Reverence, Relate, Right

The three "R's" of Etiquette with God

August 3, 1997

John 6 "I AM the bread..."

When Jesus said, "I AM the bread of heaven," (our morning text,) he was opening a window on the greatest and most awesome mystery we can ever address. Jesus was making a statement about God. He was opening a conversation on how we can relate to God, and be right with Him.

HOW WE THINK OF GOD

Jesus was speaking with people who had been absolutely steeped in the idea that God is great beyond all understanding. The Jews were taught to REVERENCE God. That is a lesson we all could learn with profit. The greatness of God is far beyond what we will ever be able to fully grasp.

A REVERENCE FOR GOD

Our generation is in danger because it has forgotten reverence in large measure. We die if we do not reverence God. The first commandment of all time is: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, soul, mind, strength. The first four of the Great Ten have to do with reverence for God. Do you recall them? (No other Gods; No images of God or idols; Hallow the Name of God; Remember the Sabbath Day as a day of rest and worship)

We could learn a lot from the reverence for the very name of God which the OT Jews had, and which orthodox Jews still observe. A reminder of that reverence is in your Bible if you know where to look. It is in the simple word for God, "LORD," that occurs over and over in the Old Testament in capital letters. There is represents the "unspeakable name," the name which God gave to Moses when he called to him from the burning bush. There God said, in effect, "My name is I AM THAT I AM." From that statement the Jews wrote the vowels YHWH, which probably sounds like "Yahweh," and which in English we have evolved into "Jehovah," but which in essence is a statement every time we see it or repeat it that GOD IS MORE THAN WE CAN EVER FULLY KNOW. God is great beyond the possibility of anyone but himself ever comprehending him.

THE NAMES OF GOD IN OUR BIBLE

If we read the Bible as a textbook, it BEGINS to expose the mystery of God, in terms that relate to us. The names of God as found the in Old and New Testaments are a good place to begin.

The first name God used of Himself is the name Elohim, which comes from a word relating to "power." It would suggest that God is the Source of all energy and power.

The second name God uses of Himself is the 'unspeakable name' which the ancient Hebrews would not speak, the name we call Jehovah, and scholars usually call Yahweh. THIS NAME IS A PROPER NOUN THAT MOSES HEARD AS I AM THAT I AM.

The Jews used compound names: Jehovah-Jireh "the Lord will provide"; Jehovah-Nissi, "The Lord my banner"; Jehovah-Shalom "the Lord send peace"; Jehovah-Shammah, "the Lord is there"; Jehovah-tsidkenu, "the Lord our righteousness."

Another Hebrew name for God is "El Shaddai," our "God our Nourisher" or "Strength-giver."      "Adonai" which means Lord or Master was often spoken when the 'unspeakable name' of Jehovah was read with the eye. These are some of the names or concepts of God we see in the Old Testament. This is one aspect of how mortals must relate to God — with great respect and reverence.

JESUS BROUGHT A NEW DIMENSION IN APPROACHING THE IDEA OF GOD

Jesus did not come to teach us less reverence for God, but He did come to reveal a new dimension of our understanding of God. John declares that Jesus is the WORD of God, with God in the beginning, and indeed, the Word is God. Jesus is the expression of God, the Way in which we can relate to God in a personal way. It was a great missionary, Stanley Jones, who said the obvious: "We have a Christ-like God!"

PEOPLE CAN PERSONALLY RELATE TO GOD

So when Jesus began to say these "I AM" things in John's Gospel, he was taking the unspeakable name and combining it with common things which we need and use for everyday living. This great God is daily bread. This great God is the DOORWAY to life and to all that is good in life. This great God is Light in which to walk, and the Way, the Truth and the Life. This great God is Resurrection from the dead, and everlasting Life. This great God— who is worthy of our deepest reverence— is the True Vine who grafts us in as branches to share his life and bear much fruit.

PEOPLE CAN PERSONALLY RELATE TO GOD

Jesus teaches us that we can relate to God. We reverence God— yes. That is the proper attitude. But not from a great distance. Not in abject fear. God is not our enemy. God is not demanding our pain and agony and happiness and everything we call "good" in order to spare us from the fires of eternal hell. He wants us to know that he has already made the sacrifice necessary for us to begin to approach his holiness. He wants us to know he has set up this Universe in order to fully satisfy every true longing of the human heart. Jesus tells us that we can relate to God.

But there is a third "R" in our vocabulary of "etiquette before Almighty God." It is good and necessary to RESPECT God. It is possible and necessary to RELATE to God. But Jesus made it clear that we cane be RIGHT with God, and know it.

WE CAN / MUST BE IN FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD . . . 'RIGHT' WITH HIM

Now to RELATE and to BE RIGHT ON with God seem like one and the same thing. But that is not always so. God is not "getting smaller and smaller" in our concept of Him as we draw nearer— but what is emerging is the fact that God is more than a Force, and more than a distant Ruler in a Capitol City Somewhere who watches a monitor to see where we stumble. What comes from listening to Jesus as he relates to God is the realization that GOD IS HERE! and we need to walk with Him day-by-day. To be in fellowship with God, and to know we are right with Him is the goal of our faith.

This is more than a great feeling. Feelings come and feelings go. This is even more than a true statement of what we believe. The "what" we believe is important. But God is not a "what." God is a very real "WHO."

We can reverence God— and we can even in some measure relate to God but still not think of God as a Person that can be pleased with us, or displeased and even hurt by our attitudes.

We "get right" with God when we invite Him to be LORD. We maintain fellowship with God as we try to live in a way that pleases Him. Sin happens, and God forgives. Wilful disobedience breaks this "right-ness" with God.

I Thessalonians says, "Don't put out the fire of the Spirit!" or "Don't quench the Spirit!" Did you ever have someone talk over you when you were trying to say something?

Ephesians 4 says it another way, "Don't make the Spirit sad!" or "Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God!" And the context here is that we are called upon to be kind one to another, and forgiving, even as God has forgiven us. When we are unkind or unforgiving we grieve the Holy Spirit of God.

HOW CAN WE KNOW WE ARE "RIGHT" WITH GOD? THIS IS A "REVELATION MATTER!

We begin by trusting God's Word (Romans 10:9)

We continue by trusting Christ as Lord (text for the morning.)

[John 5:39] Jesus is somehow always more than the sum total of the "letter." We do not need some esoteric scholar to sift out the "real Jesus" behind the written word on a pseudo-intellectual basis. And we don't need someone to tell us we ought to feel like this, or have such-and-such an experience!

Remember! THIS IS A "REVELATION MATTER!" Jesus IS the Eternal Contemporary! It is a miracle of God's grace that enables us to believe that Jesus truly is the Son of God, and that He makes God "come alive to us."

WE CAN KNOW WE ARE RIGHT WITH GOD THROUGH HIS SON, JESUS CHRIST

Prayer: O Lord, Great God,

Chorus: O GOD YOU ARE MY GOD