The Israelites wanted to hide behind Moses, because they were afraid of God: All the people shook with fear at the peals of thunder and the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the smoking mountain; and they kept their distance. ‘Speak to us yourself’ they said to Moses ‘and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, or we shall die.’ (Exodus 20)
Moses answers in a peculiar way: Do not be afraid, he tells the Israelites - but on the other hand, he tells them that God is using their fear of Him to keep them from sinning.
So we have: don't be afraid, but be afraid. How to resolve this?
Fear God and nothing else. When we fear God, we will fear nothing else. In this way our fear of God becomes our strength in all other things.
The Church Fathers taught that fear of God comes from love of God. We are afraid of displeasing Him because we love Him and do not want to be cut off from His love. When we act on the basis of this fear, we will show moral courage and spiritual strength in the midst of all other trials. We will sacrifice anything to maintain our closeness to God.
Moses was the link between the Israelites and God. He foreshadowed Christ - God Himself who became man and behind whom we can hide when we stand before God. Are you afraid of God because of your sins and unworthiness? Are you afraid that the purity of God will destroy you in your impurity? Then hide behind Christ, the lamb without blemish, who is God. God loves us so much that He gave Himself to stand between Himself and us. It is as though He saw Adam and Eve, cowering in their shame, and He came Himself to shield them from His own judgment.
We fear the Lord's judgment, and so we should. We must be judged before we can experience mercy. We must know how sinful we truly are, what punishment we truly deserve, before we can know the greatness of God's cleansing love. It's like going to the doctor: unless we are willing to face up to how deeply the tumor of sin has infiltrated our bodies, we will never be able to let the physician root it out.
It is frightening to face the judge - but know that you have Christ to hide behind. Christ stands with you during the trial, He stands with you during the judgment, He stands ready to be sentenced with you. He will not abandon you. He will plead on your behalf, and how could the Father refuse the plea of the Son with Whom He is well pleased?
The tenants in the vineyard did not fear the Lord. They selfishly insisted on using the vineyard as though it belonged to them and not to their Master. How often do we do that in our own lives, using the things of this world not as gifts over which we hold tenancy, but as possessions that we jealously guard even from God's just claims?
Yet the tenants were cowards. They did not go to the Master and confront Him face-to-face. They plotted slyly to kill His servants and His Son. It seems ridiculous: did they really think they could get away with it? The Apostles immediately can guess the fate of the tenants: they'll be cast out and condemned.
Yet how many of us live cowardly lives, like those tenants? The Psalms talk about people like this: who live day to day hiding their faces from God, refusing to acknowledge His existence. They are like ostriches with their heads stuck in the ground. It's cowardice and it's selfishness. One day their heads will be yanked out of the sand, and they will be forced to face up to judgment.
Live with your eyes open. Recognize that the things of this world come from God and are to be used in service of God. Live in fear of the Lord. Open your heart to face His judgment, but know who is standing before you, beside you, behind you when that judgment comes. Fear the Lord. Take courage in Christ. Then you will have nothing to fear.
--------------------------------------
Pray the Stations of the Cross. You get a beautiful chance to make up for the failures of the disciples! They could not walk the via dolorosa with Him. In the Stations of the Cross, you can.
No comments:
Post a Comment