Fear No Fear

(All scripture from the World English Bible, ebible.org, all rights reserved)

“When the sky is shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against you, if they pray toward this place and confess your name, and turn from their sin when you afflict them, then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of your servants, and of your people Israel, when you teach them the good way in which they should walk; and send rain on your land which you have given to your people for an inheritance. If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence, if there is blight, mildew, locust or caterpillar; if their enemy besieges them in the land of their cities, whatever plague, whatever sickness there is, whatever prayer and supplication is made by any man, or by all your people Israel, who shall each know the plague of his own heart, and spread out his hands toward this house, then hear in heaven, your dwelling place, and forgive, and act, and give to every man according to all his ways, whose heart you know (for you, even you only, know the hearts of all the children of men); that they may fear you all the days that they live in the land which you gave to our fathers. Moreover, concerning the foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, when he comes out of a far country for your name’s sake (for they shall hear of your great name and of your mighty hand and of your outstretched arm), when he comes and prays toward this house, hear in heaven, your dwelling place, and do according to all that the foreigner calls to you for; that all the peoples of the earth may know your name, to fear you, as do your people Israel, and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by your name.”
(1 Kings 8:35-43)

“For though I was free from all, I brought myself under bondage to all, that I might gain the more. To the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain those who are under the law; to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law. To the weak I became as weak, that I might gain the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I may by all means save some. Now I do this for the sake of the Good News, that I may be a joint partaker of it. Don’t you know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run like that, so that you may win. Every man who strives in the games exercises self-control in all things. Now they do it to receive a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible. I therefore run like that, not aimlessly. I fight like that, not beating the air, but I beat my body and bring it into submission, lest by any means, after I have preached to others, I myself should be disqualified.”
(1 Corinthians 9:19-27)

Standing in front of all the people, Solomon was praying. His prayer was the acknowledgement of God’s system of grace and mercy. No matter what the people ended up choosing to do, if they would realize their mistake and error in not following God, they had a way back to Him. This wasn’t a license to ignore God. Far from it. It was the ability to REPENT. To change their minds about something, make restitution through action, and learn to walk in the way God said was right. Ideally, they might make a mistake, but they would never make the same mistake again. And it wasn’t limited to just God’s people (the Hebrews). It was available to anyone in the Land who chose to follow God with their whole hearts. It was open grace. God wasn’t playing favourites.

In the New Covenant, the structure is much the same. It is only the location of the meeting place with God that changed. Instead of a single building made and maintained with care and sacrifice, God was living within His creation. He was ALSO not limiting Himself to the Jews (the Hebrews). It was an invitation open to ALL people. In order to show them that openness, Paul was able to put himself in their position. he saw their strengths, weaknesses, and dreams. He could empathize with them and from within their system of belief, show them the freedom that existed in Jesus. He was able to demonstrate God’s grace and mercy to everyone by walking a mile in their shoes while demonstrating the power and reality of Jesus’ love for them.

Summary

Jesus isn’t a gatekeeper. He IS the gate (John 14:6). We aren’t meant to be walking around telling people how they’re going to Hell because they’re horrible. We’re meant to be a Light and a witness to show them where they COULD be – in Jesus. We’re the demonstration and the encouragement of their freedom. We are NOT to be the stamp of judgment sealing their boarding pass to separation from God. We’re encourages. We’re relationship menders. We’re not setting them up on a blind date, we’re demonstrating the love, grace, and mercy they could have in Jesus. We’re to be LOVE in a world that gets love wrong. We’re to be patient in a world of gratification. We’re to be BLESSING in a world that crawls in the dirt. We are LIGHT in darkness. We’re different. Our job is to show them how they can be different too. God wants EVERYONE to come to Him (2 Peter 3:9). We are meant to cooperate with His will, not impede His call.