Reading 1 Dt 10:12-22
Moses said to the people:
“And now, Israel, what does the LORD, your God, ask of you
but to fear the LORD, your God, and follow his ways exactly,
to love and serve the LORD, your God,
with all your heart and all your soul,
to keep the commandments and statutes of the LORD
which I enjoin on you today for your own good?
Think! The heavens, even the highest heavens,
belong to the LORD, your God,
as well as the earth and everything on it.
Yet in his love for your fathers the LORD was so attached to them
as to choose you, their descendants,
in preference to all other peoples, as indeed he has now done.
Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and be no longer stiff-necked.
For the LORD, your God, is the God of gods,
the LORD of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome,
who has no favorites, accepts no bribes;
who executes justice for the orphan and the widow,
and befriends the alien, feeding and clothing him.
So you too must befriend the alien,
for you were once aliens yourselves in the land of Egypt.
The LORD, your God, shall you fear, and him shall you serve;
hold fast to him and swear by his name.
He is your glory, he, your God,
who has done for you those great and terrible things
which your own eyes have seen.
Your ancestors went down to Egypt seventy strong,
and now the LORD, your God,
has made you as numerous as the stars of the sky.”
Gospel Mt 17:22-27
As Jesus and his disciples were gathering in Galilee,
Jesus said to them,
“The Son of Man is to be handed over to men,
and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day.”
And they were overwhelmed with grief.
When they came to Capernaum,
the collectors of the temple tax approached Peter and said,
“Does not your teacher pay the temple tax?”
“Yes,” he said.
When he came into the house, before he had time to speak,
Jesus asked him, “What is your opinion, Simon?
From whom do the kings of the earth take tolls or census tax?
From their subjects or from foreigners?”
When he said, “From foreigners,” Jesus said to him,
“Then the subjects are exempt.
But that we may not offend them, go to the sea, drop in a hook,
and take the first fish that comes up.
Open its mouth and you will find a coin worth twice the temple tax.
Give that to them for me and for you.”
On Wednesday evening (Last week), I was having a discussion with someone and I mentioned “Fear of God.” He told me he wasn’t comfortable with the word “Fear of God” because he doesn’t want to relate with his God with fear. I had to begin to explain what fear of God connotes before he was persuaded.
In the first reading of today, Moses repeated to the people two times, they must fear the Lord their God.
What does it mean to fear the Lord? To fear the Lord is different from having an unpleasant emotion of threat or danger, it is not to be nervous or suspicious of harm or hurt. It is different from having a feeling of dread in the presence of a tyrant or dictator.
Fear of God means absolute reverence, awe and love for a mighty God who is so mighty and yet so loving and good to us. So fear of God is prompted by His greatness and love not even principally because of the dread of punishment.
To fear Him is:
- To hate everything that grieves Him. Basically, it is to intentionally avoid sin, knowing how much He detests it so great and loving a God.
- To fear Him means to want nothing else but to do only what is pleasing to Him and what brings honour to His name.
- To fear God is to be careful of what we do to others or how our actions or in-actions affect them.
The Gospel
In today’s gospel, Jesus talked freely about his death, his disciples were sad but he seemed quite pleased. Why? Because in it, the Father will be honoured and glorified and that is all that matters.
Later, Jesus paid the temple tax, which he was not obliged to pay but he did, so as not to give offence. This is what it means that when we fear God, it affects our judgment positively. We are more careful about how our actions and decisions affect others.
May I leave us with Psalm 111: 10- The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and all who do so proves themselves wise.
Again, after so many wise admonitions in the book of Ecclesiastes, the author summarized everything thus;
Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man (Ecclesiastes 12:13).
Sermon preached by Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Okami on August 12, 2019