Standing In The Place of God

Introduction: I once heard a story of a woman who drove into town with her young son. He had arrived at that inquisitive age in which he felt the need to ask questions about nearly everything that he saw. As they entered the city limits, the young boy saw a huge building with large letters on the front. He said to his mother, “Mama, what does that sign say?”

Here there are a couple of options. One would be to describe a conversation between a child and his/her parent who asks the question, “Who owns the church?” Another approach might be to discuss the word play on what it means to “Stand in the Place of God.” Are we taking God’s place or finding ourselves in the place where God is? Transition into an explanation of Wikipedia says about The City of God by Augustine.

She replied, “Son, that sign says Jones Hardware.”

“Why does it say that mama?” the lad quickly added.

“Because Mr. Jones owns that store,” the mother responded.

No sooner had the she settled that than the child noticed another large building. He said, “Mama, what does that sign say?”

She replied, “That sign says, ‘Smith’s Drug Store.’”

“Why does it say that?” he said.

“Because Mr. Smith owns that store.”

Surely enough, shortly thereafter he saw yet another large building. He said, “Mama, what does that sign say.”

His mother replied, “That sign says First United Methodist Church.”

The the boy went straight to the crux of his questions. He said, “Mama, who owns the church?”

In all fairness to the child and his mother, he was not the first to come up with such a question. In one way or another those who have followed Jesus have faced such questions ever since the days of the early church. All we have to do is go back to and get a sense of this dynamic in the early church. In the first 14 chapters of Acts we see where the movement on the Holy Spirit is powerfully changing lives. It started out with just the Jews but then it spilled over into the Gentile community. As the Gentiles who were now converted Christians continued to grow, a debate began to surface as to what it meant for Gentiles, the non-Jews, to become a part of this new movement. When we get to it had grown to such a hot button topic that the Apostles gathered to consider the matter. That gathering is called the Council of Jerusalem at which Peter stood and taught the people about the significance of grace and the issue was resolved.

There’s another excellent example of this from church history that we find in the teachings of St. Augustine. Now, I know that Wikipedia is hardly the place where pastors want to do theological research. But it actually does a good job of explaining Augustine’s writing, The City of God. I tell you that because you might find it helpful to there to read the background for this book. Wikipedia says, “The sack of Rom by the Visigoths in 410 left Romans in a deep state of shock, and many Romans saw it as punishment for abandoning traditional Roman religion for Christianity. In response to the accusations, and in order to console Christians, Augustine wrote The City of God, arguing for the truth of Christianity over competing religions and philosophies and that Christianity was not responsible for the sack of Rome, but instead was response for its success. He attempted to console Christians, writing that even if the earthly rule of the empire was imperiled, it was the city of God that would ultimately triumph. Augustine’s eyes were fixed on heaven, a theme of many Christian works of late antiquity, and despite Christianity’s designation as the official religion of the empire, Augustine declared its message to be spiritual rather than political. Christianity, he argued, should be concerned with the mystical, heavenly city, the New Jerusalem, rather than with earthly politics.”

You see, one of the most basic of struggles that we find in the church over the last 2000 years is understanding the difference between “Standing in the Place of God” and “Standing in God’s Place.” Now before you tune me out because I sound like I am engaging in double talk, hear me out. Standing in the place of God is the recognition that the ground we are standing on is holy ground whereas, standing in God’s place is a reference to making ourselves occupy that space which should only be occupied by God.

Perhaps there is no better passage to visit to illustrate this than what we have read together this morning.

HERE GIVE A BRIEF BACKGROUND TO THE STORY

I. David was convicted of the way in which he treated the Ark of the Covenant. He treated it as a possession that he controlled rather than the very representation of the Presence of God to which he was to submit himself. The Measures that we have for discipleship growth is Prayers, Presence, Gifts. Service and Witness. None of these have to do with us. They have to do with God. Jesus said, “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and God’s Righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you.” David was addressing God on David’s terms rather than the other way around. Are you standing in God’s place? Have decided that you want to worship as serve God on your terms rather than God’s? You know, when we treat God like God is a possession of ours then we doing no more than the pagans do with their false gods and that never turns out well.

II. Once David changed his view of the Ark, every step he took was an act of worship. Let me ask you a question, “As you look at your life this morning, can you say that your daily life is one act of worship after another?”

(The Message) “So here’s what I want you to do. God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life - your sleeping, eating, going-to -work, and walking-around life and place offering. Embracing what God does for you in the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturty, God brings the best out of you, developes well-formed maturity in you

III. The blessings and the bounty of God were to be shared.

The call from God has always been for God’s people to be a blessing to the people of the world. The sacrifices that we make are to benefit the those whom we are called to serve.

also , What is that to you? You come follow me!

Conclusion:

Sometimes we find ourselves in the place the saints of all found themselves. We choose to stand in God’s place when the invitation to Discipleship is to stand in the place God. We have come to the place that we incorporate God into our lives rather than yield ourselves to God’s control. It’s not that we don’t know how to do this its just that our lives have become a routine rather than a continuous act of worship. Imagine what would happen in the church if we stopped trying to steady the cart and just trusted God.

Today, I’m going to give you that opportunity. This altar is open for prayer and I’m going to invite you to prayer for this church, not for it to be our church but for us to be the people of God. You may find it difficult to traverse these steps to the altar and if that is the case, I invite you to be in a spirit of prayer right there in your pew. The Spirit of God is present because this is the Place of God.

Make sure to incorporate Prayers, Presence, Gifts, Service and Witness