A God with ears

"Oh God!" people exclaim in times of surprise or trouble. It doesn't seem to matter if we're religious or not. An appeal to God seems a natural outburst when we are overtaken by life.

Christians use God's name in sincere thanksgiving or appeal: "Thank God!" when something goes well, or "Dear God!" when we need help.

Sometimes I explain that I'm not taking God's name in vain when I speak God's name aloud. His name is no mere comma or exclamation point in the chatter of the moment. Rather, we're continuing our ongoing conversation. He speaks and I listen. I speak and I know he hears me, too.

A Jewish prophet exclaimed that people used half of a stump of wood as firewood and the rest as a symbol for worship. They carved a bowl from one end ... and an idol from the other.

Then they expected help from the gods by venerating the piece of wood they'd crafted. "Idiots!" says Isaiah (my paraphrase.)

"[Wood] is used as fuel for burning; some of it he takes and warms himself, he kindles a fire and bakes bread. But he also fashions a god and worships it; he makes an idol and bows down to it.

Half of the wood he burns in the fire; over it he prepares his meal, he roasts his meat and eats his fill. He also warms himself and says, "Ah! I am warm; I see the fire." From the rest he makes a god, his idol he bows down to it and worships. He prays to it and says, "Save me! You are my god!" (Is. 44:15-17 NIVUK)

It's easy to condemn historical tribes for idolatry. It's harder to see where we fall into the same foolishness.

• Most American magazine photos of homes or gardens contain a "Buddha" figurine, an African mask, or Indian statue to symbolize peace and prosperity.
• People set up home altars and "tranquility corners" for meditation, furnishing them with photos, icons, or "meaningful objects."
• Here's a description from an online seller: "We specialize in manufacturing Indian God Statues as well as modern figures in various designs, shapes, colors and sizes are available. These Indian God Statues can be customized as per customers specifications. We are having enchanting collection of white marble Murtis & sculptures of Hindus God & Goddesses. These marble Indian God Statues are made from premium grade of raw material which ensure durability at its user end."
• We surround ourselves with material things, worshiping them by spending time cleaning, paying attention, and financing them.

The prophet Isaiah continues: "No one stops to think, no one has the knowledge or understanding to say, ‘Half of it I used for fuel; I even baked bread over its coals, I roasted meat and I ate. Shall I make a detestable thing from what is left? Shall I bow down to a block of wood?’" (Is. 44:19) The obvious answer is, "Of course not!" But in practice it's rarely that simple.

Our God is not like other gods. He is not a dumb stump, a shiny metal statue, or a mute image made by human hands. He is not malleable by human whims. He cannot be manipulated into our own image.

Set apart forever, God comes near to hear our prayers and exclamations. He listens to our hearts as they call out to him with pleasure, adoration, and desperate need. He stoops to His children's cries and answers.

Truly, there is no god like our God. His loving ears hear and His clear voice speaks! What does your conversation with Him sound like today?

Read more:
*Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life." Proverbs 4:23 NLT

Hear, you who are far away, what I have done; and you who are near, acknowledge my might. Isaiah 33:13 NLT

*Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. Romans 12:9-13 NIV

*Paul wrote: We know that God has chosen you, because our message of the gospel came to you not in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. 1 Thessalonians 1:4-5 NLT

Moravian Prayer: Jehovah God, you promised not to forsake us. You hear us no matter where we are and acknowledge us when we cry out to you in time of distress. When we think we are destroyed, you are there. Thank you for choosing us every day. Amen.

Worshipping foreign gods

We would have thought they were mad. Utterly bananas.

When I was a kid, had anyone placed an idol in their living room or spent hours meditating on "nothingness" for peace of mind, we would have called them crazy. Seems everywhere I look, there's a buddha sitting on a tabletop. Decorators like to express a feeling of tranquility in a LR or bedroom by adding foreign gods as symbols. You can find out how to build a shrine or "meditation room" in the DIY section of the library. Any neighbor on my childhood street who would have checked out such a book would have been marked as an insane person.

Reading history, it's easy to see how the West abandoned their love of God, in whom souls find rest, for the frantic pace of capitalism and consumerism. We fell in love with stuff, and then found our souls empty.

