Worship in Spirit and in Truth

Exodus 37: 17-22

“17 They made the lampstand of pure gold. They hammered out its base and shaft, and made its flowerlike cups, buds and blossoms of one piece with them. 18 Six branches extended from the sides of the lampstand—three on one side and three on the other. 19 Three cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms were on one branch, three on the next branch and the same for all six branches extending from the lampstand. 20 And on the lampstand were four cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms. 21 One bud was under the first pair of branches extending from the lampstand, a second bud under the second pair, and a third bud under the third pair—six branches in all. 22 The buds and the branches were all of one piece with the lampstand, hammered out of pure gold. 23 They made its seven lamps, as well as its wick trimmers and trays, of pure gold. 24 They made the lampstand and all its accessories from one talent of pure gold.”

The Israelites, living in the wilderness, were decorating the Tabernacle with very elaborate and ornate furnishings.  This would be where God would live, they thought; where they would worship.

Jesus told the Samaritan woman in John 4 that “a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem... Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”

God can be worshiped in any place at any time, as the Jews discovered in exile; as the people who listened to Jesus preach on the hilltops, and on the seashores discovered; as John Wesley discovered when he was barred from preaching in churches; as we have discovered during this pandemic.

Going to church is a good thing, but not having a church is not an excuse for not worshiping God.  We do not need gold furnishing to worship God.  We don’t need a specific place or location. 

All we need is a willing spirit and a desire for God.

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

Radiance

Exodus 34: 33-35

“33 When Moses finished speaking to them, he put a veil over his face. 34 But whenever he entered the Lord’s presence to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out. And when he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, 35 they saw that his face was radiant. Then Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the Lord.”

The Israelites knew that Moses had been with God when they saw that his face shown with the glory of God’s presence.  They knew that what he told them had been told to him by God.

Our radiance, as Christians, is not a glowing face so bright that we have to cover it with a veil.  Our radiance is a life lived in imitation of Christ; a life of love;  a life of service to others; a life of lifting others up.

When such a person speaks, there is no question that they have been with God.

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

Worship

Exodus 31: 12-14

“12 Then the Lord said to Moses, 13 “Say to the Israelites, ‘You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the Lord, who makes you holy. 14 “‘Observe the Sabbath, because it is holy to you. Anyone who desecrates it is to be put to death; those who do any work on that day must be cut off from their people.”

Going to church is the most common way we observe the Lord’s Day.  Why do we go to church?  Is it because our parents went to church?  Is it because we feel guilty when we do not?

The Israelites were told that they would be put to death or at the very least ostracized if they did not observe the Sabbath.  There was great societal pressure for them to make the Lord’s Day holy.

The New Covenant, sealed with the blood of Christ, is written on our hearts.  We worship God, read scripture, fellowship with other Christians, perform acts of kindness and service, and sacrifice our time and resources, not from any sense of obligation, but because of our love of God and Christ; because we want to know and have a deeper relationship with them.

For Christians, the threat of death or social isolation are not needed in order for us to set aside time for God.  God’s Holy Spirit dwells within us.

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

The Search

Exodus 28: 30

“Also put the Urim and the Thummim in the breastpiece, so they may be over Aaron’s heart whenever he enters the presence of the Lord. Thus Aaron will always bear the means of making decisions for the Israelites over his heart before the Lord.”

Remember the Magic 8-Ball that you had growing up in the 60’s?  If you wanted to know if he or she loved you, or if your team would win the game, you shook it up and an answer would appear in the magic window.  Sometimes it would say “yes”, sometimes it would say “no” and often it would say “maybe” or “answer unknown”.  Many times you shook the 8-ball until the answer you wanted appeared in the window.

Scholars are not sure what the Urim and Thummim were, but they are pretty sure that they were used to answer whether a person was guilty or innocent, and to answer yes or no questions.  The answers yielded by the Urim and Thummim were thought to be from God.

God is not a Magic 8-Ball.   His answers are rarely yes or no.  People on the spiritual path know that there are hardly any simple answers to spiritual questions.  God wants us to work and dig and scratch our heads, and study sometimes for years before we understand even part of the answer.

Our spiritual journey as Christians does not end when we find Christ.  Our journey, our search, to know Christ and to know God actually begins with finding Christ, and is not over until the day we die.

And, at the end of the journey, when we meet God, we will know that it was not so much the answers to our questions, but it was the search that was important.

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

Servant for Life

Exodus 21: 5-6

5 “But if the servant declares, ‘I love my master and my wife and children and do not want to go free,’ 6 then his master must take him before the judges.  He shall take him to the door or the doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl. Then he will be his servant for life.”

In biblical times, some people became indentured servants in order to pay off some sort of debt that they owed.  After a period of time, their period of servitude ended, their debt was paid, and they were free to go.  Some, however, chose to remain with their master and as a sign of this agreement their ear was pierced with an awl. 

I grew up in the church, but the faith that I thought I had was not mine, it was my mother’s and the faith of the church that I attended.  I was in the church involuntarily, serving involuntarily.

It was not until I was an adult that the faith became mine.  It is then that I voluntarily submitted myself to the Lord and began to serve with my whole heart.  I serve now from a spirit of love and not from a spirit of indebtedness.

In Psalm 100:2 we read that we are to “Serve the Lord with gladness.  Come before him with joyful songs.”  This joy of service is the sign of a servant of Christ.

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

Mentors

Exodus 18: 24-26

“24 Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything he said. 25 He chose capable men from all Israel and made them leaders of the people, officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. 26 They served as judges for the people at all times. The difficult cases they brought to Moses, but the simple ones they decided themselves.”

I had a good father-in-law.  He taught me about flowers and plants, and showed me how to garden.  Most importantly, he showed me what Christianity is all about.  I didn’t always listen to him, but I should have.

Moses had a good father-in-law.  He taught Moses the benefits of delegation.  Through Jethro, Moses learned that he didn’t have to do everything himself. 

God leads us to people that we need in order to grow spiritually, and, in turn, He leads people to us. God led Moses to Jethro so that Moses would grow into the leader that He needed him to be.  Moses later became a mentor to Joshua.  

Who is it that mentored you in your Christian life?  Who is God leading into your life so that you can show them the way?

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

The Remnant

Leviticus 26: 44-45

“44 Yet in spite of this, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them or abhor them so as to destroy them completely, breaking my covenant with them. I am the Lord their God. 45 But for their sake I will remember the covenant with their ancestors whom I brought out of Egypt in the sight of the nations to be their God. I am the Lord.”

God began His work with Israel through a covenant with one person, a man named Abraham. From Abraham a nation was born.  And these people were to be God’s people, the light shining in the darkness showing other nations the path to God.

Reading through the Old Testament, you find that the Israelites had a history of turning away from God, suffering, turning back to God, prospering, and beginning the cycle over again, and again.  

Each time, a remnant of them survived, and God renewed His covenant with them.  Eventually, Christ was born from such a remnant.

Christ’s ministry began with just twelve disciples.  They traveled to small villages and towns, healing, preaching, performing acts of kindness.

The work of God begins with small things; small groups, small gestures, small actions.  Eventually these small things have great results.  

God uses the small, the remnant, for the good of the whole world.

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)