The Fall of the House of Worship, Pt. 4

Christians gather together in churches. We call our churches “houses of worship”. We call our services “worship services”. Our preachers often begin such services with the words, “Come, let us worship”. Yet the actual,  intimate blessing of spirit-to-spirit worship is an almost unwelcome visitor. Why? The answers are as varied as there are churches, but one common cause is that there just isn’t a desire on the part of ministers to assist in its occurance. A Baptist preacher knows his congregation only wants a one-hour service. And they only want it once a week. He’s got one hour to give them …”something”… that’ll make them want to return next week, hopefully with an offering check to help pay the bills & salaries.

Consider all the planning, rehearsing, cleaning & personnel involved in your last worship service. Consider the costs for air & heating, water, gas, electricity. Consider the payroll, janitorial, security, accounting, office supplies & printed materials for all ages. The more layers you peel away from the institution of a church, the more you realize how difficult it must be for a preacher to not be constantly worried about debt. The larger a church grows, the more dependant it becomes on the acquisition of money. If the money stops, the church dies.

So if the acquisition of money is the chief determinant of what a church offers, where do you suppose “worshiping God in spirit and truth” might fall on the priority scale? The Christian rock band, Youth Minister, Children’s Minister & church orchestra all request time. There’s the offering and the soloist and the choir anthem. And the Minister of Music must get his requisite 5 or 6 congregational hymns. Wedge in the sermon, and (snap!) your hour is up!

“Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing…”  (Hebrews 10:25a)
The Christian Church was created with purpose in mind; righteous, inspired purpose. Continuing in that same verse:
“…but let us encourage one another — all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
What do you suppose it means to “encourage one another”? What manner of encouragement? Why would members need encouraging?
“Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.”  (v. 24)
And what should be our motivation for such efforts?
“God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. We want each of you to show this same dilligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.”  (Heb. 6:10-12)

In these passages can be found such a beautiful & excellent encapsulation of the role (function, identity) of the local church:
Individuals meeting together → Encouraging one another →Evincing love and good deeds → Proving love for God → Developing faith & patience → Inheriting God’s promise.
And what promise might that be? Well, there are so many declarations throughout scripture. Here’s a personal favorite from John’s gospel. Jesus is praying to His Father on behalf of all believers, both contemporary and future; all peoples who would accept the good news of a Savior’s love:
“I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.”  (John 17:22-24)

What is the promise to be inherited? Complete unity. Body, soul & spirit. Not only that, we would be where He is, enjoying this oneness with Him in the un-mortalized, magestic glory of His true being. Where Jesus is, there is no hunger or thirst. Where Jesus is, there is no sickness or disease. Where Jesus is, there is no ungodly sorrow, no mill stone of guilt, no unwashable taint of sin. But joy is there! Profound, confident, inner peace is there! Power is there! And the realization of all that our miraculous design of you was created to become!

There’s just one thing that stands proudly in the way … human nature.
Human nature will always seek to melt down God’s model and re-cast it in man’s image (like the golden calf). The scenarios below illustrate three possible fates of a house of worship.

The House of Self-Satisfaction
“For the time will comewhen men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.”  (2 Timothy 4:3-4)
Can you think of present-day examples of churches that have replaced sound doctrine for “myths”?
• Prosperity Gospel         
• “Name It And Claim It” faith heresy
• Rejection of Spiritual Gifts not easily attained         
• Forsaking feasts & memorials that Christ practiced
• Intercessory saints, virgin deification, papal authority        
• Obsession with fashion, comfort, entertainment

The House of Desecration
“For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep.”  (1 Corinthians 11:26-30)
What contemporary examples come to mind, with regard to the offense of disrespect and apathy? How do you feel about the following:
• Proliferation of American flags on church property  
• Easter egg hunts, Halloween costume parties, Super Bowl viewings, lock-ins, all on church property 
• Game rooms, gyms, sports fields, aerobics classes  
• Plunging necklines, rising hemlines; having to frequently adjust some part of clothing to appear sufficiently “covered”

The House of Executive Privilege
“…Woe to the shepherds of Israel who only take care of themselves! Should not shepherds not take care of the flock? You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock. You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally. So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and when thet were scattered they bacame food for all the wild animals.”  (Ezekiel 34:2b-5)
I have concluded from accumulated scriptural insights that – insofar as God’s hand is involved – wealth is not a reward; it is a test. It may be the most difficult of all earthly tests that the Lord gives. Why else would the Tempter even bring it up to Jesus (Matthew 4:8-9), unless it carried tremendous weight in the human psyche as an object of desire?

