Feast of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe

“Have you no fear of God, for you are subject to the same condemnation?” Lk. 23
 
Next week, we will begin Advent. We will listen to prophecies about the birth of a great king, the messiah, that would be the answer to the Jewish people’s expectations of redemption. The messiah was to defeat Israel’s enemies and rule as Lord of the nations. In his power, he would, in the words of the prophet Isaiah “delight in the fear of the Lord.” Is. 11:3
Fear of the Lord is avoiding offending someone you deeply love. We experience this kind of fear in a relationship with a deeply loved parent, sibling, spouse or friend. Fear of the Lord is sometimes called ‘reverential fear.’ Fear of punishment is the opposite of reverential fear. King David is held up by the scriptures as a person who feared the Lord. David’s fear of the Lord was his understanding of how deeply his behavior offended God. We know that because when he was confronted with his sins, which were many, he repented and tried to change.  
In the first reading, King David is in Hebron. He has been the leader of the Judeans in a long, tiring and bloody civil war against the tribes that followed the successor of the now dead King Saul. All of Israel is worn out and representatives from the tribes that followed King Saul have come to David seeking peace. They made an agreement recognizing David as the king. It was a tenuous agreement at best. Even during David’s life there were threats to unity, one lead by his son Absalom. David’s united Israel would only last a short time following his death.
Why is David held up as the example of being a good king? He was a usurper of the throne. He was an adulterer. He killed fellow Israelites in battle. His family life was atrocious. His one saving grace, however, was his fear of the Lord. When he recovered the Ark of the Covenant and brought it to Jerusalem, he danced for joy. He wanted to build a temple for the Lord. When he was disgraced and fleeing Jerusalem ahead of his son Absalom’s army, he was mocked by a man who threw clods of dirt at him. He did not retaliate then, in that he thought the man might have been sent by the Lord to humble him. He repented of his sin with Bathsheba although the child of their illicit union died in birth. David was a deeply flawed man, but in all his failures, there still lived in him a fear of the Lord. David knew when he had done wrong.
One example of David’s healthy fear of God is in the Book of Kings. David returns from battle with his soldiers who were hungry. The only food they had available was the showbread in the shrine at Nob. According to Leviticus, showbread was to be kept in the presence of the Lord in the temple. Only the priests could eat it at the end of the week. The priest Ahimelech refused to let David have the bread because it belonged to the Lord. David took it anyway. Jesus praised this action and taught us to imitate David when he said, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.  Mark 2:27.
The Gospels are meant to inspire holy fear. God is love, a gracious authority, not someone to be feared. Indeed, God is the last person we need to fear. When God sends a messenger, they always say, “Do not be afraid!” What frightens us is not from God.
God is not a punishing presence but a Father. Our relationship with God is one of holy fear. The scriptures referred to this when Jesus was crucified with one thief on his right and the other on his left. It was the thief that repented that was promised paradise when he said, ““Have you no fear of God, for you are subject to the same condemnation?” Lk.23. St. Paul in his letter to the Colossians said “He delivered us from the power of darkness
and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” Col. 1
The Holy Father has asked us to celebrate this past year as the Year of Mercy. It comes to a close this weekend. But mercy does not end with this year. You cannot have a loving relationship with a parent that terrifies you. Fear of the Lord is necessary to a saving relationship with the Father. God is the last person that we should be afraid of and the most important person we fear.