The Recovery Of Reverence
Sermon
Something's Coming ... Something Great
Sermons For Advent, Christmas And Epiphany
Once upon a time there was a college professor named A Squared. A Squared lived in Flat Land. Everything in Flat Land had just two dimensions: height and breadth. Nothing in Flat Land had any depth! The people lived in flat houses, ate flat meals, drank flat colas, thought flat thoughts and lived flat lives. Everything was flat. If a person turned sideways, you could not even see that individual!
A Squared taught mathematics at the local university. One night he threw a party for some of his colleagues on the faculty. Upstairs his precocious little son, Pentagon, tried to sleep. As the little boy tossed fitfully, he began to dream. In his dream Pentagon imagined that he was suddenly in a world where everything had not only height and breadth, but depth as well. What a difference that made! Houses and trees and especially girls looked so different! Pentagon felt different. Life had a whole new dimension and it was wonderful.
But then his dream ended and the boy awoke. However, Pentagon could not keep a dream like that to himself. Jumping out of bed, he ran downstairs in his bare feet and rumpled pajamas to tell the guests at his father's party that there was a whole new dimension to life. People did not have to go on living flat little lives anymore, thinking only flat little thoughts. There was a whole new dimension to life - the dimension of depth. A Squared was flabergasted! Not only was he embarrassed over his little son's behavior, but he could not keep the boy quiet! The party ended in a shambles.
The next day little Pentagon talked about his dream to anyone who would listen. He kept stamping his foot and insisting that there was another dimension to life. But the people of Flat Land thought the poor boy was sick, and they took him off to a mental hospital. But his father, A Squared, did not sleep well that night. He kept thinking to himself: Maybe my little son is right, maybe there is more to life, maybe things could be different!
That is only a make-believe story, of course, but I wonder if there are not many people who would describe their everyday lives like that of the citizens of Flat Land. For them, there is little awareness of the past or the future. There is only the present as if the world began last Saturday night. Life seems to be lived in just one plane - the human. There is no awareness of anything beyond us, or anything above us, or anything bigger than ourselves.
In many ways our contemporary society has lost the dimension of the holy and the sacred. Our lives lack depth, because we have smashed everything sacred in sight. Our society smashes sacred days like the Sabbath. As the very foundation of a stable social structure, and as a safeguard of personal freedom, God gave the human race some common sense rules, one of which said, "Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy." Holiness denotes difference, the principle being that we make one day in seven different from other days. This, according to God's plan, was a day set aside to acknowledge and honor and worship God. But today our secular society tramples over the sabbath as vandals trample over a flower garden. The same thing has happened to sacred festivals like Christmas. In our secular society we dare to use God's Son to increase our financial profits and to enhance our sentimental pleasure.
Our society smashes not only sacred days, but the most sacred relationships where God has always been present. People today request that God's name not be mentioned in their wedding service. Yet, in almost every Christian tradition, there are the solemn words, "God established marriage ..." The very institution of marriage, a man and woman committing themselves unconditionally to a life together, is a gift from God and therefore sacred.
Moreover, our contemporary society smashes the values that were sacred to past generations. When nothing is held sacred, the sense of moral judgment and spiritual muscle withers away. A person's body is no longer sacred. The crime of rape is more prevalent in the United States today than anywhere in the civilized world. Property is no longer sacred. People steal everything from hotel towels to the files of psychiatrists and see nothing wrong in these actions. Employees last year stole a record $10 billion in goods from their employers! No longer does the Golden Rule apply in everyday life. Today it has become a case of "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you, only do it first!" We have become a generation that has lost the dimension of holy. Running through our art, our novels, our movies, our television and all of life, is a fundamental irreverence toward the God revealed in Jesus Christ.
Our situation is not unlike the hapless parents of a boy named Bobby whose bad behavior exceeded everyone's expectations. It was the boy's birthday and the father suggested to the mother that they give him a bicycle for his birthday. "Do you suppose the bike will help improve his bad behavior?" asked his mother. "No," said the desperate father, "But it will spread his bad behavior over a wider area!"
