[This is one in a series of devotional reflections prepared for Horley Baptist Church during June 2023]
I was reminded recently of the old music-hall song “Whispering Grass”; the lyrics bemoan the way in which the grass was gossiping to the trees, divulging information that the trees did not need to know. The song was a success for several singers; one of the more memorable versions was that sung by Windsor Davies and Don Estelle, reprising their characters from “It Ain’t Half Hot, Mum” and earning them a No 1 hit in the UK charts.
Those of a certain age and with a certain taste in television will recall the scenario of “It Ain’t Half Hot, Mum”; the sit-com depicted the exploits of a British army concert party posted to a location in India towards the end of the Second World War. The series ran for 56 episodes between January 1974 and September 1981 and achieved a peak audience of 17 million viewers. The programme itself is no longer considered to be politically correct but the song lives on.
‘It Ain’t Half Hot, Mum’ – these could well have been the last words uttered by one of Daniel’s three friends in Babylon. The three friends had refused to bow down to an idol and continued to worship God in the way that he required and, having incurred the wrath of the king, they were about to be cast into a fiery furnace. God honoured their stance and it was the authorities who ended up feeling the heat.
Is it no longer politically correct to be up-front about our worship of God? How can we “Go, Tell the World” if we are more willing to talk about our hobbies rather than our faith? We can rely on God but can God rely on us?
In Leviticus we read of the fate of two of Aaron’s sons. Although they were sons of the High Priest and were priests themselves, they tried to worship God in a way that they thought best, and things got a bit too hot for them.[2]
Worship is more than singing a few songs at a particular point in a church service – our whole lived are meant to be lived as an act of worship to God. To what extent is our worship inspired by the Holy Spirit? Is what we do outside the church walls still pleasing to God?
In Revelation we read about the church in Laodicea which was accused of being only half hot. A presumption that it was doing well masked a spiritual poverty and brought it to the verge of rejection. Its lukewarm indifference invoked a severe rebuke from the one that they purported to serve.[3] However, the rebuke was delivered with a prospect of spiritual renewal.
In Leviticus we saw that God is holy; in Daniel, he overruled a natural outcome and in Revelation he demonstrates love and restitution. A trinity of holiness, power and love. Surely that is something that the trees (and the rest of us) do need to know.
Resources:
[1] Daniel 3 v22
[2] Leviticus 10 v2
[3] Revelation 3 v17
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Contributed by Steve Humphreys; © Steve Humphreys
This is a really thoughtful reflection with a powerful challenge. Thank you Steve.