Luke
12:4-7- “I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after
that have nothing more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear
him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you,
fear him! Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is
forgotten before God. Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear
not; you are of more value than many sparrows.”
Fear can be a motivating or
debilitating emotion. When fear takes hold, it can inspire us to do more than
humanly possible or it can paralyze us in inaction. What causes you to fear
most? Some surveys say public speaking is the number one fear. In some cultures
it is shame. For some of us it is financial or career issues. Others are afraid
of always being alone. However, fear of death would have to be at the top of
most lists. That is especially true if the death is at the hands of another
person inflicting violence on us. What could be scarier?
Yet Jesus opens our passage today by
telling us not to fear those who would kill us. That seems crazy, doesn’t it?
Why would we not fear someone like that? Jesus reminds us that is all they can
do. When this life is over, the real life begins. Our eternal destiny is far
more important than what happens in this life.
Jesus closes by telling us that God
know the very numbers of our hairs and he considers us valuable. He uses that
to tell us again not to fear. The God who knows and loves us will take care of
us.
Yet between these two commands not to
fear, he gives us a command to fear, but this fear is different. We are to fear
God. I always thought this was a funny expression. Does this mean to run and
hide from him? No, it means to revere him, not because he might squash us like
a bug on a whim but because he is awesome and powerful. Like a loving father
who expects the best from us, fearing God means to make pleasing him in all
things our objective. Make sure your fear is the right kind.
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