- Deuteronomy 6: 4-25 (Remember God in everything)
- Isaiah 43: 1-13 (Knowledge instills adoration)
- Genesis 1: 1-31, 2: 1-3 (Adoration inevitably follows creation)
- I Peter 1: 3-9 (Adoration developed by faith)
- Job 38: 1-33, 42: 1-6 (A focus on God brings adoration)
- Revelation 21: 1-7 (Unavoidable adoration)
- Luke 1: 46-55 (Mary’s song of adoration)
The hymn for the week was "Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee” by Henry Van Dyke. (If you are not familiar with the song, just Google the hymn name and you will get multiple sources to read and/or hear it, as well as its history.)
The meditation selections included excerpts from the writings of Edward J. Farrell, Albert E. Day, A. W. Tozer, Annie Dillard, Kenneth Leech, Martin E. Marty, C. Fitzsimons Allison, Philip S. Watson (in a compilation from The Message of the Wesleys) and Frederick Buechner. (Googling their names may give you some insight into their backgrounds and experiences, if that's of any interest to you.)Some of the interesting quotes from the meditations included:
· “Thus ‘adoration’ in its religious and original sense – the bowing down in awe and reverence, tinged with the fear of God – has become largely lost in superficial wonder and feeling.”
· “We never really adore Him, until we arrive at the moment when we worship Him for what He is in Himself, apart from any consideration of the impact of His Divine Selfhood upon our desires and our welfare. Then we love Him for Himself alone. Then we adore Him…”
· “There is a place in the religious experience where we love God for Himself alone… If this should seem too mystical, too unreal, we offer no proof and make no effort to defend our position. This can only be understood by those who have experienced it.”
· “ ‘Religion is adoration’ wrote Von Hugel. As in meditation, adoring prayer calls for a concentration. But it is not a fierce mental concentration so much as a focusing of our love, an outpouring of wonder toward God.”
· “Rabbi Zalman said of the Lord: ‘I don’t want your paradise, I do not want your coming world. I want you, and you only.’ …The ancient Hebrew loved God for the sake of a long life in which to enjoy creation, but he also was to love the Lord for the Lord’s sake. …A believer shifts away from a bartering concept in which one loves God for the sake of a transaction. Now there is a relation in which the trusting one is simply reposed in the divine will.”
· “The silent treatment is an extremely powerful weapon of aggression.”
· “Your life is continued to you upon earth for no other purpose than this, that you may know, love and serve God on earth, and enjoy him to all eternity.”
What do any of these quotes (or any of the meditations in Chapter 9 not quoted) mean to you? I look forward to your responses.
John
2 comments:
First of all, the words "adore" or "adoration" do not appear in the Bible. At least not in the KJV. Adore does appear in the NIV. But it is in Song of Solomon and the context is not exactly what we were looking at. However, the concept of adoration of God is found throughout the Bible. But how do we get a handle on what it means to adore God?
My thoughts kept coming back to a truly secular example. I am not a huge art fan. But I enjoy some of the paintings of the masters. The modern stuff doesn't really do anything for me. In 2002 I was on an extended business trip in Europe. I had the good fortune to have a free week-end to spend and I spent it in the town of Antwerp, Belgium. This town had a beautiful old cathedral called the cathedral of Our Lady. Inside near the altar was a triptych painting by Rubens. The theme of the triptych was Jesus being carried. In the small panel to the left Jesus is carried in Mary's womb as she visits her cousin Elizabeth. In the small panel on the right Jesus is carried to the temple by Mary and Joseph. The central panel has Jesus carried down from the cross.
I stood in awe in front of the painting. The subject, the beauty, the scene and the passion captured by Rubens caused me to stand in awe and adoration of that beautiful work of art.
There is nothing that painting can do for me. And there is nothing that I can do for that painting. And perhaps that is where the secular analogy breaks down. But I stood in awe of the painting because of what it was -- a fabulous and priceless work of art.
When I think of God and what adoration has to do with my relationship to God I find that my adoration is based upon who God is. It is not based upon what he has done, can do, or will for me. In short, it is the only reasonable response when I truly see God for who he is.
Well said!
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