I think it’s easy to think about God and be scared of him. Or even to think about Jesus, God made human, and be scared. After all, this is God we’re talking about. He’s holy and righteous. He set the world spinning. He gave us a moral conscience and cares about right and wrong.

This morning, as I looked into the eyes of Jesus, I saw him acknowledging this — how easy it is to be afraid of him.

But I also saw him asking me to tell you that you needn’t be afraid.

There’s a story in the Chronicles of Narnia about Aslan the lion. He’s a huge lion with all the strength of a thousand men, and he can be quite ferocious, especially when confronting evil or protecting what is lovely.

And yet he befriends young children. He gives his own life to save the wayward one of them. He walks and talks with them, and they absolutely love him.

There’s a line in that story about this lion named Aslan. They say:

“He isn’t safe, but he’s good.”

It’s so easy to equate safety with goodness, isn’t it? At least for me, it’s easy to equate the two. But that’s not what Jesus offers. He offers his goodness. He offers our best. He gives us the truth, even if the truth is hard to look at.

But he’s good. He’s full of love.

Do you ever feel scared of God? What scares you about him? What is it like to consider the invitation of Jesus not to be afraid?