God is there. God is here. God is everywhere. God is present. This is one of the basic Christian assertions. It is a belief that God exists, but it is more than that. It is an understanding that God exists and is present in and to creation. We do not believe in a God who set everything running but then retired to heaven to watch it all play out, or even disappeared from the scene altogether, but in a God who is present.
At the very beginning of the Bible, in the poetic accounts of creation, we see a God who is intimately involved in the process of creation. We hear God speaking, we see the spirit hovering over the chaos and darkness, brooding over it as a mother hen broods over her nest. We overhear the personal interactions between God and human beings, enjoying being in each other’s presence in the garden. And then, in perhaps one of the heart breaking episodes in Scripture, we see human beings hiding from God’s presence in shame for the first time. The privilege we have of enjoying unfettered access to God’s presence is lost in our rebellion and sinfulness, and one way of reading the whole Bible is as the story of our return to that totally free enjoyment of walking in the garden with our God and Creator.
Our access and enjoyment of God’s presence is lost, but God remains. As the story goes on we see God talking with people, interacting with them, working in their lives, promising a new future. At times, for instance when they are in slavery in Egypt, it feels to the people like God is far away, has gone missing, but God is there, hearing their cries and sending Moses to rescue them. As they escape through the desert from Egypt God is there in the pillars of fire and cloud. God is with them, as we read in Exodus 33,
“The Lord replied, ‘My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest. Then Moses said to him, ‘If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here.”
Throughout this period of the history of the people of God, God’s presence was often felt to be a fearful thing, for special people and restricted to special places. The people were afraid of God’s presence, echoes of the garden, and asked Moses to meet with God on their behalf. When Moses came our of the tent of meeting he used to wear a veil because his face shone with the glory of God, and it scared the people. When the people came to promised land they built a Temple for God, a house, somewhere God could be contained. They wanted God to be in the midst of them, but were still fearful of God’s presence.
I wonder who hear likes chili con carne? Can anybody translate it for me. Chili with meat. Who here would describe themselves as a carnivore? What does it mean? Meat eater. So, what does incarnation mean? It means that God became meat. We can dress it all up in theological Christianese but at it’s deepest meaning, this is what it means. When Jesus came to live among us God became meat – real, physical, eating, breathing, bleeding meat. This was the next big step in repairing the damage to the relationship between God and humanity. God’s presence come near, moved into the neighbourhood, living a created life on earth.
Up until Jesus God was there, but in the temple, invisible, not available to human senses. Jesus came to change that. He came to show us what the Father is like, to live a truly godly life, as he is human and divine, God and meat. God is no longer invisible, but could be seen, heard, interacted with. And we have eye witness records of those meetings in our gospels. They are a record of God’s presence in flesh, here on earth.
But that presence could not last forever. For Jesus to complete the restoration of the relationship between God and people he had to die, to become dead meat, before being raised to life again, and to ascend to heaven. So what did that mean for God’s presence with us? What did we read in John’s account of Jesus’ life? What did Jesus promise his friends and followers? “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you for ever – the Spirit of truth.”
The Holy Spirit is God’s presence with all God’s people now and forever. It is not restricted to special people, or special places. It is not restricted to the physical location or time that Jesus was on earth. God’s presence is everywhere, available to all, now, by the gift of the Holy Spirit. When Jesus died a massive curtain that separated the Holiest part of the Temple, where God’s seat was, from the rest of the building, was torn in two from top to bottom. Access to God’s presence is open and the Holy Spirit is the witness of this reality to our hearts.
God is there. God is here. God is everywhere. God is present.
For the next couple of months we’re going to be exploring different characteristics of the nature of God. It’s all very well to say that we believe in God, but what kind of God is it that we believe in? What is God like? This is an important question, because it affects how we relate to God and we act towards each other. So, as well as some teaching about what the Bible teaches us about what God is like, we’re going to think about the implications of that for how we live our lives. In this case what does it mean for us, today, that God is there, is present with us?
Well, perhaps we might want to start with Adam and Eve, with many of the Old Testament people of God, even with Psalmist, “Where can I hide from your presence.” Perhaps it is good to be real about the fact that sometimes we want to hide from God, or we would rather that God wasn’t there when there are things we want to do that a sense of God’s presence might make us feel guilty about doing. Of course the good news of Jesus incarnation is that we don’t have to be ashamed or live in guilt, we can be freed from that as we repent and are forgiven. All we have to do is to step out from our hiding place, to recognise that all we doing with our self justifications and excuses is sewing fig leaves, and come to the one who can heal us and restore us. And when a sense of God’s presence is awkward and cramps our style then let’s invite that to help us to avoid falling into temptation.
I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about the story of the disciples on the road to Emmaus this week. It happens on Easter Sunday, Jesus has risen but nobody has seen him yet. Two disciples are walking from Jerusalem to Emmaus, going home because it felt like Jesus had let them down, and this person comes alongside them. John writes, “they were kept from recognising him” The man doesn’t tell them his name, but asks what’s wrong, and then explains all the Scriptures that showed what would happen to God’s Messiah. When they reach their destination the man makes to continue on, but they invite him to dinner. As he gives thanks for the bread they finally recognise him as Jesus, at which point he disappears from their sight. Leaving their meal, they set out for a night time journey, eight miles back to Jerusalem, where they find the other disciples and tell them that they’ve seen Jesus. At which point Jesus appears among them.
In summary, in this story, Jesus’ friends are kept from recognising him until they’ve been taught something, he intends to leave them before they recognise him, and then when they do recognise him he disappears, leaving them to make a dangerous journey on their own before reappearing at their destination.
I absolutely believe that God is present, and does not abandon us but sometimes it feels like God is absent, or is playing hide and seek with us. It seems to me that this story gives us some ways of living and praying when it feels like God is not there. Is there something that God is teaching us through this experience? Do we need to ask God to help us recognise him in an unfamiliar place or situation? Do we need to deepen in our desire for God to stay with us? Will we hold on to our faith and persevere even when we do not understand?
In a moment we’re going to have an opportunity to respond to what God is saying to us this morning, and to make space for God to minister to us. As we do I might very well pray something like “Come Holy Spirit”. This is not to say that the Holy Spirit is not here already, but is an attempt to use our inadequate language to say to God that we are aware of that presence and welcome it, that we are willing and open to whatever God wants to do among us. It might be that some of us are anxious that an encounter with the presence of the living God might overwhelm us, leave us feeling out of control. I invite you this morning to let go of the fear of the shame, of the doubt, of the grief of disappointment from the past, and be open to the reality of the presence of God here today.
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