August 14, 2017 – Devotions
Your G-d is Too Small – Second Hand G-d

“Now Joseph was taken down to Egypt, and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there. The Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man; he was in the house of his Egyptian master. His master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord caused all that he did to prosper in his hands. So Joseph found favor in his sight and attended him; he made him overseer of his house and put him in charge of all that he had. From the time that he made him overseer in his house and over all that he had, the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had, in house and field. So he left all that he had in Joseph’s charge; and, with him there, he had no concern for anything but the food that he ate. Now Joseph was handsome and good-looking. And after a time his master’s wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, “Lie with me.” But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Look, with me here, my master has no concern about anything in the house, and he has put everything that he has in my hand. He is not greater in this house than I am, nor has he kept back anything from me except yourself, because you are his wife. How then could I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” Genesis 39:1-10

I am not a real fan of the movies or television. I am not up on the TV series “Game of Thrones”, or even “The Big Bang Theory”. If I do get “hooked” on a series, it usually is years after it has ended. I just don’t have the time to devote to such things. But many people do – and they will spend many evenings watching episode after episode after episode — they call it “binging”, I think. Binging is taking an evening, or even many, many hours and watching a television series from “Netflix” or some other streaming site. The last thing I binged on was a box of mini chocolate-chip muffins on my trip to Lake Champlain.

One of the draws of any entertainment genre is allowing a person to escape into a different “reality” and to get caught up in the lives of fictional people. Some people begin to live their lives vicariously through such “characters” and their “situations” that they soon begin to view life in that realm of experience. In some ways it happens automatically. It becomes a challenge for the person to separate between the experiences of a character and using this template to evaluate and direct their own experiences. Now, this may not cause too many problems in a person’s life, living life in a “second-hand” manner and knowledge of experiences and reactions. But it can limit our view of G-d in three specific ways:

1. In most instances G-d and/or religion is ignored or even mocked on television and film
2. In many cases religion is misrepresented
3. In most cases G-d is misrepresented

Of course, our relationship with G-d should not be limited to the kinds of experiences we hear or see on the television screen, the movie screen, or even the “IPhone” screen. In other words, all religions do not have “Mafia’s”, all pastors do not “murder their wife”, and all choirs do not dance like “a chorus line”. Having a god who works out all of your difficulties in twenty minutes or figures out a way to make sure that all of your problems “even out over your lifetime” may work in a television world, but surely we know that our lives are not “made for television” dramas. Yes, many lives are filled with drama, but if this is your understanding and relationship with G-d – that all problems will be worked out in twenty minutes (minus the commercials), then “Your G-d Is Too Small”.

Our faith lives are not to be escapist in nature – and our relationship with G-d is not to be limited to twenty-minute dramas. G-d is seeking a relationship with us that is 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It is not a melodrama; it is supposed to be G-d giving us direction and purpose to form our relationships with others. Yes, the bible does have great dramas (read the whole story of Joseph), but in the end, G-d gives people direction, strength, presence, and the will to sustain them through it all – and their stories do not last for just an episode or two. If you are thinking on “binging” on something, why not binge on the Bible. You might be surprised what “drama” exists in the pages of scripture. (Themes come from the book “Your God Is Too Small” by J. B. Phillips)

Pastor Dave