Scripture
8Then the officers shall speak further to the soldiers and say, ‘Who is the man who is afraid and lacks courage? Let him go and return to his house, so that he does not cause his brothers’ courage to fail like his own.’ 9And it shall be when the officers have finished speaking to the soldiers, they shall appoint commanders of armies over them. Deuteronomy 20:8-9
Observation
Moses was preparing Israel to take the Promised Land. He was not about to make the same mistake he had made 40 years earlier. Before every battle the priest would remind the army that the battle was The Lords, “Hear, O Israel: you are advancing today to battle against your enemies. Do not lack courage. Do not be afraid, or panic, or tremble [in terror] before them, 4for the Lord your God is He who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.’(Deut. 20:3-4) Then, the officers would go throughout the tribes and root out anyone who was still afraid and send them back home. If only Moses had done this when he had sent 12 men to spy out the land. 10 of them could only see the obstacles, two of them, Joshua and Caleb could see the opportunities. 10 saw giants that would crush them. 2 saw a generous God who would provide for them. 10 saw insurmountable walls. 2 saw an unstoppable God. Sadly, fear was more contagious than faith and when the 12 came back to Israel, the bad report became the only report people would hear. The words of Joshua were drowned out by the cries of panic, “8If the Lord delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land which flows with milk and honey. 9Only do not rebel against the Lord; and do not fear the people of the land, for they will be our prey. Their protection has been removed from them, and the Lord is with us. Do not fear them.” 10But all the congregation said to stone Joshua and Caleb with stones.” (Numbers 14:8-10).
Application
Trigger warning ahead! 5 years ago this week the world was shut down by fear. Hindsight is 20/20 and if we had known then what we know now we would have made some very different choices. That iconic picture of the priest blessing parishioners by using a squirt gun with holy water pretty sums up what fear can do to even the most faithful. My family and I had just moved from Hawaii to San Diego and The Father’s House was still going strong even without a lead pastor thanks to the great leaders serving the community through online services. It was a very strange time to for everyone, but especially challenging for these precious church members who just wanted to meet together. When I would go to the grocery store I could see the fear in peoples eyes because that’s all I could see with the masks that covered our faces. I wanted to judge them but the Holy Spirit asked me, “If you didn’t have Me wouldn’t you be plagued by fear too?” The death tallies on the nightly news combined with the manipulative campaign of “stay at home or you’ll kill my Grandma” was pervasive and convincing. Some churches went very public in their resistance of gathering guidelines flaunting their “no mask” stance at Sunday services inside. Some churches didn’t meet in person for years. “Flattening the curve” was a joke and everyone knew it. It was a tumultuous time where I was called to lead a people who didn’t know me and had very strong opinions on each side. Though there are many things I would do differently if had the chance to go back, there are two choices we made that I wouldn’t change at all. Our plumb line in the midst of this crazy fear filled frenzy around was the Great Commandment (Matthew 22:36-40). To Love the Lord our God and our neighbors as ourselves was all I knew to do. As a Church we decided to walk the uncomfortable middle which meant the extremes on both sides would be unhappy with us and would leave. They did, but others came. The first choice was that we would meet in person even if it mean meeting outside so our neighbors felt safe. Though streaming is a great tool to use, an online gathering will never be able to replace the true fellowship of the gathered church. The second choice was that we left it up to people to wear masks or not. We would not shame someone who wore a mask or got the vaccine and we would not shame someone who didn’t. We came through the years of fear with these bold and certain truths: The Church is not a place, it’s a people. The Church is not a building but the holy stones built by God (1 Peter 2:9–10). The Church is called to love our neighbors, not just the ones who like us or are like us. The Church is called to be a people of faith in a time for fear. Our God fights for us and we fight against evil but we are not called to fight against flesh and blood.
Prayer
Though Covid is over the fear is very much still here. Whether it’s the drop in the stock market, the spread of measles and bird flu, the conflict in the Middle East or between Russia and Ukraine, the world is in upheaval. God has not give us a spirit of fear, but of love, power, and a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7). Lord, let us be a people like Joshua and Caleb who have a different spirit and a faith perspective. Let us not walk lock step with the fear mongering and the controlling manipulation of the media messaging. Let faith be more contagious than fear! Let us stand and take back the ground we lost to fear during the past five years. Let Your Church rise in faith and declare “If the Lord delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land which flows with milk and honey.”
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