Democracy Makes It Hard to Bow

Recently, I was working on a message that is part of a series on worship. As I was preparing for the message dealing with responding to God in humility by bowing, kneeling, laying face down, and lifting our hands, the thought dawned on me, "Living in a democratic society has not prepared me well to understand this."

I am a citizen of the United States. I was born in a nation that celebrates its birth by revolution. I live in a culture where there is not much distance between the highest office in the land and the lowliest man in the street. Somewhere within me is a thought that says, "I bow to no man. No man, king, president, or general is better than me." It may be a sign of a deep character flaw, but I suspect it is part of my DNA as an American.

The problem is that heaven is not a democracy. As a citizen of a kingdom I cannot see, my Ruler is supreme. His authority is unquestioned. His power is unmatched. His justice is certain. His sovereignty is universal.

It is no wonder then that the posture of heaven is one of humility. Listen to the words of John, for whom the veil between heaven was lifted for a moment:

Revelation 7:11 And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living beings. And they fell before the throne with their faces to the ground and worshiped God.

When was the last time you fell to your face before God? Personally, it's been a while, a long while. There is something in me that resists bowing and laying face down. When I do though, something is released in my spirit. There is a peace that comes with dependency. There is a strength that comes when I choose a physical posture before God that informs my spirit and my mind.

C.S. Lewis said it this way, "God wills our good, and our good is to love Him (with that responsive love proper to creatures) and to love Him we must know Him; and if we now Him, we shall in fact fall on our faces. If we do not, that only shows that what we are trying to love is not yet God - though it may be the nearest approximation to God which our thought and fantasy can attain. Yet the call is not only to prostration and awe...we are bidden to 'put on Christ', to become like God." (from The Problem of Pain).

If the God you seek to know and love has not brought you to your knees or caused you to put your face to the ground in his presence, seek a bit further. The God of heaven, revealed in Scripture, mediated by Jesus, revealed by the Holy Spirit bids you to kneel. Find a spot, put your knees to the floor and your face to the ground. Ask God to put your spirit in right order with the kingdom of heaven. Experience the grace that comes with humility.