“To Know, Glorify and Enjoy God” 6/2/24 Isa. 43:6-13; Mark 9:2b-27 Ben Sloan at Eastminster (Creed:WSC 1 & 2) [For video: https://vimeo.com/953197300 https://vimeo.com/953197300]
The ushers, greeters, and staff are given these name tags so that you and guests will be able to see who we are. Often I am running in here pinning my name tag on as I go, and a fair amount of time, I have carelessly put it on upside down. Often someone will be helpful and tell me that I have done so, and sometimes I say sheepishly, “That’s so I can read it, and remember who I am.” Knowing who you are and whose you are is so important. Knowing who you are, whose you are, and a third question- where you are going in life- are so important. If you don’t know where you are going, it doesn’t matter if you are in a hurry or not; it doesn’t matter if you go left or right or in the middle; If you don’t have an end point to head toward- a final destination- a purpose. Plankton are tiny organisms that float in the ocean- and the first building block of the food chain. They have no eyes or other senses- and they just literally go with the flow- moved about by the waves. Don’t be like the plankton- just floating or hanging onto any cause that comes along. Be like a hummingbird. Ruby-throated hummingbirds, by contrast have very poor eyesight, but they rely on smell- and they have an uncanny ability to migrate from southern Mexico to South and North Carolina about 2,500 miles going up to 600 miles without stopping. Why do they migrate? Other than God wants to spread their beauty, they also follow their food sources- the blooming cycles of flowers and nectar. Don’t float with the tide and wind of life, but go with God. Going is not the most important thing- a goal- a direction and a reason is. As a boy years ago I borrowed my uncle’s rowboat in the sound off of Maine. The first time I tried I was fairly unsuccessful- going around basically in circles. But then my uncle told me to not look at the oars or the sea, but to fix my eyes on something on land and row toward it. That is when I discovered the joy of rowing. So let us fix our eyes on Jesus the author and perfector of our faith.So the very first question of the Westminster Shorter Catechism is “What is the chief end of man?” Or in modern English- “What is the main purpose of human beings?” Or another way of putting it- “why are we alive?” These are similar questions to who are you, whose are you, and where are you ultimately going in life. The answer is “to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” In other words, Your life is not about you. The world does not hold its breath waiting for you to make a decision. You did not create yourself. You did not make yourself. You are not here by accident. You are made for a purpose. The scriptures have some directions for your life. We are part of a grand design- one puzzle piece in the puzzle- designed to make it happen.
At first, when I studied this, I thought- surely glorifying God is not what it is about. Surely we are made to be saved- to go to heaven. But that is not it. God wants all to join Him in heaven. But we do not just exist to exist on into eternity. The Bible says, “Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (Col. 3:23). Thirty times in scripture it speaks of the glory or glorifying God. It is an important idea.
Different books on theology start at different places. Lutheranism and Melanchthon began his theology talking about sin. Pentecostal and some fundamentalist theological works (eg. Duffield) often begin with the Bible. Loyola of the catholic Jesuits begins his work with saying we should examine ourselves. Calvin, The Shorter Catechism and most Reformed theologies start with knowing God. If you know God- you will know yourself. People spend a lot of time these days trying to find themselves- trying to find who they are. But, As Augustine said, “Our hearts are restless til they find their rest in thee.” If you know God- not just know about God then you will know who you are and whose you are. The focus on our worship is not on our feelings, what it does for us, how it inspires us- those are wonderful things that should not be downplayed. But the focus of worship, and the focus of our lives should be on the One who made all- gives us life- sustains us in this life- and redeems us- that is God. In fact, to focus on what God can do for us instead of focusing on God seems to be a half worship of ourselves.
