A Sense of Awe

I read a novel where the reaction of a group of people to a rather spectacular event was 'awe'. It made me think that there isn't much of a sense of awe toward God these days. And here, I'm talking about the Christians. Why is that the case? Well, why not? Far too many don't know God at all well - not in His majesty, power or holiness - so why should there be any awe? And that is not just a shame in the colloquial sense of that phrase but an actual shame. The Church in America will not be able to function as it should until there is the beginnings of a sense of awe or at least a sense of shame that there isn't awe. The old fashioned way of talking about this is the fear of God.

A Prayer

Father,
 
You have told us that to live, to really live, is bound up in knowing You, the only true God. And because of Your kind grace, we believe You. Life really is all about knowing You. So, we thank You that You have allowed us to come to know You. But there is more to know about You, Father, much more than what we now know. And so, we ask that You would reveal to us more of who You are. We want to know You better.
 
You have said that You are the God who is to be feared. Knowing You better will mean fearing You more. But, Father, what does it mean to fear You? It can't mean that we are to cower in some corner wondering if You're going to erupt in rage, dreading the possibility. That just isn't You. But what does it mean? We know that there are so many who have such superficial thoughts of You, so many for whom the notion of fearing You has no place in their hearts. We don't want to be like that. But we're not sure what it means to fear You.
 
What makes this more confusing, Father, is that, well, You are our Father. You have made it clear to us that You are gentle and kind. You tenderly care for us. Whatever it means to be a truly loving father, that's You. We are so grateful that You are this to us. Life would be so very different and so very difficult if You weren't a father to us. But how do we put this together with that other thought. How are we to fear You, our loving Father? What does that mean?
 
There is much here that we just don't understand. And that could get very frustrating. But You have promised to tell us whatever it is that we need to know. All we need do is ask. So, we are asking. Reveal more of who You are to us. Teach us what it means that You are our dear Father whom we are to fear.
 
We ask this so that we would gain more of the life that You have promised us. But our desires are not ultimately about ourselves. We realize that it is as we know You better and gain more life that we will be able to display the beauty of Your grace to a very needy world. So, Father, we ask that You would grant this request for the sake of the world that they might come to know You. As they join us in knowing and enjoying You, they will honor Your Name. And that is always the most important thing. We ask these things, Father, through Christ our Lord, Amen.

Gaining Wisdom

This is the second post about wisdom. The first is here.

An appropriate question to ask at this point is simply this: how can a person gain wisdom? The Bible is quite clear about where to start.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight. Proverbs 9.10

The fear of the Lord. There is a problem here for many. Being afraid of God is out of vogue. As a result, there are quite a few Christians who don't know what to do with a verse like this. That means that there are quite a few Christians who don't know the first step when it comes to gaining wisdom. And the reason is that they have not been taught what this fear of the Lord actually is about.

There is a kind of fear that is the dread of a slave before a harsh master who has the power of life and death and is not afraid to use that power. And it's not as if this master has to worry about someone holding him accountable for what he does with his slave. The slave is his property. He can do with him as he pleases. That is one kind of fear, and the Bible speaks about it.

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 1 John 4.18

But fearing God has nothing to do with that scenario. We are not slaves, and God is not harsh master.

The fear of God that Proverbs praises is rooted in the awareness that we are accountable to God. Our lives are going to be evaluated. Like the servants in the parable of the talents (Matthew25), one day we will be called upon to give an account of what we did.

There are lots of places in the Bible that speak about this.

First, Peter.

And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile…  1 Peter 1.17

Next, Paul.

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. 2 Corinthians 5.10

And now, Jesus.

For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done. Matthew 16.27

Our lives are going to be evaluated.

Unfortunately, way too many Christians think of this in terms of being in trouble. God is going to get them for all the evil things that they have done. Not even close. This is where I get to include just some of the verses that talk about rewards. There will be a reward for those who were faithful.

Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them [God's laws]there is great reward. Psalms 19.11

Mankind will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous; surely there is a God who judges [evaluates] on earth.” Psalms 58.11

The wicked earns deceptive wages, but one who sows righteousness gets a sure reward. Proverbs 11.18

And this is not just some Old Testament thing. Jesus adds His two cents.

Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Matthew 5.12

But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. Matthew 6.6

Why do we think that being evaluated means bad things happening? It doesn't sound like it from these verses. (And there are more!)

Now, here's an objection that might come up in response to this kind of thinking. 'There's no way that I will get any reward. I've sinned so much that the only thing that I can expect is going to be bad.' So, who are all those verses written to? Perfect people? Is that who Jesus was talking to? No, all of that was for people just like us, people who sin. This is where the grace of the Gospel is so precious. The Father knows all about our sinfulness. But He has provided for that. Jesus has come to deal with our sin. So, when the Spirit points out some sin, all we need to do is repent of it and come again to Jesus for forgiveness and for change. And that repentance includes going back into the fray to work at living as faithful disciples. And the next time the Spirit points out some sin, we do it all over again. That's a part of the Gospel. People who sin, people like us, can still expect a reward.

And that explains how the fear of the Lord motivates. To be sure, there is the threat of bad things happening if we goof off, that is, if we refuse to repent when the Spirit points out some sin. So, we know not to fall into that trap. But there is also the promise of reward. Think of it: reward! As much as the motivation is to avoid the bad, how much more is it to gain the good? It's from here that wisdom can begin to grow. More on that next time.

The Fear of the Lord

I'm going to interrupt our series on John's Gospel once again. It seemed that the Spirit was guiding me to preach on something different. So, today, we are once again taking a look at the Bible's teaching on the fear of the Lord. Some of you may remember that I preached on this once before. I looked it up. It was about three and a half years ago. That I am returning to this topic is simply the acknowledgement that I have learned some more since that time. And I have no doubt that I'll learn still some more about this in the years to come. And when I do I'm sure that the Spirit will once again let me know that it's time to preach on it again.