holy fear

Hebrews 11:7

The next person to make the author's list of those who had great faith is Noah. I think it's a bit strange that Noah, whose story takes a few chapters in Genesis, gets one verse, while Enoch, whose story only takes a couple of verses in Genesis, gets two verses. I get the impression that Enoch was more important to the Hebrews than the biblical record would indicate (this is supported by Jude's quotation from Enoch).
The key words in this verse are: faith (repeated three times in one verse!) and righteousness. The author emphasizes his theme of being certain of what we do not see. Here it is the coming judgment that Noah does not yet see but he has faith that what God told him would come to pass and, in faith and holy fear, built a boat to escape the judgment. His faith condemns the world and makes him an heir of righteousness.
I struggle with the whole concept of fear. I know I am supposed to fear the Lord and most pop-commentators say that means to respect the Lord. However, I think fear went a lot deeper than just respect in the biblical accounts. But I don't know why I am supposed to fear the Lord. Jesus says I should fear the one who can not just harm my body but can condemn my soul and my body. That would be cause for fear. But the bible makes it clear that I don't have to fear that condemnation any longer because I have put my faith in Christ and the fact that his death has paid the penalty for my sin; if God were to condemn me now, he would be unjust. If I approach God on my own merit, then I have much to be afraid of. But I approach God on Christ's merit. I guess I fear God in the sense that he will continue to deal with and eradicate sin and anything that does not conform to the image of Christ. I am afraid of what he might take from me. I am also afraid that God may not be trustworthy. I know that this is an irrational fear but there have been times in my life when I felt that God was setting me up with great hope and expectation only to pull the rug out from under me... sort of like Lucy continually pulling the football away from Charlie Brown just as he's going to kick it. I guess there is a sense of fear that with God in control he can and will do whatever he wants to bring him glory. However, I know that God is good and so that fear is not at all warranted.
I think that it is significant that Noah's fear was in regard to the coming judgment. Maybe that's supposed to be my fear as well; not because of what I might face but because of what people in my life will face apart from Christ. I also think it is significant that Noah's fear was holy. It was a different, pure, righteous kind of fear. I think this means that it was rooted in God's character and that it didn't debilitate him but motivated him to action. When I understand who God is and who I am apart from Christ, that shouldn't freeze me up - it should move me to act.

Joseph's obedience

Matthew 2:13-15

I've noticed that, at least in the beginning of Jesus' story, Matthew focuses more on Joseph than on Mary. I wonder if this reflects the paternalistic society that Matthew was writing to - the line of the Messiah must descend through the males and so Matthew emphasizes his paternal lineage.
In this passage, we read again of Joseph and again he is seen as a righteous and obedient man. There doesn't seem to be any questions or objections against what the angel told him. Rather, there is instant obedience. I know that Joseph lived in a culture where dreams, visions and angels were more widely accepted but it is also true that there hadn't been much revelation for centuries and so the appearance of angels wasn't exactly ordinary. Yet Joseph obeys immediately (again) - the words suggest that he didn't wait until morning but immediately got up and began preparations to leave for Egypt.
There are so many reasons not to obey - he's leaving his home country, he's leaving his family, he's leaving his business, everything he's ever known. Plus he has a new family and the message came to him in a dream. So often I justify my own "stuck in a rut" ways because I am afraid to deviate from the path. I would justify my decision and sound very wise and logical but the truth is most of my decisions are based on fear - the fear of the unknown, fear of risk, fear of looking like a fool. God, give me the simple obedience of Joseph.

fear of the unknown

Philippians 1:12-18

The key words or ideas are: the gospel of Christ, chains or being imprisoned. There is a sense of joy in the words that Paul uses - perhaps my perception is coloured by him talking about how he rejoices in the faithfulness of the Philippian church in the previous paragraphs and how he rejoices that Christ is preached at the end of this section. However, it seems like he is full of joy despite his circumstance. The source of his joy is that his being in prison has actually served to further the cause of Christ (I have to admit that I would take some perverse delight that my persecutors efforts to stop the spread of the gospel have backfired).
It seems odd at first that Paul being in jail would actually embolden others to preach. I wonder if there was a bit of the fear of the unknown. As long as it was just the threat of persecution people were afraid to share Christ but when the saw the worst that the empire could do (throw you in prison and possibly kill you) and the fact that God was sovereign over the empire (despite their best efforts, the gospel continued to spread) it gave them courage.
What are we afraid of? Right now it is the vague shadow of persecution. What's the worst someone could do to us? Well, they could trash our reputation, refuse to associate with us, we could lose our friendship with them, they might think we were weird. I think that Satan uses the fear of possibly, potentially, maybe being persecuted to keep our mouths closed and our lights dim. I think it's going to take a Paul to lead us.