Episode Transcript
PRAYER OF CONSECRATION
Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.
Jesus, I belong to you.
I lift up my heart to you.
I set my mind on you.
I fix my eyes on you.
I offer my body to you as a living sacrifice.
Jesus, we belong to you.
Praying in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen.
Exodus 20:24–26
“‘Make an altar of earth for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, your sheep and goats and your cattle. Wherever I cause my name to be honored, I will come to you and bless you. If you make an altar of stones for me, do not build it with dressed stones, for you will defile it if you use a tool on it. And do not go up to my altar on steps, or your private parts may be exposed.’”
CONSIDER THIS
You are probably familiar with the old acronym K.I.S.S.
In case not, I'll refresh your memory. It stands for Keep It Simple, Stupid. It's what I hear in the opening words of today's text:
Make an altar of earth for me. . .
Translation: Keep It Simple, Stupid.
Through this exodus journey, God has done extraordinary things, and yet God has kept it very simple. As I reflect on it, here are eight quite extraordinary and yet profoundly simple learnings so far:
God hears the prayers and cries of his people and remembers his covenant with them.
God delivers us from evil, from slavery, from oppression, and from the power of Pharaoh and every otherworldly and heavenly principality.
God provides for our needs with daily bread and every other dimension of provision, though he will allow us to hunger and thirst at times.
God guides us on the path of pilgrimage, cloud by day and fire by night. He leads us in the way of his will and according to his wisdom.
God fights through us and with us and for us, defeating our enemies and his in the wilderness.
God instructs us according to his Word. He speaks his Word to us concerning how he would have us live before him and others.
God is holy, and he wants a holy people for himself and his purposes on the earth.
God is love, and he wants only this from us: Love for himself and love for others. It really is that simple.
When you think about it, the Ten Words (or Commandments) are all about keeping it simple, aren't they? And because God knows we will break all Ten Commandments and then some—in anticipation, he says this:
“Make an altar of earth for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, your sheep and goats and your cattle.”
And because God knows our propensity to make the simple complicated—to introduce all sorts of sophistication to things he intended to keep very basic—in anticipation, he says this:
“If you make an altar of stones for me, do not build it with dressed stones, for you will defile it if you use a tool on it.”
If an altar of earth is good, then an altar of diamonds and gold must be better, right? Wrong!
K.I.S.S. - Keep it simple, stupid.
Make an altar of earth for me . . .
Let me switch up the metaphor. In these basic instructions, I hear God saying this: Keep your eye on the ball.
God, himself, is the ball. The altar is the bat. It is just so easy to put our focus on the bat. This is what religion and a thousand religious observances and spiritual practices represent. Those things aren't bad things until they are.
One of the things I love about John Wesley is the way he emphasized what he called “plain scriptural Christianity.” He often spoke of "primitive faith." Primal faith is plain and unadorned, albeit very powerful. (And, yes, I recognize making everything plain and unadorned can create the same broken reality in the opposite direction.) I wonder how our faith has become adorned with all manner of decoration, attire, and accoutrements. I wonder what it would mean to get back to primitive faith, to plain scriptural Christianity. Might we have such an opportunity before us now?
Make an altar of earth for me . . .
THE PRAYER FOR DELIVERANCE
Lord Jesus, you are my Deliverer.
Thank you for your persistent mind and heart to pursue relationship with us. Would you train us in the simplicity of how we might respond to your initiative? We are so filled with our own initiative, even noble religious initiative, that we so easily miss what it is you are doing in our midst. Awaken us to the primitive and plain faith of our ancestors. Enliven us by your Spirit to the recreative power of your Word. Come, Holy Spirit, and strip away the layers and levels of adornment and amenity we have constructed so that we might be alive again to the fullness of you.
It will be for your glory, for others' gain, and for my good.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.
As it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be. World without end, amen! Amen!
