7/14/2023

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE READING:

“The angel said to me, ‘These words are trustworthy and true. The Lord, the God who inspires the prophets, sent His angel to show His servants the things that must soon take place. Look, I am coming soon! Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy written in this scroll.’ I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I had heard and seen them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had been showing them to me. But he said to me, “Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your fellow prophets and with all who keep the words of this scroll. Worship God!.’”

(Revelation 22.6-9)

TODAY’S REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

One day, the unrelenting reality will be did we or did we not “worship God.” Rising up out of the 1960s, what I might call the Age of Skepticism and the Beginning of Anarchy, the predominate voice was to put down the rule of authority. It is true that there were many things which governments and “rulers” said and did which were not the will of the people nor the will of God. What we see today is exponentially more revealing of the depth of depravity which exists in those systems. Strangely enough, many who are a part of “those systems” today were the very ones who led rebellions against “the establishment” in the past. Lord Acton said in the 19th Century, “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” I have to believe that what those of the ’60s spoke against was the sense of absolute power which led many countries into another war. The absolute power was that which had become centralized as a governement over the people and not the constitutional “government of the people by the people.” The question might be framed more exactly in retrospect as “who thought they knew best what was best for all people.” What we may know for ourselves is what is best for us, perhaps. But, even then, in a state of absoluteness there can be only one. What we are living in today seems to be the offspring of that sad reality. It is the conglomeration of all those “ones” who seek to live independently in a world that at its very fundamental and foundational existence is dependent. And by the grace of God, we are most certainly allowed to decide for ourselves how we shall go, what we shall do, what we shall say and how we shall think. But, in the end there can only be “one.”

That “one” is not ruled by anything but a consciousness of self given to the welfare of others. The “one” is God, Yahweh Elohim. We hear from Deuteronomy 6.4-5, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love  the  Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” This is the beginning of what is called “The Shema.” It is the foundation guideline, rule and basic commandment of living rightly, correctly and righteously in this world as in all places. It was given to the people brought out of exile in Egypt by the God who had chosen them to be His very own people. They were never intended to be a singular people, that is to be only to themselves. They were intended to be a unique people, that is different from the world and testifying to the truth of what authentic living was all about. They were intended to be a people “of the Word.” The word is the command of God. By that word everything that exists was made. John says this in his gospel (1.3) “Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made.” And who is this “Him”? He is, again in the words of John “From the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, indeed the Word was God.” And through that world came the construct which brought forth life as God imagined and as the Word created and made alive. We are far more than just a “good thought” or a “well-intentioned act.” We are purposeful, marvelous, intricately designed, a glory to behold and beholding to the glory of the One who loved us so much that not only were we created in His image but we are redeemed and made new by it. And what is that purpose? The purpose is to “worship” the Lord our God with all our strength, mind and heart and to love one another in the same measure we are to love ourselves. These are the two great commandments upon which every other law is dependent. You see, “there can only be ONE.”

Oh yes, there are others. They themselves are the fragments of understanding which believe their uniqueness is the empowerment of the sovereignty over all others. Even the disciples argued among themselves as to who was the greatest. So caught up in that “ego” trip, that two aspired to sit at the head of the table of the universe with all its rights, privileges and responsibilities. James and John, the “Sons of Thunder,” were those two disciples. Their story stands out in the gospel and we smirk with their “ridiculousness.” But, behind the smirk is the inkling of truth which we have considered for ourselves. That truth is about us and it says “If only I….” But, mighty ones of God, consider the “I” we look toward. If our eyes are truly wide open, we would see in that “I” the very one of God who is the measure by which authentic life is determined. That “I” said, “I have come into the world not to be served and not to rule over others. I have come into the world to serve.” Jesus Christ was the image and the epitome of what true service was and is and will forever be. That service is the absolute worship of God in all its forms and facets and expressions. We hear it commanding presence in the word of the Angel sent by the Lamb, the Christ of God, who said to John, “Don’t not worship me for I am like you. Instead….worship God!“

Now back to that “voice of the ’60s” which was speaking out against the establishment and the seats of authority. Included in that “establishment” was the Church and most of all the presence of religion. Without question there is and are “bad” religions. Those are communities of faith whose practices stand against the welfare of the people. The “stand against” is determined by a sense of “The Shema” I mentioned above. Those bad religious systems sought more to serve themselves and their self-image than to do good for others. The critical element was found in the call to “worship the institutional identity and leadership and their constructs” (even if they said they were based on scriptures) as if they were “God,” or at least gods. I am against bad religion. Jesus was against bad religion. But, Jesus was not against religion. Religion is the system of living systematically aligned with a higher “authority” or something that is greater than ourselves. Perhaps this is the chink in the armor of our Founding Fathers in the establishment of these United States of America. That “something greater” than ourselves could have been at its very least “one nation by which we stand with liberty and justice for all.” That viewpoint would fit what I would call a “concensus” opinion because it focused on something which “all” could believe in. The proposition might well be “the least” of all the options. In that regard, living as “one nation” would have been seen as the “most” we not only could do but should. It may have suggested an even “higher” authority but stopped short of pledging allegiance to the “highest” authority. I might say they offered “a middle” religion with the hope of producing a confederacy of people who could agree they were a “free” nation. The rest would be figured out as they went. And those who “worshipped” that religion were the proponents of a bad religion which fell far short of “authentic” religion. “Authentic” religion is that which declares, promotes and practices by example “the worship of God.” God is the object and subject of our lives focus and attention. Without Him, we have no focus and the attention is all on us. There is no hope for the created if there is no sense of the Creator. We must hold true to this word, His Word. It is our only hope of life and living now and forever.

A PRAYER FOR TODAY:

You are our God and we shall be Your people in spirit and in truth. Continue to dwell among us. Let the revelation by Your Holy Spirit inspire us to greater service in a more refined identity. We do not live as ourselves for ourselves. Rather, we live in Christ as He lives in us. We declare it with all the elders and angels in Heaven, saying “Holy, holy, holy is He who was and is and is to come.” In Jesus’ name we live, serve and pray. AMEN.