Don't Forget Who We Worship

I know Jesus is our friend and we are privileged to have such an intimate relationship with him, but at the same time we can't afford to lose our reverence for Yahweh. There are times I think we have gone too far in trying to portray Jesus as "user friendly", bosom pal and life long friend. There is almost an irreverence about his name and our relationship with him. Sure, we worship but sometimes even our attitude toward that is carefree, almost flaky, as if Yahweh will accept whatever we have to offer. We need to remember who it is we worship.

Have you noticed that every time someone encountered an angel in the Old Testament they had the same reaction? Consider Joshua when he encountered the angel before his battle at Jericho:

And Joshua went to Him and said to Him, “Are You for us or for our adversaries?”

So He said, “No, but as Commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.”

And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped, and said to Him, “What does my Lord say to His servant?”

Then the Commander of the Lord’s army said to Joshua, “Take your sandal off your foot, for the place where you stand is holy.” And Joshua did so. (Joshua 5:13-15)

Everyone always ends up on their face. It is a normal, natural, automatic reaction when encountering the glory of Yahweh. And when Joshua did not show enough reverence, forgetting to remove his sandals, he was instructed to do so. In our effort to modernize we seem to be losing this reverence in favour of the "Santa Claus" mentality.

How we approach our God depends on how you see yourself in the relationship and in life. Joshua knew he was appointed to his position by Yahweh. He know that he was the leader of Yahweh's people. He knew he was a man under orders. He knew that none of this was for his pleasure but for the glory of his God and the prosperity of the people. In short, Joshua understood he was a servant under the command of Yahweh. As such, it was natural for him to hold his reason for living in great reverence because of all he represented to Joshua.

We may think we see ourselves this way but take a good look at your life. Why do you do the things you do? Are you living for Jesus, with everything in your life coming from that motivation? Is everything you do directed by the Spirit for the glory of the Father? Is your purpose to bring him glory by serving other people? Or is Jesus more a part-time thing, something you fit in when you have time in your busy day? Are your goals your goals and are they about you?

It may seem like an oversimplified thing but from my experience, when Jesus is your reason for breathing there is a natural reverence in the relationship but when you are your reason for living there is a lack of reverence. I have had many conversations with Jesus during my life and I noticed something about them. Any conversation where I remained standing or sitting I tended to walk away and do what I wanted to do. Any conversation where I ended up on my face I walked away to do my Master's will. The difference was my attitude in approaching the conversation. Is Jesus truly everything to you? You should be able to tell by the reverence you give to him.

Being Cheap With Jesus

Imagine you were a student and you had a History oral report due. You have been told that you are permitted to use any visual and audio props you wish to include. The teacher says "Knock my socks off with what you can do". You brag to all your friends how fantastic your report is going to be. You build up great expectations for your teacher. To great fanfare it comes to your turn. You stand in front of the class and read from your miserably boring PowerPoint slides. You receive a lousy grade.

Imagine your boss has given you a major project. You get paid a six figure salary to produce excellent work. You receive a great budget for the project because the boss does not want there to be any excuses. With each progress update you build a sense of anticipation for the boss. The buzz is happening throughout the company as everyone looks forward to the results of the project. Finally the due date has arrived. The boss and all employees gathering in the warehouse for the unveiling. After all that time, money and anticipation you present some tooth pick models and children stick figure drawings. You are fired.

Of course these are not things we would offer to people in authority over us. We would do our best to honour their authority. Offering less than our best reveals the condition of our heart and shows great disrespect for the authority. If we can understand this concerning temporary things, why can't we also understand it for the more important permanent spiritual things?

Malachi the prophet records some of Yahweh's complaints against his nation Israel. It was not so much their action as it was what their action revealed about the condition of their hearts. It seems that the attitude Yahweh saw was exactly as described above. The people would make a big show of honouring him with their sacrifices but what they offered was second best. They offered the animals that they could not sell. Whatever was left over is what they put on the altar. Yahweh reminded them, in a very simple but direct manner, who he is:

"For I am a great King", says the Lord of hosts, "And my name is to be feared among the nations." (Malachi 1:14)

The Message puts it in a way we might more readily appreciate:

"I'm a great King, God-of-the-Angel-Armies, honoured far and wide, and I'll not put up with it!"

The people of Israel had moved away from Yahweh and had lost their respectful reverence of who he is. Have you read Revelation recently? Do you know who Jesus is? Do you draw close to him to allow the Spirit to keep alive your reverence of the Name above all names? Do you realize who the Father is and what we owe him? For most people the answer is no. We have tried to make him so user friendly that we have reduced him to best friend and chum. Although there is an element of that familiarity to our relationship, he is so much more than that.

