In our Lenten small groups at church, we are reading Do not Live Afraid. The author challenges us to look at what makes us afraid (fears beyond that of frogs or that bruce lee lives in your basement). Using the story of the midwives in Exodus, the author points out that the fear is part of the politics of death—babies are being killed because people are afraid. Pharaoh is a afraid of what might happen if God’s people because too numerous. Birthing mothers are afraid what will happen to their children if they don’t follow Pharaoh’s order. In the midst of the story come Puah and Shiphrah, two midwives, who the scriptures say “fear the Lord.” The author point out that the fear of God does a politic of death but of life. Their fear/awe of God’s holiness and trust in God’s goodness, allowed them to unseat the powerful fear of death and Pharaoh and instead be a part of bringing life. These two women allowed their "fear for" others unseat the fear of what might happen to them if they didn't participate in the politics of death. As a our group talked, we were prompted to think about the question, “Who do you fear for?” We noted that we often fear something but rarely do we fear for someone. We may feel pity or sorrow but do we really fear for others? Who do you fear for? What does it mean to fear for them? And is it only death that we fear for them? Or is that they will be held by the politics of death without knowing there is a way that brings life?
More to come on fear as the Lenten season unfolds!
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