Sunday 10/20/13 Freeville/Homer Ave. UMC’s
Sermon Title:
“Do we fear God?”
Old Testament Scripture Lesson: Jeremiah 31:27-34
Old Testament Scripture Lesson: Psalm 119:97-104
Gospel Lesson: Luke 18:1-8
Greetings and welcome
my brothers and sisters in the name of the Risen Christ! This Sunday is the
twenty-second Sunday after the holiday of Pentecost. This was the holiday and
feast that occurred so long ago, where the Holy Spirit moved, and the early
Church was born. For on this day the early Christians finally “got it,” and finally
had the courage and the conviction to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a
world that knows him not.
In this way then, the early Church
understood God more, and then fully “feared God.” Fearing God. You see this is something
that for many of us, we have struggled with. I mean after all if God is truly loving,
kind, and just, then why would we need to fear God? This doesn’t sound like a
good thing at all. In fact, some people that I have met think that God is an
angry and seeks vengeance on all people. This style of preaching is known to
many of us as “fire and brimstone” preaching, wherein, God is angry, and wants vengeance
for our sinful nature. In this style of preaching, we must come to God, or burn
in the Lake of Fire. Well brothers and sisters, I am not a “fire and brimstone”
preacher, and I want to look at to notion of fearing God a little differently
this morning.
In
doing this, let us first consider what the prophet Jeremiah said about God.
That at one point God over saw as Israel and Judah plucked up broke down
everything that they knew and had. Yet Jeremiah then said that the Lord said, “So
I will watch over them to build and to plant.” Jeremiah even said, “All shall
die for their own sins.”
There are stories all throughout the
Old Testament then, where many argue that the “Wrath of God” has destroyed
people and places, and yet other stories where God has then protected and
restored people and places. Some of my secular friends have even asked me, “Paul
why is the God of the Old Testament so scary. Why should I be so afraid of Him?”
I
then have asked some of these secular non-believing friends, “Do you fear God?”
They have often responded with something like, “You mean to tell me if I do
everything just so, and follow every little rule that God says, than I will be
blessed, happy, joyous, and not be destroyed?” I then have explained to my
friends in my own words what Proverbs 9:10 says. This scripture says, “The
fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is
understanding.”
The big problem then my brothers and sisters, is that most
people have no idea what the scriptures mean when it says to “fear God.” Most people
in fact immediately assume that we are to hide in terror from God. What does it
mean then to “fear God” then? Historically speaking, many cultures and other language
translations of the Bible have interpreted “fearing God,” as “respecting God”
or “appreciating God.” In fact, in looking in the Catholic encyclopedia, it
says that the fear of God "fills us with a sovereign respect for God, and
makes us dread, above all things, to offend Him." If we truly love our
father in heaven and respect him this much, why would we want to offend him?
Do we then have to hide and cower in fear from God, if we
are in fact respecting and honoring him? I think that if we love God, if we
love his Son Jesus Christ, if we love and call upon the Holy Spirit, and if we
do our very best to serve him, then we love and respect God. Are we going to be
perfect at this? Of course we won’t. You see then, in the times of the Old
Testament, it was not God that turned on the people in wrath, but the people
that turned on God with disrespect and disbelief. For God loved all of his
people richly, as he still loves all of his Children today. When the people of
the Old Testament would not stay loyal to God, he then sent one prophet after
the next, like Jeremiah, Isaiah, and Ezekiel, to call the people to back to holiness.
This is the fear of God, knowing the power of God, knowing that one day we will
all stand before God.
For God grew so weary sending prophet after prophet to call
people to holiness. This is why God came down from heaven and put on flesh, and
walked this earth as a man named Jesus. He taught us how to live, how to love,
and how to build the kingdom of God here on earth. Due to our rebellious
hearts, the God of the universe came to earth, and died for us, to show us what
love is. To show us what sacrifice is, and yes to show us what fear is.
