In
the first reading, Moses reminds Israel of one of its earlier experiences with God's awesome power
and presence. He recalled their encounter with God at Mount Horeb. They had asked God to appoint Moses as a prophet and promised they would obey all God told them to do. There, waiting
at the foot of the mountain, were the elders and leading men of the tribes of
Israel. While they waited for Moses to bring them the Word of God, the entire
mountain blazed with fire. They heard the voice of God coming out of the
darkness and they were afraid.
Not
that this fear was a bad thing. When I was growing up, I had a healthy fear of
my mom and dad because I knew they were in charge and would take care of
business if I got out of line. In fact, I had more fear in regards to my mom
because she was also our teacher and could pile on the homework as a
punishment. I would suspect that many of you had a similar experience in your
homes. On the other hand, when a child has no respect, a.k.a. fear for their
parents, chaos soon ensues as the child runs the show and develops into a
tyrant, while the parent becomes something of a pitiful caricature.
The
notion of fearing the Lord, which is nothing more than reverence, is not
something that has been in fashion lately. Most of the homilies that I have heard, the majority
of the lessons I have been taught center on the fact that Jesus loves us and
desires to be our friend. Many, if not most of you have had a similar
experience in your religious education. And these are undoubtedly good things and truths revealed to us by the bible.
But the same can be said of the need to fear the Lord. As a matter of fact,
psalm 111 tells us that the fear of the
Lord is the first stage of wisdom.
So what is the fear of the Lord? Well, let's begin with what it is not. It is not the
type of fear that we feel when we are in danger or frightened by something that
threatens to hurt us. Nor is the fear of God something that drives us away from
him or makes us afraid to ask for his help and guidance.
The fear of the Lord is quite
simply the realization that there is a God, a God who created the
world out of nothing, a God who is larger than our imagination, a just
God who has endless power, wisdom, and love. This respectable fear
brings us to a greater love of God, makes us more aware of his infinite justice
and mercy, and helps us to realize how much he cares for us.
Far too often we forget the sheer
size of God, the awesome power of
God, the absoluteness of God, and
truly, in the long run, we forget the fear of God. How often do we hold God in our hands in the Eucharist and then proceed
to fumble for our keys, anxious for the Mass to be over. We receive the
Lord on our tongue then use our words to hurt others. Many of us have
come to believe that Hell is simply a metaphor, a description of the pain and
suffering we experience here and now. Others
have convinced themselves that God's judgments are always good ones - good in the sense that God will not punish us
for our sins, even if we don’t repent or make changes in our lives. Indeed,
almost all of us have become so familiar with God's mercy, that we have forgotten
God’s justice. {We have forgotten that God is to be
respected and feared, and
as a result - we have become foolish while thinking ourselves to be
wise.}
The truth is, whenever Israel forgot the fear of the Lord, they got themselves into trouble and
began to listen to false prophets. It was a healthy fear of God that
helped them remain faithful to the covenant with the Lord. It was the fear of
the Lord that made them prosper in love and in service to the God who had set
them free from sin and slavery. We are
not so different now. If we forget the fear of the Lord, not only do we
prove ourselves foolish, we will also begin to serve other gods. Other gods
like money, comfort or pleasure. Our own will and desires try
to convince us not to be afraid of anything other than standing out or
going without the creature comforts of this world. The irony is this; as we grow in our fear of the Lord, we will
inevitably increase our love for him. We will be more and more hesitant to
offend him by sin and less and less afraid to stand up for what is right. Just
as Israel had Moses, to guide them and remind them of their commitment to God,
we have Christ, the Son of God to keep us on the right track and lead us to the
Father. He has authority over all
things, even the forces of evil, and will never let us down. As
we come to this Eucharist, let us remember that we are in a very special place
because we are in the presence of God himself. Let us not be proud; let us not take anything for granted. This
fear of the Lord will make us wise and will lead us to a greater love of God.
God is to be feared and the savior he has sent is to be
heard and obeyed - so that we might not sin. Do not listen to the false
prophets, those who tell you that love is all you need and that your soul is
safe no matter what you believe or what you do. The word of God that
has come to us through Jesus is the word that has always been proclaimed
"Repent and believe in the good news of God's kingdom" Repent and
believe; and all will go well for us, we have God’s word and he keeps all his
promises.
