Creature Features was a TV show that aired late Saturday afternoons on WGN in Chicago.  They showed classic horror movies like The Werewolf. Frankenstein.  Dracula.   The Attack of the 50-foot Woman. The War of the Worlds.  Godzilla.  King Kong — all those awful black-and-white films from the 1930s to the 1960s.  

As a kid, it was fun to watch.  You could be a scared for about an hour or so, and then it was all over. The monster was killed; the aliens were fought off.  Being scared is sort of fun when the danger isn’t real, or the threat is not imminent.  

It is not fun to be afraid in the “real” sense, though. Fear is an emotion that is so well known. It is produced by a sense of danger real or perceived. It is a powerful emotion that can damage both the physical body and the state of the mind. Fear can block thought processes and make us do things that seem illogical.  John Madden, of CBS Sports and Madden Football fame, used to crisscross the country in his customized bus, “The Madden Cruiser” because he is afraid of flying. 

Fear is one of our first and strongest emotions.  It is the first emotion Adam and Eve presented after the Fall into Sin.  Adam admitted to God: I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid (Genesis 3:10.)  Fear causes us to run from the problem rather than seek the solution. 

There are a lot of people who are afraid these days.  Panic.  Anxiety.  Worry. Concern. These are all terms that describe our world’s emotional state.  

So, when will this all end?  When will we stop being afraid?  Those are good questions.  St. John gives us some answers in chapter 4 of his first epistle: But perfect love drives out fear.   Who wants to live in constant fear? Nobody.  When will this all end? When love pushes out fear; that’s when it ends.  St. John tells us that fear has to do with punishment.  

We understand.  Nobody likes to be afraid of being wrong.  Adam hid among the garden, as we’re told in Genesis 3, because he was afraid.  He was afraid because he knew he doubted God and disobeyed.  And he hid because he didn’t want of face the consequences of his choice.  Love pushed out that fear, though.  That’s because our Savior-God is a gentleman.  

The Lord Almighty allowed Adam and Eve to own the consequences of their choice.  They chose to know the difference between good and evil.  That was something God never intended for them, nor for us, to know.  He allowed them to experience the consequences of their choice.  Up close.  And personal.  And they were terrified by what they saw.  They experienced the full reality of evil unleashed.  They felt the curse of death coursing in their mortal veins.  Even though, the LORD God allowed accursed consequences to unfold, he pushed back against the fear Adam and Eve were experiencing.  

A holy God cannot withhold his judgment against sin.  And yet, the LORD God could not bear to watch his beloved people be crushed under the cursed consequences of their selfish choices.  As the universe collapsed around them, the LORD God spoke promises of love amid those just curses. He promised a future conquest.  He foretold of a yet-to-be celebrated victory.  He spoke about the Savior, his Son, who would crush the head of the cursed accuser and enemy, Satan.  

Perfect love pushed back fear.  It didn’t remove the consequences of Adam’s choice, but it provided him a way to overcome and press on.

God’s love is perfect love because it is complete love.  It is love that finds fulfillment in promises made and kept.  We don’t have to interpret the hardships of life as signs that God is punishing us or our world.   

The Covid-19 virus is not Old Testament, real wrath of God-type stuff.  It’s not fire and brimstone coming down from the sky.  God is not chastening us under his rod for being a nation too obsessed with sports.  The Lord is not grinning in delight as he pulls the fangs of greedy Wall-Street wolves as he watching our Dow Jones tank. The Lord isn’t banning us from our houses of worship because we were too preoccupied with our own finely paneled homes. 

 That kind of talk just doesn’t help. That kind of talk just creates more fear.  And loathing.  That kind of chatter puts the burden right back on us as if to say, “We better get bright and get right with God and come up with a way that shows we love him more sincerely, completely, and perfectly.”  The Old Adam in me hears that message and pushes back because my sin-nature knows only fear; fear of punishment, punishment based on lack of performance, lack of performance based on my utter inability to love my God more perfectly.  That leaves me in absolute despair.  And I’m sure it may do the same to you.  

The other thing that happens is that the sin-nature in each of us defends our inability to love more perfectly by focusing on everyone else’s lack of more perfect love.  And so, we get intolerant, judgmental, critical, self-righteous, and arrogant with people.  Fear pushes against us.

