Psalm 111 and "Fear of the Lord"

"The Fear of the Lord." Frankly, we hear a lot more about it from the Bible than we do in most Christian congregations. As a pastor, I admit I've never preached on it before. But it's a concept that runs throughout scripture. Even Martin Luther's Small Catechism explains every one of the Ten Commandments, "We are to fear and love God, so that..."

Maybe some think of it as outdated. We want a "Buddy Christ",  a cosmic friend and confidant, a good listener who sympathizes with all that we're going through. We may see ourselves as having "evolved" beyond the concept of a wrathful God, holding us over the pit of hell and ready to drop us in at any moment. Who has any use for that these days?

The first thing I'd say is that the "pit-of-hell" image is really not what "Fear of the Lord" really means. I mean, the ancient Hebrews had no concept of hell! That only came later. "Fear of the Lord" and "fear of hell" are two very different things.

But I've also heard "fear" equated with "awe and reverence," and I don't think that captures it either. Fear means fear. It was translated that way for a reason. But it's not fear based on God meaning us harm. It's a fear of the unknown. If an alien spacecraft landed on your front lawn today, even if they showed no signs of hostility, you'd be scared. Why? Because you know nothing about them, and what you do know by their being there is they are more advanced and powerful, and have knowledge that you can't hope to approach. The power dynamic is hopelessly skewed, and humankind would not have survived this long if something like that didn't freak us out.

So it is with God. What we do know about God is that God is Holy--which means "set apart", or other. We know that God is wise and powerful. God made the cosmos, which, the more we learn about the cosmos, should only increase our awe and fear. And we know that God is righteous: meaning that God lives up completely to the ethical standards God sets for us...and we don't. Because we sin and aren't perfect, any relationship we enter into will entail some fear that the relationship will be broken. That's what makes a bride and groom nervous on their wedding day. That's what makes us fearful taking home our first child from the hospital. Knowing we will screw up in ways that we can not take back.

Knowing that God is infinitely loving, that God is infinitely better at forgiving us than we are at screwing up, should help. But if we actually love God and want to please God, if we are in it for more than just heaven after we die but actually want to better know this mysterious and unknowable One who formed us and grows us--then a little fear is, indeed, the beginning of wisdom. Maybe not the whole thing, but certainly the beginning.

God, I am afraid. I'm afraid because you are Holy, and I'm not, you are righteous, and I'm not. I'm not afraid of hell--I believe you when you say you have that covered--but I'm afraid that in this short span of time I will let you down. Be with me in my fear, and transform it into works of love. Amen.