“全教会，和听见这事的人，都甚惧怕。” - 徒 5:11

在过去的一年里，多种危机引起了全社会的恐慌。一场全球大流行病已导致数百万人死亡，并在生活的各个领域造成了混乱。种族主义暴力和压迫没有得到遏制和解决，一些抗议活动以破坏和流血告终。几个国家有争议的选举造成了更多的混乱、暴力和猜疑。所有这些事情以及更多的事情都让人们想知道接下来会发生什么。结果，许多人都生活在恐惧之中。

我不认为使徒行传中 “全教会都甚惧怕”仅仅是因为发生在亚拿尼亚和撒非喇身上的事情。大多数人不需要担心以同样的方式受到惩罚。他们知道神是有能力的，讲真话是很重要的。但他们不知道的是接下来会发生什么——这可能就是他们所害怕的。

2020年，当世界因新冠病毒（COVID-19）而陷入瘫痪时，我们不知道接下来会发生什么。我们不知道事情何时才恢复正常。我们不知道谁会得病。所有这些都造成了恐惧。但在整个过程中，神过去和现在都掌管着一切。所以我们可以保持冷静。我们可以做我们需要做的事以保证安全。我们可以遵循神对我们的生活和社区的旨意。而且我们可以相信，无论发生什么，神仍然在掌管。

祷告

父神，当恐惧攫取我们所有人的时候，请引导我们在信靠中生活，并显出你的爱。阿们。

使徒行传 5:1-11

1有一个人名叫亚拿尼亚，同他的妻子撒非喇卖了田产，
2把价银私自留下几份，他的妻子也知道，其余的几份拿来放在使徒脚前。
3彼得说：“亚拿尼亚，为什么撒旦充满了你的心，叫你欺哄圣灵，把田地的价银私自留下几份呢？
4田地还没有卖，不是你自己的吗？既卖了，价银不是你做主吗？你怎么心里起这意念呢？你不是欺哄人，是欺哄神了！”
5亚拿尼亚听见这话，就仆倒，断了气。听见的人都甚惧怕。
6有些少年人起来，把他包裹，抬出去埋葬了。
7约过了三小时，他的妻子进来，还不知道这事。
8彼得对她说：“你告诉我，你们卖田地的价银就是这些吗？”她说：“就是这些。”
9彼得说：“你们为什么同心试探主的灵呢？埋葬你丈夫之人的脚已到门口，他们也要把你抬出去。”
10妇人立刻仆倒在彼得脚前，断了气。那些少年人进来，见她已经死了，就抬出去，埋在她丈夫旁边。
11全教会和听见这事的人都甚惧怕。

Communal Fear

"Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events." - Acts 5:11

Over the past year, multiple crises have caused community-wide fear. A global pandemic has left millions dead and has caused disruption in all areas of life. Racist violence and oppression have gone unchecked and unresolved, and some protests have ended in destruction and bloodshed. Contested elections in several countries have caused more disruption, violence, and suspicion. All of these things and more have left people wondering what will come next. As a result, many people are living in fear.

I don’t think that the “great fear” that “seized the whole church” in Acts was due only to what happened to Ananias and Sapphira. Most of the people didn’t need to be worried about being punished in the same way. They knew that God is powerful and that truth-telling is important. But what they didn’t know was what might happen next—and that is probably what they were afraid of.

When the world shut down from COVID-19 in 2020, we didn’t know what would happen next. We didn’t know when things would return to normal. We didn’t know who would get sick. All of that caused fear. But throughout everything, God was and is in control. So we can remain calm. We can do what we need to do to stay safe. We can follow God’s will for our lives and for our communities. And we can trust that no matter what happens, God is still in control.

Prayer

Father God, when fear seizes all of us, guide us to live in trust and to show your love. Amen.