Perfect love in Christ pushes back against fearful despair or defiance.  The Lord is not saying, “Get with it!  Start proving you love me and I’ll love you back!”  He is simply calling us to use what we have been given.  The Holy Spirit who transformed us by the perfect love of Christ has left a rich deposit of his love in our own hearts, and the more we give it away, the more we receive anew from the Spirit of God.  We don’t save ourselves, conform our hearts, transform our hostile minds, climb up to God’s level or earn his love.  God acts first.  He first pushed back fear by demonstrating his perfect love in the redemptive work of his Son, Jesus Christ.  

The perfect love of Jesus is deliberate and intentional in its desire to sacrifice.  Self-sacrifice.  That is the nature of Christ. That is the essence of his love which is why it casts out fear. 

Fear leads to self-preservation.  Fear is always based on the unknown.  The unknown factors these days are many: Will I have enough money?  Will I have enough toilet paper?  Will there be an economy left by the summer? Will my kid graduate? Will I lose my job?  In order to combat fear, it makes sense that we self-preserve.  We stockpile. We push and shove.  We shake our fists. We road rage. We wag our tongues and spew foul language.  We lash out before someone lashes at us.  We complain about the decisions our leaders make.  We gripe about the lines at the store or gas pump. We label people kooks or crooks. 

That’s fear.  Survival of the fittest!  That’s not love, though.  Jesus’ love finds its fulfillment – it’s perfection and completion – in self-sacrifice.  The perfect love of Christ finds its fulfillment in the hope to benefit to someone else.  We find peace in Christ who meets us in our fears with his love and gives us a reason for courage and hope.  “Fear not; for I have overcome the world!” he promises.  And so, we rise up to meet fear with courage, anger with kindness, and anxiety with calm. That means we respect our government, demonstrate Christian love to our fellow citizens, practice good health, and strive to take advantage of new opportunities for worship and study.  Coronavirus is not the only thing that is contagious.  Fear is contagious.  And so is love. 

 Our Savior promises to meet us in our fears with his love.  Christ is meeting us where we are during this time of crisis.  Is the Lord using this situation to teach, correct, discipline, encourage, and equip us?  Indeed, as he always does.  But he is not punishing us!  And the result? His love pushes back the fear.  And we get to do that by the power of the Holy Spirit.  So, push back the fear.  Let’s think before we speak.  Let’s respond rather than react.  Let’s discern before we judge.  Offer a helping hand of mercy instead of the accusatory index finger of blame.  Ask someone: “How are you doing?” instead of shouting: “Just what do you think you are doing!”  The Lord is providing us with incredible opportunities to let our light shine in ways that will serve our communities in Christian love. 

COVID-19 is awful. Many thousands are going to die. Countries and nations are shut down.  The economies of the world are in turmoil. It is bad. However, COVID-19 is also an amazing opportunity. It is, first and foremost, an opportunity to serve Christ by serving one another.  The perfect love of Christ is pushing back the fear.  

How can the love of Christ push back the contagion of fear in your community?  Maybe you know of at-risk residents on your block—the elderly, those with compromised immune systems, or other health risks. You could offer to make their grocery store runs for them. 

Maybe there is a healthcare worker or first responder in your neighborhood.  You could just check in on them to see how they are holding up. Push back the fear with the perfect love of Christ that is in you.  Maybe you pick up your dinner from the mom-and-pop restaurant that is struggling to keep their doors open. 

Is there a single person you know who is homebound, perhaps a widow or widower? Maybe you could go through your church directory and set aside a few minutes to talk to someone on the phone. Loneliness and isolation are also contagious. Push back the fear with the love of Christ that is in you!  We sacrifice a bit of ourselves and not just stockpile to preserve ourselves.  Push back the fear with the perfect love of Christ in you.  

If Americans are caught in a web of needs and fears, let’s push back with the perfect love of Christ.  The Lord is still in control. His Word is still effective. His love is perfect and all-sufficient.  Let’s be the ones who step up in love and are ready to explain why we need not fear.  We have perfect love. You have the Holy Spirit.  That means you’ve got it in you.  Let’s push back the fear!