Religion, funerals and the one dimensional god.

RELIGION

The best definition of religion that I have heard was explained by the late Andre Crouch. He said: “Religion is just man searching for God”. That really sums it up in a nutshell. When mankind finds God he is confronted with his separation from God and the truth that a religious life will never measure up. Anyone who surrenders to the Lordship of Jesus Christ over their lives is transformed by God, they become a new creation and all that was of their old lives without God suddenly loses its appeal including the pretense of a religious…”good” life.

“ For the first time in our lives we have a reckoning with our sinful nature.”

The encounter we have with God through Jesus Christ dismisses immediately the myth that there is anything “good” in us. For the first time in our lives we have a reckoning with our sinful nature. We no longer compare ourselves to one another we have encountered a Holy God and we know we have no business in His presence. In that moment we can be moved from a religious belief to a personal relationship or we can choose to continue in religion and the leader of our own life path. We can ignore the one who created us and pursue our own interests and life goals or surrender to His Lordship over our lives.

“Sin has us loving ourselves so much that replacing us as leaders seems impossible”

Religion is man in search of a god other than himself. Sin has us loving ourselves so much that replacing us as leaders seems impossible. What we find in relationship with God is purpose, meaning, destiny. All these we have been unable to solve in the company of man but in the presence of God we discover all three. A religious journey that produced doubt and emptiness is suddenly and powerfully revealed as our attempt to explain God, and dismiss Him as God, since He could be understood by man. After all if we can reproduce Him what need have we of Him.

Ahh, but then we meet Him and we are astounded by Him. Every idea, philosophy, grand wonder we have encountered falls to pieces in His presence.

“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.” (Colossians 1:15,16)

All the things, we thought in religion we would ask Him, or demand He answer to our satisfaction, now seem woefully ignorant in His majestic presence. We are first taken by the fact, yes the fact that He even allows us in His presence, then we are moved to the wonder of His presence.

Funerals

As a pastor I have attended many funerals, some I was the officiant at others just a member of the gathered who came to pay respect to a lost loved one or friend. It occurred to me that funerals are rarely accurate pictures of the life celebrated. It’s not fitting that we air the laundry of the deceased in such a moment of grief. Funerals are about celebrating the best not the worst of each individual we honor. But funerals are reminders of how brief life really is for us all.

As we gaze upon the earth home of the person we loved, we wonder about where they have gone. Was their life religious or relational with God? Many years ago, I was asked to do a funeral for a man who had passed by a local funeral home director. He told me the family had no church home but they wanted a religious ceremony. I did not know the man or the family but I felt prompted by God to say yes, so I agreed to do the funeral. I met with the family the next day to discuss what they wanted in the funeral service. All of them described Bob as a strong willed person. Several talked about his chair near the television. No one dared sit in that chair or they risked being forcefully removed. From what I gathered speaking to the family, Bob had commanded his life and in some cases the life of his family as if he were completely in charge and answered to no one.

As I prepared the message, I put this story in the introduction… “The family talked to me about Bob and they told me about Bobs chair located near the television (the room began to laugh as many knew all about Bobs chair). It seems if you wanted to stay on Bobs good side you stayed out of his chair (more laughter in the audience and agreement). I have come to talk with you today about how to get along with God. The best way to get along with God is to stay out of His chair.”

The funeral is the place where each member in the gathering is face to face with their own mortality. The person we remember that is now gone reminds us that we too will leave our earthly home. Eternity awaits us all. Religion is small comfort in the presence of death. The funeral is a reminder we are not in charge of anything we are only stewards of what God has provided.

THE ONE DIMENSIONAL god

Picturing God in our world is easy. The beauty we are surrounded by, the wonder of the universe that surrounds us, the complexity of life.

“For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.” (Ps. 139:13-16)

“The boxes we have built for Him do not contain Him”

Picturing God in our philosophical world view is more complex. The boxes we have built for Him do not contain Him. The god we create is often one dimensional. Perhaps today he is all about LOVE, so we piece together a rational world where a god cannot do what seems to us as unloving. Never mind that we have not taken the time to work out a clean definition of love, one that includes suffering, rejection, a cross. In order to secure our one dimensional god we must turn the Bible into a resource book. It is only useful for proving our point that god is love according to how we have defined it. The Bible serves its purpose as a reference book to look up passages that prove us right, never mind we are using them completely out of context.

“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” (Rev. 22:13)

The Bible gives us a multi dimensional picture of God. He is Love, He is Justice, He is Mercy, He is Faithful, He is all Powerful, He is all Knowing, everywhere Present…in time, outside time, He is Creator, He is Compassionate, He is slow to Anger, He is perfect, He is the final authority. We understand Him by His ways we know Him by His presence. No matter what happens in our world we are confident He rules over all. When evil seems to triumph we would be foolish to blame Him and dismiss our sinful nature. When goodness wins out we are grateful and mindful that we have earned nothing but have been given everything.

Too often we build a god we can tear down. In search of a god that best fits our lives we create boxes with religious labels. The God of the Bible ask you a question about your boxes and houses of religious worship.

“Thus says the LORD: “Heaven is My throne, And earth is My footstool. Where is the house that you will build Me? And where is the place of My rest?” (Isaiah 66:1)

The grandest architecture, the most opulent cathedral, cannot contain Him nor is worthy of His name.

“God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands.” (Acts 17:24)

Yet he chooses to live in earthen vessels who surrender to His Lordship over their lives.

“Because the God who said, Out of darkness light shall shine, is the One who shined in our hearts to illuminate the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God and not out of us.” (II Cor. 4:6,7)

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Living Humbly with Our God