Human nature is a massive stumbling block on the path toward becoming a church after God’s own heart. One of man’s most basic drives is the desire to subdue. To govern our realm. “…fill the earth and subdue it”, God instructed his first man (Genesis 1:28). But to subdue is a form of control, and it has always been God’s will that we should control in wisdom, not reason (“wisdom”, meaning in cooperation with the mind of our Creator).

Yes, “the Sabbath was made for man..” (Mark 2:27a). Church (as an institution) is an opportunity; a gift. But it becomes all too easy for us to subdue church for our pleasure.
And “pleasure” does not cede room to “worship” without a lot of cosmetic surgery.

 

The Fall of the House of Worship, Pt. 3

“Now Moses used to take a tent and pitch it outside the camp some distance away, calling it the “tent of meeting”. Anyone inquiring of the Lord would go to the tent of meeting outside the camp. And whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people rose and stood at the entrances to their tents, watching Moses until he entered the tent. As Moses went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and stay at the entrance, while the Lord spoke with Moses. Whenever the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance to the tent, they all stood and worshiped, each at the entrance to his tent. The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend…”  (Exodus 33:7-11a)

The circumstances resulting in the above scenario indicate a unique phase in the spiritual evolution of the Hebrew people. But before we ponder its significance, let’s ingest a little more background:

“Then the Lord said to Moses, “Leave this place, you and the people you brought up out of Egypt, and go up to the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Issac and Jacob, saying, “I will give it to your descendants. I will send an angel before you to drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.”

All that God had intended to instruct Moses and the Hebrews on at the Mt. Horeb (Sinai) base camp had been accomplished; the Commandments, the Tabernacle and all it’s furnishings, the priestly garments, the sacrifical system and the memorial feasts & festivals. It was time to possess the new land (and dispossess the pagan tribes living there). Yet the Lord Himself designated “an angel” to be their advance scout. Why was God’s desire not to personally, visibly, triumphantly lead His people into their inheritance of promise?

“Go up to the land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go with you, because you are a stiff-necked people and I might destroy you on the way.”  (Ex. 33:3)

Obviously, a significant fracture has occured in the divine/human fellowship. But what caused it? Let’s continue the scriptural account:

“When the people heard these distressing words, they began to mourn and no one put on any ornaments.”
How could a nation of penniless slaves own any ornaments? Ah, because their Egyptian slavemasters sent them off loaded down with all manner of plunder, no doubt in a fearful attempt to appease their God. (Ex.12:33-36). What a tragedy, then, that they melted down all that gold to craft a calf idol when they thought Moses would not return from the mountain top.

“For the Lord had said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites, ‘You are a stiff-necked people. If I were to go with you even for a moment, I might destroy you. Now take off your ornaments and I will decide what to do with you.’”  (Ex. 33:5)

You see, the golden calf idol was more than an act of superstitious aegis. The unrestrained mob at the foot of the mountain were re-inventing their religion from top to bottom!

“[Aaron] took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.’ When Aaron saw this, he built an alter in front of the calf and announced, ‘Tomorrow there will be a festival to the Lord. So the next day the people rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings. Afterward they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.”  (Exodus 32:4-6)

Moses had disappeared up the mountain. Forty days had passed. No word from Moses, from Joshua or from the Lord. Aaron and Miriam were cluelessly despondent. The leaders among the Hebrews decided that Jehovah’s providential guidance had ended, and the only way out of the desert would be by their own ingenuity.  Creating a religion really isn’t that difficult. You only need to address four subjects:

1)  A Deity. Make a visual, tactile representation of what can’t be seen or explained.
2)  Addressing Sin. The burnt offerings worked before; they’ll work again.
3)  Recognition of Divine Will. The fellowship offerings satisfied God’s desire to be honored, and for believers to model themselves after a common doctrine.
4) Pleasure.  Bodily consumption and physical (including sexual) satiation.

