.
I, the Lord, your God,
I am holding you by the right hand;
I tell you, ‘Do not be afraid,
I will help you.’ Is 41:13
A couple of years ago I had the opportunity to look through some old homilies, mostly given by Christchurch bishops in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s.
I was surprised by their tone, fairly harsh, filled with fearsome warnings about an evil world and seeking to build up strong walls around the Church.
Then today we read from the prophet Isaiah the most tender and intimate description of our God who is present and loving.
I am holding your hand says God. Do not be afraid.
I know that my Canterbury ancestors – in the same years as those well-intentioned bishops were spreading fire and brimstone – would have benefitted from hearing about a tender and loving God.
Today, reminded by the last line of today’s Gospel reading, we do have ears and we are listening.
You might take a moment to scribble to a page or text yourself this message and refer to it often today knowing that God is speaking to you directly saying:
I, the Lord, your God,
I am holding you by the right hand;
I tell you, ‘Do not be afraid,
I will help you.’
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Take an initiative and send me a date time and place for a FFF cafe-catchups. john@fff.org.nz. I’ll advertise these on each morning’s post throughout Advent.
Christchurch
Monday 15 December 10.00am
Moko Bush Inn Centre
Waimairi Road, Christchurch. Trish
New Plymouth
Thursday 18 December 1.30pm
Stumble Inn
200 Mangorei Road
New Plymouth. Joan
Yesterday morning’s Cafe Gathering in Lower Hutt
Thanks so much for this. A beautiful reading of a loving God. It gives so much hope and love, much needed in these times.
I don’t believe our natural instinct is to be afraid of God, fear was taught as a way of making us become reliant on membership in the church that saves us. It is still in my opinion inherent in the church today and impacts on our real mission to bring the good news of God’s love for all and hope where hope is lost. Thank God for Pope Francis and our now Pope Leo changing that perception while challenging us for mission.
Such an evocative description of God’s love for us. Just beautiful. The concept of fearing God is an interesting one too. I remember reading that references to fearing God in the bible weren’t necessarily about being terrified of getting on the wrong side of him, but more holding such a high level of respect and a desire to do right by him, in the same we do towards loving parents.