Fear and shame must not separate us from God

Sermon Outline:

Title: Fear and shame must not separate us from God

Subject: How did Israel respond when they met God?

Complement: They were ashamed and fearful because of their sin and so they made a Golden Calf as a mediator between them and God.

Exegetical Idea: When Israel met God they were ashamed because of their sin and so they made a Golden Calf as a mediator between them and God

Homiletical Idea: Fear and shame must not separate us from God

Purpose: As a result of preaching this sermon, I want my listeners to know that God desires a direct and personal relationship with them.

We live in a time where technology has replaced much of our personal interactions. It is much easier today to send a text than to make a call, and it is much easier to make a call than to see someone in person and the interesting thing is that it’s often a mutual preference. We will often find that people would rather receive a text, an email, or a call rather than to have you stop by their home or job to discuss certain things. It’s as if we are trying to hide from each other, and I think we are. We want to consciously or unconsciously hide from the fact that we are not hospitable, patient, loving, or we just want to hide from the fact that we are not very clean and that our house is a mess. It’s like hiding we are trying to hide our shame. We fear our shame being exposed in our interactions with people. If your boss comes over to your house he will see your cat and find out that it did not die last week when you asked for a day off because you were too devastated. Adam and Even had that same problem. They felt shame when they sinned against God and so they feared God’s presence and tried to hide from him so He wouldn’t see their shame. There is a popular saying in Brazil that my mom used to say to me whenever I would hide from her for fear that she would punish me for doing something that I alleged not having done (when I had really done it), “If you don’t owe, you don’t fear”. It means that if I hadn’t done anything wrong, then there was no reason for me to hide from her, but if I was hiding is because I did something wrong and I didn’t want to pay for it. It’s the same reason why people avoid collection calls, because they can’t or don’t want to pay back their debt, and so we hire a lawyer instead. Shame creates fear and fear created distance and we put barriers between our creditors and us until we are ready to pay back. Those barriers can be an object or a person. It can be a text message, a lawyer, or as we will learn today, in the case of Israel, it was a Golden Calf. In order not to expose their sin and shame, in fear of having a direct relationship with God, Israel made and Idol before the Lord, a lifeless mediator between them and God. But God’s message to us today is that fear and shame must not separate us from Him.

I See Your True Colors

“You with the sad eyes

Don't be discouraged

Oh I realize

Its hard to take courage

In a world full of people

You can lose sight of it all

And the darkness inside you

Can make you feel so small

But I see your true colors

Shining through

I see your true colors

And that's why I love you

So don't be afraid to let them show

Your true colors

True colors are beautiful

Like a rainbow”