Monday, November 24, 2008

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Living in His Presence

Have you ever wished that you could be like one of "those people" you read about in the Bible?  Maybe one of the Old Testament prophets, or a Nehemiah or Esther?  Maybe a judge or a king or a Moses or Joshua type deliverer?  Abraham, Isaac or Jacob or maybe Joseph in Egypt?  How about, even better, one of the twelve disciples as they walked and talked with Jesus?  I know that I have.  They seemed to have a closeness and an immediateness about their relationship to God that we long for, that the Lord would speak to us face to face as a person speaks with his friend (see Exodus 33:11).  God's presence.

They all understood something that we need desperately to understand as well.  We need the presence of God.  We need to have God in our here and now or we will fail miserably at anything that we attempt to do or be.  Moses said to the Lord, "You have been telling me, 'Lead these people,' but you have not let me know whom you will send with me.  You have said, 'I know you by name and you have found favor with me.'  If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you" (Exodus 33:12-13).  Wow!  That is an amazing prayer and one it would not hurt any of us to pray each and every day!  And, I wonder if God would not respond to us the same way that he responded to Moses.  The Lord replied, "My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest" (Exodus 33:14).  Then Moses said to God,

"If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here.  How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us?  What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of this earth?" Exodus 33:15-16).

Moses understood the immensity of his call.  And he knew that he could not do it on his own.  He had already tried that and failed miserably.  He knew his need for God and was not afraid to acknowledge it.  In fact, it is as if he said to God, if you don't come with us in this thing that you have called us to, then don't bother sending us because we won't go!  Moses confessed his and the people's desperate need of God.  It is no different for us today.

If God is not present, why bother?  If God is not present in my life, if God is not present in my church, what is the point?  I am no different from anyone else in the world (other than my little rants about God and all his stuff).  My church is no different from any other social club that meets in town other than that we don't have a liquor license.  "How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us?" Moses asked.  The Presence of God is the only thing that distinguishes us from anyone else!

I don't think that we have fully understood this.  I feel like I am just coming to understand a little of what this means.  And, I am beginning to see that we have an advantage over all of these amazing people that we read about in the Bible.  To many of them, God said that he would be with them or something similar.  However, he was with them for the task that they needed to perform or with them until the thing that he wanted to accomplish happened.  What God said to Jacob was true for all of these people: "I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land.  I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you" (Genesis 28:15).  The point is, when the work was done, so was God's presence.  Up until Jesus went to heaven after his cruficixion and resurrection, the Holy Spirit, which is just another way of saying "God's Presence," came and went.  That was true even for the disciples as they walked and talked with Jesus!

We have more of the presence of God than the twelve disciples had!  We have more of the presence of God than almost all of the people who did amazing things for God recorded in the Bible!  Let that sink in!  Jesus said, as he was leaving this earth, and going to finalize all of these arrangements that,

"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit [God's Presence], and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.  And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age" (Matthew 28:18-20).

Only the people from the book of Acts onward had this advantage of the always-and-forever Presence of God.  The Holy Spirit. Jesus was in fact anxious to leave the earth so he could send this fuller measure of the presence of God (John 16:7).  The Holy Spirit is not some weird part of the Trinity either, someone we should avoid.  Jesus said that to see the Son was to see the Father (John 14:9).  He also told his disciples that "in a little while you will see me no more [referring to the crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension of the Son], and then after a little while you will see me" (John 16:19) — when he talked about this second "seeing", he was pointing to the coming of the Holy Spirit who would show up once he left.  All three members of the Godhead are like each other.  The Holy Spirit is the fullness of God the Father and of Jesus the Son that Christ came to bring us.

We have an amazing advantage!  We received the Holy Spirit when we believed.  Different from all those who went before, the Holy Spirit no longer comes and goes.  The reality though, is that we leak.  "We have this treasure in jars of clay [and most of them are cracked!]" (2 Corinthians 4:7).  That is why we need to always "be filled with the Spirit" (Ephesians 5:18), and the meaning is actually to be continually being filled with the Holy Spirit.  "Be always being filled with the Spirit."  He has promised to never leave us or forsake us and to go with us always to the end of time, but his daily offer is nevertheless always more of the presence of God in our lives and in our churches.  We have more to begin with and we have much more available to us.  Should we not avail ourselves of all that God given to us and made accessible?

"How else will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless your presence is evident?  What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of this earth?"

Amen!  Come Lord Jesus!  Come Holy Spirit!  Come Father God!  More!

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