Hello All,
(Just a general disclaimer that I must insert here at the beginning. I am but a lay person, like most of you. And these weekly “thoughts” are but my own. Not the definitive word on this or any topic. Just my own conclusions derived from my own study and faith in God. The greatest hope I have for these weekly “thoughts” is to have them be a springboard for further study on your part. Not to be a weekly treatise to be blindly accepted. So, please read them with this intent, this motive in mind).
This week’s lesson from “The Adult Sabbath School Guide” is titled “The Impending Conflict”. Our quarterly this week goes into some detail about “The Coming Crisis” (title for Monday’s lesson) and “Identifying the Beast” (titles for Tuesday and Wednesday’s lessons). A couple critical pieces of this is identifying the “blasphemy” of the “Beast”, and then the issue revolving around “worship”. Let’s look at both of these concepts, blasphemy and worship…
The quarterly uses a fundamental definition for blasphemy that we have relied upon for many years. “The Bible defines blasphemy in John 10:33 and Luke 5:21 with two examples: (1) a man pretending to be or claiming to be God, and (2) a man claiming power to forgive sins… the Roman Papacy… claims its priests have the power to forgive sins and that the pope has the prerogatives of God on earth” (quarterly for Tuesday). But as we look at these two examples in Scripture, we find that the two definitions cited (John 10:33 and Luke 5:21) are not uttered by Christ but by the Pharisees, who notoriously did not really know God. Which should lead us to question the Pharisees’ interpretation here. Truth be told, these two examples are somewhat refuted by Christ Himself.
Reading on past John 10:33 to John 10:39 we see Christ counter their argument about claiming to be God, by citing how our Father does in fact call you and me “gods” (Hebrew Elohim… the name used at times for God Himself). Yes, Christ does say that very thing. Jesus is referencing Psalm 82. Let’s quote it here: “I said, ‘You are gods, and all of you are children of the Most-High. But you shall die like men and fall like one of the princes’” (Psalm 82: 6-7). Now this is a refutation somewhat of the Pharisees’ charge of blasphemy being a man claiming to be God. Our Father tells us that we are His children, and we have the prerogative of God… ONLY as we are in relationship with Him; honoring our birthright as His children and honoring Him as our Father. If so, then He expects us to represent Him on earth. He depends on us to represent Him on earth. That’s right. It is our High-calling. Our responsibility. Each of us reciprocates this Divine/ child relationship by exercising the prerogatives of God on earth. We are to bring the peace of heaven into every action. “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father” (John 14:12).
This leads to the second refutation about “a man claiming power to forgive sins”. Christ tells us that this reciprocal familial relationship between Father and child carries with it that responsibility… that honor, too. “So, Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.’ And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained’” (John 20:21-23). Yup. As we are united with Christ, this is our responsibility, our privilege, our great trust. As persons of faith, as we interact with our brothers and sisters, any critical condemning attitude can fix them in their sinfulness. But our God-led, God-inspired love can lead them to the forgiveness they seek (Remember, forgiveness is not a proclamation. It is a putting-away of the differences that exist. So, for those captured by their own sinfulness, we are honored to be an instrument of love that can lead people to be reconciled to their Father). “Anyone who is joined to Christ is a new being; the old is gone, the new has come. All this is done by God, who through Christ changed us from enemies into his friends and gave us the task of making others his friends also. Our message is that God was making all human beings his friends through Christ. God did not keep an account of their sins, and he has given us the message which tells how he makes them his friends. Here we are, then, speaking for Christ, as though God himself were making his appeal through us. We plead on Christ's behalf: let God change you from enemies into his friends!” (2 Corinthians 5: 17-20).
Blasphemy is a vilification, a scorning, a malicious misrepresentation calculated to harm God’s reputation. As such, the intent is everything. As such, the “worship” of the “Beast” is immensely personal. It can be inside the person, even as that person is outwardly “worshipping” in a Bible approved manner on Sabbath. It can be inside the person even as the person speaks/acts toward another (you can be intentionally misrepresenting God in order to make your own point, win your argument, coercing another to do things your way). In this way we can misrepresent our God of Love, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you” (Romans 2:24). This text highlights the true meaning of blasphemy. Misrepresenting our loving Father.
