Seeking Out Shekhinah

"In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the

Majesty in heaven." Hebrews 1:1-3

Have you ever thought about the “glory” of God?  What is IT?  To the audience that is listening to Hebrews for the first time, they are very familiar with God’s glory.  Most scholars believe that we aren’t quite sure who the author of the book of Hebrews is, but they tend to agree that the book (or sermon) is directed towards a group of Jewish Christians who are now reconsidering their faith in Christ due to trials or persecution. 

The Jewish people knew about God’s glory.  They had SEEN it.

Remember when Moses began leading the people out of Egypt?  There was a cloud to guide them by day and a pillar of fire to guide them by night.  God’s glory. 

Remember when Moses went up to Mt Sinai and the cloud covered the mountain?  When he came down, his face was radiant, and he had to hide it from the people.  The glory of God.

Remember when Moses asked to SEE God’s glory?  God had to hide him behind a rock and pass by, while covering with His hand.  THAT is the glory of God.

So, for the readers (or listeners) of Hebrews, they understood the weight of God’s glory.  This was something powerful and majestic.  It’s the essence of God.  And no man can stand in it’s presence. 

And Moses wasn’t the only one in the Bible who wanted to encounter this powerful yet deadly force of God.  This morning I read Psalm 44.  In this heart-felt confession, David seeks out the glory of God as well.

"Send out your light and your truth;
   
let them lead me;
let them bring me to your holy hill
   
and to your dwelling!
Then I will go to the altar of God,
   
to God my exceeding joy,
and I will praise you with the lyre,
   
O God, my God."

David ASKS to go to the “holy hill,” to the dwelling of God.  David grew up hearing the stories of the cloud on the mountain.  He knew what it meant to ascend the hill.  Exodus 24 calls God’s glory on the mountain a “devouring fire.”  Even God tells Moses, “man shall not see me and live.”  Yet, this is what David requests—to be brought to God’s holy dwelling.

I can’t help but compare myself to David.  I have to ask myself if I have the same amount of desire.  If I KNEW that it could cost me my life, would I still be willing to ask to experience God’s presence?

The funny thing is, it does cost me my life.

Hebrews 1:2 tells us that Jesus is the “radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being.” To encounter Christ is to encounter the Shekhinah glory of God.  Yet, just as it was with Moses and David, it’s not without a cost. 

Christ paid that price for me to be able to encounter the glory of God and still live.  Yet, despite the weight of this sacrifice, I am so easily satisfied with the things in my life that I don’t actively seek out more of God’s glory.  I am challenged by the desire of Moses and David, who wanted to experience God in His fullness, even if it meant laying their own lives down.

Today, I have been given an even greater opportunity than Moses and David had. I have Christ living inside of me—“the exact representation of God.”  This was something they could only dream of and long for.  So, what’s next?  To what extent am I willing to go to experience more of God? Moses and David only had to ask.  Perhaps I should start there too.

what to do with all these questions...

Recently I was traveling back from overseas.  I had a layover in the Miami airport and decided to grab some lunch.  As I was standing in line waiting to order my food, I overheard a conversation going on behind me (yes, I was that creepy eavesdropper).  A guy asked his friend a question. It seemed like he had some sort of developmental issue, based on the sound of his voice.  He wondered if his friend would like to partake in their recent comforts now that they were back in the States.  He asked if he would get on the computer and use the internet.  His friend responded that he didn't need to get online and that he could just wait until they got back home.  The first guy thought this was odd and encouraged his friend to reconsider by saying, "You don't want to get on the internet? You know, Wiki something?? There are so many unanswered questions out there....I have forgotten them all."  

I remember standing there, letting his response wash over me.  Here's this guy who many people would completely disregard as soon as he opened his mouth.  Perhaps people would assume that "he's not all there" or that he doesn't have as much to contribute as the next guy.  Yet, here he is, saying the most profound statement I had heard in a long time.  Yes.  There are TONS of unanswered questions out there (many of which we can find with a click of a button--thanks, Wikipedia).  And yet, we can become overwhelmed by the enormity of them all.  We choose to forget them, to tuck them away in the back of our minds, as a matter of survival.  We don't like to live in the tension of the unanswerable.  

