Talk About Love - Second Chapter "Thou Art Holy"

“TALK ABOUT LOVE" All original ideas are Copyright of Richard R Sjaardema, 7/21/2010. (I, Richard R Sjaardema invite you to share and copy this material with Copyright notatation and without charge.)


(Pending table of contents)

1. WHY BOTHER TALKING

A. What Is Man

B. Thou Art Holy

C. Preparing For Celebration

2. KNOWING YOUR BELIEF

A. His Story Positioning

B. Word of God

C. What is Truth

3. UNDERSTANDING GOD’S LOVE

A. God’s Spiritual Gifts

B. God’s Greatest Gift

C. Beginning The Transformation

THOU ART HOLY

This chapter could get me into real trouble on a world wide scale. For my brothers of the Muslim & Jewish faiths, I ask your forgiveness as I realize that in general, the Sovereignty and Holiness of God that is held in your faiths is held to a much higher standard than that of most modern day Christian believers. For Christian believers, I realize that within our spiritual identities and various doctrinal, denominational, and cultural backgrounds, these attributes are held and esteemed in various degrees. To all other faiths, first of all, I apologize for lumping you altogether, and I ask for your understanding. Although my desire would be not to offend either the legalistic attributes of our faiths or the leniency attributed by many of salvation, I again must confess that I shall probably do both. With this understanding between us, the Holiness of God and the Hole-y-ness of our own lives certainly deserve our mutual respect and attention.

A Loss of Honor

How can one look at the vast expanse of the sky in the blackest night and not be overwhelmed by the insignificance of one human being. But then again, how can one look at the biologic makeup of one human being and not be overwhelmed by the amazing construct and design that holds it together and allows it to function? When one holds their new born baby in their arms, the thought may cross their mind, “Look what I have done”, but on further reflection, they realize what a gift they have been given and what little part they truly had in it’s creation. Throughout that child’s life, a parent is floored and inspired again and again by the responsibility they have been given with that gift.

In today’s culture, one of the greatest losses we have experienced is the loss of honor. As family values erode, honor between parents regarding their mutual responsibilities to one another, and to their children, is too easily discarded. Too often, children show their parents, or fellow man or woman a respect or patience that would justify stoning in some cultures past or present. The disregard we carry for persons who hold a different value system from our own borders on unforgivable. The public popularity rankings for our leaders and the amount of slander heaped upon them for every action by popular opposing media, not to mention our own conversations decries the “unity of man” required through historical records of societal success. This loss of honor also carries through to our relationship with God.

How often does our child change his or her religion in an effort to rebel against his or her parent? What better way to break a parent’s heart than to cut them to the core through defiance of their religion. If such conversion has to do with righteousness or holiness, well and good, but if such conversion takes place in an act of defiance, it often times makes a mockery of the very religious grounds it claims to uphold. Then again as a parent, if you sacrifice your relationship with your child for the sake of your religion, do you honestly imagine your God takes pleasure in such action? How can you imagine, given these actions, that you serve a God of love if He does not even allow you to love your family through your belief in Him?

When was the last time you were appalled at the profanity you had to listen to? Was it in a movie? Was it in the local diner? Did it have something to do with taking the Lord’s name in vain? Why is such misuse so common and when did it become considered a natural form of speech? Truly, who is benefited by such nonsense? Is it nothing more than an open form of rebellion by man upon his creator- God our Father? Unfortunately, I believe the vast majority of mankind is guilty of this blaspheme - including me. How about you?

The fact of the matter, as is obvious to all of us by the cosmos and the inner self, is that God is infinitely more powerful than you or I. The concept of His apparent makeup is so beyond comprehension that I hesitate to begin. There is nothing I could write that has not already been written within our sacred writings. The praise of His Glory is well documented by the pioneers of our faiths and various authors throughout history. Without filling the remaining pages of this book with my favorite quotes, I challenge you to share your favorites with one another. How dare we, as fragile human beings, unable to even keep our own lives organized, take His name in vain and challenge Him to action as though He were our pawn!

I would like to share a quote from a young man named Elihu whose words are recorded for us in the good book of Job.

“Look up at the heavens and see; gaze at the clouds so high above you. If you sin, how does that affect Him? If your sins are many, what does that do to Him? If you are righteous, what do you give to Him or what does He receive from your hand? Your wickedness affects only a man like yourself, and your righteousness only the sons of men.

Men cry out under a load of oppression; they plead for relief from the arm of the powerful. But no one says, ‘Where is God my Maker, who gives songs in the night, who teaches more to us than to the beasts of the earth and makes us wiser than the birds of the air?’

He does not answer when men cry out because of the arrogance of the wicked. Indeed, God does not listen to their empty plea; the Almighty pays no attention to it.” Job 35:5-13 (NIV)

There is a better way!

Yes, I Am Full of Holes

My life is a mess. From addictions, emotional turmoil, relational difficulties, financial stress, worry for loved ones, truly life and death issues. I can relate to them all. Sound familiar? If I allowed the emotion of life’s struggle to take over, I’d have to go to the clinic for depression on a routine and chronic basis.

