Fear God, Not Man

Friday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time C-2

Entrance Antiphon Ps 130 (129):3‑4 If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, Lord, who could stand? But with you is found forgiveness, O God of Israel.

Collect May your grace, O Lord, we pray, at all times go before us and follow after and make us always determined to carry out good works. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Scripture today: Ephesians 1:11-14; Psalm 32; Luke 12:1-7

Meanwhile, when a crowd of many thousands had gathered, so that they were trampling on one another, Jesus began to speak first to his disciples, saying: Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs. I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him. Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. (Luke 12:1-7)

Fear God, Not Man There is an old piece of advice that one ought not write in a letter anything which one would not wish to see published. In the age of electronic mail, many think that electronic messages are not seen by others, but of course major prosecutions are effected by producing what transpired by electronic mail. Electronic mail between criminals is easily monitored. Another common saying is that there are no secrets. That is to say, once something is confided to another (we are not here speaking of the Seal of Confession, of course), one must be prepared for the possibility that it may come to public light. These common facts of life give us an intimation of what our Lord refers to in today’s Gospel. The setting is that of throngs pressing on our Lord, striving to hear him and benefit from his ministry. On the face of it, our Lord’s ministry appeared to be extremely successful. Many seemed led by it to God. But in the midst of this abundance of apostolic work, our Lord warns his disciples of the sin that is lurking behind and in the midst of the throngs, sin that would lead to his being crushed. It was the hidden sin of many of the religious leaders, the scribes and the Pharisees. They projected the face of goodness and religious observance, but in their hearts they were scheming calumny against Christ and the destruction of his Person. They were hostile to the good effects of his ministry. The ones who were doing this were “hypocrites.” Hypocrisy was the “yeast” that permeated their actions, and which poisoned those who fell under their influence. Never look to their example, our Lord tells his disciples. How they appear is not how they are, and how a person really is will inevitably come to light. Their secret words and schemes will be revealed by God on the great day of Judgment, and their true character will be manifest. “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs.”

Our Lord is led to make a further point. Do not fear the judgments or the threats of one’s fellow man if they run counter to the will of God. “I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more.” This, of course, is a major warning that reaches to all corners of human living. I remember when I was beginning my preparation for the priesthood many years ago, the priest responsible for that early stage of preparation warned often against “human respect.” By this expression he meant being unduly influenced by what others would think when it comes to doing what is true and right. How powerful is this factor in human life! We are inherently social, and this good characteristic can so easily lead us to succumb to bad influences. I remember when Pope Paul VI came to Australia at the end of 1970 he addressed the journalists in French. He told them that they were world power number one. How true this is, and how sad it is that the press fails so repeatedly and dismally to portray the truth. I believe that one reason for this common failure of the press to serve the truth is that too many journalists follow the pack of their fellow journalists and think and write as they are expected to. They lack the courage to question and oppose the trend and the assumptions that drive the trend. Or again, let us take what is perhaps the greatest challenge facing the Christian religion. I refer to the evangelization of culture and society. Our Western culture is secular. Publicly, at least, God is made to be absent. A proposal is made that in a nature reserve, a picture of St Francis of Assisi be set in place, for he is a patron saint of ecology. But no — it is rejected because it is a religious symbol. How is society’s culture to become religious again? It will only happen if people bear public witness to their faith. For instance, how many have the courage to make the sign of the Cross and say silent grace before meals in a restaurant, or when passing a Catholic church? Too many fear what others will think, and because evil flourishes when good people do nothing, the evil of God being absent from society flourishes. We must fear God and not man.

Our Lord tells his disciples to fear offending God above all. In their secret conversations, the Pharisees to whom our Lord had referred failed to do this. It would all come to light. So then, “I will show you whom you should fear,” our Lord continues. “Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him. Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” (Luke 12:1-7)

(E.J.Tyler)

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A Second Reflection: (Luke 12:1-7)

On the Fear of God It has been said that a very good indicator of popular culture and its values lies in the characters of popular fiction, and how these characters are portrayed as thinking. One thinks, say, of James Bond and various other figures of contemporary fiction. One of the characteristics of such figures is that they show little fear. Of course, they have no fear at all of God because God is to them a non-entity. Our Lord speaks of a different kind of fearlessness. He tells his disciples, "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. I will tell you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has the power to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him" (Luke 12:1-7). Whom then must we fear? We must fear God, fear displeasing him. The context of our Lord's remarks here is his criticism of the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. They lived for the approval of men, and they feared the loss of this approval.

We, the friends of Christ, are to live in the presence and the sight of God, who has counted every hair on our heads. Let us ask our Lady and our guardian angel to help us grow in a filial fear of offending God our heavenly Father, leading us to do nothing that will separate us from him — now or hereafter.

(E.J.Tyler)