Why Are We So Afraid?

I being a Pastor in a small church in a small town that modernization and development have passed by am not normally thrust into the spotlight. But this week while attending a town meeting updating us on the current situation, I found myself being asked to sit and be interviewed by all three news channels in Fort Wayne. Laura has since asked me to write a reflection concerning the situation we have found ourselves in (see interview here.)

As I began to reflect, the sermon I had preached Sunday came to mind. The sermon was titled “Why are we so Afraid”. The sermon was based on Mark 4:35-41 where the disciple find themselves caught in a squall crossing the Sea of Galilee while Jesus slept on a cushion. Although storms were common the Sea of Galilee this one was ferocious. The wind had picked up and the waves had begun crashing over the side filling the boat with water. So much so that the disciples some of whom were experienced fishermen began to fear for their lives.

We have found our selves in much the same situation in this small sleepy town of Andrews. Back in the 70's, a local company making car parts began dumping a chemical known as TCE out behind the factory. The dumped chemical, a harsh carcinogen, turned into a gas and created a plume that has spread across the town contaminating the wells we get our drinking water from and coming up under our houses contaminating the air we and our children breathe. It as destroyed the values of many of the homes in the area. Thirty years ago a stripper was put in to clean the contaminates out of the water as a temporary solution while the company cleaned up the plume. The company has yet to clean up the plume and the stripper is wearing out.

I have had to face many issues as a person of faith that for most of us is just an intellectual exercise. I have had to wrestle with when is an offense so egregious that settling it in court is acceptable in the eyes of the Lord. The first meeting where they informed everyone that our water was not fit to drink or take showers in did not go so well. The police were called in to settle things down. How do I conduct myself as a local pastor? I am as angry as those shouting about the attack on their family, health and  finances. How do you lead a church that may have some in it that helped cause the problem, some suffering from the problems caused, and some trying to figure out how to solve the problem?

I reflect back to the disciples in the boat. Their fear was intense. They were right where Jesus had called them to be doing what He had called them to do. Peter tells us to not be surprised when a storm overtakes us. (I Pe. 4:12-19) All the disciple needed to do was ask and Jesus got up and rebuked the storm in much the same way He rebuked the evil spirit possessing a boy and causing seizures and rebuked the fever that had possessed a young girl. ( Jer. 29:11-113) “Do you still have no Faith?”

By Dan Kochensparger

Andrews Church of the Brethren Pastor