We must remember WHY this radical departure from intimate dependence (on God) occured. The Lord’s chosen people had concluded the following:
1) God is not dependable.
2) God is not trustworthy.
3) God is not our salvation.
4) God is not our strength.
5) God is not for us.

“I will not go with you…”

And so we come back to our opening scripture, that eerily quiet scene of every man, woman & child within sight of Moses standing at the entrances of their tents, solemnly watching the old man walk the long row of dwellings; his sandals shuffling across the cracked earth. Watching until he reaches the tent of meeting. The flap swings closed. The mammoth column of cloud moves to settle over it. And then all the witnesses begin … worshiping. How, specifically, they worshiped is not detailed. But don’t you bet it was authentic, passionate and sincere? Don’t you know these people felt the burden of guilt and sin upon their backs for forsaking the Living God? For disbelieving His promise of never orphaning them in the desert? For spitting on His countless acts of guiding, protecting, nourishing & maturing? For treading on His Name by giving their praise to another; a worthless effigy? For driving His patience to the point of actually having to turn His face away and delegate an angel in His stead. Such is the ferocity of His jealousy.

“I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.”  (Exodus 20:5)

“…the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.”  (Ex. 34:14)

“The Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.”  (Deuteronomy 4:24)

“Jeshurun ['the upright one'; Israel] grew fat and kicked; filled with food, he became heavy and sleek. He abandoned the God who made him and rejected the Rock his Savior. They made him jealous with their foreign gods and angered him with their detestable idols. They sacrificed to demons, which are not God — gods they had not known, gods that recently appeared, gods your fathers did not fear. You deserted the Rock, who fathered you; you forgot the God who gave you birth.”  (Deuteronomy 32:15-18)

This last passage is  particularly germane, in light of our lesson theme, because it describes three factors which have continually contributed to a church loosing sight of its “first love” (Rev. 2:4) and ceasing to be a house of worship.
1) Lack of Knowledge. (“sacrificed to … gods they had not known”) Christ counsels us to seek the same intimate relationship with the Father that He had. Such intimacy involves a willful transformation of mind, heart, soul & strength. Worship should be an intimate coupling; spirit with Spirit.
2) Lack of Credibility. (“sacrificed to … gods that recently appeared”) Once a congregation’s ministers or teachers begin assigning specific characteristics to God in order to add weight to their personal prejudices, worship cannot be done “in truth”. To claim that the thoughts of Almighty God would fall exactly in line with the thoughts of mortal man is nothing more than a control mechanism, and nothing less than an idol.
3) Lack of Reverent Fear. (“filled with food..heavy and sleek”) Worship should always be grounded in awe; mindful of the One whose audience we’ve entered. He is a Savior, but also a Stumbling Block; a Creator, but also a Destroyer; a Father, but also a Judge. Again, knowledge is key! We must seek Him; His teachings, His desires, His marvelous works! “Let everyone who is godly pray to you while you may be found.”  (Psalm 32:6)

Attune your spirit to the heartbreaking tone of the Holy Spirit in the following passage from Isaiah’s writings. God invited the prophet to glimpse the extent of the divine patience & planning with regard to the growth, health & fruition of His beloved children:
“…My loved one [Yahweh] had a vineyard on a fertile hillside. He dug it up and cleared it of stones and planted it with the choicest vines. He built a watchtower in it and cut out a winepress as well. Then he looked for a crop of good grapes…”  (Isaiah 5:1b-2a)
What care this viticulturist (grower of grapes) took! How comprehensive, His foresight! Indeed, he exclaims in verse 4 “What more could have been done for my vineyard than I have done for it?”

