Reverence Part III

 

I once found myself in the company of our former youth pastor (now senior pastor of a medium-size church in Parklands). He is generally a very simple, humorous and approachable man unlike some of our raucous tele-evangelists. More than once I have visited the church where he pastors just to listen to him.  Having grown up in the rough in a tough Nairobi neighbourhood, his language is often tinged with heavy slang giving his sermons an authenticity that is both hilarious and refreshing.

On this particular day I had arrived early for a training at some other venue and as I sat down to wait I spotted the man some distance away. All week, I had felt compelled to remember him in prayer. Now I felt a strong urge to tell him that I had been praying for him. As I approached him a sudden unease gripped me. By the time I was telling him that I had been praying for his safety, I was trembling like a leaf. However, in his usual genial manner, he put his arm around my shoulders and urged me to sit down with him. He went on to narrate how he had experienced something that amounted to a threat that week. As we parted ways I found it near-impossible to compose myself. There was just something about the man that was both forbidding and inviting, comforting and terrifying at the same time.

This is perhaps the closest I could come to describing the fear of the Lord .For the fear of the Lord is hard to explain, it can only be experienced.

This last piece on this series  has a tough message rarely spoken about in Christian circles.  It also has a positive message, also rarely spoken about in our churches today. If you don't have a strong stomach, you can stop at the positive message but you risk missing what I see as a fair warning which might stand you in good stead in the days to come. Let us start with the good news.

Apparently God is a respecter of persons( yes I just said that). Not in the sense described in James 2 nor in Acts 10:34 nor in Romans 2 but in the sense that there have been men and women throughout history that God has esteemed more than others. Three are notable;

Daniel as stated by the angel in Daniel 9:23,

Mary as announced again by an angel in Luke 1:28 and

Moses as narrated in Numbers 12

All three had interesting stories and I encourage you to read through the bible-references. What is unique about all three? Well, I submit to you that the answer is in Isaiah 66:1-2. This is what God says;

Has not my hand made all these things,

    and so they came into being?”

Declares the Lord.
“These are the ones I look on with favor:
those who are humble and contrite in spirit,
and who tremble at my word.
This is the end of the warm message. Now we wrestle with the not-so-easy part.

When we grow in our knowledge of God we get to learn of His great power.  We get to know that He has the power to damn us forever and even if He chose to do so (Matt 10;28) we grasp that beyond Him there is no appeal. This knowledge causes us to tremble at His word as we realise that He means every word He has said in the bible. What are some of the things God says about Himself?

The book of Hebrews provides an excellent resource on why we should not be casual with the life given to us before God. It is also has great teachings on how the Old Testament mirrors the New Testament and how the old melds into the new.

 In chapters 2-6 and then again in chapters 6-12 the writer reminds us (Christians, living under grace) that God does run a tight ship. That God is still to be revered and not taken casually is perhaps best summed up in Hebrews 12:28-29

Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, ²⁹ for our “God is a consuming fire.” (also in Deut.4:24).

One of the defining character-traits of God is that He is a ‘consuming fire’. What does that fire consume? Hebrews 10:26-31 gives us the answer. God’s fire will consume both the sin and the sinner. Remember that the book of Hebrews was written not to non-Christians but to believers like you and me. Therefore I really don’t see how I should rejoice even while sinning as the FB post  earlier put it. If sin has taken hold of me I ought to tremble for I could be risking all that I am and have.
The writer continues to make this statement;

“The Lord will judge his people.” ³¹ It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”And this is exactly why we must fear God-because it is an indescribable nightmare to fall afoul of Him, Christian or not!

Paul the great evangelist had a foretaste of this and so urged us thus; “ continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling..”

It is interesting that even though Paul expounded the doctrine of grace more than any other biblical writer, he is the one calling on his listeners to ‘fear’ and to tremble’. This should tell us that many still have a less than satisfactory grasp of what it means to experience the grace of God. This excusable for people who have not been followers of Christ but what of those who have known Christ for 5, 10, 20 years? I am afraid that my own observation is that for a good majority their idea of living by faith under grace is hardly what Apostle Paul had in mind when he wrote the epistles.Why would Paul exhort his listeners so? Because as he says, “…it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose” Why is it important that we live daily to revere God as He works to accomplish His will for our lives?


Well, it’s a bit like working as the personal assistant to the President. Daily you are with him. You cannot afford to be truant or tardy lest you kindle his anger with lame excuses. He assigns you tasks each day and he relies on you to accomplish the said tasks because he has provided you with the requisite privileges and resources. Can you imagine the consequences of bungling?
In the old days acts of disobedience could mean banishment as happened with queen Vashti in the book of Esther. At other times a careless act could mean death as happened with Haman in the same book. Esther herself knew that to breach protocol could mean certain death (Esther 4:11 & 16). Remember too that Ananias and Saphira died in the era of grace. And Paul, the primary teacher of the doctrine of grace, more than once prayed sinning Christians into the hands of Satan (see 1cor 5 and in 1 Tim 1:18-20).
Another personal example might suffice. I once worked in a remote region of Tanzania among Maasais. There was a tradition that once dowry was paid to the family of a woman, she was henceforth not allowed to mention her husband by name. If perchance she was heard mentioning his name, her family would be required to return one of the dowry cows to the husband’s family. This is of course an imperfect picture but my own observation is that this generation has become too flippant before the Lord Almighty. No wonder many of our prayers go unanswered. In Malachi 1:14 God says that He will not accept worship that is defective. Then He adds, “…I am a great King…my Name is to be feared among the nations”. Do you hold the Name of the Lord in awe?


In the FB posts someone has said that they cannot ‘ beg’ God because as another put it, ‘revelation has progressed’. Philippians 4:6 says;
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  What does it mean to petition in this context?  Let's see what it meant for Jesus.
⁷ During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Heb.5:7


Jesus was the fore-runner of grace. He was grace defined. He was also the Son of God with unimaginable spiritual resources at His disposal. And yet He submitted to God in unparalleled reverence. Shall we then go ahead and claim to be better than Jesus the Christ?
Elsewhere Jesus gave us a wonderful pattern for approaching God. He said that when we start our prayer we should say;
Our Father who is in heaven (see Eccl.5:2-3 also)
Hallowed be your name (holy, pure, revered is your name)…Matt 6:9-15


Lastly, I do not  intend to destroy your confidence for Hebrews 4:14-16 encourages us;
14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. 16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.


However imagine for a moment that you found yourself in the inner sanctums of state-house, before the President;


If it was mercy you were seeking for something wrong you have done would you still be as cocky?


If it was a favour you clearly know you don't deserve (which is grace anyway) would you demand it? (as some believers are prone) 


If it was to meet him as part of your daily assignment would you appear in bathroom slippers? (which is really the equivalent of a flippant spiritual attitude)
etc etc