Michael Jackson has died at the age of 50. That is sad. He was a tremendous entertainer. He had been called an "American Idol" long before the show. It has been interesting for me to watch the response of people to the death of this Idol. I watched as one woman was interviewed and she was sobbing. She said, "This is the worst day of my life". My guess is she never actually met Michael Jackson and yet her grief was palpable. I had the chance to go to see a group called Il Divo the other night. The group consists of four men who sing popular songs in a classical style. They were of different nationalities with different appeal. They sang many of the familiar songs in other languages. They were all four young, handsome and had terrific voices. The arena was packed with people who were mostly over 50 years of age. As the concert came to a close the four of them walked down runways set up to move them into the crowd. People got out of their seats and lined the walkways. They reached out their hands hoping one of the young men would touch them. I watched as one woman reached out her hand desperately wanting to be touched but was missed. She slowly brought her hand back down to her side and watched as the star moved away from her completely unaware of her and her desire to be touched. I found the whole thing fascinating. These were not pre-schoolers reaching out to touch Barney the Dinosaur. These were grown people with children and grand-children reaching out to be touched by men with really nice voices. Weird. I sat there and I was reminded that we as a species are made to worship. We long to adore something greater than ourselves. We have in all of our hearts a deep desire for a Savior. That is at the core of the response to Michael Jackson's death and the response to Il Divo. My guess is all of us have things in our life that compete with the true God. When Moses was up on the mountain with God the people in the valley couldn't wait for him to come down. They needed to worship so they created something and fell on their faces before it. They reached out their hands to be touched. It is our danger too. Today you need to worship. That is a fact. You will reach out your hand to be touched by someone or something. You will adore. The world is full of idols. They surround all of us. Make sure you worship the One who is worthy. There is One who will not die and leave you alone. There is One who will not walk by and leave you standing with your hand in the air untouched. Amazing as it seems you can reach out and touch him today. His name is Jesus.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
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Pastor Joe, that reminds me of a part of God's response to Habakkuk in 2:18-20.
18 "Of what value is an idol, since a man has carved it?
Or an image that teaches lies?
For he who makes it trusts in his own creation; he makes idols that cannot speak.
19 Woe to him who says to wood, 'Come to life!'
Or to lifeless stone, 'Wake up!'
Can it give guidance?
It is covered with gold and silver; there is no breath in it.
20 But the LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him."
Ryan,
Great scripture. thanks.
Very timely message.
"Maybe this is the day for people to actually move from just believing about Jesus to belonging to Jesus, from a religion that's all about Him, to a relationship with Him."
Don't you just swell up inside and want to burst sometimes because of who and what people are missing by waiting, rejecting and by not taking that step of faith entering into a relationship with our God. He is indeed worthy to be worshiped and praised.
And one day every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
Anything that is elevated to a position in our lives above our God is an idol. You have reminded us of that time and again. But we continue to need that reminder because left to ourselves, we run after any lovely eye-catching thing that momentarily stuns us and that is what we worship. Only Jesus is full of beauty. Only the cross should be what captivates us and keeps our hearts so full of worship for our King.
I saw Mary Poppins on Friday night. As I was standing giving an ovation, I thought I bet heaven is like a Broadway show.Jesus is the star,the Holy Spirit the director and God the Father the producer. And we are all the actors. We can sing and dance just like the amazing actors on that stage. In perfect time and rhythm. And of course we will all sound like angels!
For me, Michael Jackson's life and death have been representative of how we have fallen away from God. I cannot relate to idolizing anyone, but especially someone who has ruined his body in attempt to heal his soul. I was saddened by his death, but I was also saddened at how he lived his life and the fact that people idolized this. The whole circumstances of Michael's life and death are a reminder to us about what really matters in life and how we should aspire to live in God's eyes. I can't even watch most TV programs anymore but they are a reminder of the road we are headed down and the need for all of us to stand up for what we believe and to spread the word of God to others.
He may never have had a person in his life who knew Christ or even cared about him as a person, including his dad. And that is sad.
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