Thought for Today
Genesis 3:8 They heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.
Psalm 100:2 Worship the LORD with gladness; come into his presence with singing.
John 1:18 No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father's heart, who has made him known.
John 3:2 He came to Jesus by night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God."
proximity – “nearness in place, time, order, occurrence, or relation; closeness.” (www.dictionary.com)
I encountered the word proximity this morning in a novel I am reading. Obviously, the very first thing I thought about was our relationship with our Creator God. Well, maybe not obviously or even immediately; but, what a wonderful word to use for the relationship our Creator God wishes us to share with him.
The word processor on my computer suggests as synonyms for proximity: vicinity, closeness, nearness, contiguity and propinquity. I love the words contiguity and propinquity, but wonder whether anyone has ever used them in public discourse. Were I to do so, I wonder whether anyone would understand what I meant; or, would they suspect I was merely being obtuse? For what it’s worth (FWIW), neither contiguity nor propinquity appear in any Bible translation on my computer.
The phrase ‘presence of God’ does appear often in the Bible. My software tells me that it appears between 69-159 times depending on the translation being read. The phrase ‘face of God’ appears between 47-154 times. Implicit in both phrases is the idea of being in close proximity with God.
As Christians, we should be aware that being in close proximity with God is a two-edged sword. Adam and Eve understood the danger (?) after they ate the forbidden fruit. Their disobedience was immediately apparent in the presence of God. Yet, the psalmist encourages us to come into the presence of God with singing. Which is it to be? Fear or singing?
There must be some dangers, Moses was told, “Exodus 3:5 Then he said, ‘Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.’" Going barefooted in proximity to a burning bush is dangerous in and of itself. Again, FWIW, should we consider taking off our shoes before we enter our sanctuary for worship? Given the imminent approach of winter in New England, I do not intend to suggest that to our church Council!
We think about and talk about our Creator God’s omniscience, omnipotence and omnipresence. We believe our God is all knowing, all powerful, and is present everywhere. Yes, the ground upon which Moses stood was holy, but so too is the ground all around us. All of Creation is holy in the sense that Creation was created by God. Should we paraphrase George Orwell and say, “All ground is created equal, some ground is more equal than other ground?” (Animal Farm, chapter 10)
Yesterday in my sermon, I asked the question, “Is it okay to be mad at God?” I said, “I believe God would rather hear my and your fussing and fuming than to never hear from you at all.” All of God’s children are called to be in an intimate relationship with our Creator God. God wants us to be in close proximity.
Is that a bit intimidating? Certainly. Is that a bit overwhelming? It should be! The creator of all Creation wants to be in an individual relationship with each and every one of us. Thankfully, our Creator God created each and every one of us. God understands our limitations, our fears, our disappointments, our angers, everything about each of us. Despite it all, God wants us in God’s close proximity . . . all the time.
Fussing and fuming, joyfully singing, weeping and leaping for joy, God wants to talk to God’s children. To make sure we understand, God came among us incarnate as Jesus, the Christ.
Sense God’s presence all around you, share your life with God in prayer, trust God,
Pastor Ray