The opening text will come from a book by Abraham Joshua Heschel (God in Search of Man - A Philosophy of Judaism). As you are able to see by the title, the language may be a bit dated and therefore, I will, when able, make the language inclusive.
Understanding God is not attained by calling into session all arguments for and against (God), in order to debate whether (God) is a reality or a figment of the mind. God cannot be sensed as a second thought, as an explanation of the origin of the universe. (God) is either the first and the last, or just another concept.
Speculation does not precede faith. The antecedents of faith are the premise of wonder and the premise of praise. Worship of God precedes affirmation of (God’s) realness. We praise before we prove. We respond before we question.
Proofs for the existence of God may add strength to our beliefs; they do not generate it.
In some ways you could say that when we ask people to come to worship with us, we are asking them to come and be caught up in the wonder of God. They don’t have to buy into all that is said…they need only come and enter the experience. Within the adventure of praising God…and seeing and hearing others praise God…we are lifted beyond our own view of the world and begin to touch the realm of God that is forever and ever….with or without our belief. And yet, in the act of praise, we begin to be tickled by the possibility of God’s existence and God’s gift of life that is much more than we can generate on our own.
Connection: Sometime, simply inviting people in the realm of wonder is all we can do to guide someone onto the path of trusting in God. We are only called to praise God…not to be the ones who can come up with a list of the proofs of God. The question is: how do we help someone begin to wonder about the One who is, and was, and will always be?
Lord God, you are the first and the last, the power for new life in any and every age and no matter what might be the circumstances of the day. We praise you for stirring up our hearts and our minds so that we may see you hand guiding us along the way of your gracious reign. Amen.
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