Do not be Afraid!

In the Gospel passage, Jesus saw past the loud and abusive voice of the man who cried out when Jesus was teaching in the synagogue. He recognised that the man was ill and instead of arguing with him or being rude to him, he addressed the thing that was troubling him. He spoke to him in a way that brought inner healing and peace. We assume that we could not heal people as Jesus did and that may be true. But we could probably do more to help them if we were less afraid of them and saw them as loved children of an awesome God.

Has the Orthodox Church got something to teach us about the awesome majesty of God?

Recently, there has been as icon exhibition at the Ballarat Art Gallery. Christians have used icons for worship almost from the time of Jesus. Images of Jesus were painted on the walls of places like the Catacombs in Rome and later onto wooden plaques to help people focus attention in worship. Millions of Christians through the centuries have used these objects. God is never painted as we must never even try to come up with such an image, but Jesus was a historical person so it’s okay to paint him though the icons are not meant to be a photographic representation of the person. They are two dimensional images which suggest what it is about that person that demands veneration.

Icons are not objects of worship in themselves but are intended to assist people to worship. They come from such a different culture and practice from ours that it is easy for us to judge them and the people who use them from our perspective. The skill of those who produced most of the ones on display is incredible and they were obviously produced with much love and care. Most that we saw were of Mary, the mother of Jesus, and of saints such as the Gospel writers. People pray to these people to intercede with God because they believe they are not worthy to speak directly with God. They are used by people whose form of worship shows their awe of God.

Paradoxically we hear over and over in Scripture, when a messenger of God appears, the first words are, “Fear not,” “Do not be afraid.” Like many other things associated with our faith, the fear of God is to be held in balance. We can be crushed by fear and we can be inhibited in our growth to wisdom by dismissing it. May the awesomeness of God and all creation lead you to wisdom and truth.

Rev Julianne Parker

(for full sermon see sermons page)