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Mark Wheeler
Proverbs 9:10
02/20/2022
“What Is God Saying? ‘Is He Safe?’”
Lidgerwood Presbyterian Church
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Take My Life and Let It Be – verse 3 . . . Jake Davis
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Hello everyone! Welcome to worship at Lidgerwood!!
Take my lips, and let them be filled with stories about Your power and presence; take my silver and my gold, fully, to be used for Your purposes alone! What a beautiful prayer with which to begin this time of gathered worship! (Thank you Jake for opening our worship experience today!)
Welcome! We are glad you are here with us today!
Our worship theme this month deals with some hard, or weird, scripture passages or churchy themes – based on questions I have received from folks in our church over the years. My prayer is that we might learn something, but even more that we grow into being the Church God calls us to be – together here, and with THE Church wherever we meet to worship and serve in the variety of ways and cultures and languages we are God’s church together!
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Thank you, on behalf of our Elders’ Council, thank you for … continuing to be a place where we love each other and our families by:
“Wearing your mask while inside the building.”
This is not because we are afraid, but because we want to love our neighbors. We truly want that no one should feel judged, and everyone should feel safe, so continue to be gentle with each other. Listening to the Philippians 2:4 passage:
“ in humility, each counting others better than himself; each of you not just looking to his own things, but each of you also to the things of others.” Philippians 2:4
We are gathered in our church sanctuary – a holy place – and it’s also a safe place – where the divine and the human connect together. Welcome to this holy sacred and safe place today.
CAMERA
Let’s take a second to welcome each other, and those in the room, look at the camera and say HI to your friends who are at home. Tell your loved ones, whoever you can see , “The Love of the Lord be with you – and also with you – and also with you! And you! And you!!”
Welcome to this “gathering” in God’s name. We are assembled in NorthEast Spokane, WA, along with people from all over the world. We are very glad you are “here” with us.
Be filled with God’s Holy Spirit presence and power, in your homes, through your phones and computers, in this building here, and in your lives. Pray with us … and hear and be transformed by God’s Word.
Today Pastor Kathy Calls us to Worship from Psalm 67 and an ancient prayer of the church:
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Our opening song of praise and devotion –– #2 – Holy, Holy, Holy – led by Ken & Donna Stone!!Please stand and join them powerful song of praise.
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Prayer of Illumination
Gracious and loving God, we thank You for Your divine providence in our lives that has so ordered the course of our living that You have intertwined our lives together in this Church. We pray that by Your grace, by the deep working of Your Spirit in our midst, You would help us to be so released to You in what we do together that You may be able to fulfill in us and through us the good and perfect will for our wholeness for which You have brought us to this place at this time. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
Intro series – difficult passages or theological ideas for us to understand or follow or even accept as from God, perhaps.
Someone handed me a note at the end of our worship service a few years ago – and her note referred to a song we had sung and an oft repeated Biblical theme – she asked this: “I always think of my God as a loving God – why then should we ‘fear’ Him?”
Then she added the pressure: “I’ve asked other pastors this same question and never receive an answer. Can you explain?”
Now, I can’t remember who gave me that note, I think I know, but if I say her name I’ll probably be wrong – so I hope the person who asked this question is here this morning.
There are a LOT of Bible passages that refer to “fearing the Lord”. I chose what is probably the most well-known verse on “fearing the Lord” (from Proverbs).
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In the Old Testament book of Proverbs we read, in chapter 9, verse 10, that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”
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It seems like a reasonable place to start this discussion is with a Bible dictionary. I looked in a few, and I share with you the Zondervan Bible Handbook Series dictionary definition of “fear”: “Fear. May be either that apprehension of evil which normally leads one either to flee or to fight or that awe and reverence which a man of sense feels in the presence of God, and to a lesser extent in the presence of a king or other dread authority.”
OK, that gives us two kinds of fear: 1) a sense of terror, anxiety, worry – like I’m guessing the disciples felt when their just-killed Friend and Leader appears in a locked Upper Room with them after His Resurrection. What are Jesus’ first words?
“Don’t be afraid – fear not.”
FDR told a scared nation, “The only thing to fear is fear itself.” –
Chuck Smith, the founder of the Calvary Chapel movement added, “But I think spiders should be
considered, too.”