But the ancient Book of Leviticus speaks to our times in a rich and relevant way. Many people think of this book as nothing more than a dusty old record of rules pertaining to early Hebrew life. But in the words of today's reading, there are two fundamental truths that can help us recover the dimension of reverence missing in so much of modern life.
1. Recover Our Need For God
These words are first and foremost a call to recover our need for the Living God. God's word through Moses to the people is, "You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy." Holiness on our part demands an attitude of reverence. The source of trouble in our irreverent society is our delusion that we have outgrown our need for the Living God.
A few years ago a pastor friend of mine accompanied a group of pilgrims on a visit to Israel and the Holy Land. The group stopped at a kibbutz on the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee. Their guide was a man named Moses Ezekiel, who pointed with pride to the miracles that had been accomplished by the Israeli people since taking possession of this land in 1948. Here were rows of tidy houses, and vineyards that yielded an abundant harvest. Here were date palms from which one could pluck the succulent fruit. There were barns filled with purebred cattle, and an auditorium for symphony concerts and lectures. But amidst all these signs of a thriving civilization, there was one notable exception. There was no house of worship - a rather startling omission for a people who have bequeathed such a rich heritage to the world.
My friend asked why there was no synagogue, and Moses Ezekiel began to laugh. Finally he said, "Why build a synagogue when no one wants to pray? Is it not better to spend the money on something useful like a tractor?" My pastor friend was amazed at the answer. He could only think of another man named Moses who warned the Hebrew people some 3,000 years ago not to forget the Living God when they came into the land of promise. Said Moses, "Beware lest you say in your heart that my power and the might of my hand has gotten me this wealth ... If you forget the Lord your God, I solemnly warn you this day that you shall surely perish from the earth (Deuteronomy 8)."
The writer of Leviticus speaks the same message to us in the midst of our prosperity and plenty: "I am the Lord your God." The lesson of history from ancient Egypt to Nazi Germany is that any nation which does not have reverence for a power higher and greater than itself will perish from the earth. We ignore God's claim on our lives at our own peril.
There was once a famous Roman general who won a great victory. A triumphal celebration was held upon his return to Rome. His legions marched before him and then came all his captives in their chains and wagons filled with the spoils of war. Finally came the general in his chariot. The crowds were cheering wildly as he passed by and it was a proud and wonderful moment for the victorious soldier. But a slave riding with the general in his chariot leaned over and said to the great leader, "General, remember you are only a man!" That is the relevant message from the writer of Leviticus to our generation - a fervent call to remember our need for God, and the claim of God on all human life.
2. Reverence Brings Respect
The second fundamental truth in these ancient words for our time is the reminder that without reverence for God, there will be no respect for persons, for property or for justice. Clearly, the author of this ancient book had the Ten Commandments in mind as the grand design for human life intended by our Creator. Today, lots of people question the value of these ancient commandments. In fact in the city of Pittsburgh, a copy of the Ten Commandments is engraved on a wall in the city zoo where many rare birds are housed. This has caused more than a few people to comment that the Ten Commandments in our time are strictly for the birds!
But reverence for God is what makes possible our human respect for parents, for human life, for marriage, for property and for justice. The famous Quaker writer, Elton Trueblood, once called the Ten Commandments, "God's Charter of Respect." Trueblood insists that too often, we have seen the commandments in their negative form. Positively written, the commandments become God's guideline for how a society can live in mutual respect:
Above all else love God alone:
Bow down to neither wood nor stone.
God's name refuse to take in vain:
The sabbath rest with care maintain.
Respect your parents all your days:
Hold sacred human life always.
Be loyal to your chosen mate:
Steal nothing, neither small nor great.
Report with truth your neighbor's deed:
And rid your mind of selfish greed.1
That is the Bible's message about respect, but the words would have no meaning without Leviticus' reminder that, "I am the Lord your God!" That is almost the same reminder that precedes the commandments in the Bible: "I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Therefore ..." That is the basis for all reverence - God's everlasting claim upon our lives. Without that sacred sense that all of life belongs to God, there will be no respect for persons, for property, or for justice in our society.
