Los Alamos Church of Christ
Drawing Closer to God
The
Altar of the Ordinary
Reverence
Exodus 3:1-3
Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro
his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of
the desert and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in
flames of fire from within a bush.
Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, "I will go over and see this strange sight--
why the bush does not burn up”.
I’m sure tending a flock of sheep in the desert
of Midian does not compare with the busyness of our 21st Century
lives. But, I would like to use this story of Moses, at the burning
bush, as a metaphor for how God may
approach us.
It seems, from the flavor of these three
verses, that Moses is being diligent in taking care of his father-in-law’s
sheep. One of things I learned 37
years ago is that you want to take care of your father-in-law’s sheep… or
daughters. Moses is doing his
job. He is not easily
distracted. He didn’t typically
leave the sheep alone to traipse off investigating every
anomaly.
But in this case Moses sees something he just
has to go over and see. “How often do you see a bush on fire;
that doesn’t burn up?” This is
where the metaphor begins. Moses
says, "I will go over and see this strange sight.” Moses interrupted his routine to
investigate something… wonder-ful.
During his investigation, God
speaks.
Exodus 3:4
When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him
from within the bush, "Moses!
Moses!" And Moses said,
"Here I am."
God noticed when Moses stopped to
investigate. My metaphor continues…
I believe God notices when we stop
to investigate the wonderful and he
may speak to us there. The metaphor
continues…
Exodus
3:5
"Do not come any
closer," God said. "Take off your
sandals, for the place where you are
standing is holy
ground."
Moses was asked to show his reverence because
he was standing on holy ground.
Moses took off his sandals because he was in a holy
place.
Metaphorically, that is what I want to
advocate this morning. When we
interrupt our busyness to go over and see the wonderful, we may find ourselves on holy ground, where
we show reverence.
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Two weeks ago, I gave a homework
assignment. I challenged you to be
a kid. Children worship at the
Altar of the Ordinary, all the time.
Kids see beetles, the moon, Ashley Pond ducks, sandboxes and
dandelions. Kids stop in wonder at
such. The assignment I had for you
was to stop in wonder at something and spend some time as a kid. Was anyone able to do the
homework?
There is a connection between that sermon on
wonder and this week’s sermon on reverence. “Ah ha…” Reverence requires a certain
pace. It requires a willingness to
take detours, side trips, which are not part of the original plan. Worshipping at the Altar of the Ordinary
begins in childlike wonder; being awed by the ordinary. Then, worship continues by taking off
our sandals in reverence.
I think I have made a discovery.
That is why kids are always taking off their shoes.
They see the wonder.
They know they are on holy ground.
They have to take off their shoes in reverence! Worship begins when we realize how wonder-ful things are and then worship
moves to us reverence at just how marvelous God is!
This morning I want to move us from wonder to reverence.
=======
When I think about awe and reverence I think
about Job. Let’s go to the end of
the story of Job. After endless
chapters of Job defending himself against his friends, because they claim he
must have sinned because he is suffering.
Job said he didn’t. His
friends said, “Obviously you did”.
Then Job’s young friend, Elihu, makes one last observation which leads to
God’s appearance. Elihu
says…
NLT Job
37:14-16 "Listen,
Job; stop and consider the wonderful
miracles of God! Do you know
how God controls the storm and causes the lightning to flash forth from his
clouds? Do you understand how he
balances the clouds with wonderful perfection and
skill?”
We have had our share of thunderstorms
lately. Thunderstorms are
wonderful. You have to think of God
every time you hear the rolling thunder.
Elihu says, “Stop and consider the thunderstorm. Do you have a clue how they work? Just stop and consider the wonderful
miracles of God!” Guess what? Just then the LORD appeared in a
storm.
Job
38:1-4 Then the LORD answered Job out of the storm. He said: "Who is this that darkens my
counsel with words without knowledge? Brace yourself like a man; I will
question you, and you shall answer me.
Where were you when I laid the earth's
foundation?”
Job 38:31-33
"Can you bind the
beautiful Pleiades? Can you loose the
cords of Orion? Can you bring forth
the constellations in their seasons or lead out the Bear with its cubs? Do you
know the laws of the heavens? Can
you set up God's dominion over the earth?”
Job 39:1
"Do you know when the mountain goats give birth? Do you watch when the doe bears her
fawn?”
Job 39:26-27
"Does the hawk take flight by your wisdom and
spread his wings toward the south?
Does the eagle soar at your
command and build his nest on high?”
On and one God hammers Job’s smallness into
him… until Job confesses…
Job 40:3-5
"I am unworthy-- how
can I reply to you? I put my hand
over my mouth. I spoke once, but I
have no answer-- twice, but I will say no more."
Reverence begins in wonder and continues in ignorance. We go over and see. We are awed by the ordinary. Then we realize our own smallness. That leads to reverence of the One who
speaks from the thunderstorm!
“Nature is full of things bigger and more
powerful than human beings, including but not limited to night skies, oceans,
thunderstorms, deserts, grizzly bears, earthquakes, and rain-swollen rivers.
” – Barbara Brown Taylor
-
When
we slow down to investigate, like kids, then we are amazed at our own ignorance, then we are lead to revere the creator
of such wonder!
=======
However, reverence is difficult for us for two
reasons.
One, I have already alluded to; we are too busy
to go over and see. You don’t
revere much when you are too busy to go over and see. To learn reverence we must adopt a
different pace. We must not be in
too big a hurry. To worship at the
Altar of the Ordinary we must adjust our pace to be aware of God all around
us.
There is a second reason why reverence is
difficult; our culture revers the wrong things. We revere:
-Money.