In fact, today, many people are dealing with life’s problems by seeking counseling from people they don’t know, nor can they relate to. Many of us, at least in my culture, live away from family. We have few friends. We are afraid that if we shared our problems, even the people close to us would avoid us. Perhaps we’re right. It seems everybody has enough personal problems of their own, that to consider asking them to carry the additional weight of ours seems inconceivable. The fact of the matter is, without sharing our problems, they mount up and become an overwhelming burden & we eventually feel the need to seek that professional help. The problem is that counseling generally costs much more than what you paid for this book and that counselor will probably work with you out of some other book, or educational understanding of behavior that they’ve picked up along the way. Chances are, your counselor, or the writer of that book, or the teacher of their class probably did not share their personal story, but shared stories of others. How can you be sure your counselor will personally relate to what you are going through, or that their suggested remedies will lead to living happily ever after? Too often, if you do not seek spiritual guidance, professional counseling has even written our creator God out of the picture – and you very well might be left with more hopelessness and frustration than you began with.

What if you could talk to someone who understood what you were going through because they had been there too? What if they truly listened and cared and didn’t charge you when the session was over. What if they even prayed with you to that powerful creator God we’ve been talking about – and showed an interest in your understanding of His role in all of this? What if they would do this without adding the insult of judging your ideas about God? It’s a wonderful thing they used to call interpersonal relationships, and loving our neighbor as ourselves, and it’s high time it became a cultural backbone within our lives today! Even the professional counselor understands this as they charge you to counsel within a group of your peers whom they have assembled. We all need to be seeking help from and for one another, because our burdens become lighter and bearable when shared with family. To ask one individual human to carry the burden of the masses is unhealthy at best – and yet, this too will play into our understanding of our God as we will find that He understands and cares about our burdens. He requests that we help one another through his plan of redemption.

Without drawing this section of this book out into the boring details of how broken and sinful all of us are – and how much we need each other, suffice it to say we have all suffered tragedy and heartache in our lives. We all share emotions of grief, guilt, loss, heartache, failure, and so much more. Although there are many self help books out there for a vast variety of society’s ills and those of each individual, nothing works as well as talking with a caring friend and truly listening to the voice within and perhaps communing together with our common Loving Creator Father through prayer. I personally find my greatest help through the Bible & I hope that each of you is able to find comfort from your word from God. If not, may I suggest that Bible?

“A passage written by King David from Psalm 23:1-4 goes like this:

“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want; he makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil; for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.” (RSV)

This has been a favorite passage for many for thousands of years since it was first written. Notice it does not say we will not walk through the valley of the shadow of death, but states that The Creator of the universe will walk with us and offer us His strength and comfort along the way.

Although many would like to claim that our righteousness will lead to prosperity, success, and endless joy here on earth, this does not pan out in most of our lives. If we expect happily ever after, often we are left feeling defrauded, angry, and alone. However, if we rely on God to help us through; if we call to Him with praise and thanksgiving – remembering His blessings in our lives in spite of our present hardships; if we will allow joy in the Lord to be our strength; we will generally find that strength to help us bear almost any burden. We may even see that God is on our side even in the midst of strife. He truly will walk with us through the valley.

Remember that young man, Elihu that I mentioned earlier? He was responding to the perceived self-righteousness he saw within the attitude of his friend, Job. He put into words what he felt our attitude should be towards an almighty God in the times of stress and hardship in our lives: Listen to what he says in Job 33:23-28:

“Yet if there is an angel on his side as a mediator, one out of a thousand, to tell a man what is right for him, to be gracious to him and say, ‘Spare him from going down to the pit, I have found a ransom for him’ – then his flesh is renewed like a child’s; it is restored as in the days of his youth. He prays to God and finds favor with Him, he sees God’s face and shouts for joy; he is restored by God to his righteous state.

Then he comes to men and says, ‘I sinned, and perverted what was right, but I did not get what I deserved. He redeemed my soul from going down to the pit, and I will live to enjoy the light.’” (NIV)

Adam Where Are You

Have you ever seen an American Football game? It is not uncommon to see a banner behind the goal posts during a field goal attempt proclaiming John 3:16. This is a favorite verse of many Christians, but it is a difficult one for much of humankind to believe. The first few words of the passage go like this: “For God so Loved the World!” Oh really? Humankind has struggled with this concept down through the ages.

How often have you heard the question posed: “How can a good God let bad things happen to good people?” If we are truly honest, we all struggle with this question. Some have come to the conclusion that perhaps God is not so good after all. Others dismiss the question and say it is disrespectful to even pose it. The question certainly is worth discussion if we truly desire to understand our Creator and our purpose here on earth.

In contemporary American Culture – and I speak of it because that is where I live and breathe, there has been much discussion about appropriate discipline of our children. The debate has arisen about the differences between discipline and punishment. Although some definitions equate the two, my understanding as a businessman would be that while discipline would be setting policies and procedures of how to achieve success, punishment would be the resulting pain and frustrations of not achieving that success.

