Fear that leads to worship

Lk 8:22-25 - One day he got into a boat with his disciples, and he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side of the lake.” So they set out, and as they sailed he fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water and were in danger. And they went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, and there was a calm. He said to them, “Where is your faith?” And they were afraid, and they marveled, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?”

The disciples were in fear of the water and the waves and of dying. They didn’t fear the God who was in the boat. God rebukes the wind and the waves and then basically equates faith with fear. If you have fear, you won’t have the faith required to believe in me in the storm. If we have faith, we will fear that which deserves to be feared, namely, God. When we have faith, our fear changes and instead of fearing the storm, we fear the one who can calm the storm. Our fear leads to worship and God is glorified.

The blessings and curses of Fear

Lk 5:1-11 - On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.

Again, a great example of how fear of God leads to a fearless (eventually) life. Peter recognized his sinfulness in light of the miracle of Jesus and was told “Do Not Fear” and then given a purpose for his life. Jesus said, “You will be a catcher of man!” What was it that Peter was fearing? He was fearing God because of His sin, as if someone were standing near you who could read your mind, who was perfectly holy and was powerful enough to do the impossible.

This example of how Jesus turned fear into purpose is astonishing. It should serve as an example to us that the more we fear and repent, the greater that God will use us. Instead of being crushed in his sin, Peter is elevated out of his fear with a new purpose and reason for living. The recognition of our sin leads to fearing God. The command to not fear is God calling us to live with power and security and joy in this world. The more we fear God, the less we will fear in this world to do that which God has purposed for us to do. Fear keeps us from doing the purposes of God.

Fear that obeys

Lk 1:26-50 - In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her. In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.” And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.

This is another example of the evolution of fear. Mary was greatly troubled by seeing Gabriel, she was told “Do not be Afraid” and then during Mary’s Magnificat worship she says, “His mercy is for those who fear Him!” Again and again, we see this through the gospels of this relationship between fearing God and not fearing anything else. We see the awesomeness of God and his angels and yet the consolation of not needing to fear anything. I think our generation is missing out on the blessing that comes with fearing God only. We fear so much because we don’t understand the fear of God. If we understood the fear of God, the fears of this world would become less and less.
Jas 4:5-6 - Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

Fearing that leads to obedience

Lk 1:11-17 - And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.” ¹⁸ And Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” ¹⁹ And the angel answered him, “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. ²⁰ And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.”

Here is a classic case of fear and doubt being stronger than the fear of God. As a result, Zechariah is mute for nine months. I am sure he had a lot to think about over the nine months that John was in his wife’s tummy, and he probably learned a fear greater than he had ever known. What a privilege to both see an angel and then have such a direct consequence. Often I wonder if the point of discipline from the Lord is used to build our faith and our fear in God. Zechariah did go against all common sense and tradition when his tongue was unloosed when he said, “His name will be John.” And you bet it affected the way he parented this young man in the Lord. Hebrews 12:5-6 say “And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.”

Fearless to a fearing world

Mk 16:1-8 - When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back—it was very large. And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. And he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.” And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

This is situation where fear of God and fear of man clash and it looks like the fear of man wins. They are supposed to tell the disciples and Peter that he is going to Galilee. But they told no one. One wonders why they told no one, but you have to wonder if it was because she was a woman, that she was even at the tomb, and that she had a spotty past. Why would Jesus show up first to her? And yet the fear of God had consumed her with trembling and astonishment. We can’t be afraid to do that which the world doesn’t understand, and it will only be a true fear of God and the Holy Spirit’s enablement that will help us be fearless to a fearing world.

Fear that breaks hard hearts...

Mk 6:45-52 - Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. And after he had taken leave of them, he went up on the mountain to pray. And when evening came, the boat was out on the sea, and he was alone on the land. And he saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them. And about the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. He meant to pass by them, but when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out, for they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” And he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded, for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.

Could it be that it is our hard hearts prevent us from fearing God? They shouldn’t have been utterly astounded by walking on water because they had seen him feed five thousand. I am not sure which is easier: breaking loaves or walking on water. I think they are both the same in degree of difficulty. So, when the disciples saw Jesus walking on water, if there hearts were hard, they wouldn’t have been so astounded. But, they were astounded because they didn’t have the proper fear of God, yet. God said do not be afraid because I am the only one worthy of true fear. But, this is a great insight into what keeps us from true fear, namely, heart hearts.

Fear of God follows faith...

Mk 5:35-43 - While he was still speaking, there came from the ruler’s house some who said, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?” But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.” And he allowed no one to follow him except Peter and James and John the brother of James. They came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and Jesus saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. And when he had entered, he said to them, “Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. But he put them all outside and took the child’s father and mother and those who were with him and went in where the child was. Taking her by the hand he said to her, “Talitha cumi,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” And immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was twelve years of age), and they were immediately overcome with amazement. And he strictly charged them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.

It seems that there are two options when it comes to fear. Either you fear or you have faith. Throughout the New Testament, Jesus commands people not to fear, but to have faith. The natural default seems to be fear and so we must actively have faith for faith to win out. After Jesus healed this daughter against the face of adversary and opposition, they were overcome with amazement or awe or in essence, fear. When we have faith and we see God work, it leads to a correct fear. The more we fear God, the more he can do through us. The previous chapter was about a woman who was bleeding for many years and she had faith that even an indirect touch would heal her. Her faith was rewarded and when Jesus discovered who had touched her, she fell down with fear and trembling. Fear of God follows faith but fear of man hinders faith. Faith requires risk as in this situation where the ruler of the synagogue had put his reputation at risk as the mourners laughed at this desperate man, he trusted Jesus and was rewarded with the life of her daughter, brought back from the dead.