When working on my Zohar
studies, the concept of the awe of God is a constant theme. At times
the rabbis and sages (and the occasional mule driver) present God as
Ein Sof-(Unending or No-End) and other times God is described in very
human and relatable terms, like having hands or wings. While we
understand that God does not have hands or wings, we often can read
into these terms that God is easily understood or defined. This is
very dangerous and is an ongoing problem for the Christian church
today.
A term the Zohar uses to
describe God is “Concealed of All Concealed”. If God wants us to
serve Him, why does it seem so hard to understand and know Him? Why
is there work involved? Did God provide us a trail or path? Zohar
Scholar Dr. Daniel Matt explains that even in the “concealed”, we
can can find an answer. Sometimes for us to be able to see or
comprehend something powerful-think of a solar eclipse for
example-its effect on us must be reduced. So to aid in the
“revealing”, the powerful force of God-Ein Sof-must be concealed.
Many Christians today
don't want to hear that. They have been raised in a “Jesus is my
Life-Coach” and God is “The Big Man Upstairs”. They are
neither. By shrinking God down to human understanding and terms, we
have betrayed the very fact that He is Ein Sof-He is Concealed of All
Concealed. He is God, and we are His creation. Lately and sadly, I
have been seeing more people making God their creation and magically
He fits and believes all the same things they do.
Think of our sacred
meeting places. If someone walked into your service, observed what
was going on and had never heard of God-worshiping God-what would
they think they had seen? Would your reverence and awe of God, the
way you dressed and conducted yourself-provide them a sign that
something of significance is happening here?
We throw bibles on the
floor, we dress more for what we will be doing after church than for
church, we show up late, we criticize the sermon... Where is the awe
and anticipation for meeting with the Creator?
In the Zohar, one of my
favorite and inspiring sayings of the Rabbis and Sages happens when
they discover a great truth or revelation. They will say, “If we
were brought into this world to only hear this, it would be enough”.
Sadly, I see that the
Christian faith moves from one spiritual “high” to the next, each
week seeking some kind of “battery charge” and “new revelation”
from God... almost demanding it. Riddle me this.. why would God
grant new revelations when we refuse to do the work to master the
“old”ones, when we have questionable motives about why we need
“fresh rain”, and lastly, when we show no more concern or respect
for God than any other weekly event we attend?
For my friends that will
surely start screaming “This sounds like legalism”, it has always
struck me odd that a faith practice that believes in a “final
judgment” of all of mankind- (well, mostly sinners) and the Bible
addresses an “Heavenly Court”, it seems like there are rules and
commandments we are all suppose to obey.
David Fournier
Restoring Grace
No comments:
Post a Comment