Do the Catholic church’s traditions misrepresent our Father of Love? Yes. Many of them. Do our Seventh-Day Adventist traditions misrepresent our Father of Love? Of course. We are sinners who have established them. Our God is not represented by organizations. He is represented by familial love. Organizations of any kind (including religious organizations) are our sinful human attempt to manage things in a sinful world. But our Father-God looks on us as His children, His sons. “And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, ‘Abba, Father!’ Therefore, you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ” (Galatians 4: 6-7). An heir of God. An heir of all the things God is and does. And He exercises this singly through each believer… you. The Papacy may embody many misrepresentations of God (and it does). But God is not the God of organizations (like the Seventh-Day Adventist Church). He is our loving Father… the Father of you and me.
It is as if God allowed the Roman Papacy to exist so that each person could see the spirit of the Papacy that lurks in every human heart. If we could, we would define true worship to others. If we could, we would determine the appropriate manner to honor God. If we could, we would decide when a person has truly repented of a perceived evil. If we could, we would judge who is qualified to be an ordained pastor. And worst of all, we would determine for ourselves what faith really is. You and I can be the worst Pope ever… especially the determiner of our own faith response, justifying or criticizing ourselves when God does neither. “If our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things” (1 John 3:20). The dividing line in worship is who will you worship… God or yourself. This is the true blasphemy. Worshipping your own selfish decisions, selfish desires, selfish intent, selfish talking and acting. And making them the acceptable way.
The Catholic Institution may embody many misrepresentations of our God. As a result, the Catholic organization may lead many astray. But let us not vilify our Catholic brothers and sisters. If we would but see each as a fellow child-of-God, we would relate to each person as family. “We should not go out of our way to make hard thrusts at the Catholics. Among the Catholics there are many who are most conscientious Christians, and who walk in all the light that shines upon them; and God will work in their behalf” (Review and Herald, 3/16/1911).” “Let it be kept in mind that Jesus died for all, and that he loves others just as much as he loves you. Let the heart be softened with the love of God; and then, with quivering lip and tearful eye, open to the people the treasures of truth. Present the truth as it [is] in Jesus; not for the sake of contention, not for the love of argument, but with meekness and fear; and it will reach the hearts of the honest. That which makes the truth so objectionable to many is that it is not presented in the spirit of Christ” (Historical Sketches pg. 150).
With brotherly love,
Jim
P.S. I just came from a Catholic funeral this morning. I could see that the Catholic ritual and liturgy is a consolation to so many. Aiding their faith and comforting their grief. Tradition can be a comfort to so many Christians, even us Adventists. I’ve had church members almost revolt if the traditions of the familiar divine service is altered. History tells us that some members have even stopped attending when the sanctuary was painted a different color or when pews are retired in favor of more comfortable chairs.
But the divine service is not what God had in mind when He spoke about worship. EGW gives us great guidance about this. “To become a toiler, to continue patiently in well-doing which calls for self-denying labor, is a glorious work, which Heaven smiles upon. Faithful work is more acceptable to God than the most zealous and thought-to-be holiest worship. It is working together with Christ that is true worship. Prayers, exhortation, and talk are cheap fruits, which are frequently tied on; but fruits that are manifested in good works, in caring for the needy, the fatherless, and widows, are genuine fruits which grow naturally upon a good tree” (2 Testimonies pg. 24). If we are phonies and working with Christ from other motives than love. our worship is not true worship and can be misrepresenting God… therefore, blasphemy (see definition above). The Pharisees were misrepresenting God even as they accused Christ of misrepresenting God. Let us not fall victim to Pharisee-ism. So easy for sinners such as we to put on an appearance of holiness. “Cheap fruits” as EGW says.
