ILL. It was another year of drought for Himba, a tribe from Namibia Africa. Kuneni, a young man, went out as he did every day, to look for something to eat. No deer or other game, no fruits, no mushrooms, only a scorching sun… That day he discovered a bee hive in an unusual place, in a tree stump. Inserting a tube he begging sucking sweet honey…Would this be enough for him? He didn’t thing of other members of his tribe, or his own parents almost starving… But some kids passing by…
That they he discovered a bee hive in an unusual place, in a tree stump. Inserting a tube he begging sucking sweet honey…Would this be enough for him? He didn’t thing of other members of his tribe, or his own parents… But some kids passing by… Sow him on his knees with that tube in his mouth: What are you doing here?
- Well, I worship our gods. Family gods I give them my soul, blowing through this wooden tube – said Kuneni.
- Can we worship too with you?
- Sure, but careful - only once a day, and I have to do it first. You just look from distance, then you come and blow. Do not suck…Gods needs some of your souls…
So Kuneni and the boys “worshiped” several days, coming in the morning. Soon the whole tribe heard about Kuneni worship, giving his soul to some gods deep underground. Wow, what a godly young man… And they admired him, looking up how he is ignoring his hungriness, going every day early to his place of worship…But the rest of the day Kuneni was not particularly religious, nor interested in helping the hungry dying people around him. The tribe chief came too one morning, to worship. He blew air trough the tube. then he accidentally sucked honey… Kuneni fate still unknown until this very day.
The story is well known in Africa, and the saying “honey–worship” is used in relation with fake spirituality or cheap religion. True-worship vs. honey-worship, kind of sweet but fake,selfish, a substitute not related with God, but satisfying just own emotions/ feelings.
True Worship is not only biblical, engaging the Word, but Worship is also rational, engaging the mind. We live in an age when the sensation is king: people embrace the notion that if we don’t FEEL something, is not authenticity in it.
So feeling is the touchstone of reality. A secular song states: “It can’t be wrong - if feels so right”! And if it the sensations are “right”, we will do it. If not, thank you very much, I’ll try again latter. The two ugly twins: mindlessness and meaninglessness…
It’s our responsibility to let people know that worship is not all about feeling, but is a question of using the mind as well.
It is unacceptable to say this: when I go to my church, I feel like taking my brain out and sticking it under the pew like a chew gum, because I won’t need it. I just feel it all…
But worship is a conscious activity. We cannot worship without thinking. We are not transcendental meditation people or “Hare Krishna”, with our legs crossed in a funny Yogga position that will make everybody have bizarre thoughts.
We are sitting as much comfortable as we can, with our Bibles opens and our minds concentrated… From eyes and ears, through our minds, to our hearts… this is the path.
Some of the practical implication of it. We say that we came here to worship. It’s true in the sense that we are today, this morning, at the apex of a seventh days long worship cycle. Because worshiping God is not something we are doing for an hour Saturday mornings, but it’s a lifestyle… What I am doing Monday, and Tue, and Wed… is worship as well.
Studying, going to work, driving through on 540, reading a book, eating, drinking… they are acts of worship. My life unfolds as a continuously worship.
But the problem arises when I worship to more than one God… When today I worship to God of heaven, but tomorrow I worship to some gods of this earth. Hollywood cheap entertainment-god, football-god, yummy-in-my-tummy-god… But the most dangerous one is a god called “I-know-what-I-am doing”…
ILL. Oscar Pistorius story - from "rags" to the palace, but not just one way ticket. He is again in "rags"...
Everything we are doing during the 6 days affects the worship in the 7th day… Most of time we are not doing anything wrong, only doing what the last of the 7 church is doing it. Laodicea. I know what I am doing – says Laodicea. Everything is just fine, I got it, no need to worry here Pastor. Relax, life is not only about church, and prayer meetings and reading the Bible… Don’t be so extreme, so narrow…
Romans 12:1-2 MSG - "So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life - your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life - and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out"….
You know, for a while everything looks fine. Health, job, family, money, church life… Until one day when the life fragile balance is disrupted – most of the time by one of the same gods we used to worship during the week… And then the crisis hits hard…
Like in the life of the Jews who were living comfortable in the silver empire of Persia. Like in the life of the Mordecai who suddenly understood that the crisis of unthinkable proportions – death for him and for all the Jews in a single day.
A crisis around worship. The controversy, the issue between Haman and Mordecai was around worship. The same story, a carry-over of what happened before the creation of our earth, the controversy between Jesus and Lucifer… And last day controversy will be around guess? Worship. +++
ILL. Years ago, I lost a good friend who was like a father for me. I was 29, and he was 61, a godly man who was really interested in my soul. I didn’t have much time for him in his last weeks of his life while he was ill, because I just got married and my whole attention was on my family. I said, well, I can go see him tomorrow, or next week…I was really down and traumatized because I had never been at that point in life where I had lost a loved one. I had been involved in situations where my friends lost their loved ones and I stood with them. Patting them on the back, telling them how sorry I feel for them, etc. At that time, I couldn’t really tell the pain they were in until the minute I really got it – the life is short and unpredictable… All my good intention to spend time with him while he was ill and dying will never compensate the simple truth that he went to sleep before I could spend an afternoon with him... And when my son passed away some time after that, I wanted to have my friend around, to hear from him how much he suffers with me and read Bible promises for me… But he was not there…
What do I mean with all this? There are some things that happen in our lives and we are not really prepared or we are inadequately prepared to handle them. Some come as a shock in our lives; some build us and others really break us down. It is true that we will never be prepared well enough for all the occurrences in our lives but one thing that we ought to learn is to take and learn the lessons that we ought to learn and take… else, I will assure you that the lessons will be repeated again and again and again till we learn.
