WATCHWORD:
No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. 1 Corinthians 10:13
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1
For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. Deuteronomy 10:17
Meditation:
What Does God Look Like?
The Youth Pastor sat on the floor in front of the altar in the midst of a small crowd of kids, ages 4 to 10. They had been laughing at a story that the young pastor had told. He had their attention. Then the question: “What does God look like?”
With barely a hesitation, a little girl in the yellow dress blurted out: “He looks just like my Grampa!” A boy respectively added, “God is an old gentleman who lives in Heaven.” One after another, the children added description to what God looks like. It was clear that among these kids, God is “old” and appears to be a man.
I suppose in the mind of a child we are all old. Young kids don’t have a perspective on age. They will tell you quickly what their ages is, or hold up fingers, “this many”. Ask how old your father is, you’d probably get anything over 30 or under 100.
Is there danger in the child imagining that God is old and that he is a man? Probably not. If the child grows up imagining that God is not only old but is old-fashioned, out of touch with their life, then that might be worth looking at. They might look at their grandfather or their grandmother who may be physically impaired and wondered about the energy, flexibility, and ability of this creative God who, in their minds, is old.
What kind of answer do you think you would get if you asked young adults if God understands the Internet? Or GPS? Or, heaven fore-bid, Facebook. I have no idea what kind of an answer we would get but my guess is unless they are tuned in to the faith and have a reverend attitude toward the Creator of the Universe, you would get some wild-hair kind of answers.
J.B.Philips, in his book Your God is Too Small, makes these kinds of statements: “Our hymns…often express a Victorian…idea of God.” “We continue to use language at baptism, weddings and burials which ordinary people can hardly understand, but which they feel is a bit old-fashioned and out of touch with their actual lives.” “Too often our sermons are stuffed with religious jargon which strike no chord in the modern heart.”
Thom Rainer wrote a little book entitled Who Moved My Pulpit? The thrust of that book was that churches are losing touch with the congregation. I think that’s true, and we only need to look around the sanctuary on a Sunday morning and realize something is afoot.
The “faith-fact” is that God has not moved, nor is God “old fashioned”, but I do agree with Philips that many of us make our God too small. Would God understand the internet, or GPS or Facebook? Get serious, God created everything. Didn’t She? Or is that He? Hmm. Does it matter? Let’s pray on that. Amen.
Today’s Lenten Passage to Ponder:
Matthew 6:16: “When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.
Closing Prayer:
Lord, remind me of my frailty and continual need for grace. I rejoice that my appetite for sin has been forgiven and will one day be erased! I want to focus on you through all parts of this Lenten season and beyond. Amen.
