01/09/05

Fearing God and Doing Right

Isaiah 42:1-10
Acts 10:34-38
Matthew 3:13-17

The English language is kind of crazy sometimes, isn't it? Some words sound alike, but are spelled differently, and have very different meanings, like ewe, a female sheep and you, you and me. Other words are spelled the same, but have different meanings in different contexts, like long meaning lengthy and long meaning yearn for. The same kind of thing occurs when we try to translate the Hebrew Old Testament or the Greek New Testament into English - sometimes even the English meanings change over the centuries, from old Bible versions to more modern ones.

A good case for the confusion of the English language could be made in today's lesson from Acts, where Peter says, "I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him." Does this really mean that only those who are afraid of God are in God's favor? No, it doesn't, though some people often think that this is the meaning. Even in a kidding way, we say that someone "has put the fear of God in me." The word fear in the context of our passage - and in many other places in the Bible - is better translated awe, reverence, respect, or devotion. Thus a God-fearing person is not someone who goes around trembling all the time, constantly afraid of being zapped by a vengeful, vindictive God, but rather, someone who is in awe of God, who reveres the Lord, who has a healthy respect for the power and majesty of God, or who shows God his or her devotion and faithfulness.

And so, the line in Acts (from which the sermon title comes) means that those who are devout and live ethical lives, that is, those who are faithful and do what is right, are the ones who most please the Almighty. This sentence from Peter's sermon in Acts marks an important turning point in the life of the early church, and in the subsequent development of Christianity. Jesus and up to this point all of his followers were Jews, but in spite of Jesus' efforts to convince them of the universality of God's love, they still felt that the good news he preached - and manifested in his life, death, and resurrection - this good news was only for those who had accepted the Jewish faith. Their understanding of Jesus' message was very exclusive. But, all this was about to change.

Earlier in the 10th chapter of Acts, a character is introduced by the name of Cornelius, a Gentile (non-Jew) centurion (an officer in the Roman army), who the author describes as "a devout man who feared God," one who financially aided those in need, and who "prayed constantly to God," by all accounts someone devout and ethical - but not Jewish. To make a long story a little shorter, Peter has a dream, a vision, in which God conveys to him a truth that Peter then repeats in his sermon - that God shows no partiality, no favoritism, that all are equal in God's eyes, and that God loves all people, Jew and non- Jew alike. Peter and Cornelius connect, and following our passage, the Holy Spirit falls upon Cornelius and he is baptized, as Jesus had been at the beginning of his ministry. Cornelius becomes the first Gentile Christian, and before long, Christianity starts becoming a world-wide movement.

Before we look in more detail at this devotion/ethics duality, let's look briefly at the statement of Peter about God showing no partiality. For me, what this means is that if one is devoted to God (whatever form this devotion takes and however one defines God) and acts righteously, then this person is accepted by God. Therefore, who are we to judge others as if we were God? I believe that Christians should avoid narrow-minded judgmentalism, because when we go down this path, we may find ourselves entrapped in the deadly sin of spiritual pride. It is in God's purview, not ours, to judge one's acceptability. In a life that Peter defines as acceptable to God, consisting of fearing God and doing what is right, devotion and ethics, both elements are necessary. To emphasize only one without the other is only half the gospel. To be all devotion is to be overly pietistic and probably hypocritical; to be all action is to be lopsided in favor of ordinary human benevolence. For sure, as it says in the Letter of James, "faith without works is dead," but likewise, works without faith can be dull, inconsistent, non-motivating, and not what Christianity is all about. (i) Fearing God and doing what is right go hand in hand.

The fearing God part, the devotion part of this duality, is fairly easy to understand. It's something we spend time on fostering and nurturing in church and in our individual lives. But the doing right part, the ethical part is a little trickier. Ethics is the discipline of right behavior, and for those of us who try to lead an ethical life, and I assume that's most of us here today, there's a constant question that comes up in so many situations in life - "What is the right thing to do in this particular situation?" Some ask, "What would Jesus do?" What's the right thing to do or the right stance to take for example, as we contemplate such diverse issues as abortion, business ethics, capital punishment, divorce, genetic manipulation and cloning, helping the needy (near to home and far away), human sexuality, hunger and poverty, nuclear armaments, war and peace? What's the right thing to do and to what authority do we turn in our decision making?

There are various authorities to which we may turn, but for Christians the Bible is an important ethical authority, the foundation document shaping our sense of what our life with God is all about. We may ask, for example, as the Deacons and I have been doing for the last few months, what the Bible says about homosexuality, and what that may mean in the life of our church, and then whatever it says or seems to say, we take our ethical stand. Yet, this is not as clear-cut as it may seem, and we are still in conversation on this important issue. We'll keep you posted.

