Fear and Pride Come Calling (Again) - Rev. David Pileggi

Since the rebellion in the Garden, the human family has been afflicted by the sins of fear and pride. In rejecting what it means to be created in God’s image, we enter the AI age with fears of uncertainty and mortality, and along with the desire to be like gods we find ourselves on a dangerous precipice. We must respond by rejecting the false promises of technology and its dehumanization. The majesty of man is restored when we model our lives on King Jesus and put his teaching into practice.

While the Spirit of God is given freely to all who come to faith, being regularly filled with His Spirit is another matter. Like water that always flows to the lowest place, the Holy Spirit keeps a home in those who live humbly, practice forgiveness, and strive for unity with their brothers and sisters. In today’s readings we see in the life of Moses (and more) the extraordinary power that these characteristics will bring in a believer’s life.

The command to love God with a whole heart raises some questions: How can love be commanded? Can love be without emotion? When we understand this love as more than a theological concept, how is it expressed? Not surprisingly, in the Scriptures we find a common thread of thought and practice stretching from Deuteronomy to the Gospel of John and beyond: Love motivates obedience, leading to intimacy, and brings Joy – which leads to more love, obedience, intimacy and a Joy that overflows. Praise the Lord !!!

The shepherd imagery of Psalm 23 is well known and loved by many. What is not so well known is that this psalm is set in the barren Judean wilderness, not on the lush, green hills usually imagined. Yet God is able to provide abundantly despite scarcity and danger. And like this psalm, Isaiah 25 assures us that one day God will rescue and provide a feast for all peoples to celebrate His victory over this world’s enemies.

We often find ourselves trusting in our own strength and zeal to live for God, only to end up unsuccessful. However, it is a trustworthy statement that when man fails, God does not. How do we become overcomers? How do we live completely sold out for Jesus? Living for God—and in some cases, dying for Him—comes through the promise of the power of the Holy Spirit.

Like the disciples on the road to Emmaus, we also can be confused and disappointed in how God is working through the death and resurrection of Jesus. But we can learn from the questions asked by the people on the day of Pentecost: What does this mean? What should we do? And we can rediscover that sense of wonder experienced by the disciples when meeting the risen Lord.

In some churches the second Sunday of the Easter season is known as Divine Mercy Sunday. When reading John’s account of Jesus' appearance with His disciples we see His divine mercy take concrete form. Like the disciples, we are invited to meet the Risen Jesus with all of our senses. And like them, it is in repentance and trust in Him that we can respond with joy in a world full of fear and doubts, because our salvation is not based on theology, but in meeting the Person of Jesus Himself.

To better appreciate the unique way that Matthew tells of Jesus’ resurrection, we need to remember the themes in his narrative of Jesus’ birth – fear, _im-anu-el,_ intrigue, worship, deception and death, all of which come to prominence in Matthew’s account of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. The worship of _Im-anu-el_ allows us to move beyond fear and weakness to having the joy and courage to obey His command, “Go and make disciples.”

After weeping over the city He loves, Jesus enters Jerusalem and cleanses the Temple. All four gospels record this event, but only Matthew recalls that the lame and blind come to Him and are healed. In highlighting God's love for the ignored and neglected, Matthew reveals the essential nature of Jesus' identity and the redemption He offers, not only to Jerusalem but to all who come to Him today.

The scriptures appointed for this week, and a close encounter with mortality prompted this sermon's reflection on death. The fear of death is the work of the devil and its denial and trivialization are symptoms of our inability to come to terms with our mortality. The pairing of Psalm 130 with the raising of Lazarus in John's gospel reveals the patch to liberation from such fears and distortions.