Good Morning Friends,
I know that God is always there for us and that through the mediation of the Holy Spirit Christ can abide with us but sometimes despite this love it is hard to experience God in all things all the time. The Gospel reading today is about the witness of this love of God being in Jesus and his disciples and the sad reality that the religious elite would reject that love. But even this was destined to be. In the face of this rejection Jesus makes the case for the work of the Holy Spirit in him, and many people were surprised for they did not in the least imagine that God would do such a thing even though the Holy Spirit was working in them without their knowledge. Learning from history we should take note of our own resistance to what we think God should be and what God should look like and what God is doing. Friends, God is sovereign, and we are not. But the amazing claim of Jesus is about the importance and authority of Christ being in us as part of the promise. The testimonies about Jesus come from God the Father, John the Baptist, Jesus’ own works, the Old Testament scripture and Moses. And here is where it gets serious, for we expect Jesus to come through our door and for lack of love too often fail to see him at our very side in the form of the Holy Spirit. Friends, you have heard the song You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling, by the Righteous Brothers. Tom Cruz sang it, although poorly, in the movie, Top Gun. It is really about something dying in us when we fail to accept Jesus. And I guess that can happen with all types of relationships, but What Do You Do When The Perceived Presence Of God Is Gone?
Scripture: The Lord said to Moses, “Go down at once! Your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have acted perversely; they have been quick to turn aside from the way that I commanded them; they have cast for themselves an image of a calf, and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt! The Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, how stiff-necked they are. Now let me alone, so that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them; and of you I will make a great nation.” But Moses implored the Lord his God, and said, “O Lord, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians say, ‘It was with evil intent that he brought them out to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your fierce wrath; change your mind and do not bring disaster on your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, how you swore to them by your own self, saying to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.'” And the Lord changed his mind about the disaster that he planned to bring on his people.
Exodus 32:7-14 (NRSV)
They made a calf at Horeb and worshiped a cast image. They exchanged the glory of God for the image of an ox that eats grass. They forgot God, their Savior, who had done great things in Egypt, wondrous works in the land of Ham, and awesome deeds by the Red Sea. Therefore he said he would destroy them— had not Moses, his chosen one, stood in the breach before him, to turn away his wrath from destroying them.
Exodus 32: 7-14 (NRSV)
“If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true. There is another who testifies on my behalf, and I know that his testimony to me is true. You sent messengers to John, and he testified to the truth. Not that I accept such human testimony, but I say these things so that you may be saved. He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. But I have a testimony greater than John’s. The works that the Father has given me to complete, the very works that I am doing, testify on my behalf that the Father has sent me. And the Father who sent me has himself testified on my behalf. You have never heard his voice or seen his form, and you do not have his word abiding in you, because you do not believe him whom he has sent. “You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that testify on my behalf. Yet you refuse to come to me to have life. I do not accept glory from human beings. But I know that you do not have the love of God in you. I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; if another comes in his own name, you will accept him. How can you believe when you accept glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the one who alone is God? Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; your accuser is Moses, on whom you have set your hope. If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. But if you do not believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I say?”
John 5:31-47 (NRSV)
They made a calf at Horeb and worshiped a cast image. They exchanged the glory of God for the image of an ox that eats grass. They forgot God, their Savior, who had done great things in Egypt, wondrous works in the land of Ham, and awesome deeds by the Red Sea. Therefore he said he would destroy them— had not Moses, his chosen one, stood in the breach before him, to turn away his wrath from destroying them.
Psalm 106: 19-23 (NRSV)
I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their own people; I will put my words in the mouth of the prophet, who shall speak to them everything that I command. Anyone who does not heed the words that the prophet shall speak in my name, I myself will hold accountable. But any prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, or who presumes to speak in my name a word that I have not commanded the prophet to speak—that prophet shall die.” You may say to yourself, “How can we recognize a word that the Lord has not spoken?” If a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord but the thing does not take place or prove true, it is a word that the Lord has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; do not be frightened by it.
Deuteronomy 18:18-22 (NRSV)
Message: I am not exactly sure what prompts people to lose the presence of God. It happened to King Saul, as you may remember, and it happens to leaders in our own time. Maybe it happens when leadership does not honor God. Maybe it happens when people look with the eyes of sight and not the eyes of faith. Maybe it happens when people see comfort and guidance from other sources than God. Maybe it happens when people rely on their latest logical thought and not their promise to obey God. Friends, this and the taking of some bad advice is what happened to Moses and the Hebrews and the presence of God faded. And there would come a time when the Hebrews wanted the presence to dissipate for, they feared God and failed to sense God’s love. The Jews had a similar problem when it came to Jesus. And unfortunately, today we can have similar issues in worship. Social distancing has taken it toll. But this absence of physical contact we still have guidance from scripture. Jesus practiced social distancing in the desert for 40 days and was tempted. And so too for us there is a problem in isolation for temptation is sure to follow. Being perceived to be apart from God when we are apart from each other leaves us little to do to effect change head on. We must focus clearly but on the whole with discernment. The witness we need to be for the faith is one of action that produces results that honor God. And that the Christian faith is still practiced after 2000 years is one of the best testimonies of all. But we are not always recognizing what God is doing for our own lack of love. We get selfish. Friends, God has not abandoned us, but it is us that have failed to recognize that God is with us for we too often do not hear or see clearly. The hope is that we see God at work through the eyes of life and love in all things. We are to open our hearts to the possibility of the presence of God even when that loving feeling has yet to blossom. Know and be comforted in the reality that in this moments Jesus seeks to save us. And if you believe he is the Messiah, the Son of God sent to save us because God loves us, it makes all the difference.
And So, even though Jesus, in today’s text, does not give any personal testimony as to who he is, there are, nevertheless, plenty of impressive witnesses in the lineup.
We have the testimony of John the Baptist that Jesus is the Perfect Lamb. We have the work of Jesus as the suffering Messiah to save us. We have the testimony of the Father that Jesus is the Beloved Son. We have the Word of God in scripture that Jesus is the predicted one. We have the testimony of Moses that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Law in a new covenant in the Spirit. So, we need to open our hearts and to who Jesus is in the Spirit and even now abide in Christ and obey the Spirit and keep walking in the faith contrary to the voices that would lead us astray. We need to confess our sins and claim forgiveness offered in the life of Jesus. We need to honor Jesus in our life as a testimony to the love of God with us. Maybe for now we have to practice physical distancing, for the term social distancing is the wrong idea. Maybe we can reach out and touch someone by phone or Facebook or with a kind and loving act. And of course, we can still open the Bible and pray and share the experience with others. Friends, the Holy Spirit is always there but it might help to remember that all things work together for good for those called to Christ’s purpose. Be patient. Your time will come when God is ready to use you. The answer to today’s question is to continue to seek God knowing that Jesus is seeking you.
Pray we keep praying even if our prayers seem to go unanswered. Pray we persevere through disastrous events. Pray our disappoint with people who call themselves Christian, does not prompt a disappointment with God. Pray we keep growing in Christ. Pray we keep seeking God. Pray we realize that God knows our hearts and excuses. Pray we learn to experience God though acts of love that witness to the glory of God. Pray we never lose that loving feeling but if we do be comforted in the hope of Christ’s Spirit. Pray we never evade God but remember God’s promise that Jesus will never leave us.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 