Everybody Worships Something

When God created us, He created us as worshippers. We were designed to worship Him. Because of sin, much of humanity does not worship the one, true God. But they still worship something.

“They” say we now live in a secular society. That is, faith and religion in traditional forms are not so central as they once were. But even though church attendance may be in decline, still, everybody worships something.

It seems that people, when not devoted to worshipping God, will worship something in the realm of pleasure, or position, or power. An example of pleasure might be worshipping a sports team. And it would be hard to deny that a good segment of our society worships sports. A worship of position is illustrated by how job or salary makes one feel good about oneself. Many people worship their job title or portfolio. A worship of power is illustrated by a devotion to politics, living and dying with polls, pontificators, and elections.

Passionate worshippers of politics have grown more numerous of late. Their “preachers” are well-paid opinion-sharers on cable TV. Congregations of people sit in rapt attention, and are anxious to share their best quotes. Rallies are substitute church services. There is an understanding of how good worshippers in this “religion” should show their loyalty, how they should talk about certain issues, and how to determine who is “in” and “out”. It is no less worship than Israel at Passover, or Christians at Lord’s Table. Oh, the content is completely different. One is true; others are false. But the frameworks of the diverse manifestations of worship are similar.

A point that Christians must face is that, just as it was possible in the OT to sacrifice to God at the Temple and at the same time to sacrifice to Baal at the high places, so we can be guilty of professing to worship God in Christ with a whole heart, and yet be caught up with other activities of worship/ idolatry. And it’s wrong. God hates it. As John says at the end of  1 John, “little children, keep yourself from idols.”

Those who live and die with Jesus (as depicted in one’s baptism), are not to live and die with a sports team, with the stock market, or with a politician, a party, or an election. God designed us to worship Him, and to worship Him alone. In this area, God is not willing to share. He wants and expects all of our worship.

Perspective Takes Time

Gaining a proper perspective takes time. This struck me when I read about 1968, on its 50th anniversary, in 2018. We can now see seeds sown then that are bearing fruit (some pretty bad fruit) now.

We’ve just experienced a year or so of pandemic. There have been previous pandemics, and a Wall Street Journal article helps to put them in perspective. The “Spanish Flu” (which, by the way, started in Kansas) is dated as 1918, while COVID is dated as 2019. The increased death rates associated with those two events are compared, and we have a lot to be thankful for. Yes, the death rate in the US jumped 16% in 2020 after 90 years of improvement. The most recent time the death rate jumped more than that was 1918, and it was worse (1929, by the way, was much less).

That’s part of the perspective. It could have been much worse. Deaths in that time took place largely in younger people, and the way that they died was often marked by bloody eruptions. This is not to discount the sadness of death in older people, or to discount dying because of lung failure, as happened so many times this past year. Death is of the enemy, no matter how happens, or at what age. But as a part of the national psychology, 1918 was more horrific.

One thing that works against this perspective is that we now live in the information age. We receive more blasts of (or, “blasted”) information that our brains can process. We spout facts without context, or, that aren’t facts at all. The media is less a dispenser of truth than a generator of hysteria. And, we lose perspective.

We’ve been through a tough time, and the 100 year lesson teaches us that we have much to be thankful for. But there are even more important perspectives: Biblical, and eternal.

First, Biblically, our God as been faithful to His purposes and to His people for generation after generation. He has provided deliverance from countless, seemingly impossible predicaments, none greater than providing salvation so that we could be reconciled with Him. 

Second, eternally, we look forward to a future in which there will be pandemics, and no death. This present time will be regarded as a moment in time, and the sorrows of these days will be remembered no more. In that day, the “old” will be regarded as young - forever young, always in fellowship, eternally blessed. Perspective. We need more it, but it takes time.

A Little Less Gravity would be Nice

I’ve never dunked a basketball. I’m not sure I ever jumped and touched the rim of the basket. Maybe once. At this point, I’ve as good a chance to dunk as I do of landing on Mars. I suspect many of us are gravitationally challenged.

I also thought that there should be a restaurant downtown across from Gravity called Levity - you know, a cheap place, where you can go in and not take yourself too seriously. A little more balance would be nice.

I’m not sure about the etymology, but “gravity” seems related to “grave”, which reminds me of a tomb. A little less gravity would be nice. A little less earth-bound-ness. A little less discouragement and depression. A lot less filthiness. But you don’t take these things away and replace them with nothing. They need to be replaced with their opposites.

So an opposite of earthiness would be heavenliness. “Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.” (Colossians 3:1–2 NAS95) I couldn’t have said it better myself.

An opposite of discouragement and depression is hope. It involves a vision of a better and brighter future, unbound from the constraints of this world. “Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.” (1 John 3:2 NAS95). Do you get the idea? Looking up. Looking forward. A little less gravity would be nice.

And an opposite of filthiness is purity. As we will see tomorrow with the 6th Beatitude, this is not just a call to Biblical morality (though it involves that, and we desperately need that). The call to purity is not a “try-harder” endeavor. It involves a different vision which we cannot have when captivated and consumed with things foolish, things corrupt and corrupting, things that rust and decay. Purity and joy (a better word than levity) are found when we live with Christ in view, at the right hand of the Father, interceding for us, preparing for us, protecting and providing for us.

I’m not sure which side of the street you prefer, but the promise of heaven vs. this worn-out world seems to be no-contest.

How Long?

The question occurs many times in the Bible, especially in the OT. Up until the psalms, it asks how long? men and nations will be stubborn and disobedient. But in Psalms, it is often referring to God and His timing, with regard to our enemies and adversities. Perhaps the classic example is from Habakkuk 1:2 - How long, O LORD, will I call for help, And You will not hear? 

We know, don’t we, that God is never in a hurry, and, He is never late. Think about that for a moment. Never in a hurry. Never late. He is not like us. Much of our upset is over our conflict with the clock, and our lack of success in getting it to speed up or slow down, since we find it almost impossible to match its pace.

Israel’s slavery in Egypt lasted 430 years - exactly the right time to accomplish God’s purposes, and yet it lasted generations. Israel’s wandering in the wilderness lasted 40 years, and Israel’s captivity in Babylon lasted 70 years. How long, O Lord? And yet it fit God’s timing, even if it did not fit the people’s prayers. After Malachi, there were 400 silent years before the birth of the Messiah in Bethlehem - “In the fullness of time” says Galatians 4:4 - at just the right time, though to God’s people, it seemed as though they had been forgotten and their prayer unanswered.

We need to remember that we live in a so-called “instant” age, whether it applies to projects or problems or pudding. We want “instant” answers and results. Just Google it. Need cash? Go to the ATM, day or night. And when life isn’t instant, we are frustrated. Need to make a quick trip through town? Be prepared to stop at every stoplight, even though there are no other cars at the intersection. What a waste of precious time?

It might be easy to understand how we can think that God is slow. How long, O Lord? But, as Peter says, “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness” (2 Pet 3:9). The Lord is not slow. He is never late, and He will not be hurried. There is a mystery to the madness, a purpose in the need for patience. He is accomplishing what we know little about, whether in our own lives, or in the lives of others. And we can trust Him.

So yes, I am preaching to myself. And yes, I am preaching to you.  As servants of God, we follow the dictates of the Master. We do not dictate to the Master the days or the years or even one’s lifetime. How long, O Lord? In His time. In His perfect time.