Approaching God

What is a Sunday morning like for your family? I feel like I’ve watched families walk in to church like they have just survived a war. It's got to be hard. It is difficult enough for me to get myself to church on time - I can't imagine getting four other humans dressed and in the right place before I get to church.

I grew up in a family of three boys. There were definitely times when my mom declared “silent car” on the drive to church. I think my parents tried to figure out ways to get us up and going with some kind of consistency on Sunday mornings, and this is partly how they did it:

Chocolate milk.

Every Sunday morning when I was a kid, we had chocolate milk. Now, we were not drinking out of some brown jug– not in our house. This was my Dad’s personal (artisanal) recipe: 

• Start with a full glass of 2% milk. Always pour the milk in first.
• Then, insert enough Hershey’s chocolate syrup until it’s visible through the bottom of the glass.
• Then, you commence the stirring. Always make sure to clank the spoon against the glass, making as much noise as possible.

The stirring was the part of the chocolate milk that I don’t think I understood as a kid. I always thought my dad was so nice to make us chocolate milk every Sunday! But I’m pretty sure he just found a creative way to annoy us out of bed. Every Sunday I woke up to the *clank clank clank* of the chocolate-milk-stir. He was just trying to wake us up for church!

How do you feel when you walk in to church? What was last Sunday like? Sometimes the feat of getting your family to church can derail the experience of Sunday. By the time everything has happened, did you really see Sunday morning as an opportunity to interact with God? Sometimes Sundays become more about accomplishing something as a family – just getting to church. But what keeps you coming to church?

The book of Ecclesiastes is a chance to read Solomon’s perspective on how we experience different things. He was the wisest man to ever live. In chapter 5, he talks about how we approach God. Here’s what Solomon says in Ecclesiastes 5:1-2:

“Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they are doing evil. Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few."

Essentially, Solomon wants us to think about how we interact with God. What is it like when we approach God? How do we act? Is church just another thing we have to 'make' our family attend, or do we see the opportunity to interact with God?

Solomon draws a distinction between a foolish way to approach God and what a wise person does. At the end of verse 1, he says, “To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools.” Solomon encourages us to draw near and listen. He wants us to approach God first with an ear, rather than words. So often, we tend to approach God with our words – we start with our requests, or things we want God to do for us, or things that we want to be different. Solomon says, to draw near and listen.

He contrasts this with “the sacrifice of fools.” When Solomon talks about foolish sacrifices, he’s talking about sacrifices for show. There were many people who would do this. They would bring large sacrifices, a lot of grain or animals or money to show off how much they loved God. We do the same thing sometimes. We serve, we give, and we worship so that others will be impressed with our godliness. Scripture is clear, that God cares immensely more about your heart than your sacrifice.

That’s why Solomon says to not be rash with your mouth, but let your words be few. He’s not saying that we cannot talk to God or bring our requests or concerns to Him, but Solomon is really talking about our heart and our attitude. What is our posture when we’re approaching God? Are we walking in the door ready to tell God everything He needs to do next? Are we heaping up our own personal sacrifice to show everyone else what a good follower of God we are? Or, do we draw near to listen?

Through Jesus, we have an opportunity to commune with God.

Think about that. That’s a concept that seems commonplace around church. Sure, we come to church to meet God. Sure, we believe that we can talk to God. But, that should be mind-blowing to us! That is not a casual thing! That is something that we believe shouldn’t even be possible!

What we believe from Scripture is the truth that, because of our disobedience, we can’t be with God. He is perfect and we are not. There’s nothing we can do to reverse that. We’re stained, we’re broken, and we’re done. That’s what we believe. Our only hope is God. We need God to pick us up and completely recreate us. That’s what Jesus does on the cross. He takes our sin on Himself and defeats it in His death. He forgives us and recreates us. If we trust Him, Jesus makes us right again. So we can approach God, not in fear, but in awe of who He is.

I don’t know what your Sunday mornings are like. You might have to come up with creative ways just to get your kids out of the bed. It might be a crazy hour just to try and get them to church. But what if next week we saw church not as an event to accomplish, but an opportunity to draw near to God and listen?

Ultimately, that's what my dad was doing with that spoon every Sunday morning. As he churned the chocolate milk, he was moving me toward an opportunity to draw near to God and listen. What if we looked for opportunities to do the same? What if, instead of loudly approaching God with directions, we drew near to listen?