2020... Now What? - Pt 3

O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger. When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. (Psalm 8:1-5 ESV).

Among the structures still remaining in the Smoky Mountain National Park nestled in Cades Cove is the John Oliver historical cabin. It is set back from Cades Cove Loop Road with a short walk back from the road itself. We visit the cove almost every time we visit the park. We have made the easy hike to the cabin many times. John and Lucretia Oliver, the original owners of the cabin, were the first permanent white settlers in Cades Cove. When they moved to Cades Cove in the 1820s, the only road into the cove was a primitive trail. There was not a working grist mill at that time. In the absence of a grist mill, the Olivers had to beat corn into cornmeal using only a mortar and pestle. During the early years, Lucretia feared she would starve to death. As more settlers came to the cove, I am not surprised that some of the first structures built, other than their homes, were the churches. It is amazing to see the work of God when we understand a broader expanse of history. I’ve stood behind the pulpit of the Primitive Baptist Church and imagined what it might have been like to preach to settlers of that land. They faced difficulty from many challenges that we take for granted today. However, their example of perseverance and faithfulness still speaks clearly to the millions of visitors in the park every year. It is a testimony to how little we know of God. Satan is so devious that he turns even our knowledge of God into a temptation to sin. Ignorance of God will always lead to evil, but even knowledge of God can become ungodly. We may know enough about God to be saved, but most of us also know plenty to become proud. As the apostle Paul warns, “Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. But if anyone loves God, he is known by God” (1 Corinthians 8:1-3). It is tragic when the theology that should utterly humble us strangely causes us to think more highly of ourselves than we ought to think (cf. Romans 12:3). Our reading today helps us understand that true theology sounds like worship (vv. 3-4). As God shows you more of himself, ask him to help you to see just how little you know, and just how little you deserve to know what you do. Ask him to make you humble.