What does it mean that the Lord gives us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control? During this pandemic, there is much fear. Facing our own mortality has a way of evoking fear. The secular world, fractured political partisanship, and contradicting news media all stoke our fear.

Fear surrounds us. We are afraid of . . .

• Catching COVID-19, so we hesitate to physically gather together.

• Spreading COVID-19, so we don masks and use hand sanitizer and physically distance.

• Government tyranny, as we are told to stay home, wear masks, work from home, travel less, cancel in-person worship, and on and on, so we push back in the name of Christian freedom.

• Science being tainted by politics, so we look for different medical opinions.

There is so much fear in our hearts. The devil wants to keep us wrapped in fear, fomenting fear, and acting in fear. Allowing such temptations of the devil, the world, and our own sinful nature to perpetually fill our hearts and minds makes it easy to give in to fear, to let it control us.

In our pandemic context, it’s no longer just death itself that is our enemy. Fear makes it that anyone I perceive to increase my risk of death (unintentional or not) is now my enemy—be that a family member, congregation member, or community member.

When we let fear control us, irrationality grows out of control. Resentment builds. Outrage boils. Harsh words are said. Relationships are broken. Fear is an ugly and menacing force that often misleads us and deceives us into all kinds of false belief, despair, and other great shame and vice.

Faith calls us to remember that such fear is not what our Lord gives us.

Rather, our Lord graciously gives us a spirit of power and love and self-control. Baptized into His Triune name, these are tremendous gifts we receive by faith. They are especially important to embrace during this pandemic, especially amid the alarmism and fear being fomented all around us.

power.

That spirit of power is rooted solidly in the Word of God and received by faith. As a result, the darkness of fear is driven out by the light of Christ. Sins committed are forgiven, and sins received at the hands of others are put away from us, all by the truth of the cross and the cleansing blood of Christ.

love.

The ability to truly and selflessly love comes from the love of Christ. He loves so intensely that He laid down His life for us on the cross. In fact, Jesus looked fear and death square in the face so that He could deliver us from the grip of that fear and the punishment of eternal death.

Now, by faith in Christ, we are freed from a spirit of fear. We have Christian freedom to act in love for the benefit of our neighbor, no longer bound to a desire to only look out for our own interests.

Our strength to do so comes not only from the example of sacrificial love that Jesus set for us, but also by the power of the Holy Spirit that He gives to us in Holy Baptism. We love because He first loved us.

self-control.

Self-control means the ability to turn away from that which feeds fear. It means turning away from the false belief that we’re entitled to react to fear with irrational anger fueled by self-interest. Self-control is turning away from impulses that would tempt us to see someone of a different opinion as an enemy to be hated instead of someone to be loved in Christ. Self-control is the will to live out our baptismal identity where through daily contrition and repentance we drown the fears and desires that fill our hearts and minds.

Ultimately, self-control means the willingness to look fear in the face by the power of the Holy Spirit and then rationally address it in the confidence of Jesus Christ the crucified.

what blessings!

Yes indeed, our Lord gives us a spirit of “power” and “love” and “self-control.” And what a blessing these gifts are!

Take heart, then, as the Word of God baptismally wraps us in the love of our Lord Jesus Christ. We are secured as His very own, assured that we live in His everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness. Therefore, we can look fear and even death straight in the face and not lose hope because God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

I pray that God emboldens you through His Word and Sacrament with the wisdom of how best to exercise your spirit of power and love and self-control during our pandemic. We are in this together. Let’s continue to pray for one another, encourage one another, and love one another in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Your brother in Christ,

Pastor Lucas

Rev. Dr. Lucas V. Woodford
President
Minnesota South District, LCMS
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