And 2) a sense of “awe and reverence which a man of sense feels in the presence of God.”
But that definition still leaves me wondering what Proverbs 9:10 means, and which definition of “fear” he used. Why does a man of sense feel that awe and reverence or terror in the presence of God?
I’ve heard someone say, “My fear is that one day I’ll meet God, He’ll sneeze, and I won’t know what to say.”
Is that what “fear” means?
To me, it seems that the next step in the discovery of what this means is to define – describe – God. The person who asked this question already started this process with a wonderful word. She said, “I always think of my God as a loving God.”
What else can we add to that description of God? What else is God like? [Allow people to respond]
Did you listen to the words of Holy, Holy, Holy we just sang? God is an awesome God!
He reigns from heaven above, with wisdom, power and love. Our God is an awesome God!
Last week I ran across a poem called, “Where God Ain’t”. This poem does not describe God as fearsome, but when we realize what the poem says, I think we’ll also realize that fearsome only starts to describe who God is:
He was just a little boy, On a week’s first day.
He was wandering home from Sunday School, And dawdling on the way.
He scuffed his shoes into the grass; He found a caterpillar.
He found a fluffy milkweed pod, And blew out all the “filler”.
A bird’s nest in a tree over head, So wisely placed on high,
Was just another wonder That caught his eager eye.
A neighbor watched his zigzag course, And hailed him from the lawn;
Asked him where he’d been that day And what was going on.
“I’ve been to Bible School,” he said And turned a piece of sod.
He picked up a wiggly worm, replying, “I’ve learned a lot about God.”
“A very fine way,” the neighbor said, “for a boy to spend his time.
If you tell me where God is, I’ll give you a brand new dime.”
Quick as a flash the answer came! Nor were his accents faint.
“I’ll give you a dollar, Mister, If you can tell me where God ain’t!”
God is everywhere! He sees everything! He knows all there is to know … about you. Is that not a little scary?
In a Bible class we read from Revelation 14 where God’s final judgment is announced. If “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom”, Revelation 14:7 tells us why.
“Then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal Gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth – to every nation, tribe, language and people. He said in a loud voice, ‘Fear God and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come. Worship Him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and springs of water.’”
We fear – terror – God, as loving as He is, because the hour of His judgment has come!
As a child I “feared my dad” when I’d done something wrong. As loving as Dad was, I knew when to fear him.
We worship God – awe and reverence – because He is the Creator of all that is. He is an awesome God!
In the Greek Septuagint translation of the Hebrew Old Testament, the word for “fear” is “φόβος” (from which we get “phobia”, terrifying fear. This is not the same as respect or awe – it is the φόβος of God that is honored as the beginning of wisdom!)
You see, if He were not God, there would be no reason to fear Him. But God is God!
No matter how hard our society tries to convince us – and our children – that there is no God, and therefore there is no reason to fear Him — that does not change the fact!
No matter which political system or human rights group tells us that it is unconstitutional to say the Pledge of Allegiance in our school classrooms because it includes the words “under God” – does not make it untrue! We are still “under God!” No matter who says we can’t pray in the name of Jesus at baccalaureate ceremonies or city council meetings, no matter who says we can’t display the 10-Commandments or Christmas Nativity scenes on government property – that does not make God less God! And the more we move in that direction, the more we ought to fear God.
We need to choose, today, whose side we’re gonna stand on. The side of our God, or the side of our human understanding.
Proverbs 8:13 says, “The fear of the Lord is to hate all evil”! That is the beginning of wisdom! The fear of the Lord is to choose to follow God, because Man’s ways lead us astray.
In CS Lewis’ children’s classic, The Chronicles of Narnia,he tells the Gospel story in analogy. In this story four children find their way into a fantasy-land where animals talk and the kingdom is waiting for some humans to enter and take positions on the throne. The Jesus Christ figure is a Lion named Aslan. Here, let me quote a fairly early description of Aslan. Listen to how closely it describes God:
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“Who is Aslan?” asked Susan.
“Aslan?” said Mr. Beaver, “Why, don’t you know? He’s the King … It is he, not you, that will save (your friend) Mr. Tumnus.”
