Holy Fear (Or, Reverence)

Reflections on bringing our troubles to the Lord, different types of fear, and trust based on today's readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/020125.cfm

Sometimes it is best to simply overlook a misunderstanding. When one has a false or distorted view of something, it can occasionally do more harm to correct the misunderstanding than to leave it alone. Sometimes it is simply a trivial misunderstanding.

However, there are other times when the misunderstanding itself is doing great harm, and a correction would actually bring about great healing rather than do more harm. Usually, these misunderstandings have to do with false ways of understanding the world that distort our view of God and therefore diminish our capacity to grow in faith, hope, and love.

Today’s Gospel reading is a great example of one of these common misunderstandings that does great harm to many. It tells the story of Jesus and the disciples out at sea amidst a storm. The disciples panic and awake the Lord, who settles the storm, but not without offering the disciples a strong rebuke.

It seems that this episode is almost unanimously understood as the Lord being angered that the disciples had awakened Him, but there is nothing in the text that supports such a conclusion. In fact, if we compare this episode with other episodes from the Gospels (the hemorrhaging woman, the Syrian woman, the paralytic being dropped through the roof, etc.) we would actually be more likely to say that the Lord would desire that they woke Him up and would commend their faith.

So, why does that not happen in this case? Why were those other Gospel characters exalted by the Lord while the disciples receive such a sharp criticism in this episode? It is very helpful to return to the text and see what is actually said.

The disciples do not simply wake the Lord up, asking in full trust that He put out the storm, but instead awaken Him and accuse Him of not caring for them. It is not that they woke Him up, but how they woke Him up. They did not approach Him with faith; they approached Him with accusation.

And this seems to be exactly what the Lord criticizes. He does not say, “how dare you ruin my beauty sleep!” Instead, He says, “why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?”

Again, it is not that they ask for help that bothers Him, it is that they seem to lose trust that He will help that bothers Him. He is plenty eager to wake up and calm the storm; but He is less than thrilled to be met with unjust accusations.

Though it may seem potentially an insignificant distinction, it seems to me that this distinction holds many back in their own lives. It seems that many might hear a scene like this and be discouraged from bringing their own needs to the Lord, but this would be a grave mistake.

The lesson to be learned is not that we should not bother the Lord with our troubles, but that we should not bother ourselves getting all worked up when we have been given such great assurance that the Lord will provide. The lesson is not that we don’t ask; it is that we don’t become afraid.

Too often, many will veer off the path and use fear as the excuse for doing so. But it is much more common that fear itself is the very thing they are guilty of. We ought not to excuse other sins by appealing to fear, but we should ask the Lord to forgive us for the sin of fear itself.

There is, of course, a fear that is appropriate. Reverence is an example of this type of fear. It is important to note, however, that this type of fear is not focused on a concern for punishment or danger to oneself that leads one to close in on themselves, but on the fear of failing to give the appropriate amount of love and respect to those who deserve it.

In other words, the fear of the Lord (or reverence) actually expels all other fears because we no longer worry about what might happen to us as our main priority, but that we might be doing an injustice to the Lord (or some other figure worthy of respect, such as our parents or our spouse). Holy fear, then, keeps our eyes fixed on Christ and by doing so helps extinguish sinful fear which keeps our eyes fixed on ourselves.

The disciples on the boat approach the Lord, but not with the reverence with which he ought to be approached. They do not even approach Him as a friend. Their disposition could best be described by how you expect someone to approach a servant. And do we not do the same sometimes?

Yet, in the instances when Christ commends the faith of others, it is not that they ask for less (they actually ask for much more!) or that it is at a convenient time (the hemorrhaging woman intercepts Christ on his way to heal a prominent public figure's daughter!). It is that they ask with trust and reverence.

There is nothing that we should fear bringing before our Lord, but there should be a healthy fear, a reverence, in how we are bringing it forth. Do we realize this petition is coming before the Lord of the universe, the one who suffered for us so this prayer could be answered, the one who knows the depths of our hearts and what we need better than we know ourselves?

Let us bring it all to Him in faith and trust, but let us remember who He is when we do so.