How Do We Approach God?
Three Simple Ways to Stepping into God’s Presence
Scripture: Ecclesiastes 5:1-7
Do you ever think about seeing God for the first time?
One day each of us will stand before God. That's sobering. We don't talk about that enough. There will be a time when we must stand accountable for the gift of life we're given. To take time daily to think about that moment would be life-changing. So many lives are not well lived because they're not thinking about that moment.
How are we to approach God? How do we come into God's presence? The answer to that will shape all the commitments in our life, at home, at work, our relationships, and everything in between.
When we examine Ecclesiastes 5:1-7, the last line of this text is not only a good summary of the passage but a driving principle of life: Stand in awe of God.
“Are you attending church but leaving your heart at home?”
Solomon is writing these words because he observed many people coming and going from the temple with hearts that did not observe God with reverent awe. They were "worshipping," but they were perfunctory. They were going through the motions with little reflection for who God is. They came to the house of God, but they left their hearts at home. They were not considering who they were actually worshiping. Solomon observed they were insincere and often hypocritical. There was a life of double standards and inconsistent behaviors.
“What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.”
Whether we have low or high thoughts about God determines everything about us. If you have high thoughts, it will shape every area of your life. On the other hand, if you think lowly of God and disregard the person of God, you will live a life that will reflect that.
Coming back to the prose, how are we to approach God then?
We have some indication in scripture of how others responded. John collapsed like a corpse when he caught a glimpse of God. Isaiah declared his sinfulness the moment he entered the holy presence of God. Job instantly saw his own foolishness and repented in dust and ashes.
We're so busy living that sometimes we forget to regard God for who He is. When was the last time it entered your consciousness that you are the creature of a creator that is so magnificent that He deserves your highest worship? If scripture is any indication, it's such an overwhelming sense that most fall prostrate. It isn't difficult to believe that this will be everyone's reaction when they have their moment to stand account.
Transcendence means that God cannot be combined into this world. He exceeds our finite capacity to comprehend His greatness and goodness. When we contemplate the person of God, who made Himself known through the person of God through Jesus, He blows our minds.
What use is there serving a god who we can understand or explain?
We can no more catch a hurricane in a shrimp net or Niagara Falls in a coffee cup than we can grasp the infinity of God's reality. So when we think of God's transcendence, we need to think of his infiniteness. And we don't often do that because when we think about who God is, we have to look at who we are in relationship to God. So rarely is that a comfortable perspective that doesn't force us to question the direction of our life.
An inattention to God's transcendence robs God of His holiness. The reason we are so much like the world is because we are not paying attention. We have forgotten who God is. We have largely forgotten who we are as the church and overlooked God's immanence.
These are the two sides of God's coin, which mean that God is holy involved with us and our lives. He has called us to come into His courts. He has said that you are my temple and tabernacle. He has called us to lay our burdens down at his feet. And when you think of His immanences, think of the word "intimate." God has invited us to experience the gifts of Himself and intimately belonging to Him.
We have a need to belong. In this century, we have become a collection of strangers. People no longer feel that they belong to God or one another. With all of our social advances through technology, we are feeling more distant than ever. Yet, as Christians, we belong to one another. Together we abide in our father's heart. We are individuals and are a collection as the children of God.
Part of the Gospel message is that we belong to God. Although God dwells in unapproachable light, when Jesus Christ came and died for us, He split that veil in the temple and said to us: God is approachable, and I have opened the heart of God to you.
We are all weary. We can hardly carry the burden of self anymore. James tells us to draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Jesus said, come to me all who are weary, and I will give you rest.
Soloman lays out three postures of the heart for us to approach God,
1. Look Up
"Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong." (Ecclesiastes 5:1)
When you consider the beautiful cathedrals worldwide, your mind likely wanders to their high vaulted ceilings. They are works of art that pull the eyes to see the beauty above. It forces you to raise your vision from your periphery and eye level to the heavens.
There are high angels who are in the presence of God and spend every waking second praising God for His greatness. So doesn't it make sense that we would spend at least a small portion of our day doing the same thing?
“If we don’t look up, we will stare at our problems until we are nauseated.”
The Greek word for man is Anthropos (ἄνθρωπος) - it means to look up. All of God's other creatures are on all fours, looking down, but we, the highest order of his creation, the image-bearers of God, are the ones created to look up at our Creator. We are made to stare at God.
When we realize that we belong to God, we can't help but look to God. If we don't stare at Him, we spend our time staring at ourselves or the cheap distractions of the world. If we don't look up, we will stare at our problems until we are nauseated.
We are called to an everlasting preoccupation with God. When you come into the house of God, you should come to look up. When you struggle with your preoccupations and the struggles of this world, look up. When we stare at God, everything else begins to fade into its proper place.
2. Listen Up
"Do not let your mouth lead you into sin. And do not protest to the temple messenger, ‘My vow was a mistake.’ Why should God be angry at what you say and destroy the work of your hands? Much dreaming and many words are meaningless. Therefore fear God." (Ecclesiastes 5:6-7)
Recent studies have shown that audiences can only tolerate 15 seconds of silence before they feel the need to break it. When was the last time you sat in stillness for 15 whole seconds? You put away the noise and allowed yourself to sit in silence. It's a microscopic portion of our day, yet we seek to fill every waking second with noise.
God instructed us that He wants us to approach Him. He wants to hear from us, but part of a conversation is listening. When we stare at the Lord, we realize that our problems aren't so big, and it's time to listen to His voice instead of our own.
This openness enables us to ask the Lord every day to speak to us, which requires stillness and silence. Have we wandered too far to hear God call our name? We know we are far from God in our hearts, but we lack the silence to hear Him calling us back.
3. Pay Up
"When you make a vow to God, do not delay to fulfill it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow. It is better not to make a vow than to make one and not fulfill it." (Ecclesiastes 5:4-5)
Like every good coach and teacher has taught us, finish what you start. When you make a vow, fulfill it. Vows are meaningless unless our hearts intend to follow through.
That said, vows are difficult. They require sacrifice, and strife will likely be along the way. No marriage has sustained through a lifetime with an argument or a test. Therefore, we have to ask God to help us maintain our vows because they are difficult.
In society, we often want options because we want to ensure there's a back way out when we don't feel like we can keep going anymore. However, we need to remember if we're not true to our word, it will cost us our relationship and everything of lasting value.
It is too easy to back out of a commitment that we knew we should support. But, when we go into the presence of God, and He's spoken to our hearts, we need to ask, "Are we going to do what we'll say we do?" It's a matter of integrity because vows matter in a heart that lives for God.
It's only in a sacrifice that we prove what we love.
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About Christ Church Memphis
Christ Church Memphis is church in East Memphis, Tennessee. For more than 65 years, Christ Church has served the Memphis community. Every weekend, there are multiple worship opportunities including traditional, contemporary and blended services.