“Is – Is he a man?” asked Lucy.
“Aslan a man!” said Mr. Beaver sternly. “Certainly not. I tell you he’s the King of the wood and the son of the great Emperor-Beyond-the-Sea. Don’t you know who is the King of Beasts? Aslan is a lion – The Lion, the great Lion.”
“Ooh!” said Susan. “I’d thought he was a man. Is he – quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion.”
“That you will, dearie, and no mistake,” said Mrs. Beaver, “if there’s anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they’re either braver than most or else just silly.”
“Then he isn’t safe?” said Lucy.
“Safe?” said Mr. Beaver. “Don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? ’Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King I tell you.”
“I’m longing to see him,” said Peter, “even if I do feel frightened when it comes to the point.”
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In another book in this seven-book series, Lucy is older and goes back to the fantasy-land where Aslan is king:
“Aslan” said Lucy “you’re bigger”.
“That is because you are older, little one” answered he.
“Not because you are?”
“I am not. [Remember that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever…] But every year you grow, you will find me bigger.” [And perhaps a bit scarier, as well…]
I, too, long to see Jesus my King. But it will be with fear and trembling. Amen.
Great God of Creation,
Lead us into our 2nd hundred years of worship in this sanctuary.
Prepare us for everything You would have us do and be here at LPC.
Confirm Your direction with joy and hope.
In Jesus’ authority. Amen. ……….
Ordination / Installation of New Officers
As we celebrate the honor and calling of leaders in God’s Church, we do so from God’s Word, the verses just prior to today’s sermon passage, I Corinthians 12:1-13 (#711 in your hymnbooks, and on the screens in front of you). Let’s read these verses responsively (I’ll read the smaller font, and all-y’all read the bold font):
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Pastor Kathy calls our new officer forward: (Linda Soderstrom)
As Linda – who was unable to be with us last Sunday – stands before us, I invite the whole congregation to confess our faith together – reciting the Apostles’ Creed, what do we believe?
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27-29 Let’s come to the Lord in prayer –
- what are some praises, thanksgivings, adorations we want to offer?
- Is there a person or a situation you want to lift to our Lord for His answers and grace?
30 We pray this in the name of Jesus, who taught us to pray: [The Lord’s Prayer]
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We are living, breathing messages of God’s love for the world. This is our work of faith and our labor of love and our steadfastness of hope in Jesus Christ. Like the earliest Christians, we are here in this place because of the commitment and faith and generosity of others who shared the Good News of the Gospel in their time.
So we turn now, in our time, and share our faith and our commitment through generous giving to support the ministry of this church in Christ’s name. Let us gather our gifts together and offer them to God in gratitude and praise.
– Offering (4449 N Nevada St, Spokane, 99207 ; or click HERE, or text 833-976-1333, code “Lidgerwood”)
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Expedition Song #415 – It Is God Who Holds the Nations –! – Ken & Donna Stone! We opened today with a prayer of submission to God’s reign, and we close today with a declaration of God’s wonder and our praise to His glory!
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We continue with this benediction: May we Grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ.
Be filled with God’s Holy Spirit.
And give glory to God, today, and forever! Amen.
And as we do that: “May the Lord bless you and protect you;
may the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you;
26 may the Lord look with favor on you and give you peace.”
39 Announcements
This afternoon, at 3:30, at Calvary Baptist Church, the oldest Black Church in Washington, is celebrating its 132nd anniversary, and we are invited to join in the celebration. If you’d like to join Kathy and me for this celebration/worship – please talk to me before you leave today.
Resources:
Lewis, CS; The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe; Collie Books; NY, NY; 1950; Pp. 74-76.
Lewis, CS; Prince Caspian; Collie Books; NY, NY; 1951; P. 141.
Mulholland, M. Robert; Shaped by the Word; Upper Room Press; Nashville, TN; 2000; P. 16.
The New Compact Bible Dictionary: The Bible Handbook Series; Zondervan; Grand Rapids, MI; 1981; P. 173.
Wheeler, Mark; “What Did God Say? ‘Is He Safe?”; Lidgerwood Presbyterian Church; 10/02/2005.
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