B, Reformation Sunday - Psalm 46 & John 8: 31-36 "Fear and Love God"
How is it that we who are slaves of sin, find ourselves in the house of
God, knowing and trusting we are free?
Is it because we have proven ourselves to have satisfactorily loved
God? No, not at all!
Is it because there is a divine spark within us that is capable of making
a decision for Christ? No, it’s not!
Is it because we have always been free and are not really slaves? Nope!
Is it because it is done by someone else who knows we are slaves of sin,
who knows the divine spark was put out by Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden,
and who knows the freedoms we look to would cause us shame if they were
unhidden? Yes, it is!
We are free because of Jesus, the Son of God, and God alone. If the Son sets us free, we are free indeed.
Freedom for Christians allows us to have fear in God. Having fear in God can be understood in a
positive and negative sense. As
Christians, we fear God knowing our sin does not please him, and because of our
sin, all of us deserve his wrath.
As we are told in Hebrews, “‘The Lord will judge his people.’ It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands
of the living God.” (Hebrews 10:30b–31 ESV)
And Jesus said to his disciples, “I tell you, my friends, do not fear
those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can
do. But I will warn you whom to fear:
fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell
you, fear him!” (Luke 12:4–5 ESV)
Paradoxically, we also have a fear that fills us with awe! So much so, we
are willing to throw ourselves down before him, seeking his mercy in spite of
the reality we deserve his condemnation.
“Then turning toward the woman Jesus said to Simon, “Do you see this
woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet
my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came
in she has not ceased to kiss my feet.
You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with
ointment. Therefore I tell you, her
sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven
little, loves little.” And he said to
her, “Your sins are forgiven.” (Luke 7:44–48 ESV)
We can turn our back on God and disregard him with disrespect. When one does this, one places both negative
and positive fear in something other than God. One neither heeds God’s warning
nor deems him good enough to lead us.
What we fear is what we face.
In addition to this, what we love is what we face.
Love too has its positive and negative sense. But it’s slightly different
to fear. We always face what we love,
but the motives for facing reveal the positive or negative of love. Love is
about what we want, what we desire or seek, or what we worship. The negative and positive of love can be
uncovered only when we ask, “Why we want or worship that which we love!”
When we enter turbulent times temptation to fear and love other things
than God also becomes murky and more difficult to discern and recognise. As the
ship becomes unsettled, like the disciples, we are tempted to forget Jesus is
with us in the boat. He is still and
resting as we’re tempted into panic. (See Mark 4:35-41)
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth
gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the
mountains tremble at its swelling. [Selah] (Psalm 46:1–3 ESV)
There is much civil unrest in the world at the moment. Many hearts are in the mouth threatening to
vomit up things that the turbulence tempts us to fear. Adding to the foaming mess already swirling
around us.
Fear of vaccination and fear of un-vaccination are making the sea of
society roar and foam, making the mountains of our idols tremble at its
swelling.
Who can make sense in the midst of this mess in which we find
ourselves? There’s so much venom and violence bubbling away in
the hearts of humanity in the majorities and minorities.
When I am confronted with such fear it is easy to be swept up in the
surging swell of it all. I am tempted to
add my sin to the sin of others adding mass to the mountains of majorities or
minorities.
What mountain of fear are you facing at the moment?
What is your fear causing you to want?
Whatever it is, this is what you love!
This is what you are worshipping.
Like those who sought to silence blind Bartimaeus, as we heard in last
week’s Gospel reading, are we not blinded by our superiority of our perception
of other’s seemingly inferior fears?
(Mark 10:46-52)
Yes! I am just spewing into a sea
of churning and foaming chaos.
Now we move onto a new picture painted by the psalmist in Psalm 46
There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy
habitation of the Most High. God is in
the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns. The nations rage, the kingdoms totter; he
utters his voice, the earth melts. The
LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. [Selah] (Psalm 46:4–7 ESV)
Here we have a picture of tranquillity. It is the same picture of peace
amongst the chaos, as Jesus sleeps in the boat while the disciples face their
fears in the death and destruction of the churning storm on lake Galilee.
Jesus is with us in his church. He
is with us in his word, and he is bodily with us in the sacrament. Fear him, not the unvaccinated! Fear him, not
the mandate to vaccinate. The kingdom of
God is not concerned about being vaccinated or un-vaccinated.
The morning will dawn, and God’s hand will be revealed in all of
this. He may choose to reveal what that
is in our life, or we might have to wait until the resurrection to know exactly
what that is.
But for now, in these days of darkness what is God’s will for us? What is Jesus’ will for you, in his
boat? To where is the Holy Spirit
leading us?
Come, behold the works of the LORD, how he has brought desolations on the
earth. He makes wars cease to the end of
the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the chariots with
fire. “Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of
Jacob is our fortress. [Selah] (Psalm 46:8–11 ESV)
We are called to fear and love God?
We are called to behold the works of the Lord!
But what are the works and will of God?
We are called to be a community gathered under Christ’s love. By this love the Holy Spirit gathers us in
forgiveness. By this love we know we need forgiveness for our faithlessness. By
his love we know we are forgiven.
Through his love and faithfulness, we know others need the same
forgiveness. And by his love we petition God to help us forgive them as the
Father has faithfully forgiven each of us and seeks to still the churning storm
within you and me.
Our loving Heavenly Father wants to dissipate your venom, and clean up
each person’s vomit, swirling the seas of spewing churning darkness. He does this by the power of the Holy Spirit
calling us to the stillness of Jesus on the cross. This is the reformation into which God calls
you and me daily.
As we all face the cross, he calls us to know that he is God! He will be exalted by all people when the
curtain of chaos is finally torn in two.
It will reveal the hidden presence of the God of peace. The whole of
creation will exalt him for the peace he returns to it, when he finally
restores it to its former glory, which he created for us.
He promises us in his Word, he will usher in the eternal era of sabbath
rest. This is where all who abide in the work of God’s forgiveness will stand
face to face, fear and love God, the Lord of Hosts forever. Amen.
Glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, as it was in the
beginning, is now, and will be for evermore. Amen.
