Day 32 (Throwback)

Another song by Gungor brought me back to Darrell's talk on commandment #2. This one is called "Cannot Keep You."

"They tried to keep you in a tent

They could not keep you in a temple

Or any of their idols, to see and understand

We cannot keep you in a church

We cannot keep you in a Bible

Or it's just another idol to box you in

They could not keep you in their walls

We cannot keep you in ours either

For you are so much greater

Who is like the Lord

The maker of the heavens

Who dwells with the poor

He lifts them from the ashes

And He seats them among princess

Who is like the Lord

We've tried to keep you in our tents

We've tried to keep you in our temples

We've worshiped all our idols

We want all that to end

So we will find you in the streets

And we will find you in the prisons

And even in our Bibles and churches

Who is like the Lord

The maker of the heavens

Who dwells with the poor

He lifts them from the ashes

And He seats them among princes

Who is like the Lord

We cannot contain, cannot contain

The glory of your name

We cannot contain, cannot contain

The glory of your name

We cannot contain, cannot contain

The glory of your name

Who is like the Lord

You took me from the ashes

And you healed me from my blindness

Who is like the Lord"

This song makes the similarities between Israel and our present age so clear. As Darrell said, we are all "idol factories," trying imagine gods that fit into our finite understanding and our selfish lives. Darrell's third point from his sermon "Don't Box Me In" really hit hard when I went back and listened to the sermon again a few days ago. He explained that idols affect our Relationship with God by first limiting Him, then leading us astray as we focused on this disproportionate idol, which then requires that we localize God and restrict Him to where our idol is and how our idol functions, and soon enough this idol becomes our god, thereby breaking commandment #1.

Factory is an excellent word to describe how I create idols. I'll idolize something, and then the minute I believe that idolatry is no longer an issue, it is actually because my factory has just pumped out next year's model and I haven't recognized it yet. I so easily localize God and where I believe He is working. Its quite ridiculous actually, it's almost as if I have a mental checklist, or better yet a sliding scale of where God will move and where He wont. It's rooted in my trust in probabilities rather than faith, and it tells me that places like my engineering lab or the bus are places that God won't move, College Life and Houseboats are places I have to see God move, and maybe He'll move in my apartment or in the lives of the students on the robotics team I mentor, but chances aren't looking good for that.

It's easy to make incredible communities like Sonshine or College Life into idols. We see God move there in powerful ways, but its far and away not the only place He is moving. He is so much greater than a camp and a college group! As the song sings, "We cannot contain the glory of Your name!"

Lord, make Yourself real in our lives, the one true, living God, who will not be contained in our temples or churches. Jesus Christ, you are not safe, but you are good! Hallowed be Your name.

Ps. I love how juiced the blog has been this past week, my apologies for not jumping in until now. I've been trying to play a game of catch-up with God this past week, and I finally gave into His call to rest tonight and just be in His presence. His Sabbath is so good. Love you all, two more weeks left in the study, stay salty friends!