And yet “it yielded only bad fruit.”
The “choicest vines” elected to reject their very nature. Though they knew what they were, and where they were, and Whose they were … they developed an obsession with the potential of their own minds; specifically, how human reason could “improve” on Divine Will. In such a deception, the quality of worship is the first victim. Even though it “seemed” that their thinking remained more-or-less aligned with God’s (and, hence, righteous) the exact opposite was transpiring.
“Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and clever in their own sight.”  (Isaiah 5:20-21)

And hey, if you think peaceful, gracious, compassionate Jesus veered even the slightest from His Father’s impassioned jealousy, listen to Christ’s instructions to His disciples as they were being sent out to spread the Gospel:
“Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven. Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace on the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword … Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.”  (Matthew 10:32-34, 37-38)

But, of course, we choose family over Christ. We choose our children over our Lord. We choose work over worship. We choose to create our own worship service, in which no worship occurs. We create our own religion because - to repeat from the list above – what we create IS dependable and trustworthy; it IS strength to us, and CAN save us in the way we want to be saved. The only way to be sure that something IS for us is to control it ourselves.

Our religion is crafted to be ”for us”. Because God … is not.
That is the damning conviction the Holy Spirit whispers in brief moments of quiet sanity.

The Fall of the House of Worship, Pt. 2

Remember the Hebrew & Greek words for “worship” from the first lesson? They both denoted a literal prostration of oneself in reverent humility, even like unto a dog reverently licking its master’s hand (an undiluted synthesis of fear, affection and devotion … aren’t dogs awesome?). But these definitions seem quite foreign in the contemporary Christian church’s “worship service”, don’t they?

How have you come to define worship, personally?
Would you say you worship God at any time during your Sunday morning church experience?

Here’s the outline of a typical Sunday morning worship service at my church:
•  Prelude Music                          •  Congregational Singing
•  Pastor’s Welcome                   •  Offering
•  Opening Prayer                       •  Special Music
•  Congregational Singing          •  Sermon                    
•  Children’s Sermon                  •  Congregational Singing
•  Congregational Singing          •  Postlude Music
•  Scripture Reading
•  Minute of Silent Confession

Lots of singing, isn’t there? Lots of music. Why would so much music be included in a worship service? What goals do you think are being sought? What is it about music and singing that connects with human beings?

Think about why your worship service is organized the way it is. Consider who plans this order, week after week.
What would you say are the objectives of your church’s worship service, based on its contents?
From the above list from my church, a visitor might conclude the following objectives:
1)  Facilitating feelings of happiness, good humor, unity & equality
2)  Singing familiar songs together
3)  Experiencing pre-rehearsed, live musical performances
4)  Educating children in Christian living

Is there ANY part of your worship service where the objective is that you would worship your God?
If yes, in what ways?   If no, what is missing?

“Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshipped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”
Jesus declared, “Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.”  (John 4:19-24)

What do you think it means to “worship in spirit and in truth“? Because according to scripture, to worship in such a manner is what “the Father seeks” from us, His called children; we who so easily claim the name “worshiper”.

“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity…”  (John 17:20-23a)

One spiritual entity. One body, though many parts compose it. One head (mind).
Do you consider the hundreds of Christian denominations, conventions and sects to be in keeping with Jesus’ prayer for unity? Even to the degree that we are all indwelt with Christ just as Christ is indwelt by the Father? Or does the existence of all these different “houses of worship” point to a much less noble family of attitudes?

“But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine…”  (John 16:13-15a)

Truth will be made known to us. Truth, as in deep, abiding, unifying Truth from the lips of our Savior through His Spirit in our world.
“The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God … no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.”  (1 Corinthians 2:10b, 11b)

Does your church provide an opportunity for worshiping in the spirit and in truth?
Should it? Is it even possible in a corporate setting? Or would it be counterproductive to the preferred objectives of the worship service planners?