So let this ancient word from Leviticus call us to a new sense of reverence for God and respect for one another. "And the Lord said to Moses, 'Say to all the congregation of people of Israel, you shall be holy; for I the Lord your God am holy.' "
A Squared taught mathematics at the local university. One night he threw a party for some of his colleagues on the faculty. Upstairs his precocious little son, Pentagon, tried to sleep. As the little boy tossed fitfully, he began to dream. In his dream Pentagon imagined that he was suddenly in a world where everything had not only height and breadth, but depth as well. What a difference that made! Houses and trees and especially girls looked so different! Pentagon felt different. Life had a whole new dimension and it was wonderful.
But then his dream ended and the boy awoke. However, Pentagon could not keep a dream like that to himself. Jumping out of bed, he ran downstairs in his bare feet and rumpled pajamas to tell the guests at his father's party that there was a whole new dimension to life. People did not have to go on living flat little lives anymore, thinking only flat little thoughts. There was a whole new dimension to life - the dimension of depth. A Squared was flabergasted! Not only was he embarrassed over his little son's behavior, but he could not keep the boy quiet! The party ended in a shambles.
The next day little Pentagon talked about his dream to anyone who would listen. He kept stamping his foot and insisting that there was another dimension to life. But the people of Flat Land thought the poor boy was sick, and they took him off to a mental hospital. But his father, A Squared, did not sleep well that night. He kept thinking to himself: Maybe my little son is right, maybe there is more to life, maybe things could be different!
That is only a make-believe story, of course, but I wonder if there are not many people who would describe their everyday lives like that of the citizens of Flat Land. For them, there is little awareness of the past or the future. There is only the present as if the world began last Saturday night. Life seems to be lived in just one plane - the human. There is no awareness of anything beyond us, or anything above us, or anything bigger than ourselves.
In many ways our contemporary society has lost the dimension of the holy and the sacred. Our lives lack depth, because we have smashed everything sacred in sight. Our society smashes sacred days like the Sabbath. As the very foundation of a stable social structure, and as a safeguard of personal freedom, God gave the human race some common sense rules, one of which said, "Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy." Holiness denotes difference, the principle being that we make one day in seven different from other days. This, according to God's plan, was a day set aside to acknowledge and honor and worship God. But today our secular society tramples over the sabbath as vandals trample over a flower garden. The same thing has happened to sacred festivals like Christmas. In our secular society we dare to use God's Son to increase our financial profits and to enhance our sentimental pleasure.
Our society smashes not only sacred days, but the most sacred relationships where God has always been present. People today request that God's name not be mentioned in their wedding service. Yet, in almost every Christian tradition, there are the solemn words, "God established marriage ..." The very institution of marriage, a man and woman committing themselves unconditionally to a life together, is a gift from God and therefore sacred.
Moreover, our contemporary society smashes the values that were sacred to past generations. When nothing is held sacred, the sense of moral judgment and spiritual muscle withers away. A person's body is no longer sacred. The crime of rape is more prevalent in the United States today than anywhere in the civilized world. Property is no longer sacred. People steal everything from hotel towels to the files of psychiatrists and see nothing wrong in these actions. Employees last year stole a record $10 billion in goods from their employers! No longer does the Golden Rule apply in everyday life. Today it has become a case of "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you, only do it first!" We have become a generation that has lost the dimension of holy. Running through our art, our novels, our movies, our television and all of life, is a fundamental irreverence toward the God revealed in Jesus Christ.
Our situation is not unlike the hapless parents of a boy named Bobby whose bad behavior exceeded everyone's expectations. It was the boy's birthday and the father suggested to the mother that they give him a bicycle for his birthday. "Do you suppose the bike will help improve his bad behavior?" asked his mother. "No," said the desperate father, "But it will spread his bad behavior over a wider area!"
But the ancient Book of Leviticus speaks to our times in a rich and relevant way. Many people think of this book as nothing more than a dusty old record of rules pertaining to early Hebrew life. But in the words of today's reading, there are two fundamental truths that can help us recover the dimension of reverence missing in so much of modern life.