Let the main thing be the main thing. God is the main thing. Jesus said apart from Him we are nothing- so let’s be something by plugging into God. Jesus said, “Not my will but thine be done.” He said that as an example for us- it is not what we want in the flesh that is the important thing- but what God wants. You know there are neat yard decorations out there at Christmas and now Easter, Halloween, other times. I’m talking about these blow up figurines. When I walk my dog in the late afternoon I see them in the yards- my dog often barks at them. But when I walk my dog in the morning- they are just flat, lying on the ground pretty pitiful- you can’t even tell what they are Santa or reindeer. That is how we are without the Spirit dwelling in us- the wind filling us up- we exist but we are flat, pretty meaningless. The Presbyterian and Reformed creeds and catechisms do not argue for or about the existence of God. These confessions assume if you are reading them you are a person of faith. Almost everyone was in the whole history of the world. It is only as human pride rises and morals decline (both in the world and in the church) that we have the audacity to think we do not need to believe in God. I truly believe that even for the staunchest atheist, sometime in their lives a spark of belief comes- though they may snuff it out. But God is our first cause and our reason for existence as individuals, as a church, and as a world. The church especially, does not exist well without God. There are many who try to turn the church into simply a social club doing good in the world. But belief in God is our motive for being and staying together, and also our motive to be generous to the poor, and belief I God is our motive to get up- leave our comfortable lives- and do something outside of ourselves for not only a greater good- but THE greatest good. In fact, God and good are synonymous. We think we can define good- but God is the ultimate goodness in the universe. We are used to saying, “Goodbye.” But before the mid 1500s in the old English language that is an abbreviation of “God be with ye.” Similarly- Good Friday used to be called “God-Friday.” In our culture we value God as a God of love, but we forget and are more and more blind that God is also good, righteous and holy.
We are called to Glorify God. “Glorify” is also a word we don’t use much anymore. It really means to reflect- like a mirror. 2 Cor. 3:18 says, “all of us contemplate the glory of the Lord as though reflected In a mirror and we are transformed into that image.” So the moon’s light is not its own, it reflects or glorifies- even magnifies in the dark of night- the sun’s light. Our lives are to be lived not simply for ourselves and our selfishness. Rather our lives are to be lived to the glory of God- reflecting Him, imitating Him, pointing to Him. In that sense, all of us are lights shining in the darkness (as the Bible says). Ideally, when people look at us they do not see us- they see Jesus shining in us. We are the light of the world only as we reflect THE light of the world- God Himself. Jesus was the one who said, “Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Mt. 5:16). When we are good, it reflects the goodness of God- who not only loved us first but also was good first- setting the standard for goodness. In that sense, we are all created and called by our faith in God to be missionaries for Him. Jesus said, “And you will be my witnesses.” So let us glorify Him- pointing to Him. Romans 11;36 says, “For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever!”
But the most neglected part of this Shorter Catechism answer about our main purpose or chief end is the last phrase- “Our main purpose is to glorify God AND ENJOY HIM FOREVER.” Some have this mistaken idea that Christians cannot enjoy anything. But to the contrary, Christians can enjoy everything in a way- and enjoy a relationship forever. Everything we experience- even the evils and sorrows and sadness of life- will one day be redeemed. There is a great song written by Thomas Moore that has a stunning line: “earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal.“ The alternative is that without God there is no healing or hope in the face of evil. We also have one who will be with us forever. So Paul could sing in prison; So Joseph could trust God In the midst of injustice; So Christian martyrs face death boldly. Even in death believers triumph. But right now- We enjoy the love of God, the hope of God, the strength of God, the blessings of God, the peace of God, the grace of God, the answered prayers of God- not just for a moment but forever. Every human relationship that we may enjoy will not last forever. Everything, every gift will not last forever. But there is One whom we can enjoy forever, and ever. As one devotional I read this week said, we can move from merely believing in God to experiencing a friendship with Him.
It is one thing to say, “Oh yes, I guess there is a God up there somewhere.” It is another to say we can trust God as our friend, and depend on Him. John Paton was a Presbyterian missionary to the New Hebrides islands. He was trying to translate the Bible for them in their own language, but they did not have an equivalent word for “faith.” The right word came to him when he was going to sleep in his hammock. He asked them what was the word for putting your full weight down. That word for “resting” in something was the word he used for faith in God. So a little bit like our passage says, we believe- but we need help to believe more- and so we pray, “Help my unbelief.” C.S. Lewis, the great Christian writer said he didn’t know what true faith was until after his wife died. He said, “You never know how much you really believe anything until it becomes a matter of life and death to you. It is easy to say you believe a rope to be strong when you are just wrapping it around a box. But suppose you had to hang by that rope over a cliff. Only a real risk tests the reality of belief.” So I invite you not simple to believe in God, but to glorify Him and enjoy Him.