The Fall of the House of Worship, Pt. 1

“Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong.”  – Ecclesiastes 5:1

“Guard” is translated from the Hebrew “shamar“, which means “to create a hedge about“. The author is issuing a kind of warning, isn’t he? As you, the believer,  enter your house of worship, there should be a protective hedge around you; one that you took responsibility in creating.

Can you think of any other setting where such a state of mind would be necessary and proper?
Why, in the scriptural reference, would you need protection? Protection from what?

“Go near to listen  rather than offer the sacrifice of fools…” Who is your hedge supposed to protect you from? Yourself. From making a “fool’s sacrifice”. Ah, so there are distinctions! God can deem one sacrifice “wise” and another “foolish”. And such distinctions are well within the grasp of the human mind, as well; hence the warning to hedge against their being offered. Let’s look at an example in the life of King Saul.

In 1 Samuel 15, the Lord instructs Saul (through His prophet Samuel) to utterly destroy the pagan Amalekite peoples as an act of judgment for the war they waged against the Israelites during their Exodus from Egypt (Exodus 17:8-16). God specifically commanded every living thing - human & animal – be sacrificed in the Name of the Lord. Yet during the ensuing battle, as Saul was triumphing in the blessing & power of God, he reasoned that an even greater victory could be won by subjecting the Amalekite king to humiliating servitude and saving the finest of the Amalekite herd animals to further sustain Israel in their desert wanderings. It just made good sense! Surely God could be reasoned with. And therein lies the root of every kind of “fool’s sacrifice”: the mortal conviction that we can counsel the Living God. Paul wrote to the Roman churches, “Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor? Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?” (Rom. 11:34-35)

Yet King Saul became so confident in his own wisdom that Samuel’s sudden rebuke completely blindsided him.
“Why did you not obey the Lord? Why did you pounce on the plunder and do evil in the eyes of the Lord?”
“But I DID obey the Lord,” Saul said. “I went on the mission the Lord assigned me. I completely destroyed the Amalekites AND brought back Agag their king. The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the BEST of what was devoted to God, in order to SACRIFICE them to the Lord…” (1 Sam. 15:19-21)

[The Mind of the Flesh:  Really, God, I sometimes wonder if You realize how difficult You make things. You made us; You oughta know what we want. We want to feel happy! And we know better that anyone - even You - what makes us happy. Now I have no problem with being obedient and humble and reverent. But You shouldn't ask for things that cause people to resent you. That's not how you grow churches; that's how you starve churches.]

“But Samuel replied, ‘Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice…’” (1 Sam. 15:22)

How could Saul fall into such error of judgment? Because Saul was relating to God as if God were simply another king; one ruler bargaining with another. The Lord requested one kind of offering (obedience). Saul gave Him an even better, more practical one (material gain). But the better offering in Saul’s mind was rejected. And such mysterious wisdom is found across the breadth of scripture.

“For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.” (Hosea 6:6)
“The Lord detests the sacrifice of the wicked, but the prayer of the upright pleases him.” (Proverbs 15:8)
“To do what is right and just is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.” (Proverbs 21:3)
Even Jesus alludes to it in His Sermon on the Mount: “If you are offering your gift at the alter and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the alter. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.” (Matthew 5:23-24)

I believe that one of the terrible victories the Enemy has achieved on this earth is in convincing believers that they are worshipping when they are not.

“Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few. As a dream comes when there are many cares, so the speech of a fool when there are many words.” (Ecclesiastes 5:2-3)
Busy minds. Busy mouths. Many sacrifices. Many words.

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers”‘” (Matthew 7:21-23)
How could someone get to that seemingly advanced point (like Saul; he prophesied & achieved miraculous victories) and NOT KNOW that they actualy had no part in the Divine Will?
To accept God does not guarantee that God accepts you.

Take heed of the exalted Christ’s words to the churches in John’s Revelation:
“You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love.” (Rev. 2:3-4a)
“…I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead.” (Rev. 3:1b)
“I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm – neither hot nor cold – I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing … Here I am! I stand at the door and knock.’” (Rev. 3:15-17a, 20a)

A bizarre picture emerges. Jesus standing outside the church door - His Church – knocking. Why is He knocking? Because the door is not open to Him. It is open to Busy-ness. It is open to Tradition; to Comfort and Conformity, to Wealth and Entertainment. It is a House of many things. But it is not a House of Worship.