1. Recover Our Need For God
These words are first and foremost a call to recover our need for the Living God. God's word through Moses to the people is, "You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy." Holiness on our part demands an attitude of reverence. The source of trouble in our irreverent society is our delusion that we have outgrown our need for the Living God.
A few years ago a pastor friend of mine accompanied a group of pilgrims on a visit to Israel and the Holy Land. The group stopped at a kibbutz on the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee. Their guide was a man named Moses Ezekiel, who pointed with pride to the miracles that had been accomplished by the Israeli people since taking possession of this land in 1948. Here were rows of tidy houses, and vineyards that yielded an abundant harvest. Here were date palms from which one could pluck the succulent fruit. There were barns filled with purebred cattle, and an auditorium for symphony concerts and lectures. But amidst all these signs of a thriving civilization, there was one notable exception. There was no house of worship - a rather startling omission for a people who have bequeathed such a rich heritage to the world.
My friend asked why there was no synagogue, and Moses Ezekiel began to laugh. Finally he said, "Why build a synagogue when no one wants to pray? Is it not better to spend the money on something useful like a tractor?" My pastor friend was amazed at the answer. He could only think of another man named Moses who warned the Hebrew people some 3,000 years ago not to forget the Living God when they came into the land of promise. Said Moses, "Beware lest you say in your heart that my power and the might of my hand has gotten me this wealth ... If you forget the Lord your God, I solemnly warn you this day that you shall surely perish from the earth (Deuteronomy 8)."
The writer of Leviticus speaks the same message to us in the midst of our prosperity and plenty: "I am the Lord your God." The lesson of history from ancient Egypt to Nazi Germany is that any nation which does not have reverence for a power higher and greater than itself will perish from the earth. We ignore God's claim on our lives at our own peril.
There was once a famous Roman general who won a great victory. A triumphal celebration was held upon his return to Rome. His legions marched before him and then came all his captives in their chains and wagons filled with the spoils of war. Finally came the general in his chariot. The crowds were cheering wildly as he passed by and it was a proud and wonderful moment for the victorious soldier. But a slave riding with the general in his chariot leaned over and said to the great leader, "General, remember you are only a man!" That is the relevant message from the writer of Leviticus to our generation - a fervent call to remember our need for God, and the claim of God on all human life.
2. Reverence Brings Respect
The second fundamental truth in these ancient words for our time is the reminder that without reverence for God, there will be no respect for persons, for property or for justice. Clearly, the author of this ancient book had the Ten Commandments in mind as the grand design for human life intended by our Creator. Today, lots of people question the value of these ancient commandments. In fact in the city of Pittsburgh, a copy of the Ten Commandments is engraved on a wall in the city zoo where many rare birds are housed. This has caused more than a few people to comment that the Ten Commandments in our time are strictly for the birds!
But reverence for God is what makes possible our human respect for parents, for human life, for marriage, for property and for justice. The famous Quaker writer, Elton Trueblood, once called the Ten Commandments, "God's Charter of Respect." Trueblood insists that too often, we have seen the commandments in their negative form. Positively written, the commandments become God's guideline for how a society can live in mutual respect:
Above all else love God alone:
Bow down to neither wood nor stone.
God's name refuse to take in vain:
The sabbath rest with care maintain.
Respect your parents all your days:
Hold sacred human life always.
Be loyal to your chosen mate:
Steal nothing, neither small nor great.
Report with truth your neighbor's deed:
And rid your mind of selfish greed.1
That is the Bible's message about respect, but the words would have no meaning without Leviticus' reminder that, "I am the Lord your God!" That is almost the same reminder that precedes the commandments in the Bible: "I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Therefore ..." That is the basis for all reverence - God's everlasting claim upon our lives. Without that sacred sense that all of life belongs to God, there will be no respect for persons, for property, or for justice in our society.
So let this ancient word from Leviticus call us to a new sense of reverence for God and respect for one another. "And the Lord said to Moses, 'Say to all the congregation of people of Israel, you shall be holy; for I the Lord your God am holy.' "
