DON’T WORSHIP A SMALL GOD
I don’t want to brag, but I’m something of an expert on small gods. For years I worshiped alcohol and I couldn’t imagine life without it. When things were bad, I needed it to see me through, and when things were great, I needed alcohol to help me celebrate. And then there was the god I called “ambition”- the driving need to get ahead. There was almost nothing I wouldn’t do to get a big corner office and prove that I was “somebody.” And like many others, I worshiped myself- the little baby within that always wanted to be the center of attention. Although it was plain to see that I had “messed up” my life in many ways, I continued to fight for control, partly because I had never known another way… and partly because I didn’t want to give up my sins, especially the ones I liked.
But I’m not the only one who has worshiped a small god. Some people worship a small god who is little more than their agreeable and understanding buddy. This god doesn’t ask much of them and is generally satisfied that they are doing the best they can. Some people, most perhaps, worship a small god who is the mirrored image of themselves. This god votes for the same candidates, roots for the same teams, likes the same songs, and holds the same prejudices that they do. Some people, a lot actually, worship the small god of health and wealth. This god doesn’t ask for any sacrifice and insists that rich men and women will have no trouble getting through the eye of a needle. Some people worship a small god who is impotent and can’t do much of anything. Therefore, they seldom pray and when they do, they pray for nothing more than the obvious because, deep-down, they don’t think that God can do much. And then there are those who worship a small god who actually serves them! They don’t feel a need to do God’s bidding… but they expect that their God will do theirs!
Small gods are common in our time… but Isaiah encountered a BIG God! Let’s look at our passage one more time-“In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw Adonai (the Lord) seated on a throne, high and exalted, and (just) the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs with six wings, two of which covered their faces, two of which covered their feet, and two which enabled them to fly. And they were calling to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory." At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty." Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for." Then I heard the voice of the Lord asking, "Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I… Send me!" (Isaiah 6)
I need someone, God seemed to say, who will take on an impossible task of spreading my word… to a people who will never really hear it! And Isaiah answered, “Here I am, send me!” In the year that King Uzziah died, (c. 740BC) the prophet, Isaiah, encountered a BIG God. A God who shook the thresholds and doorposts of the temple. Isaiah was in the temple when God showed up, but he could only see the bottom of God’s robe because that alone filled the temple. Isaiah’s God was too big to see! Moses’ God told him to take off his sandals because he was standing on Holy ground. And even my parents knew that we weren’t supposed to use God’s name flippantly. Throughout the ages, people have given their lives to a big God who demanded respect and held them accountable for what they did or didn’t do. They worshiped a jealous God who wouldn’t put up with disobedience and idolatry.
A BIG God can be frightening because He can have His way with us, but a BIG GOD can also save us! A BIG God can command us to serve Him and to love Him with every fiber of our being… but He can also forgive us and give us new beginnings. We’re afraid that a BIG GOD won’t let us have our cake and eat it too, but worshiping small gods leaves us small and hopeless. If we embrace a small god we will not be challenged, but we will live our lives with an empty feeling. As John Ortberg noted… “If I live with a small God, I will find it unnatural to pray because I'm not really sure, deep down, that prayer matters anyway, and if I am tempted to lie or cheat to get my way or to get out of trouble, I'll do it…” because the God I worship doesn’t care anyway.
And so, in the end, the choice is ours. We can do business with a BIG God who calls us to serve and obey… or we can settle for a small god who is way too small to care and respond! This then, is the question: Is our God big enough to heal our wounds, forgive us endlessly, and save our souls? Or are we worshiping a small god who is no bigger than we are? Amen!