Holiness

A few days ago I had the opportunity to attend a Catholic funeral. Two things I noticed that I would like to comment on. First, was the behavior of the people as they entered the old cathedral type building with its high ceiling and twelve pillars on the side supporting the main roof. On each pillar was a statue of an apostle. As the people came in they kneelt at the isle they were going down. They then proceeded down the aisle and knelt for a time of prayer in their pew. The thing that struck me was the absolute silence the whole time. I felt like we were standing before the holiness of God and we respected him by confessing our sin. I then thought about the churches I attend. I have a growing feeling that the people don’t think God is there, or at least they don’t act like he is. Their focus is the latest gossip. If people in our protestant churches could understand the holiness of God and understand his call to be holy as he is, they could come into church and fall on their faces as the sinners they are and ask for forgiveness.

The second thing I noticed was the element of religion. Each took a thick white book containing material for a different event. They turned to the section for funerals and at the appropriate time they followed the order of service doing what it said to do. It took exactly 60 minutes to go through it and then everything was put away and the lights turned off. Some stayed and sang for a while and then it was done. Nothing was spontaneous; just follow the book.

I don’t think the ritual of religion is the way to go and I don’t think the loose atmosphere is correct either. A believe as the conversation level increases the effectiveness of believers in the world decreases. I think back 60 years and I see the difference. Look at America today and try to evaluate it as a Christian nation.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise. In that inner sanctuary we are confronted by the holiness of God and it changes our lives. The inner sanctuary of our churches is being replaced by the things of the world. One of those elements is entertainment where we turn up the volume above safe levels for our hearing and if we like what we hear we applaud. The level of our applause reflects the impact of the entertainment. I know many of you will disagree, but I see the wordiness of believers. If you were to bus those in our churches on Sunday to a retention center, I wonder how many would come back the next Sunday for possibly worse treatment.