In having faith in Jesus, in trusting in him, we receive the
love and blessings of almighty God. In this morning’s Gospel reading from Luke,
Jesus told the Apostles a parable about the importance of prayer, and not
losing heart. Jesus taught us then, when it gets hard, that we persist in
prayer, and we trust and fear God. In this parable Jesus said, “In a certain
city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. In
that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Grant me
justice against my opponent.’ The parable then went on to discuss how the non-fearing
judge finally granted the widows request, mostly because the widow kept bugging
him about her problem, not because he feared God. The gospel then ended with
Jesus saying, “And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
Will he find people that truly love and fear him, or will people have no fear or
care for God or anyone else? Perhaps a problem in our culture today is many
people’s lack of respect, fear, or love for anything or anybody.
You know I remember one time, when I was about twelve that I
back talked to my father Ken at his house in Illinois. Let’s just say, I never
did this again. I had a fear of my father. I did not worry that my dad was going
shoot me, or beat me to a pulp, or anything like this, but I had a fear of him.
You see he had rules, boundaries, and demanded love and respect. In fact, I
found that if I followed the rules of my father’s house, than he was kind, he loved
me, he was generous, he was just, and he would give me every good thing. Much
like prodigal son, if I came back to father’s house broken and with nothing, I would
hope that as I walked down his street, that he would run to me, put a ring on
my finger, shoes on my feet, a cloak on my back, a fatted calf would be eaten for
dinner, and a celebration would be had. I doubt this would happen though, if I
was rude, disrespectful, and did not fear my father.
In the very same way, my step-father would do the very same
thing for me. In fact, I remember him telling me a couple of years ago, “I know
that you love and respect me Paul, and everything I have is yours if you need
it.”
You see Jesus was teaching us that we need to fear God in
this morning’s Gospel reading. Much like many of us respected our own fathers,
many of us might also be able to say something like, “my father was strict, but
he was fair, he was kind, he was generous.” Not everybody can say this about
their fathers though, as some feel that they did not have good fathers, or some
further, might have not grown up with fathers in their lives. Yet out heavenly
father is perfect, is just, loves you, and wants to be your eternal father.
So this I tell you, if we fear or respect God, it is truly
the path to blessing and wholeness. Psalm 111:10 says, “The fear of the LORD is
the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding.
To him belongs eternal praise.”
I would like to close this morning’s
service with reading to you “God’s Cover Letter.” Yes my brothers and sisters, this
does in fact assume that God is seeking employment. Let me read you know the
cover letter of God, which would go along with his resume of course. Here it is:
To Whom It May Concern....
I heard you were considering a new
manager for your life. I would like to apply for the job. I believe I am the most
qualified candidate applying. I am the only one that has ever done this job
successfully. I was the first manager of life. In fact, I made all lives, so
naturally I know how humanity works, and what is best to get people back into
proper working condition. Hiring me will be exactly like having the
manufacturer as your personal mechanic.
If this is your first time
considering me, I would just like to point out that my salary has already been
paid by my son, Jesus on the cross of Calvary. This salary covers the time
prior to my hiring as well as my present and future employment. If you decide to hire me I
will need to receive from you an acknowledgment that you erred in not hiring me
sooner. I understand this is a strange requirement, but since you violated the
manufacturer's warrantee by placing your being under inferior management, this
is a necessary prerequisite to my engagement.
Lastly, I will require a carte
blanche (a blank check) to reorganizing and managing your life. I intend to
make some major changes and revisions. They are not for you to worry about. I
need your permission to execute these changes, My way and in My time. I will
establish new goals and objectives and restructure your life to meet these
requirements. Please keep your hands out of the way. Don't try to help me and
don't resist me and we will get along fine. I really do need your full
commitment and cooperation in this. If you give me those, the process of
getting your life back to manufacturer's intentions can go smoothly, without
delays. I assure you: you will be pleased with the outcome.
I will require a verbal contract to
all these stipulations in the presence of witnesses.
Yours
Sincerely, GOD
P.S. I created the heavens
and the earth. I AM.
“Do
we fear God” my brothers and sisters? Or would we rather be the managers of our
lives? Do we really believe that we can live with no love, no respect, and no devotion
for anybody or anything? Loving and respecting God is the path to wisdom. When
we love and respect our heavenly father, he will bless us, and we will be
filled. I don’t about you my brothers and sisters, but I fear God, do you? I
bring this message to you in the name of Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
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