Pentecost 12, 2016 – Proper 14
Immanuel Lutheran Church, Hamilton, Ohio
Pastor Kevin Jud
August 7, 2016
Psalm 33:12-22, Genesis 15:1-6, Hebrews 11:1-16, Luke 12:22-34
Language can be confusing. Words can have more than one meaning. This is the basis
of so much of our humor. Why can’t you explain puns to a kleptomaniac? Because they take
things literally.
One word in our lessons today that can be confusing for us is the word fear. There is fear
and there is the fear of God. What does it mean to fear God? When we learn the explanation of
the commandments in the catechism we are told to fear, love and trust in God. Fearing God
sounds like it could mean the terror you have because God is holy and you are a sinner. But is
that what fear of the Lord is supposed to be?
In Psalms 33:18 we hear, “18 Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear him, on
those who hope in his steadfast love,1
But then in Genesis 15:1, 1 After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a
vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.”2
We are told to fear the Lord and we are told to fear not. Fear is one of those words that
has more than one meaning and can be confusing. There is the fear of God and there is fear.
In English one definition of fear is “a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger,
evil, pain, etc., whether the threat is real or imagined.”
1 The Holy Bible : English Standard Version. Wheaton : Standard Bible Society, 2001
2 The Holy Bible : English Standard Version. Wheaton : Standard Bible Society, 2001
Another definition is “reverential awe, especially toward God.” Fear of God is to be in
awe of God; treat God with reverence and respect. Martin Luther once wrote, “What we,
following the Scriptures, call the fear of God, is not terror or dread, but an awe that holds God in
reverence.“ Live in fear of the Lord. Fear, love and trust in God above all things.
The one kind of fear has the synonyms of anxiety and worry. The other kind of fear has
the synonyms of trust and hope.
One word, fear, and yet two very different meanings. Strangely the one kind of fear
drives away the other.
In this life there is a lot of fear of the worry and anxiety type. We worry about things we
know, we worry about the unknown. We worry about being too young and we worry about
being too old. We worry about death and we worry about life. We worry about money, we
worry about health, we worry about relationships, we worry about children and grandchildren.
When we lay down to sleep at night so many things are running through our minds that it can
take a long time to finally fall asleep. Worry, it seems, is our constant companion in life.
Jesus tells His disciples, Luke 12:22-23 (ESV) 22 … “Therefore I tell you, do not be
anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. 23 For life
is more than food, and the body more than clothing.3”
Instead of worry and anxiety, Jesus says, seek the Father’s kingdom, and these things will
be added to you.
Instead of worry about all the things of life, seek the kingdom of God, the reign of God,
the rule of God. Have faith in the promises of the Lord. In our Epistle lesson we have examples
of the faith of Abel, and Enoch and Noah and Abraham and Sarah. They all had faith in the
3 The Holy Bible : English Standard Version. Wheaton : Standard Bible Society, 2001
Lord’s promise even though they did not see the fulfillment. “These all died in faith, not having
received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having
acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.”
These examples of great faith were strangers and exiles who saw God’s promises from
afar. It can be difficult and lonely to be a follower of Jesus in this world. It doesn’t feel good to
be a stranger in the world. It is disorienting to be an exile in the world. It feels like you are the
only one going against the flow. Everyone is going one way and you are trying to go the other.
It seems like it would be so much easier to just give in and go with the flow of the world; go
along and get along.
But you do not belong to the world. God has made great promises to you. You have
been marked as one redeemed by the blood of Jesus. In the waters of baptism you have been set
apart from the multitude of unbelievers as one marked for eternal life. Your sins have been paid
for by the blood of the Son of God, God in flesh, Jesus of Nazareth. God has made great
promises to you.
You live your life in faith, knowing that Jesus is Lord. You live in awe of God’s power
and wisdom and love. You live in fear of the Lord.
So many people it seems act like they will not believe God is real unless God shows up in
person and performs some sort of a miracle. Funny thing is that many of the people who saw
God in the flesh perform miracles still did not believe but instead decided that Jesus needed to
die. Fear of the Lord comes from faith which is a gift of the Holy Spirit. Anxiety and worry
about the world wants worldly answers and responses. In these hot, dry, dog days of summer we
can get the feeling that God is far away; but God is not far.
These are hot, dry times of life as it feels like the world is falling apart around us and our
nation is going down strange paths leaving Bible-believing Christians behind as the culture
changes at a dizzying pace. We live in a world that has come to celebrate sin and denigrate faith
in Christ and it can feel like we are in the hot, dry, dog days all year round. It can be a time of
great anxiety and worry as you feel like a stranger and exile. But God is not far.
Today you come into the presence of the Lord to again hear His promise of forgiveness
and life everlasting. Today you come to the altar of the Lord and receive the meal of promise in
the Lord’s Body and Blood
You come here in fear of the Lord; in reverent awe. You come here in trust and hope.
You come here in faith.
And it would be an easy mistake for me to tell you that you need to have more fear of the
Lord; you need to have more faith. If only you had more fear of the Lord and more faith then
you would have less worry and anxiety. But that would put the focus on the wrong object. Our
focus should never be on the quality of our faith or fear; our focus is on the object of our faith;
the crucified and risen Lord Jesus.
When you go trick-or-treating what is the most important thing to have with you? A bag,
or a bucket, or a plastic pumpkin or something in which to collect the goodies.
Now once you have the bag do you ever then think about the bag? No. You think about
what goes into the bag.
It is the same with faith. You need faith, but once you have received the gift of faith
through the Holy Spirit you don’t think about faith, you think about the object of your faith; you
think about Jesus on the cross for you. You think about the promises that God has made to you
that you are God’s own child, baptized into Christ.
You are in the Kingdom of God right now. The Lord God is your weapon and your
shield. You are safe from the evil one. Fear the Lord and fear not the devil and the world.
Fear not, little flock, for it is your father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Did
you notice the hymn number for our hymn of the day? 666. It is no coincidence that hymn that
ended up with the number of the beast is a hymn about not having fear of the evil one. Jesus has
conquered the devil. Jesus has conquered death. Jesus has conquered fear. Have no fear, little
flock. Fear…and fear not.
Fear the Lord and fear not the things of this world.
Amen.