the bow of Jonathan did not turn back,
the sword of Saul did not return unsatisfied.
23 Saul and Jonathan—
in life they were loved and admired,
and in death they were not parted.
They were swifter than eagles,
they were stronger than lions.24 “Daughters of Israel,
weep for Saul,
who clothed you in scarlet and finery,
who adorned your garments with ornaments of gold.25 “How the mighty have fallen in battle!
Jonathan lies slain on your heights.
26 I grieve for you, Jonathan my brother;
you were very dear to me.
Your love for me was wonderful,
more wonderful than that of women.27 “How the mighty have fallen!
The weapons of war have perished!”End of sacred texts.
Everything you desire is the other side of fear. I could not find the author or source for this statement. It is on several motivational posters and motivational sites, I first saw it on Facebook. It is for me a profound insight. We are indeed kept from what we desire by our fear. We don’t approach another person for a possible friendship or relationship because we are afraid of rejection or appearing foolish. We don’t pursue and education or a employment opportunity for fear of failure or fear of being told we are not qualified. We even let fear keep us from doing what we might enjoy. We are afraid we will get hurt, or we will fail, or it will cost us too much in money, time or other resources. The truth that fear is a powerful motivator is not lost on those who wish to control us, particularly those who wish to control us when they have no legitimate reasons for control. I remember when I was growing up in a company town some citizens expressed ideas contrary to the position of the company and so the company released statements that it as considering a relocation of the plant which would have devastated the local economy. They were not arguing the facts of the issue, they were arguing out of fear. The locals capitulated on the issue rather than risk losing the economic base. I have sensed that our recent elections have also been more about fear than a reasoned debate about the issues. Each candidate or political action group trying to convince us the consequences will be dire if their opponent or the issue they oppose is elected or approved. The ultimate effect is that we live in fear no matter who is elected or what proposal is passed or defeated. We have an underlying culture of fear.
The natural outcome of fear is distrust. We don’t trust government, we don’t trust organizations, we don’t trust corporations, we don’t trust each other, and we don’t trust religion. This culture of fear results in withdrawal, we move toward greater isolation to isolate ourselves from those who are different or just not us. The increase of cybernetworking and other electronic means of connecting with each other is a symptom of our increasing isolation. I have heard people say in crisis they prefer to be alone and connect with others by their cell phones or computers than to be with others. I think this is so very sad. Fear has created
this need for isolation that comes from desire for security. Fear divides us. Fear is what feeds the irrational rejection of the value of treating those who are different from us as being equal to us. There is no rational reason to believe that the marriage of two same gender persons will adversely affect the marriage of opposite gender persons. There is no rational reason to believe allowing adult mentors of youth to be open about their gender affection will increase the likelihood a child will be molested. It is the secrecy and the shame that allows predators to function in youth organizations whether they are preying on same gender youth or opposite gender youth. There is no rational reason to believe that an elected leader who is a person of color is going to fail to represent all persons or give preferential treatment to persons of color, at least no reason to believe this will happen any more than it as with Caucasian elected leaders. There is no rational reason to believe a female in a position of authority is going to be any less rational in her decision making or any more emotional than her male counterpart. There is no rational reason to believe that a person of a different faith is going to me anymore violent, or exploitive than a person that professes to be Christian. There are violent and exploitive persons who claim to be Christian with the same frequency as there are in other faith traditions. And yet we are encouraged to believe these irrational claims and too many of us do. We are taught to fear these differences so as to divide us, to distract us to the real threats to our security and our happiness. The threats that are posed by the destruction of our climate, the threat of our food and water becoming toxic, the threat of our economic survival being concentrated in the hands of a very few, and the threat of violence unrestrained by any sense of connection with the other.The opposite of fear is not courage or confidence, the opposite of fear is love. Because love casts out all fear. When we love and know we are loved, we don’t believe the fear mongers and we don’t embrace the isolation. Consider the story of Naomi and Ruth. Naomi is afraid. She is a widow without sons and a woman without a male in her time is very vulnerable. Naomi’s fear drives her back to her homeland where she intends to cast herself on the mercy of her kindred. Her fear causes her to drive her daughters in law from her. She cannot protect them, they will be not only woman without a husband protector, they will be foreign woman of a different faith and she pleads with them to go back to their homes where they will be safe. Ruth responds out of love. Ruth’s love for Naomi is so profound it is a common reading at weddings, it is written on tokens and exchanged between lovers. Her love drives out not only her own fear but Naomi’s fear. David and Jonathan are separated by fear, Saul fears David and fears his dynasty will be destroyed by David. Saul’s fear drives him to seek the destruction of David and causes a war between the followers of Saul and the followers of David. In the war, Saul and Jonathan are killed. David’s love for Saul, and even more for Jonathan prevents him from celebrating the death of Saul and Jonathan. He laments the loss of what could have been had fear not driven them to hostility. It is love that brings us together to achieve what we desire.
We are not called to be a people of fear. We are told that we will be known as followers of Christ by our love, not by our fear. Jesus did not bring us a message of fear, not fear of each other, not fear of those who have control over us, not even fear of God. Jesus taught us to approach God as a loving parent not a wrathful and vengeful judge. The most common greeting messengers of God bring us is to “Fear not.” When we trust in the love God has for us just as we are, in all of our diversity, we are then able to love others in all of their diversity, to see in their differences our strength and not a threat. The only hope we have to come together and realize our dream, our desire to live in peace together is give up the fear that divides us and embrace the hope that unites us. Amen.