There is always a reason why God takes us through some things and circumstances in life. He wants us to learn some things in life and also time for us to deal with some issues in our lives.For us to gain the experience, know how it feels to be in such a place so that when someone else is in such a place, we are able to stand with them, encourage them, pray and give them guidance as well.
The Lord raises up people for different reasons. The Bible records stories of times and seasons. Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jonah and Esther are a few of those that God raised up, his bidding to do. How about Stephen, James, John, Peter, Paul, Martin Luther... God did call them to do his work on earth. Daniel was born and lived to record much about prayer and the workings of the Lord. He wrote that in the last days knowledge would increase... In our present generation, God still raises up people like you and me to do his work in such a time like this to point others to Jesus so they won’t miss the gift of eternal life.
Esther finds herself to be the queen of Persia at a time when Haman who was the right hand man of the king wanted to finish the whole race and the people of Israel! And Mordecai her protector, unveiled the plot and pleaded with Esther to intervene and speak with the King and let him know of the plan Haman had.
Haman, the powerful #2 leader of Persia, succeeded in persuading Ahasuerus to approve the genocidal plan to destroy the Hebrews. What was the basis of his argument? Look with me at Esther 3:8-10: READ
See that? On what basis did Haman urge destruction of the Jews? Because their laws were "diverse from all people!" Not only that, but "neither keep they the king's laws." Now do you remember Daniel 6? What did the enemies of Daniel conclude there? Look at Daniel 6:4-5: READ
Bowing down is the all-important satanic goal - bowing down and worship to someone or something other than God, transgressing the first 4 commandments. That's what it was all about then, and that's what it is all about now too. It is all about the worship issue. What can we read just one page previously in Daniel about the prophetical little horn? Daniel 7:25 - "He shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws."
Friends, this all comes down to laws. The universe faces a choice between law A and law B - between God's law and Satan's law.
And did you see how Haman sweetened the pot? He said, "King, I'll even cover the costs for this deed. It won't cost you a thing." So what happens in Esther? The king gives his approval to Haman's plan. Ahasuerus hands over his ring to him and his authority is placed behind Haman.
In Revelation 13:12 what do we find? "And he [the second beast exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed." Notice that while both beasts ultimately put themselves in the place of God, forcing the consciences of their subjects, that only one beast is directly worshiped: the first beast. The second beast never receives worship in the same sense as the first.
In the story of Esther Mordecai refuses to bow down to Haman, and he must get the authority of king Ahasuerus behind him in order to issue the death decree against the Jews. That is just like the relationship between the first and second beast in Revelation 13.
Apostate Protestantism enforces the worship of the first beast - the "mother-Church". And what is at stake in the end-time? God's law versus man's law: the commandments of God, all ten including keeping the 7abbath versus tradition & politics behind the close doors.
In Esther it is the king's law versus Mordecai's response to God's laws - laws that were "diverse" from the laws of all other people. I am suggesting that Haman is a tyoe of the religious influence and Ahasuerus is a type for the secular State manipulated by the Church apostate leaders.These key players symbolize the situation that will be our society in the end-times.
…Oh, c’mon pastor, don’t you see that we keep this idea since Martin Luther and Calvin and now the Church power and image is at an all time low because of the abuse and pedophiles’ scandals? I thing that the scandals gave the mother-Church more media exposure.
What is the mark of the beast involved with in Revelation 13? With a death decree on all who will not bow down worshiping according to human traditions. What is the death decree involved with in Esther? With a faithful remnant who refuse to bow down and give undue reverence to another man – an evil man who would kill a whole race to make his point.
And don't forget the golden image of Daniel chapter 3. There it is again: a law made by the state to enforce false worship... a popular solution wanting to address the last day events challenges like the plagues and terrorism and the King of the South attacking Daniel 11:4-44 symbol of radical Islam)…
When the death decree is published, Mordecai puts on sack-clothe and ashes and goes out into the street where Esther can see him mourning. A series of messages are interchanged by Esther's servants through which she learns of the decree.
No, she had never revealed her ethnic heritage to anyone, and it was not known that she was Jewish. And Mordecai's noble faith comes to front and center here. Look with me at Esther 4:13-14: READ
Mordecai was sure that God would deliver his people, but who he would use depended on the faithfulness of the participants to His call. If Esther refused to stand up for her people, they would still be delivered, but she would be destroyed.
Mordecai saw that it had been the providential hand of God that had placed Esther in a position able to influence and intercede with the king. He also knew that God had other means to fulfill His will that are not always visible.
And by the way, that goes for us too. God Can Go Around Us If We Force Him To. If we do not do faithfully our Father's work, then there is no question in my mind that He will replace us with "other husbandmen" who will bring forth the fruits of His vineyard. Matthew 21:33-43.
CALL. God wants to use us, but He is not limited to us. Nonetheless, I believe that He will finish His work with this body - His Church -and Jesus will come. But we had best not become complacent. We need to step up to the plate, like Esther, and do our part.
