Resurrection Reverence

I may well date myself with this statement, but then again, if that were important to me there is a lot I would not admit.  I can remember a time when I was young when Good Friday was held with such reverence that everything stopped at 3 PM.  Stores closed their doors, church bells rang and everyone stopped to meditate on what happened at that hour on the day of the crucifixion.  In contemporary society, few people stop to think about what Good Friday is all about.  However, far more compelling to me is the larger statement that this behavior makes about the priorities of our culture.  The telltale signs are everywhere.

This past Sunday during our worship service we celebrated the resurrection and the fact that He is Risen, Risen Indeed!  Yet while a very important message was being shared with us, individuals were carrying on conversations about a variety of topics, phones were ringing and yes, people answered them.  Parents allowed children to play with electronic games with the sound on.  Not only was this distracting for those wanting to focus on the message, but it demonstrated how far we as a society have departed from demonstrating honor and reverence for the House of the Lord.

Call me old fashioned, but my roots were developed deeply that when we entered the House of the Lord, we did so with great respect and honor for Who "owned" the house.  Even though I was raised Catholic and learned quickly the importance of reverence through simple things like bowing my head when we said the name of Jesus, and genuflecting before sitting at church, I observed the same reverence at my grandparents' very small Methodist church in their little town.  Although I did not truly understand reverential fear of God until I was born again, I certainly was in awe of the power and authority of God from the time I was old enough to reason.  When I listen to people talk about life and God, I sometimes wonder, do they not understand who God is?

I must ask your indulgence for my soap box mentality today.  As the contrasts in our society become more pronounced between those whose passion is Christ and those whose passion is the world, I find my vision become sharper.  As I read my devotions each day, Old Testament as well as New, I find myself digging deeper into the Word and seeking greater revelation from the Source.  What is He calling us to do in these volatile times?

The first thing that I hear is, "Daughter, examine thyself!"  Are my words consistent with my beliefs?  Are my actions Christ-like?  What am I doing to advance the Gospel message?  Sadly I come up short in response to each of those questions.  I think about those individuals whom I admire and who I believe emulate the lifestyle that seems to fit the Gospel and then I look at myself.  While I believe that Jesus Christ Himself is the one that we need to emulate, I must admit that I do look at those individuals who appear to be meeting the mark better than myself and use that as a starting place to ask myself a series of questions.  

We each have our own way of examining ourselves.  One thing that I combat regularly is the performance mentality.  I strive to refine who I am not to earn His love but because I love Him.  Yet performance is an ingrained aspect of who I am.  Always has been.  So I must daily combat the behavioral tendencies that are part of me.  Nothing I do will cause Him to love me more or love me less.  So if that is what I believe than why does the disrespectful behavior of others upset me so?  He loves them exactly as He loves me - no different.

I believe that at issue is the fact that we have become seeker friendly.  As a whole, we are more concerned that someone entering our churches (or our homes) is not upset or made uncomfortable by anything that we say or do.  So we modify our level of our tolerance, even the message that is being spoken so that it will not offend.  Yet do we stop and think about how we are offending God Himself?  No, I am afraid not, and that is where we are no different than the Israelite people of the Old Testament who assimilated themselves into the pagan cultures so that they would not be different and would be accepted.  Where did that get them?  When the German radicals in WW II were attacking the Jewish people the vast majority of the population who professed to be Christian ignored what was going on in their front yards.  We all know the result of that inaction.  Where is our behavior getting us?

You may have observed in many churches, individuals come dressed as if they are going to a nightclub.  People walk in half way through the service as if there is no need to come on time and not be disruptive as they find seats.  People are up and down, in and out of their seats as if this was an informal gathering in their living room.  Think about it.  If you paid to attend a show at Fox Theater, you are ushered quickly and quietly into your seats and often are not allowed to be seated once the show has begun.  Why is there more respect in a theater than in God's house?

Maybe it is time that we speak up and require respect from all people who come into the House of the Lord.  Maybe just maybe if we require reverence, reverence will happen.  Maybe just maybe, we need to defend our God and our beliefs and stand up for them.  Maybe just maybe it is time to stop being seeker friendly with words that tickle ears and begin speaking truth that pierces into the depths of the soul.  Maybe just maybe, time is getting short and we need to decide Who it is that we do not want to offend.  Maybe just maybe.......