"Want to be really empty?" asked priests of world religions. "We can show you how." In came the gods made by hands, subtly in music (via John Lennon and Yoko Ono, yeah we thought they were nuts when they first broadcast Eastern rites). Foreign gods came creeping in with decor (oh, it's just a pretty statue. doesn't mean anything to me.) They disguised their houses of worship as holistic wellness centers (check out the "meditation rooms" that used to be chapels in hospitals, catholic retreat centers, and airports). And slowly but surely idolatry pervaded our homes and thinking ("You know, I think this guardian angel on my keychain really makes a difference, don'tcha, Saint so-and-so?")

It's not like we were ever all Christians. But the church used to be a place of refuge, where you knew someone would listen, pray to God with you, and offer help in times of trouble. I doubt if most of my fellow Seattle-ites would turn to the church rather than a bar or social services. Few people notice church buildings: it's like we have blinders on when we drive by.

I was creeped out by this photo on the BBC news this morning. Clinton is in Myanmar (formerly Burma). When would the heads of state take Communion in a Christian church... or even attend worship services with our government leaders? Yet with a smile on her face, Mrs. C. pours a symbolic water sacrifice on the altar of a god who is no god, a representation of demonic forces and evil. Is no one thinking about the message such a ritual binds us to as a nation?

We have bowed our hearts in the high places. Israel was severely punished for such abandonment of God. Rich and poor, influencers and peasants... all were swept away by economic downturns and wars and natural disasters. What makes us better than they? (Or has God become blinder to the sins of our leaders?) We will suffer God's justice because he notices those whose hearts incline toward him and those who worship things made with hands.

Christ sacrificed himself, One for all, so that we might have access to God. "Oh, Lord, let us not turn away from the abundance, peace, and joy you promise." We no longer have to sacrifice as the Israelites did, but we must turn day by day with hearts wide open to the God who has saved us and loved us enough to die on our behalf.

What abundant life we celebrate in this Christmas season! Don't let it be lost among those you love. In this season, decorations and business, presents and feasting can consume our time for worship and meditation on the One True God, who made us and wants to call us his own. 

Lord have mercy! Christ have mercy! Lord have mercy... on us all! Let's pray together today... for our governments, neighbors, and others who do not yet worship the Creator. 

Read more:

*Command the people of Israel to bring you pure oil of pressed olives for the light, to keep the lamps burning continually. The lampstand will stand in the Tabernacle, in front of the inner curtain that shields the Ark of the Covenant. Aaron and his sons must keep the lamps burning in the LORD's presence all night. This is a permanent law for the people of Israel, and it must be observed from generation to generation. Exodus 27:20–21 NLT

*Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. Worship the LORD with gladness;  come before him with joyful songs. Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations. Psalm 100 NIV 

*While Paul was waiting in Athens, he was upset to see all the idols in the city. He went to the Jewish meeting place to speak to the Jews and to anyone who worshiped with them. Day after day he also spoke to everyone he met in the market. Some of them were Epicureans and some were Stoics, and they started arguing with him. People were asking, "What is this know-it-all trying to say?" Some even said, "Paul must be preaching about foreign gods! That's what he means when he talks about Jesus and about people rising from death."

They brought Paul before a council called the Areopagus, and said, "Tell us what your new teaching is all about. We have heard you say some strange things, and we want to know what you mean." More than anything else the people of Athens and the foreigners living there loved to hear and to talk about anything new.

So Paul stood up in front of the council and said: "People of Athens, I see that you are very religious. As I was going through your city and looking at the things you worship, I found an altar with the words, 'To an Unknown God.' You worship this God, but you don't really know him. So I want to tell you about him. This God made the world and everything in it. He is Lord of heaven and earth, and he doesn't live in temples built by human hands. He doesn't need help from anyone. He gives life, breath, and everything else to all people. From one person God made all nations who live on earth, and he decided when and where every nation would be.

"God has done all this, so that we will look for him and reach out and find him. He isn't far from any of us, and he gives us the power to live, to move, and to be who we are. 'We are his children,' just as some of your poets have said.

"Since we are God's children, we must not think that he is like an idol made out of gold or silver or stone. He isn't like anything that humans have thought up and made. In the past, God forgave all this because people did not know what they were doing. But now he says that everyone everywhere must turn to him. He has set a day when he will judge the world's people with fairness. And he has chosen the man Jesus to do the judging for him. God has given proof of this to all of us by raising Jesus from death."

As soon as the people heard Paul say that a man had been raised from death, some of them started laughing. Others said, "We will hear you talk about this some other time." When Paul left the council meeting, some of the men put their faith in the Lord and went with Paul. Acts 17:16-34 CEV