The Fear of the Lord

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

There is an old verse to the hymn “Amazing Grace” that has not made it into our hymnals. The second verse in many renditions outside Lutheranism goes “Twas grace that taught my heart to fear / And grace my fears relieved. / How precious did that grace appear / The hour I first believed.” When we sing this hymn, we do very well without this verse. Why? Because it simply is not true.

Grace is not what teaches the heart to fear. Think about it. There is nothing at all fearsome about grace. What is there to fear in the unmitigated, unbridled, unfiltered love of God poured out upon you because of the sacrifice of Christ upon the cross? Are you afraid because your sins have been forgiven, your life is secure in Christ, and your heavenly home is prepared for you? Grace does not teach you to fear. Grace only makes you unafraid.

But does that mean that you should not fear anything?

"The Kingdom of Heaven is at Hand"

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” This was the message John the Baptist was called to proclaim to the crowds who thronged to see and hear him in the Judean wilderness. This is a two-edged message which cut everyone in the crowd.

The vast crowds came from every walk of life to hear the one whom Isaiah had foretold, “the voice crying in the wilderness”. There were flocks of average, believing Jews who came to hear the latest and greatest prophet. Maybe they liked hearing him condemn the priests and scribes. Maybe they liked hearing him give the Herods what-for for their idolatrous and lustful dalliances. But no one was safe from the preaching of this prophet.