Sunday’s Gospel:

Be Afraid of the One Who Can Destroy

Fear God — Not people or anything else in this world

Photo by Ilyuza Mingazova on Unsplash

When he was a little boy in the 1990s, our Millennial son loved the popular “No Fear” symbols that were everywhere.

He’d color or draw and always get a “No fear” in there. The ability to fear nothing in the world (while fearing God) is central to this Sunday’s Gospel.

We should be more afraid of disappointing God than disappointing ourselves or the people around us.

“Fear of the Lord” seemed to fall out of favor after the 1960s when progressive pastors (and many others) assured us that “fear” really meant “awe.” They wanted to instead emphasize how loving our Lord is, telling us not to fear God, especially as atheists mocked “God-fearing” Christians.

Since the pandemic, everyone from disgraced PTL founder Jim Bakker to theologian Ralph Martin has said it’s time to revisit the importance of fearing God. It’s more than “awe.”

Think of the ideal father or mother: You aren’t supposed to fear approaching them but love them. But you should also love them enough to fear disappointing (or letting down) the ones you love, the ones who made you.

So let’s return to the King James Version:

“And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10:28, KJV)

That passage is the heart of this Sunday’s Gospel.

The Gospel of the Lord: Matthew 10:26–33

Fear is often tied to the unknown, the dark, the uncertain moment we dread. But true believers have far more certainty, far less to fear about death, and a clearer sense of the difference between this life and the next.

Jesus told us to fear no one. All worry is atheism. But he added the one thing we should be afraid of, letting down the one who can destroy you:

Jesus said to the Twelve: “Fear no one. Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known. What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light; what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. And 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 Gehenna.

Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father’s knowledge. Even all the hairs of your head are counted. So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. Everyone who acknowledges me before others I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father. But whoever denies me before others, I will deny before my heavenly Father.” (Matthew 10:26–33, NAB)

Note, he tells God knows all, even each hair on your head, and he’ll deny you if you deny the Father. But return to that sentence where he said we should be afraid of the one who can destroy both body and soul in Gehenna. There are two ways to interpret that:

• Being afraid of disappointing God and God’s Plan for us. We were created for a reason.
• Being afraid of the choices you yourself make that destroy your own body and soul — by choosing a path and a life that seems like hell on earth, or one we know will inevitably lead to the real hell.

The Old Testament prepares us for the New Testament

The Bible is many stories within the one Greatest Story Ever Told, so let’s look at Jeremiah 20:10–13. The prophet who lived 700 years before Christ heard the fearful whispers of many.

Jeremiah said: “I hear the whisperings of many: ‘Terror on every side! Denounce! let us denounce him!’ All those who were my friends are on the watch for any misstep of mine. ‘Perhaps he will be trapped; then we can prevail, and take our vengeance on him.’

But the LORD is with me, like a mighty champion: my persecutors will stumble, they will not triumph. In their failure they will be put to utter shame, to lasting, unforgettable confusion. O LORD of hosts, you who test the just, who probe mind and heart, let me witness the vengeance you take on them, for to you I have entrusted my cause.” (Jeremiah 20:10–13, NAB)

The psalms similarly teach us “For your sake, I bear insult, and shame covers my face… Lord, in your great love, answer me. I pray to you, O LORD, for the time of your favor, O God! In your great kindness, answer me with your constant help.” (Psalm 69:8–35, NAB)

How do we apply this Gospel to our own world?

I used to tell my daughter to think of life as a video game. You go out and do your best to achieve, and if you get knocked out, you hit the “reset” button and start over.

When we fear the one thing that matters most, our Lord, we don’t have to fear or worry about anything else. But when we delete God from our thoughts and focus on everything else?

We wind up fearing everything but God. Because we forgot to fear the Lord. An atheist went viral this week after describing a dream of hanging from a cliff. The Voice says, “Just let go,” and he realizes Jesus is telling him to let go of the world’s worries and fears.

To literally let God and let God.

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Through one man sin entered the world, and through sin, death, and thus death came to all men, inasmuch as all sinned — for up to the time of the law, sin was in the world, though sin is not accounted when there is no law. But death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who did not sin after the pattern of the trespass of Adam, who is the type of the one who was to come.

But the gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one the many died, how much more did the grace of God and the gracious gift of the one man Jesus Christ overflow for the many. (Romans 5:12–15, NAB)

[embed]This Is the Whole Duty of Man: Fear God and Keep His Commandments Jim Bakker never stopped loving Jesus — but he lost his fear of the Lord: Are we repeating his big mistake?medium.com