Personally, I don't like the word 'reverance'. You know why? Because when I was a kid to go to an environment where I had to be "reverent" meant I was going to be bored out of my mind. The word was destroyed by my experiences in worship. I hated to be reverent. Because being reverent meant being bored and silent.
When I was a young youth minister right out of college a part of my job was to lead the singing in worship on Sunday. I thought it would be great to sing some songs the teenagers knew, that they learned at camp, retreats, seminars, and places like that. I put a little blue book together and placed them in the pews and on Sunday I would lead a couple of songs from that book as well as some from the hymnal.
Most people didn't mind but a few did. And these few had very loud voices. I don't mean loud like volume loud, I mean loud like in a lot of money and influence loud. And they didn't like the songs in the little blue book. You know why? Because they weren't reverent enough. That's what I was told. I was given a list of reverent approved songs from which I could choose to lead on Sunday because these folks weren't confident that I understood what it meant to be reverent. And according to their definition they were right, I didn't get it and I still don't.
Maybe to some the act of being reverent before God means singing songs written in the 19th century or before, dress in your best clothes, keep your hands down, and your mouth shut and while you're at it be completely bored out of your mind. I don't know about you but that definition of reverence sounds more like torture to me.
Last week we talked about obedience. I asked this question, "Do you want to know how to live with less problems and with less stress?" I should've added, "Do you want to go to heaven?" Because that is what is most important. What we're talking about today can help with this too. I don't know what kind of life you want for yourself, but, does a day filled with peace sound good? How about a week of pure joy, or a month of well-being? How about the assurance that if you died today, you would go to heaven?
Here's how you live the life you really want. Love and respect God so that all you want to do with your life is obey Him. Those who listened last week or read this on the blog are thinking they're getting ripped off because this was the message last week. What in the world does this have to do with reverence? Everything!
When a human being chooses to make decisions based on what they want to do, or on what the world says is ok to do rather than on what God wants or what God says is ok they can suffer some pretty extreme consequences. Just go to a bar late on a Friday night and you'll see this lived out in real time. Now, some of you are wondering just what in the world does your preacher know about bars on a friday night anyway? Uhm...don't ask. But here's the deal, If you want to get wasted there's nothing holding you back. The bartender and probably everyone in it would tell you it's ok to get drunk. The bartender might mention you call cab when you leave because it's not ok to drive under the influence, that after all, is against the law.
But that's not what God says or what God wants. God says, "Don't get drunk." The world says its ok to get wasted just don't drive. But how does a person who is drunk listen to wise counsel? How many wasted people with keys in hand stumbling out to their car will remember a PSA about not driving under the influence? And how about this little nugget of truth according to the crime victims unit of the United Way organization. Almost half, 45% of those who commit rape do so under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol. What if these rapists had listened to God? What if they made a choice to stay sober? There would be 45% less rapes a year.
Here's what God says, "Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts. And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." Ephesians 5:18-20.
So the Bible clearly spells it out here, right? "Don't get drunk or high." This is what God wants. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to make the connection that a lot of problems in our world occur because people don't listen to God here. Maybe there's a lot of problems in your world because of abusive drinking or drug use. If you're addicted to drugs and/or alcohol I really hope that you're ready today to get help. The phone number you need to call if you want help in Nova Scotia is 1.877.742.2406. You need to know that being addicted to a substance is not God's purpose for you. He wants good things for your life. This is why He gave us His Word.
What Paul is teaching us in Ephesians 5 is not just the risks of drinking alcohol, he's also addressing reverence. You can choose to live the way you want to, but, if you want to go to heaven, if you want to live with your Creator forever you need to live His way. I hope that you Love and respect God so that all you want to do with your life is obey Him.
"Don't get drunk but instead be filled with the Holy Spirit." The problem with a lot of us who claim to be followers of Jesus is that we're too sober. We're not drunk at all; on the Holy Spirit that is. Some might think that being reverent before God is being silent, bored, and dressed up nice for Sunday worship, but Paul says reverence is more like being drunk on God. And Paul tells us what it means to be "filled with the Holy Spirit." He says, "sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and make music to the Lord in your hearts. And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."
This doesn't have anything to do with what we do in our worship time on a Sunday morning. Paul is teaching followers of Jesus to live this way every day. (Ephesians 5:15-17) If this were just about what we do on Sunday, Paul would've said that. God wants us to live with a grateful heart, with a praising heart, with a loving heart, with as he put it, "music in our heart." Being reverent means to Love and respect God so that all you want to do with your life is obey Him. And guess what a person who seeks in every moment to live for Jesus wants to do? Praise God. Praise Him with words, praise Him with deeds, praise Him with the way they live.
Jesus shares with us, his followers, that the greatest command is to love God and love others. (Matthew 22:36-40) Is it possible to love God and love others if we don't respect God? Think of it in terms of the military. We won't go into it here, but, Paul actually uses a military term, "submit" in the chapter we're looking at today, he also uses the word we interpret as "reverent" in the same verse. (Ephesians 5:21) We don't use the word 'reverence' much anymore, the word we use more often, that is very similar in it's meaning, is the word 'respect'.
What does respect mean in the military? Watch the answer this young soldier gives. Did you catch the line about what happens when a young recruit is disrespectful? Let's say you're a private in the military, the lowest classification in the military, and a five star general, the highest class, gave you an order. For the sake of this example let's say he told you to get him a cup of coffee. How well do you think it would go for you if you responded, "uh, general, sir, I've got a lot to do right now, I'm pretty booked at the moment, I would love to get you that coffee sir, but right now is just not a good time for me...sir." How do you think your general would respond?
For those of us who claim Jesus as our Lord, we make a choice everyday to submit ourselves to His authority. Jesus said, "All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth." (Matthew 28:18) Now, I'm not suggesting that God is like a five star general. God tells us who and what He is. He is Love. (1 John 4:8) I don't know any generals. But, I'm pretty sure that no general of an army is going to define himself or herself as Love. But because of their rank they deserve respect from their subordinates.
God doesn't earn our respect. You don't have to obey Him. You can make a choice to do what you want rather than what He wants. He created you with the power to make your own choice. But here's what you must know. He receives our respect whether we give it to Him or not. Every person will give God respect. "For the Scriptures say, ‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bend to me, and every tongue will confess and give praise to God." Romans 14:11 You can choose to Love and respect God so that all you want to do with your life is obey Him. Or you can wait until you die and it's too late to confess with your mouth that Jesus Christ is your authority. (Romans 10:9) Either way, whether you do so while you're alive, or you do so in your death, God will receive your respect.
It's my prayer you will love and respect God today. That you will be filled with His Holy Spirit to live a life of praise. That you will have a song in your heart today for the eternity that God has provided you through Jesus Christ. This is reverence.
