August 11, 2017 Devotions
Your G-d is Too Small – G-d in a Box 

“After Jesus had spoken these words, he looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed. I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth. “I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” John 17:1-6, 17-21

People who do not go to church, the unchurched and the de-churched must see the different denominations around them and view this reality with some level of cynicism. They can drive by a Methodist or Presbyterian or Lutheran church and think “I guess they all think G-d is only in their church and not in the others. After all, if G-d is all knowing, all present, shouldn’t there be one church?” And we can understand their point. If there are all of these different churches, then they must think they have the “one true G-d” in their box, and the others just have a false one. The unchurched and the de-churched, even the “half-churched” often think they can worship and praise G-d just as easily in their home or on the golf course as they can in church. And yes, we do believe that G-d is in all things and everywhere.

But Jesus established the church – and prayed for the same church and the unity of the followers throughout all time and space. All we have done is divide the church of Jesus into many, many boxes, beginning with the early church and continuing through to today. And the non-believers see us as portraying G-d as either schizophrenic or so divided there cannot possibly be just one. No wonder they think G-d is small. But, G-d is not small – G-d is “huge”. We have such a big G-d who allows humanity to express our prayer, praise and thanksgivings in the small expressions we call denominations and churches. In fact, in 21st century America, the worshipers of G-d meet in homes, in country churches, in urban churches, in mega-churches, and now even churches that only exist on the internet. That may seem small to some – but to me, it helps me to appreciate how transcendent our G-d really is.

Pastor Dave