Psalm 19 LeAnn Stubbs Des Moines March 8, 2015 Fear of the Lord It is with much fear and trembling that I have approached the challenge of writing a sermon on the word, the fear of the Lord. This Lenten season, in both our weekend and our Thursday evening worship services, we are exploring some of the words that make up the building blocks of the vocabulary of the Christian Faith. Words like: Blessing. Sin. Belief. Repentance. Sacrifice. These words are the very warp and woof out of which we weave the fabric of our faith. AND these words are words that Puzzle some of us Annoy some of us Comfort some of us Make some of us want to run screaming from the room. Some of these words have been used to wound some of us deeply. Some of these words have been the rope of hope that some of us have clung to for dear life.
These words are big words. They are words that cannot be defined in a sentence or a sermon. If our faith means something, then these are words to be wrestled with our whole life long. So, today, we toss the fear of the Lord into the ring. Or to be consistent with wrestling onto the mat. The Fear of the Lord. What does that mean to you? The Fear of the Lord. How do you react when you hear that? Someone said to me this week--- I turn to God for help in times of trouble. I turn to God for comfort and assurance. I don t want to be scared of God! For some of us, fear of the Lord sets our teeth on edge and makes our back bristle. Conjuring up a punishing God--- a God to be feared is a God watching and just waiting to spew wrath upon any and all who step out of line. Ready to chew us up and spit us out into the fire pits of hell. Personally, that view of God, however popular, does not align with my theology, my experience, or the way I read scripture. For me, the fear of the Lord. Is much more nuanced than God is out to get us. For me, the fear of the Lord
has much more to do with, God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. Scripture uses the word Fear at least 300 times in reference to God. And, with very few exceptions, it is a positive association. For example: Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. Psalm 130 but with you, O Lord, there is forgiveness, therefore you are feared. Exodus 1:21 and because the midwives feared the Lord, God gave them children of their own. The Gospel of Luke, Chapter 1 God s mercy extends to those who fear the Lord, from generation to generation. And our Psalm appointed for this day the fear of the Lord is pure; enduring forever. The fear of the Lord is pure. The Fear of the Lord is: wisdom; forgiveness; blessing; mercy; unconditional love that endures forever. Well, that doesn t sound too scary. But let s not get too comfortable. Mom was growing concerned with little Kevin s behavior. I m going to watch T.V. with Andy he would say. And mom would see him sitting on the couch by himself. I m going outside with Andy, he would say. And mom would see him swinging by himself.
I m going to build Legos with Andy, he would say. And mom would see him playing by himself. Tucking him in one night, Mom said, Kevin, who is this Andy that you are spending so much time with? You mean God? Kevin answered. Oh! mom said. Well, why do you call God, Andy? Cuz that s his name.the song says so. Andy walks with me. Andy talks with me. Andy tells me I am his own. When God is viewed as Hell-Fire and Brimstone, we have demonized God. When God is viewed as cuddly and convenient, with a cute first name, we have domesticated God. Perhaps The Fear of the Lord is that middle way that offers correction to demonizing and/or domesticating God. Perhaps The Fear of the Lord reminds us that God is God. Perhaps The Fear of the Lord reminds us of the otherness of God. In Jeremiah 5:22 we hear, Should you not fear me? says the Lord, should you not tremble in my presence? (I who made the heavens and the earth; the land and seas and all who swell therein.) The fear of the Lord reminds us that God is God. God is God And we are not. We are not all-mighty. We are not all-powerful.
Many of you have already heard my fear of the Lord story. Houston. Texas Heart Institute. I am privileged to be able to watch a heart transplant. The doctors, nurses, technicians moving with such skill and precision, surrounded by sophisticated technology. The preparatory surgery takes hours. The sick heart is removed. A healthy heart someone s final gift to this world is placed into an open chest. More human skill as the new heart is stitched into place. And then everyone steps back and stops. Silence. Breath held. Moments pass. The heart starts beating. Human beings can do so much! But only God can start a heart beating. The Fear of the Lord: utter amazement at the awesome, loving, Profound OTHER-NESS of God. Annie Dillard, in her book Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, writes: On the whole, I do not find Christians sufficiently sensible of conditions. Does anyone have the foggiest idea of what sort of power we so blithely invoke? Or, as I suspect, does no one believe a word of it? It is madness to wear Ladies Velvet Hats to church; we should all be wearing Crash Helmets. (Deacons) should issue Life Preservers and Signal Flares; they should lash us to our pews. God is God.and we are not. And we are not as in control of the situation of the world even of our own lives as we would like to think we are. The fear of the Lord reminds us that life with God is a gloriously dangerous adventure where nothing is safe in God s presence except us. Nothing in God s presence is safe except us. Not our plans. Not our agendas. Nothing is safe. Not our jobs, or politics, our money, our possessions, our comfort.
Nothing is safe in God s presence except us. The very presence of God has the power to shatter our triumphs into dust AND the very presence of God has the power to Burn our failings, our shame, our transgressions into ashes--- Only God has the power and the loving desire to strip us naked in order to reveal the true person we were created to be. More than anything, I believe that the fear of the Lord encourages us to be in right relationship. Right relationship with God with ourselves with others. A relationship of awe and honor for the God made me and you and all that exists. The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims God s handiwork. And every rock and river and hill and valley is precious in God s sight. And right relationship with ourselves and with others each of us is created in God s image and every person carries the light of God inside and absolutely no one is expendable and absolutely everyone deserves honor and dignity. Brothers and Sisters, if the heart and soul of the Fear of the Lord is: Love.Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind and your neighbor as yourself Well, then, Beloved of God, let us pray to be terrified. Plymouth Congregational Church United Church of Christ 4126 Ingersoll Avenue Des Moines, Iowa 50312 Phone: (515) 255-3149 Fax: (515) 255-8667 E-mail: lstubbs@plymouthchurch.com