When Jesus was baptized God spoke from heaven saying, "This is my son with whom I am well pleased." He spoke this before Jesus ever began his ministry. The relationship with God is what pleases God, what we do is an expression of honoring such a relationship. When we worship God we are not only admitting we are unworthy of honor, but also God is the only one who is worthy of our worship.
This year I am reading daily meditations from the letters, writings, and sermons of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Bonhoeffer was a German Theologian who chose to return to his homeland during the rising of the Nazi regime instead of living in safety in America.
He was incarcerated for his resistance against the Nazi regime and was excuted at age 39, but not till after he shared his faith with prisoners and guards alike and left numerous letters and writings for which we can benefit.
Bonhoeffer says, in his book called Ethics, "Contempt for humanity and iolization for humanity lie close together." He explains that those that hold contempt for human beings consider themselves to be better than others. We all long to worship something and if we don't worship God then we worship ourselves. This means we idolize ourselves and have contempt for those around us.
I hope this year I can continue to keep my worship focus on God and not idolize myself. Not only am I unworthy of self-worship, but I am part of all humanity which falls short of the glory of God and when we seek a relationshipw with God God is well pleased.
Let us all strive to worship God alone and grow in our relationship with God this year.
Seeking to grow with God,
Pastor Randy
