As we climbed the steps toward the massive Hindu temple I wasn't really sure what to expect next. This was new territory for me...completely new. We walked in and placed our shoes in cubby holes before entering the temple. As we waited for the prayer service to start we walked around exploring and taking everything in. This was my first time here, but we were told that the temple was extra crowded that day. The intricate carvings and designs on the walls, ceilings, and columns were breathtaking. I was surrounded by women dressed in absolutely beautiful and elaborate saris. We paused to read little plaques that were placed beside each god. As I read, I was very aware of people coming up to the gods to recite prayers, clap, and bow to them. Believe it or not I was not in India. I was right here in Georgia. Just a couple of hours from my home at the largest Hindu temple in North America.
Soon bells began to ring and we took our seats on the cold marble floor--women and children in the back, men in the front. The actual prayer service was short and lasted only about 8 minutes. There was loud, unfamiliar music and speech in a language I could not understand. There were rituals and bowing. It was all a lot to take in. I was honored to be there to experience and learn from these people....to be able to take part in something so precious, so sacred, so cherished to them. But, my heart was breaking the whole time. I was fighting back tears and swallowing lumps in my throat the whole time we were in there. When we left, the girls who had taken us there asked us what we thought. They are preparing for futures as missionaries outside the States and have visited the temple often, having many relationships with Hindu refugees living here. They specifically asked if we were scared. My response was "No, I wasn't scared, just really sad". Maybe I should have been scared. Scared of the grip the enemy has over these precious people blinding them from seeing the Truth. Scared of the idol worship that I was witnessing before my very eyes so clearly. Scared for people trusting in things that can never and will never save them. But, mostly I was sad. I was sad to see precious people who are made in the image of God for a relationship with Him walking around and bowing down to things made of stone, ceramics, and bronze. I was sad to see people who clearly want to live honorable and upright lives and who are so devoted to gods who can do absolutely nothing for them. I was sad to see beautiful people who are devout and sincere and "good", but yet who are separated from God and from the abundant life offered through Jesus. It was all a little overwhelming, and the only thing I knew to do was pray. And so I did. We all did. As we walked around. As we sat. As we intermingled with the people in the temple. We prayed the whole time we were in there. We prayed with eyes and hearts open as we walked around the temple. For each person that I passed and laid eyes on, I prayed for their salvation, that they would be "rescued from the dominion of darkness and brought into the kingdom of the Son he loves". And as they sat and cried out to their gods, we sat on the floor among a sea of Hindu people and prayed silently to our God, praying that they would one day worship the One True God. As we sat there on the floor two thoughts kept running through my mind.... The first thought was the emptiness and powerless of the idols and gods that these people were crying out to.
"For great is the LORD and most worthy of praise;
he is to be feared above all gods.
For all the gods of the nations are idols,
but the LORD made the heavens"
Psalm 96:4-5
"For all the gods of the nations are idols". That phrase kept flowing through my mind over and over and over. The second was a picture of what true worship looks like. There was one point in the prayer service where I could barely even concentrate. I couldn't even get thoughts together enough to pray. The one piece of Scripture that came to mind was a description of Jesus found in Philippians chapter 2.
"Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death---even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
I just kept repeating this over and over and praying that these people who were sitting before me clinging to worthless idols would one day be bowing the knee and confessing Jesus as Lord out of love and joy and not sitting under His wrath.
Flash forward to the next morning.
I am sitting in a gymnasium-turned-sanctuary-for-the-morning. There are a few hundred people packing the gym, and I am one of only about 30 American born citizens in the room. There are refugees here from Sudan, Liberia, Burma, Bhutan, and Nepal. Everyone has gathered here to worship Jesus and to hear a sermon from a Pakistani pastor. So many worship styles and languages all in one place. I think it's the closest thing to worship in heaven that I've ever experienced. It was incredible. To hear refugees, who you know have experienced deep heartache, loss, and trauma, joyfully praising God and singing the words "the Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy" is quite humbling and powerful. Once again, like the day before, I soon found myself fighting back tears and swallowing lumps in my throat. This time they were not tears of sadness. They were tears of great joy.
My favorite part of the service was singing the words:
Into the darkness you shine
Out of the ashes we rise
There's no One like you
None like you
Our God is greater, Our God is stronger
God you are higher than any other
Our God is Healer, awesome in power
Our God, Our God
Singing these words with a room full of refugees from literally all over the world was so beautiful and moving. Once again I had two thoughts. The first was this: we do, indeed, serve a great God, one who is greater than all the gods of the nations who are but idols. The second was the reminder again that one day every knee will bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.........and what I was experiencing in that old gymnasium is a teeny glimpse of what that day will look like.
"After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb"
Revelation 7:9
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