Anyways one of the days left me awestruck by God and I promised myself I would blog about it. Ironically, I was awestruck by God the day we visited Buddhist temples. They were just so grand. The temples were adorned with precious jewels and were massive sizes. The combination of the enormous scale and the attention to detail was unreal. Outside of the temples were huge courtyards full of sculptures and monuments. Everything was extravagantly beautiful and breathtaking. You could tell how much work went into this huge shrines. I've included a few pictures here so you could get a taste.
And all of this.....for a god who is no god at all.
As we walked around adoring the architecture, I couldn't help but be a little indignant. A false god, Buddha, has been shown so much honor and respect. Looking at the fantastic structures that were built for him you can't help but feel that fact. Love and adoration went into that work. Holy fear inspired that work. And yet, here I am a worshipper of the God of the universe and I'm just so casual about it. The American culture I'm used to is just so casual about it. We build our churches to be home-y and non-intimidating so seekers will feel comfortable. We wear jeans to church and treat Jesus as our homeboy. (And I'm definitely not speaking about "others" on this. I'm pretty sure I've preached a whole sermon in jeans, a hoodie and my green Ninja turtle hat thrown on backwards.)
I'm not saying casual is bad. I'm definitely not saying we should pour all of our resources into building elaborately beautiful churches for ourselves. I think if we did we would be guilty of neglecting the issues Jesus always tells the Pharisees are weightier issues like looking out for the poor. Yet how do we show honor and respect and awe for our God? How do we inspire that awe in others? Somehow we've lost this fear of the Lord. And my friends, God is worthy of awe and holy fear.
And at the same time that I can't justify us building ridiculously extravagant buildings like these temples for our God, I also feel like I can't not justify it. God helped Solomon build a temple as beautiful as these with a blueprint from heaven. It was the glory of the kingdom of Israel, a symbol of their God with them. It was destroyed as the people strayed from God. Jesus came and declared that we no longer need a temple for God to dwell in, but we ourselves are that temple that God dwells in now. (And I don't know about you, but I don't always treat my temple with that kind of honor.) Yet as the book of Revelation describes the new Jerusalem (heaven) it seems exceedingly more extravagant than the temple.
The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass. The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth ruby, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth turquoise, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of gold, as pure as transparent glass.
(Revelation 21:18-21)
As much as it seems like God has moved away from the extravagant and focused more on the relationship, I can't help think that this description in Revelation reminds us that He is always worthy of the extravagant.
I write all of this to say I don't really know what to do with this. I know my heart wants to make extravagant gestures of love towards God, to do something or create something that truly brings others to be in awe of the Lord, but practically I have no idea what that looks like. I have no idea what that even should look like. I would love to hear thoughts on this though. I would love to also hear how any of you maintain a close Father-child relationship with the Father but don't lose the honor and the awe part of your relationship with Him in the process.
Our God is so complex, it's hard for me to always understand Him and how to properly give Him the worship He's due. But alas, that's part of what makes Him so wonderful.
