Friday, October 3, 2008

Next     Previous     Today

The Two Places God Lives

Almost everyone knows that God lives in heaven.  That is the place where his throne is and where angels surround him with continuous worship and from which he looks down on his creation.  It is from here that he fulfills his role as Lord of the entire universe and guides and sustains all things.  Did you know that there is a second place he lives as well?

No, it is not in church.  He does not live in houses made by men whether they have his name on them or not (Acts 7:48).  It is not in nature although it definitely reflects his glory.  And it is not in people who loudly proclaim that God lives in them either.

"For this is what the high and lofty One says — he who lives forever, whose name is holy; 'I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite" (Isaiah 57:15). 

God is definitely the high and exalted king.  He is the eternal God.  He is holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty.  And he lives in the place that reflects who he is.  Heaven is just such a place.  Glorious.  Magnificent.  Lavish.  Huge.

At the same time, he chooses to live with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit.  The amazing and everlasting God over all things has decided that his second most favorite place to be is with you and me provided we are contrite and lowly people.  When we recognize who we really are and that everything good about us is from and through him and humble ourselves before him in a posture of thankful receiving, He lives right there!  Wow!

In Jesus' day, there were those (and they still exist today) who thought that they had the corner on the whole God thing.  They had everything figured out and truly God was lucky to have them.  To these people who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told a parable about two people who went to the temple to pray.  The first of them, a Pharisee, stood up where everyone could see him and in a loud voice proclaimed, "God, I thank you that I am not like other men — robbers, evildoers, adulterers -— or even like this tax collector (the other guy in the story).  I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get" (Luke 18:11-12).  His whole prayer was about how blessed God was to have him.  In fact, Jesus said that he "stood up and prayed about himself" (Luke 18:11).  Isn't prayer supposed to be to God and about God, giving glory to God?  Lest we cast the first stone, how many of us have ever reminded God about something that we have done in order to pressure him for something else we might want?  I know I have tried that one.  It doesn't work.

The tax collector, a really bad guy in those days, stood at a distance, away from everybody else.  He simply got alone with God.  He would not even raise his eyes to heaven but bowed down, and beat on his chest in agony and said, simply, "God, have mercy on me, a sinner" (Luke 18:13).  He knew that there was nothing in him that would impress God, but he also knew that God in his mercy had invited him and others like him to come.  As Jesus said in another instance,

"It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.  But go and learn what this means:  'I desire mercy, not sacrifice' (Hosea 6:6).  For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners" (Matthew 9:13). 

In the case of the Pharisee and the tax collector in Jesus' story, who went home justified.  The answer is, they both did!  Yes, it is true.  But the Pharisee went home having only met himself and having justified himself.  Neither of those things did him any good whatsoever other than confirm him in his opinion of himself and his pride.  He prayed to himself and he answered himself.  The tax collector on the other hand met God for God always chooses to live with the contrite and lowly.  He came to this poor tax collector and did exactly what he said he would do:  he revived his spirit and revived his heart.  Something real and deep and personal happened inside of that man!  Jesus said, "I tell you that this man — the tax collector who met God on his terms — rather than the other — the Pharisee who only met himself — went home justified before God" (Luke 18:14).

God — the high and lofty one who is eternal and holy -— looks down from heaven for those who will humble themselves before him and throw themselves over on his mercy in recognition that it is not ever about us but always about him.  And he says, yes, I live up here in this wonderful place called heaven, but there, in that lowly and contrite you and me is the other place my divine heart will always choose to take up residence.  "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:3).

God is looking for a second home.  Will we be that for him?

Next     Previous     Today