Today’s
Scripture Reading (November 29, 2018): Deuteronomy 6
Thaddeus of Vitovnica, an Elder
in the Serbian Orthodox Church, taught that “one should preach not from one's
rational mind but rather from the heart. Only that which is from the heart can
touch another heart. One must never attack or oppose anyone. If he who preaches
must tell people to keep away from a certain kind of evil, he must do so meekly
and humbly, with fear of God.” Admittedly, I find the teaching of Elder
Thaddeus both daunting and appropriate. Often it is too easy to slip into the rational when it is the emotional, the
understanding of the heart, that touches the lives of people.
Of course, I
also come from a tradition that often seems to want to devalue the role of
emotion in our religious belief. I grew up in an era that was dominated by a
rational understanding of God. As I read the Bible, I still try to read with a
rational mind. But as I teach, I need the continual reminder that behavioral
change often comes from the emotions originating in our hearts, and not the
rational thoughts of our heads.
Moses tells
Israel to fear God. Nothing seems to affect our emotional well-being more than
fear. It touches the deepest parts of who we are, and if you need proof of
that, just take a look at the thrillers
of all kinds that consume us both in the movies that we choose to watch and the
television dramas that invade our homes. Fear is an important motivating factor
in our lives. But it is not that kind of fear about which Moses is trying to
teach. We are not supposed to be shrinking in fear at the thought of our
standing in the presence of an Angry God. (I am not a big fan of the classic Jonathan
Edward sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” I believe it sends a
wrong message about God.) Moses is teaching about a deep respect that we need to have for God. When we fear him, it
is our emotional response to the fact that we simply
do not measure up to God’s standard of what is good. It is an inner revulsion that
we experience as we realize our shortcomings,
knowing how great and loving our God has revealed himself to be. And that
response is a deeply emotional one.
And the idea of fearing God is
not just a product of the Tanakh or the Hebrew Bible. Jesus spoke these same
words to Satan when the chief deceiver
demanded that Jesus bow down and worship him. “Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God,
and serve him only’” (Matthew 4:10).
Satan may have the ability to produce terror in our lives, but he is unable to
demand the fierce respect of fear of which Moses was speaking. That kind of
fear belongs only to God. It is an emotional response that belongs only to the
loving God whom we serve.
Tomorrow’s Scripture
Reading: Deuteronomy 7
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