November 29, 2009

Awe: Our Primary Response to God

Jeremiah 33:14-16; Luke 21:25-36

Here’s a definition for the word fear: “To feel a painful apprehension of some impending evil; to be afraid of; to dread.” We usually don’t associate the season of Advent and Christmas with fear. Expectation, yes. Anticipation, hope, peace, yes. But fear? Yet the lectionary text from the Gospel of Luke for the first Sunday in Advent begins with this emotion that we tend to deny, the emotion of fear.

We are most often told that “God is love” and that “perfect love casts out fear.” But let’s face it: all of us experience fear on several levels on a fairly regular basis. Maybe that’s why scary movies are popular with so many people. I grew up with Alfred Hitchcock. He knew that if he kept the would-be intruder nameless and faceless, he could create greater fear in the audience. How vividly I remember Psycho and The Birds. He knew how fear intensifies the more it becomes irrational. Then add the suspense. We hear the stalker’s footsteps; we see a shadow go across a window; we’re shown the expression of fear on the victim’s face. Even as adults, we revert to our childhood fears. In fact some cinema buffs say that Hitchcock was reliving the nightmares of his childhood through his movies.

I. Afraid (Luke 21)

In Luke 19 through 21, we find Jesus in Jerusalem at the Temple. We notice how Luke’s gospel begins in the temple with the angel Gabriel meeting with Zechariah; and ends with the disciples in the temple waiting for the Holy Spirit. Against all of the pride and wealth and religious control of the massive, impressive temple, Jesus teaches something that would strike fear in the hearts of any resident of Jerusalem. The temple will be destroyed and the city laid in ruins. And it happened after the death and resurrection of Jesus when the Roman general Titus came with legions of soldiers to punish the occupants of Jerusalem and raze it to the ground in A.D. 70.

Imagine the emotions you would feel if you were visiting another part of the country and you heard that the forecast earthquake hit Salt Lake City and the news showed the devastation. Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast just four years ago. I imagine any heavy rain storm causes deep fears in the people who returned or still live there.

Throughout the history of Israel, the people of God experienced such devastating fear. Noah and the flood; Joseph and the famine; bondage and oppression under Pharaoh; forty years in the wilderness; Joshua and the River Jordan. It was said then that “all the people are melting in fear because of us.” The point is this: when almighty God sets about to act, anxious fear is the first and natural response. God can be a threat. The prophets sounded the alarm. “The Lord Almighty is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread,” writes Isaiah, “he will be a stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall; he will be a trap and a snare.” Joel speaks of the Day of the Lord, “close at hand – a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness… The Lord thunders at the head of his army; his forces are beyond number, and mighty are those who obey his command. The day of the Lord is great; it is dreadful. Who can endure it?” he asks (Joel 2:11).

I was sitting next to a young guy on the plane coming back from Thanksgiving with family in New Jersey. He was reading a book called I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell. I had to ask what it was about. “The funniest damn book I’ve ever read,” he said. It’s all about humorous stories by the narrator about his excesses of debauchery and belligerence. Politically incorrect views on women, on drinking, insulting people and on embarrassing sexual encounters. It made the New York Times bestseller list in 2006, 2007, and 2008. The only thing I could say was, “Yeah, I think they serve beer in hell, but it’s probably Utah’s version.” He laughed and the conversation came to screeching halt.

It’s amazing how people in our day (and in Jesus’ time) can revel in mockery toward God and impending judgment. Noah’s neighbors mocked him; Joseph’s brothers mocked him; Pharaoh mocked the God of Moses; and Jesus was scornfully mocked even to his death.

Then here in Luke 21, in the temple, Jesus predicts another cataclysmic event: the end of the world and the second coming of the Son of Man. “There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity. People will faint in terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world. The heavenly bodies will be shaken.”

As unlikely as it may seem, this is the theme that begins the season of Advent each year.

II. Awe (Jeremiah 33)

But Jesus came to forgive our sins, to die our death, and to rise again. So, there’s a second definition for the word fear. “To feel reverence for; to have a reverential awe of; to venerate.” Jesus came to transform our fears from “painful apprehension and being afraid” to “fear not;” to honor the Lord your God with a deep awe. “The Lord is God” is the constant confession of faith.

The prophets also spoke of God’s faithful promises to his people. Jeremiah wrote, “In those days and at that time I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David’s line; he will do what is just and right in the land. In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety. This is the name by which it will be called: The Lord Our Righteous Savior.”

Some 75 times in the Old Testament the message of faith is “fear not.” At the birth of Jesus and at the Resurrection of Jesus, the angel assures the same. “Do not be afraid.” Although fear is an essential part of faith, it is this awe and reverence for Christ at the heart of it. The good news is how Jesus excludes the punishment that overtakes those who don’t fear God. Jesus is “the Lord Our Righteous Savior.”

Right after Joel’s thundering about the Day of Judgment, he writes, “Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity. Who knows? He may turn and have pity and leave behind a blessing” (Joel 2:13-14).

In Luke 21, Jesus recites a list of disasters that befall us human beings: wars and insurrections, earthquakes, famines, hatred, betrayal at the hands of family members or good friends. Presbyterian pastor Eugene Peterson notes how Jesus touches base with everything that can possibly go wrong: disasters natural, political, social and personal. So, does he have it all together when he says, “Don’t be frightened?”

Jesus is proclaiming a way of life that is vastly different from what we’re used to. Death isn’t the worst thing that can happen to us. Suffering isn’t the worst thing that can happen. Rejection, poverty, illness aren’t the worst things. In Matthew 10, Jesus said, “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell…(and remember) whoever publicly acknowledges me I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. But whoever publicly disowns me I will disown before my Father in heaven” (Matthew 20:28-33).

The worst thing is to be without meaning, without love, without purpose, without hope – without God. But Advent and Christmas declare “Emmanuel – God is with us.” You aren’t without God, ever. You aren’t cut off from him, ever. The simplest act of faith puts you in relationship with him.

Conclusion

In this sermon series, the first of five gifts from God I wish for you and for me this Advent and Christmas is fear: a fear that drives you to acknowledge your need for a Savior; then an awe and reverence that comes with knowing, loving and serving that Savior.

Time is running out. History is running its course as is your life and mine. We don’t know when our lives or this world will end. That’s why we should put our trust and faith in the Lord now, while we can. Don’t let anything hold you back from turning to Jesus Christ this Advent.

For all the destruction forecast in Luke 21, Jesus assures us what won’t ever be destroyed. “Haven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.” God’s promises in Christ are sure. You and I can place our hope and trust in them for life now and life forevermore.

Let us pray together. “Come, Thou long-expected Jesus, Born to set your people free; From our fears and sins release us…”