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Joshua 24:15 Good News Translation
15 If you are not willing to serve him, decide today whom you will serve, the gods your ancestors worshiped in Mesopotamia or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are now living. As for my family and me, we will serve the Lord.”
When we first moved to Riverside, the greatest shopping center in the city was Tyler Mall. That was almost forty years ago. I used to say to Sylvia, “This is Riverside’s temple to the goddess of materialism.” Thousands of people converged on this temple every day of the week. Then things began to happen. Workmen got in there and added another story of shops. They renamed the Tyler Mall, the Tyler Galleria. They spent several years redoing the streets and the 91-Freeway to make it more convenient to enter the temple.
Out of curiosity I looked up the meaning of the word “galleria”. One dictionary traces the etymology of the word to a chapel at the entrance to a 15th century church—indeed, a place of worship. A place of worship for the populace, not just for the appropriately dressed nobility who could worship inside the church.
But now, in this modern age, things have changed beyond the wildest imaginings of the designers of the Tyler Galleria. Modern technology has brought the galleria into everyone’s home and pocket. Now far more people spend their millions on their computer or phone from outlets like Amazon. People can worship the goddess of materialism from the comfort of their own home, car, or office. They can even have the product delivered to their own front door. If they don’t like what is delivered, or it breaks, they can ship it back and get their money back.
And what has happened to these “places of worship?” Many, especially since the Pandemic, have fallen totally into disuse. They lie desolate, practically abandoned, licking their wounds. We can apply Christ’s 2,000-year-old lament to our age: “And so your Temple will be abandoned. I assure you that you will not see me until the time comes when you say[2] ‘God bless Him who comes in the name of the Lord.’”
In the end, our materialism will be destroyed. For a peek into the future, just look at what is happening to our gallerias during a “snatch and grab” raid—or for their eventual destiny in the pictures from Gaza or Ukraine.
I pray that we will choose with Joshua: “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!”