The problem is that well-meaning people of faith may disagree with one another about what the Bible actually says or what we think it says regarding any particular issue. It gets more complicated when we compare Hebrew Bible writings to what Jesus or Paul had to say, and when we weigh the importance of each, and when we consider the cultural contexts in which they all were made. It gets even more complicated when we are considering issues that are not even expressly mentioned in the Bible, or mentioned very few times. Not easy.

Other folks look to the church as their ethical authority, and take statements from the church, or from church dogma or church doctrine to inform their own positions on issues like divorce, contraception, abortion, or gambling, for example. Sometimes the spiritual leader of a faith community, whether that be a bishop or a local pastor, can have great influence and authority, and whatever that person says, the people do. If you remember the tragic episode of the Rev. Jim Jones and the People's Temple in Guyana some years ago, then you know the danger of putting one's wholehearted trust in this kind of authority. Finally, others look to peer groups or politicians, or to the latest pop self-help books, religious or otherwise, or to magazines, newspapers, or TV news commentators, or to television evangelists like Robert Schuller and others, for their authority to help them decide the right things to do.

Many of these authorities can and do witness to the mighty deeds of God in Jesus Christ - and obviously some have no intention of doing so - yet some who do claim religious authority may at times over-reach. Not content to be earthen vessels holding a treasure, they claim to be the treasure itself, thus displacing the object of their witness. The church does this when it claims for itself or for its leaders an infallibility that can only belong to God. Well-meaning Christians sometimes do this about the Bible, when we make it an authority witnessing to itself, when we make the Bible the object of faith, rather than God who is revealed through the Bible. (ii)

Does all this mean that we should not look to the church, or to its leaders, or to the Bible for guidance and direction in how to do right in our lives? Of course not! But for the person of faith, God is the ultimate authority, and for Christians, God has been revealed by the patriarchs and prophets, but most especially by the one we call Jesus the Christ, who really did teach about and embody in his life the inclusive love of God, and who revealed the depth of God's love for us. Peter was correct in linking "fearing God" and "doing right" as the necessary components for the faithful life. And one logically follows after the other.

The Christian ethic is a response ethic - the initiative comes from God; God starts the process. God comes to us, finds us, reveals Godself to us, and loves us. This causes us to respond. The circle is completed when we respond with devotion and then with ethical behavior. Another way to describe the circle being completed is in the words of Jesus, who urges us to: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself." Fearing God and doing right.

The Hebrew people longed for a Messiah prior to his coming, and we get a glimpse of this longing in our lesson from Isaiah today. In this first of several "Servant Songs," the servant is interpreted by some scholars as the long-awaited Messiah, but by other scholars as the people themselves, the people of God - which of course includes us today. We are to bring forth justice among the nations, we are to be a light to others to dispel the darkness, we are to free those who are imprisoned in various ways. But our model is not one of power and might, but rather, the model of humble servanthood. Our baptized Lord Jesus is our primary servant model, and our baptism into him designates us as servants who follow Christ in ministry and mission in the world. While it may seem that servanthood could be a burden, for those who love and serve others, as some of us have done at the Pine Street Inn, for example, it is the best way to happiness and fulfillment.

A story is told about a man who travels around the world looking for the "Blue Bird of Happiness," a symbol of happiness and fulfillment. He returns home full of despair, having not found happiness and doubting he ever will. As he wallows in his sorrow there's a knock at his door, and opening it, there's a father and son, asking for help. The son is ill and longs for a pet bird to comfort him, but his father is too poor to afford any kind of pet. Now the world traveler happens to own a black bird, and he immediately offers it to the child. As he takes the bird from its cage, the bird is transformed before their eyes and becomes a blue bird, the symbol of happiness he has been seeking. The happiness he has searched for far and wide, he finds as he helps a sick child and his poor father. (iii) We will also find happiness and fulfillment by helping others.

One final question must be asked: "What if we don't do what is right?" What if we're like the Apostle Paul who once said: "I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. ... I can will what is right, but I cannot do it." (iv) We're all like this from time to time, aren't we? We know we're supposed to be devoted to God and do what is right, but we fall short. What are we to do? What is to become of us? We're to pick ourselves up and begin again, that's what. The good news is that Jesus Christ is Lord of all; that God lavishes upon us free, unmerited grace and love, gives us a new beginning every day, and gives us the power to love and serve God and our neighbor. For sure, we may fail; we may get discouraged; maybe we'll even feel like giving up - but the good news is that God does not give up on us. So let's each of us resolve today, while we're still in the mood for new year's resolutions, to put "fearing God and doing right" at the top of our list. If we do, we can be sure that God will be pleased. Amen.

The Pilgrim Church of Duxbury
Rev. Kenneth C. Landall

i Pulpit Resource, 1/8/84.
ii Robert McAfee Brown, "The Spirit of Protestantism," quoted in PR, op. cit.
iii Maeterlinck's "The Blue Bird," quoted in Emphasis, 1/8/84.
iv Romans 7:15, 18b.