I Would Like to Buy $3.00 Worth of God
by Gary Henry
via WordPoints.com
"These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me" (Matthew 15:8).
Many people would like to have a little religion in their lives, but not too much. If we’re honest, we may see more of ourselves than is comfortable in Isaiah’s portrayal of the people of his day. The prophet’s rebuke, quoted by Jesus in Matthew 15:8, should prompt an honest self-inventory by all of us who profess to be Christians: “These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.”
Contrary to how this text is often explained today, the problem pointed to by Isaiah and later by Jesus was not merely that the people were “going through the motions” of worship without really “feeling it” emotionally. I’m sure they didn’t “feel it,” but their problem was not merely one of feelings — it was outright hypocrisy. When they spoke words of worship, there was nothing in their lives to back up those words. They had no real reverence for God, emotionally or otherwise. It was all a sham. Perhaps lacking the courage to go ahead and sever ties with God completely, they wanted to keep up the appearance of having given their allegiance to Him ... maybe for a little while longer ... if it could be kept safe and convenient ... and all they had to do was just nod in God’s direction once in a while. Their religion was nothing more than a package of nice-sounding platitudes that had no bearing on their actual character or conduct. Apparently, they thought God was rather easy to fool.
A number of years ago, Wilbur E. Rees wrote a little book called $3.00 Worth of God. I have quoted below the brief meditation that gave the book its name. I’ve had this book for many years and have read the essay countless times, but it still makes me squirm. In these days when “Christianity” is legal and worship is “trendy,” I wonder whether our lives are shaped by our “nice feelings” any more than the people of Isaiah’s day were shaped by their “nice words.”
"I would like to buy $3.00 worth of God, please, not enough to explode my soul or disturb my sleep, but just enough to equal a cup of warm milk or a snooze in the sunshine . . . I want ecstasy, not transformation; I want the warmth of the womb, not a new birth. I want a pound of the Eternal in a paper sack. I would like to buy $3.00 worth of God, please" (Wilbur E. Rees).