What kinds of programs does your church offer?
How many of these are also organized & provided in a non-church setting? What makes your church’s programs different?

Perhaps you concluded that through your church, such concepts as Christian witnessing are brought out; educating others about the life, purpose and saving power of Jesus. Perhaps your church’s programs witness to others the traits of Christ: compassion, charity, forgiveness, giving. So the church “house” can be a house of many good things. But does worship happen there?

In the Old Testament, the word most often translated “worship” is the Hebrew “shachah“, which literally means “to depress (as in pressing downward); prostrate (as if in homage to royalty); bow down; crouch; fall down (flat); humbly beseech.” In the New Testament, the most common Greek word for worship is “proskuneo” which has an even wilder meaning: “to kiss (like a dog licking its master’s hand); to fawn; crouch; prostrate oneself in homage.”

Do you worship at church? Is there even an opportunity? Based on what many women wear to church, assuming a worship posture would result in embarrassing impropriety. And many men would doubtless conclude it beneath their dignity. But without true worship, are our steps guarded at all? Is there any hedge around us? Are we listening? Are our words few and measured?
Or have we constructed so many “improvements” to God’s counsel, as to be utterly self-deluded at how “wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked” we are?

The Tabernacle – Lesson Four

Question: How did Christ’s death on the cross PROVE these three statements?

• GOD IS HOLY
• GOD IS JUST
• GOD IS LOVING

“A righteous man may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all.”  – Psalm 34:19

“In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”  – John 16:33

• Why is there so much trouble in this world that even the righteous do not escape it?

God is a Healer and a Deliverer. Jesus, in his brief, 3-year ministry, was the “right arm” of God on this earth. In scripture, the right arm was a figure of speech representing dominance, strength; the arm which wields the blade.

“My law will go out from me; my justice will become a light to the nations. My righteousness draws near speedily, my salvation is on the way, and my arm will bring justice to the nations.”  – Isaiah 51:4-5

 In Jesus, the curtain of God’s HOLINESS, JUSTICE & RIGHTEOUSNESS lifted to reveal the hidden curtain of God’s LOVE, HEALING & SALVATION. Of course, all of these atributes were in God’s nature, but all had not been fully revealed. Jesus completed the revelation God ordained for men to know about Him. Now keep in mind, the Ancient of Days is certainly more than even these, but how much more we will not experience until after this life.

In the days of the Tabernacle in the wilderness, only the first curtain was being revealed to the Israelites. The realities of the second curtain remained hidden behind a facade of ceremonial symbolism. As our perfect Father, the Lord taught His children with great patience and compassion, until the time came for a more mature, perfect revelation.

“Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed, and he healed them.”  – Matthew 4:23-24

In the end, there is only one message: God heals.
All of creation is waiting for a single species to figure this out. Because only one species has been captured by the power of Sin. Only one possesses the spiritual capacity to recognize God and the emotional capacity to reject God. Sin causes us to abuse our bodies, our neighbor’s bodies and the world we were created to steward. And most of us are too sick to seek healing anymore.

“But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”  – Matthew 7:14

“God heals” is the thought I’d like to end this 4-lesson journey on.

 

Subsequent to the proscribed quarantine period, and contingent upon the priest’s judgment of wellness, the fortunate Hebrew can now prepare himself to re-enter the fellowship of both his people and his God. But look closely and meditate on the symbology of the sacrifice.

1)  Why would the priest examine him?
2)  Why are the birds alive & clean?
3)  Why does one bird have to die and be bled?
4)  Why is the man sprinkled with the bird’s blood? Seven times?
5)  Why is the other bird released with blood on it?

 Note: I haven’t been afforded an opportunity to complete this yet. My mind has not been at the level of peace & sensitivity required. So I will move on to other matters, in the hope that one day I can return and finish this thought.