We keep a list of the Ten Richest People in the world. Why? That’s what we
revere.
-Power.
We have a list of the Ten most Influential People in the world. Being in control is where it
is.
-Good looks. People Magazine keeps the Top Ten most
beautiful people in the world.
-Athleticism. Tom Brady threw 517 yards and four
touchdowns in one game that is a record.
We keep such records.
We have problems with reverence because we are
awed by us. But true reverence cannot be for
anything human beings can achieve or manage. Reverence is the recognition of
something greater than us. True reverence must be for something
beyond our creation; beyond our control; beyond our understanding. The reverence I am talking about this
morning must transcend human accomplishment. We must be as Job; who shut his mouth,
twice, because he didn’t have a clue how God does any of it!
So, how do we get it? How do we move from wonder to
reverence? Let me share 3 places to learn
reverence.
=======
First, we discover reverence in God’s
creation.
The easiest practice of reverence is simply to
sit down somewhere and pay attention for at least twenty minutes. We slow down time so we can give that exquisite attention. We notice what is going on in
detail. We count the sounds. We note the life. We observe the complexity. We wonder how it all works. We awe over ordinary.
It is back to the dandelion.
Here is an excerpt from Wikipedia.
A number of species of Taraxacum are seed dispersed ruderals that rapidly colonize disturbed soil,
especially the Common dandelion, which has been introduced over much of the
temperate world. After flowering is
finished, the dandelion flower head dries out for a day or two. The dried petals and stamens drop off and
the parachute ball opens into a full sphere. The parachute drops off the stem when
the wind blows. After the seed is
released, the parachutes lose their feathered structure and take on a fuzzy,
cotton-like appearance and the
dandelion takes over the world.
How does this happen? How does the dandelion know to make
parachutes? How did the dandelion
figure out parachutes? The
dandelion has conqueror most of the world… including your yard. We sit in amazement; in
reverence.
We find a place to learn reverence in
creation. When we give exquisite
attention to the ordinary creation, we move from wonder to ignorance to
reverence of the dandelion maker.
=======
The second place we learn reverence is a little
more difficult. Reverence for creation is not too difficult, if we
take the time. But, reverence for
people presents more of a challenge,
especially, if those people impinge upon our… space. Don’t you hate it when people impinge
you? We can learn reverence by the
way we treat others.
Philippians
2:3-4 Do nothing out
of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than
yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to
the interests of others.
I have an easier time loving humankind than I do loving particular human beings… especially,
particular humans who drive 25 in 55 and impinge me. Why do they get in a car if they are not
going to go any faster than they can walk?
How do we learn reverence from people? Most of them are impinging
me.
I need to do the same thing I did with the
dandelions. I need to give
exquisite attention to them as more than just impingers. Just for a moment, I look for the human, instead of the
impingement.
Every person I meet has come from somewhere and
is going somewhere, the same as I am. While I am sitting here thinking I am at
the center of a traffic jam and they are in my way. They are sitting there thinking they are
at the center and I am in their way.
Every person I meet is dealing with something,
the same way I am. We are breathing
the same air. They are just trying
to get by. They are made in the
image of the same creator who made me.
We, who believe in the reverence of all life, need to recognize the image
of God in the people we encounter.
That “going over and seeing that strange sight” applies to people. We learn reverence for God when we see
God in the people we encounter.
We need to look for the wonder-ful in the people we meet. Instead of being annoyed by their
impinging, or mocking their differences, we should attempt to find
the beautiful; that part which is god-like.
This is a little harder than the
dandelion. In people, we find a
place of reverence… as we see God’s handiwork in
them.
=======
A third place where we might find reverence is
in the care of our possessions.
This is an interesting thought that I have not thought before.
We learn reverence by beginning small. We can find reverence for what we use.
-We learn reverence by making our bed in the
morning. “Why make it up? Going to
get messy, again.” An act of
reverence.
-We learn reverence by putting our tools back
where they belong. We are going to
get them out again, maybe. An act
of reverence.
-We learn reverence by caring for our
cars. Cars are not storage
facilities. Cars are not
dumpsters. Cars are people
too. Reverence for the little
teaches us to revere the big.
-We learn it by mowing the grass. Is there anything as pointless as mowing
grass?
-We learn it by cleaning toilets and vacuuming
the floors.
-We learn in by gardening. The growing of plants combines both
creation and care. Perhaps that was
why the first command God gave to humans was… care for the
garden.
I haven’t thought these thoughts before, but…
learning to care for the small…
leads to learning to care for those who are small… which leads to learning
to revere the one who made it all. It’s like Jesus
said…
Luke
16:10 "Whoever can be
trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest
with very little will also be dishonest with much.”
I may be wrong. But it seems to be a true thought.
======
Here is a new assignment for this week; Pick a
place to learn reverence…
-Realize your ignorance in nature. Take the 20 minutes to be moved to
reverence in creation. This is a
chance to makeup from last week’s homework if you missed it. OR…
-Pay attention to a person in your path. Take the few minutes to realize a
particular person is made by God.
Notice their wonderfulness instead of their impingeingness. OR…
-Show reverence for something small. Take care or something you own as an
exercise in reverence. Clean,
organize, trim… as an act of reverence.
See if it works.
Like all practices at the Altar of the
Ordinary, learning reverence requires no equipment, no special clothes, no
greens fees or personal trainers. You do not even have to be in
particularly good shape. All you
need is a body on this earth, willing to take notice of what is around us;
realizing that reverence can be learned from something as ordinary as a
dandelion.
s
