Göttinger Predigten im Internet, hg. von Ulrich Nembach und Johannes Neukirch


Proper 18
05. September 1999
.............FEAR GOD
Bruce E. Shields
Texts: Ezekiel 33:1-11, Matthew 10:28, Revelation 14:7

1. How many of us think of God as One to be feared? Do you lose sleep because you fear God?

1.1. I once asked a church elder why he was so faithful in attending church services. He said he was afraid that if he missed a Sunday and the Lord returned the next day, he would go to Hell. Are you like that? Do you picture God as a heavenly policeman watching for your mistakes?

1.2. Martin Luther so feared God that his drive to be good nearly killed him. It led him finally to hate the God who demanded more goodness from him than he could possibly give. Luthers are few and far between these days, but that is where such negative fear of God can lead us.

2. And yet, the Bible tells us time and again that we should fear God. We should fear God, but not because God hates us. We should fear God because God is God. God is not just an idealized projection of our human imaginations. God created this awe-inspiring universe and continues to manage it. God is not a toy for human beings to play with. God is a person with ultimate power whom we should take very seriously, whom we should fear.

2.1. In the midst of a discourse meant to be reassuring, Jesus told his disciples (Matthew 10:28): “ Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” He was referring to God, the only Being with the power to cast people into hell. How should fearing God reassure us? By reminding us that God has the only ultimate power, and God is the one who cares for sparrows and counts the hairs of our heads.

2.2. In the book of Revelation (14:7), as John the seer attempts to encourage his flock to be faithful in spite of persecution, he describes an angel who brings a comforting command: “He said in a loud voice, ‘Fear God and give him glory, for the hour of his judgment has come; and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.’” Yes, we can both fear God and worship God the Judge, because we have been assured that God is on our side if we remain faithful.

3. Our Ezekiel text shows this plainly. [READ TEXT] God is the ultimate Enemy, but God also appoints ministers to help us. Ezekiel’s commission as sentinel is his third vocation, his third career:

3.1. As priest he tried to keep God’s people on the right path. His work was primarily in the Jerusalem temple, where he correctly carried out the prescribed priestly duties and carefully instructed and led the people in their worship of God the law-giver. At least until the Babylonians destroyed the temple.

3.2. As prophet he spoke God’s word of judgment 3.2.1. The people are exiled in Babylon—Ezekiel with them. They need a prophet more than a priest. This prophet did not just thunder God’s message from a mountain top. He experienced God’s judgment with his people. He mourned the death of his beloved wife. He was carried off into captivity with the others. He knew first-hand the judgment of God. The prophet experiences God’s judgment with God’s people.

3.3. As sentinel he guards against God’s attacks on God’s people. God sets him up in a place where Ezekiel could be on the lookout, watching both the people and the enemy—but who was the enemy? As we saw in the teaching of Jesus, the ultimate enemy is God himself. This is really strange—God the enemy sets a lookout to warn God’s people of God’s impending attack, so they can defend themselves—against God. Ezekiel’s third vocation signals the hope for future redemption which the prophet now proclaims to God’s people. God does not want to destroy the people, God wants only to purge them of their sin—he wants to destroy not sinners, but sin.

3.3.1. The mutual responsibilities of the sentinel and the people he or she serves are complex and demand trust in both directions. The pastor is committed to guard the flock, which means ultimately to be their first line of defense. Such a minister will warn people any time they put themselves in danger, even if they would rather not hear the warning. This makes the lookout very unpopular at times, but the people should support that ministry even when it hurts. The minister-lookout must be responsible to warn the people when they are transgressing God’s will, but be careful not to confuse God’s will with the will of the minister.

3.3.2. So we see the role of the priestly prophet- sentinel. Let’s not forget that the role is written and cast by the God whose people have rebelled, the God whose people are being punished for their sins, the God who has become the people’s enemy number one. The enemy establishes the defense of the opposition.

4. God punishes sin, but God wants the sinner to live. What sort of God is this? Here we get to the primary issue—not how we human beings should live, but what sort of God is in charge here.

4.1. This is the God who judges sin in his wrath and moves toward the sinner with grace to restore. God’s wrath and God’s grace are both parts of God’s righteousness.

4.2. This is the God who is both righteous and loving, and not at different times but at the same time. God is not arbitrary in his dealings with us. Our salvation is not a gamble. We can count on our God’s grace to be for us, not against us. And since God is for us, nothing can defeat us in the long run.

5. Therefore, we are invited to fear God and to love God at the same time—to fear God and to trust him, to fear God and to worship him.

5.1. Martin Luther finally came to that realization. Later, while recalling his struggle with Romans, he writes: “I did not love a just and angry God, but rather hated and murmured against him…. Night and day I pondered until I saw the connection between the justice of God and the statement that ‘the just shall live by his faith.’ Then I grasped that the justice of God is that righteousness by which through grace and sheer mercy God justifies us through faith. Thereupon I felt myself to be reborn and to have gone through open doors into paradise.”

5.2. And that elder I mentioned earlier? The last time I saw him he was much more relaxed with his God. Oh, he still feared God, but now that fear was wonderfully mixed with love, because he had come to know the God who is both Judge and Redeemer—the God who threatens people with an attack and at the same time offers to defend them against attack.

5.3. Do you fear God? I hope so. God is not to be trifled with. Does your fear of God paralyze you or keep you from enjoying life? I hope not. God loves you; so let your fear of God lead to worship and the joy of living under God’s protection. Amen.

email: ShieldsB@esr.edu


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