Many of us are just like the Israelites, keeping ourselves at a distance, offering our second best, our left-overs. Instead of offering our first fruits we offer what we think we can afford after everyone else has had a go at our harvest. We usually give to him whatever is left offer of our time, when we are already tired and just wanting to sleep, if we offer any time at all. As for service, it's whatever we can fit in when and if we can fit it in.

Look around at other people's devotion to their gods which are no gods at all. Look at the effort of the Muslims to a god who offers no hope or love. Look at people's dedication to their health or education. Look at the effort people put into their causes. You would think that the Christian who understood who Jesus is and what he has done for us and what he expects from us, would give all that they have to him.

Be hot or cold, said Jesus, just don't be lukewarm. If you are I will spit you out. And that is exactly what most of us have become, lukewarm. Very few are filled with the knowledge, wisdom, power and passion of someone who knows Jesus. We are more the religious type who read their Bible before going to sleep, dutifully say their cold prayers, stoically attend church, pay their tithes and are satisfied with their "sacrifice". It looks good but Father knows our hearts. There is a lot of spitting going on.

We need to re-capture the vision of who Jesus Christ is, after the resurrection. We need to hear those words, "For I am a great King, and my name is to be feared among the nations", and understand who it is we serve. We need to lay it all out on the altar, our very best. Don't harbour the altitude that you can offer something less than you would offer a person of authority on this earth. Our best belongs to Yahweh. Our lives belong to Yahweh. Our time, talents, possessions, relationships all belong to Yahweh. Our lives should reflect our reverence for our Lord. Nothing less will do.

Dealing With The Four Letter Word "Submit"

Submit is a hard word in our every changing society but it should not be a hard word in the Church. In our society we are building our own little kingdom where we imagine ourselves king. We rule and only our opinion counts. It is all about independence, freedom and rights. The Kingdom of God is based on different principles than this and submission is part of it:

Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. (Ephesians 5:21)

Because we are raised in this society and we are influenced by it, we can find this to be a hard word even in the Church but we need to keep it in context in this passage.

Paul has just finished telling us to encourage each other and to promote the glory of God to each other. In love we have this duty to each other. We must lift each other up by lifting up Jesus. It is in this context that Paul then writes that, out of our love and respect for Jesus, we must tend to our duty to one another. We must give ourselves to each other, to give and receive from each other, to encourage and be encouraged.

When I become unbalanced and allow my flesh to cloud my judgement, when I feel low, discouraged or even overwhelmed at times, it is my wife who speaks encouraging words to me. Not ego stroking words of affirmation but instead words that remind me of God's glory. These are words that bring balance to my thinking and heart as I am reminded of Jesus, his promises and his sovereignty. I submit to my wife's duty to me. I accept her words and allow them to drive all darkness from my mind and heart. I yield to the Christ in her. It is not just my wife to whom I submit.

I am surrounded by people who encourage me in the Lord. As a pastor I need that as much as everyone else. People come a listen to my preaching and teaching. They submit to my God anointed wisdom and spiritual insights. They set aside their opinion, self centered thinking, and in an act of submission, accept from me what God is providing. They in turn do the same for me in many various ways, encouraging me, reminding me of the glory of our King. It is the duty we have to one another.

Here I insert a word of caution. We do not need to submit to another person's opinion. We do not to be stroked with words that fill us with selfish thinking: "you are intelligent, beautiful, talented". We do not need the world spoken into us but the glory of God. Our encouragement does not come from someone telling us we are beautiful but instead reminding us of the faithfulness of God. When I am low I do not need to hear that things will get better but instead that God is faithful to his children. When I hear God glorified I set aside my selfishness and cover myself in his glory, joining the chorus of praises that rises to our God all day long. By this I am strengthened and encouraged.

My friend, we have a duty to one another. We must take the time to encourage each other by glorifying God. We must also be willing to submit to one another, to set aside our selfish thoughts and be reminded of the glory of Jesus. In this way we will go all the way and overcome every mountain before us. Our life will be one of joy, peace and hope. Our hearts will overflow with love, adding to the praise of our God. Let us submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. For this to happen we must be sure that we are not sharing our opinion or things of this world but instead the promises of God, lifting up Jesus, and speaking the Word to each other, allowing the Spirit to work through us. Make sure it is God you are glorifying and not the person to whom you are speaking. To God be the glory.