This morning our pastor said something from the pulpit that rang with truth and reverberated to my soul: so many churches today have lost their sense of reverence and respect for the holiness of God and the transferred holiness of Christians. I remember so many times when I was in youth group we were encouraged to talk to God like he was a friend, that our discourse was to be relaxed and easy. I had a hard time being comfortable with that because I was raised in a home where the word and name of the I AM was revered and respected. We never prayed that way at home, and I am so grateful that our dad instilled in us a pattern for prayer that was respectful and imitative of the pattern Christ set out in the gospels. But beyond prayer, there has been a shift, even in the past 20 years, in how churches approach the throne. Growing up, we always wore dresses or skirts, as did the majority of people we attended with. It was never conveyed as being a sign of prosperity or vanity, rather we were told that looking our best was meant to be a tangible representation of wanting our hearts to be their best before the Lord. We were going to the house of God and wanted to dress with the respect and deference His sacrifice demanded. And yet, even I am guilty of lowering my standards in this area, among others. It is like we have tried so hard to make God approachable that we have forgotten the seriousness of the trespasses that mark our inadequacies before the One who saved us. There is so much that is serious about faith, yet we downplay it all to make ourselves feel better and to make God more friendly and less fatherly. So in an effort to help myself, and maybe help you, here is how my heart is feeling today.
I am ashamed. I have been lackadaisical in my approach in many areas of my faith. It is so easy for me to think that since God has the plan and knows everything, that my attitude and heart will be fine in the end. The danger with that attitude is that I become more susceptible to laziness in my faith, and subsequently discipline from God. If my heart is not right before the Lord, if my behaviour is not what it should be, if I am not working to train my tongue, then I am creating an environment in which God will have to move his hand to correct me. Being saved isn’t enough, and being saved will not excuse poor execution of my faith. I think this is why Paul said in almost every letter he wrote that we should live to be worthy of what we have attained, what we have been called to, what we have been given. If I don’t live mindfully of the gift bestowed on my life, than what value does that gift really have in my life? I think Paul recognised the danger of a faith so easily accepted; that it would become easy to forget the reverence due God once the all-access pass had been granted. This is an area where Israel did better than us, even when they were totally wrong in their execution. Every rule, every ceremony, every holiday, everything about the way they practiced their religion pointed to the immense holiness and greatness of God. The robes and coverings, the rules surrounding sacrifice, the way they worshiped; it was all about holiness. Even Moses, as we read this morning, was told to remove his shoes in the middle of the bush because he was standing on holy ground. He was too afraid to look at the burning bush, so he kept his gaze averted. Am I that scared to view God? Am I that aware of the great holiness of God? I like to think so, but the reality is that I haven’t trained my heart to recognise the fullness of reverent fear my faith should reflect.
It was in thinking of all this that I really considered the place of humanity in God’s world. God created us to be above the angels. I find this so interesting because so often I think of angels as having greater significance than I. In bible stories they are powerful or awe inspiring. Angels in scripture were mistaken for God. But in actuality, they merely reflected the greater glory of God. They were like moons reflecting the light of the Son. And these beings that appeared so glorious are counted as less than us in the bigger picture of God’s creation. Angels do not have the opportunity for redemption. Think about that; all the angels that joined Satan were forever banished from God’s heaven. There was no going back. There was no way for them to bridge the gap of their sin. There was no get out of jail card. And there never will be. But we, as sinning and constantly failing humans, are given the gift of redemption. God so values us that He provided a way for us to be in his presence forever. In every way, we are closer to God than the angels will ever be, even as they sit in the presence of Him. God indwells us. He is with us at every moment, in every day. He is with us always. Angels cannot say that. We have been gifted with so much more than the perfect beings that share heaven. I wonder, sometimes, if angels look at us with disbelief; that we are given so much forgiveness and yet remain so repeatedly ungrateful. That we, who have been given the greatest gift anyone could ever know, remain so irreverent as we approach the throne of God. It makes me feel so blind and dumb. That I have failed God so many times in this way. That I stand before Him and do not give him the reverence and fear due to One so great. I petition Him in prayer without removing the dirt of my life. I carry my filth to the throne room and then haughtily expect Him to answer my prayers. Oh, thank you Jesus for standing between me and the Father and hiding my repulsiveness. God, in all of his holiness, would never be able to look at me covered in the filth of my sin. I am reprehensible. I am abhorrent. I am all things unholy. And yet, I forget to bow low before the I AM. I stand, unabashed in my sin, before the One who would not even acknowledge me but for the grace and mercy of God through Christ. May I be forgiven for so brazenly behaving in such an unworthy manner. May I start today to train my heart to bow low before the Holy One. May I teach my girls, through actions as well as speech, to lay prostrate before the Father. May I approach God with all the reverence and respect his great holiness deserves. Like Moses, may I remember to remove my shoes. For I have become holy ground.
faith from the stove 