Regardless of how each of us perceive these two words, it is difficult to imagine how much of the pain & frustrations of our lives would not be considered as punishment. How often have we been led to believe this punishment was an act of God? As we have already examined our differing spiritual identities, suffice it to say, we each have different ideas of how our pain or joy equates to our relationship to the Creator.

One thing is for sure, we all know He is Almighty and we are not. He is in control beyond our comprehension, and we have no control over Him. We are far from perfect, and we are mortal. Yet, He has been involved with His creation since the beginning of time whatever our concept of that beginning may be. He will be around long after our loved ones place our lifeless corpses to rest. He reigns with a dominion and power unmatched in human history and all we can do is bow in humble submission to His supremacy over our existence.

So, “what if” God so Loved the World? How would that change how you viewed history? How would that change your world and life view? How would that change how you viewed your neighbor? How would that change how you viewed your enemy? How would that change how you viewed yourself? Personally, I believe these words. I believe our Father loves His creation – including us, His children.  There are a great amount of verses within the Christian Bible which back up this claim of God's love and salvation for the world.  Consider this verse from I Timothy 4:10b (NIV); "we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, and especially of those who believe."

In Moses account of the story of creation, God entered the world of Adam and Eve and they hid because they were ashamed. When Moses met with God to receive the law, his face radiated the glory of the almighty and the people hid – afraid to even witness the surpassing glory of the Almighty. In several places through the Jewish scriptures, God appeared to man and when they realized it had been God, they were afraid and thought they would surely die. Yet, He met with them, ate with them, and spoke with them man to man. He met their fear with the assurance that they would be ok. Often, his physical presence brought with it a blessing, and not a curse.

To be sure, there are stories where the wrath of God came in full force in times of disrespect. God confirmed his chosen leader in Moses on numerous occasions as rebellion appeared ready to destroy the nation. He equipped them with the tools, righteousness, attitudes, and fighting power they needed to establish the nation of Israel in the land of Canaan. The stories of their history certainly portray God to be awesome in power and might. A God worthy of our fear and trembling!

And yet, to read the Psalms and Proverbs of two of the most powerful Kings of the Israelites in David and Solomon, the softer side of our almighty God is often revealed. A favorite passage of mine is Proverbs 9:10. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” (NIV) In Proverbs 8:22-31, there is a wonderful passage regarding wisdom being the first act of creation. I will share this entire passage later in this book, but for now, let me share part of verse 30 and 31.

“I (wisdom) was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always, rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in the sons of men.”

To me, this sounds like God was certainly pleased with His creation of man. How much must it have hurt when the centerpiece of His creation hid from his presence and when asked why, Adam said, “I was afraid?” As a father myself, I expect this revelation from Adam broke God, his loving Father’s, heart.

Most of us feel a compulsion to worship our Creator. We feel a desire to talk with Him many times in our lives. Perhaps in talking of Him together, and worshiping or praying to Him together, we might learn more of how He interacts with each of us and perhaps bask in His glory and His love for the world in unity as a family. Could it be possible?

James, a leader in the early Christian church in Jerusalem who witnessed the life of Jesus Christ in a very personal way wrote the following of our Fathers desire to commune with one another and with Him. Listen to James 4:5b-8a “Do you suppose it is in vain that the scripture says, ‘He yearns jealously over the spirit which He has made to dwell in us’? But He gives more grace; therefore it says, ‘God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’ Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the evil (d’evil) and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” (RSV)

If that does not move you, listen to the heart of God during a tremendous time of cleansing and devastation witnessed by Jeremiah, a prophet within the land of Judah around Jerusalem during the years approximately 627 BC to 577 BC. Jeremiah describes the emotion of God this way in Jeremiah 4:19-25:

"Oh my (the Lord's) anguish, my anguish!

I writhe in pain. Oh, the agony of my heart! My heart pounds within me, I cannot keep silent. For I have heard the sound of the trumpet; I have heard the battle cry. Disaster follows disaster; the whole land lies in ruins. In an instant my tents are destroyed, my shelter in a moment. How long must I see the battle standard and hear the sound of the trumpet?

My people are fools; they do not know me. They are senseless children; they have no understanding. They are skilled in doing evil; they know not how to do good." I looked at the earth, and it was formless and empty; and at the heavens, and their light was gone. I looked at the mountains, and they were quaking; all the hills were swaying. I looked, and there were no people; every bird in the sky had flown away." (NIV)

It sounds to me through these readings that God desires relationship with us, His children as much as we desire relationship with Him. The question we’ve all be trying to figure out is how can we make that relationship happen? Unfortunately, the answer is, we can’t. But, don’t loose hope; as mentioned, there is a better way! Before we do, let’s look at our present understanding and philosophy and uncover one more reason for delving further into this relationship with God as we consider the question: “Why bother”?