What's On Your Altar?

This question is posed and wondered about by our dear Laurie Kemhus who has done the hard work of learning how to be an offering worthy of our LORD.

Most of us have heard the commercial line:

"What's in your wallet?"

That got me thinking about the chorus of a song we sing in church:

"Make my heart a cathedral.

Make my soul your temple.

Make my life an altar where Your fire falls."

“Hey Laurie, what’s on your altar?”

That question makes me think of the verse in Romans:

“And so dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice – the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.” (Romans 12:1 NLT)

What does a “living and holy sacrifice” look like?

What have I put on my altar that would be pleasing to God, rising as incense before Him? 

Elijah put many things on the altar the LORD instructed him to build.

"Immediately the fire of the LORD flashed down from heaven and burned up the young bull, the wood, the stones, and all the dust. It even licked up all the water in the trench! And when all the people saw it, they fell face down on the ground and cried out, “The LORD – he is God! Yes, the LORD is God!” (I Kings 18:38-39 NLT)

The reason the fire of God fell on Elijah’s altar was so the people of Israel would know “that you, O LORD, are God and that you have brought them back to yourself.”

I would love my life to be an altar worthy of “the fire of the LORD.”  To watch my sacrifice be consumed as evidence that God has brought me back to Himself.

The years of our lives pass so quickly. As children, we put hopeful kindling on the altars of our hearts. Hopes and dreams of who we want to be when we grow up. Sticks in the evening campfire at church camp with promises to faithfully follow Jesus.  But by old age we sometimes might feel we have nothing left to offer and too many regrets to deal with. Maybe some dry-rotted posts stuck in the ground too long, termite infested logs, or pressure treated 2 x 4’s with toxic fumes. 

That’s how I felt when I retired after 20 years of teaching.  Pointless, worthless, useless and done. My life became a cycle of depression for the next 11 years. Some counseling and lots of medication did help but those things never got to the deeper problem in my soul. I wasn’t really trusting God.

The turning point came for me when I submitted to God’s leading to seek spiritual direction through Fermata at almost 70 years old. What I discovered then was that God had been waiting a long time for me. He was so patient. His mercy and grace are limitless. 

I like what Hebrews 4:16 in The Message says: “Let’s walk right up to him and get what he is so ready to give. Take the mercy, accept the help.”

 I discovered that He doesn’t want my stuff on that altar. Not my burdens or my blessings. Not my sins or my successes.  He wants me to give those things to Him, lay them down at his feet and climb up onto the altar myself. He wants ME!  Not as a sin offering, Jesus took care of that once and for all, but as a loving sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving. Wholly devoted to Him and seeking His presence continually.

Our problem is that as living sacrifices we tend to climb off the altar, repeatedly!  I’m currently learning how to stay on the altar. My early morning contemplative silence is an essential practice that keeps me focused on God.  When I spend time in that “silent land” I am being still and knowing that He is God. His voice is whisper soft. I’ve found a settled belonging in the presence of my trustworthy God. I’m learning to refocus my old eyes on something deeper. Fixed and dilated on Jesus. 

My story isn’t over just yet. Even though time is making me older, eternity still considers me young. I hope the aroma rising from my altar to Yahweh these days smells like incense before Him. “Oh Lord, please light the fire that once burned bright and clear. Replace the lamp of my first love that burns with holy fear.”

Won’t you join me on that altar? Climb on up. We can change our perspective from “Beam me up, Scotty” to “Burn me up, Jesus.” 

Is it getting’ hot in here?