Fearing God in an Orthodox World

It’s Sunday, 11 o’clock. I told Jamir, my Asian buddy, to hurry up as I didn’t want to be late. The second shift of church was supposed to start in the Kebele 05 church. It’s one of the few Protestant churches here, with all of them exclusively hosting Amharic services. I really want to try and experience this though, as I like to connect with believers throughout the world. When we enter the compound we are greeted and directed to the water fountain to clean our hands. The church itself has nothing like the grandeur of the Orthodox cathedrals here, just a simple cross-shape on the inside to show the character of the building. There are chairs, neatly separated in rows, Corona style. Hardly anyone is yet in the church, though officially the service should have commenced already. One by one they trickle in over the next half hour, the prayer time. Praying here they do with their whole body. They sing, hum songs, rocking back and forth, shouting a ‘hallelujah’ once in a while. Every couple minutes, the minister leads the congregation in prayer. The churchgoers loudly show their agreement during prayer with ‘amiens’. When after roughly thirty minutes the band and the elders have gathered, it is time to start the service. The worship part is performed standing, moving, singing with the band. They have this cheer they use, a high-pitched ‘lululululu’ that accompany the words. Some bend their body as they utter it, maybe to extend the length of the cheer, who knows. Unfortunately, the whole sermon was very cryptic for us, but I was convinced if I knew the meaning of the word ‘zemmen’ I’d understand the message. Every sentence it was pronounced, once or twice. It turned out to mean ‘new’ or ‘changed’ and that we had listened to a New Years’ sermon. Who knew.

Since a couple weeks we’re having Bible study with some Ethiopian Protestants. It is mostly university teachers attending, and ladies who have worked in Dubai for some years who know English. We pray, read and discuss a piece of the Bible with each other. ‘In perfect love there is no fear’, was tonight’s topic (1 John 4:18). As we are made free from sin, we stop being slaves from fear. Then there is no fear for judgment, no guilt, only awe. Love is the characteristic of a believer, not fear. So, how do we, Christians, deal with Corona, I asked in the Dutch, straight-forward way. Silence. They look. Go back to their Bible, scroll over the text. No answer. I sorta gathered this must be an awkward topic, since a lot of people have different opinions about this, but we gotta be able to have open discussions, right? I try again and Jamir takes to explain how this Corona could be sign of the end times. No answer. I tried again: ‘If Paul lived during this time, how would he deal with it?’ They kinda chuckle, but don’t show their true face. 'But how can we show our love in Corona time: Leaving people on their own without spreading the Gospel, so we won’t accidentally spread the disease, or should we disregard the rules and reach out in this time of fear?’ At least that sparks some response. Abenezer speaks up, and we talk about not fearing to lose our days, our time on earth. We talk about not being a stumbling block for others by disregarding the regulations. It’s good.

We talk about a godly fear, reverence. How no one can know God and not stand in awe of Him, fear Him. How we get smaller as we more and more see His greatness. Also here in Ethiopia, this country of idol worshippers, we find our brothers and sisters in Christ. God is good.