I was recently listening to a podcast of This American Life called "Self-Improvement Kick."  In this episode, they follow the story of a guy who was unable to put these thoughts away.  His questions consumed him and drove him to drastic measures.  He reached a point in his life where he wrestled so much with the unknowns of life that he put his career on hold to go in search of answers.  He visited the holy land, talked to shamans, fasted...nothing worked.  Eventually, he decided to sell everything he owned and walk across country on a "pilgrimage," of sorts. He followed in the footsteps of a lady named "Peace Pilgrim." He would rely on the kindness of others for every amount of food or shelter he received.  He would simply meet people along the way and allow God to provide for all of his necessities.  Needless to say, he only made it 40 miles.  After 3 days, cold and tired, he saw a billboard on the side of the road.  It simply said, "It's ok to make mistakes as long as they are new ones."  That's when he realized he had made a mistake going on this "journey."  He decided to throw in the towel and call for help.  Through the generosity of his friends and family, he was able to stay at a hotel that night.  Here's how the episode summarizes that final step of his pilgrimage: 

"'Probably the culminating moment in all of this was probably sitting in that bathtub (in the hotel) and just being so exhausted that I just didn't care anymore if I had the answer. It just wasn't important.'

He'd been on this journey, most of it alone and suffering, and trying to figure out the meaning of life...And three days in the cold made him realize he was doing this to himself. He was making himself suffer.  And he could stop.  Which landed him in the same messy place so many of us are in, not having any answers.  So we just ignore the questions and get on with our lives."  

Here's the lesson the Peace Pilgrim  learned in all of this:  There are so many unanswered questions out there.  You just have to forget them all.

Yet, how is this a true ending to the journey?  To resign yourself to a life of ignoring, stifling, and stuffing seems monotonous and hardly sustainable.  Won't the questions pop up again at some point?  Maybe you lose a loved one.  You get cancer.  You go to a wedding.  You watch a sunset.  Soon, there are cracks in life where the questions will begin to bleed through.

And aren't the questions there for a reason?  (That's a question about a question, isn't it?? Wait...that makes my head hurt.)  I mean, the fact that we have questions at all is something to revel in.  There's something magical and purposeful about "searching."  You recognize that it doesn't all end with us.  We aren't all there is.  We aren't the "cheese."  And neither is this world.  There's something more.  Something bigger.

So, although we never find the answers to all the questions, we MUST continue to search.  Why?  Even though we may end up frustrated or weary... even though we know that we won't know it all...there's something to be said about the journey.  There's joy in the searching.  There's peace in the tension.  And at the end of the day, the questions are still better than the alternative.

Yes, there are a lot of unanswered questions out there.  But I pray to God that I never forget them all.

 

 

"I can't get no satisfaction..."

I have found there are seasons in life that I may "marinate" over a certain set of scriptures and keep coming back to it over weeks or months at a time.  Right now, it's Psalm 103.  Regardless of what I may be facing at the time, this passage seems to have some little nugget that hits home.

The little nugget that has been sitting with me lately is found in the first set of verses in the chapter:


Praise the Lord, my soul;
    all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
² Praise the Lord, my soul,
    and forget not all his benefits—
³ who forgives all your sins
    and heals all your diseases,
⁴ who redeems your life from the pit
    and crowns you with love and compassion,
⁵ who satisfies your desires with good things
    so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.


He "satisfies our desires with good things."  

Desires are a gift from God.  Can you imagine life without any desires? I mean, life would be horribly boring.  We would be the most mundane, uninteresting people.  Desires push us forward.  The motivate us.  They inspire us.  We achieve and attain because of this thing called desire.  

However, we have all seen the flip side of desire.  When desire takes root and overrides reason or control, we see how destructive it can be.  Addictions, crimes, and many sins arise out of the result of desire gone wrong. 

Instead of God saying that we have to get rid of the desires that can lead to such things, He offers us an opportunity to actually fulfill them.  He is able to satisfy our desires with good things.  If you have ever encountered someone battling an addiction, you can see this process play out.  You don't overcome addiction with a list of "do's and don'ts."  Yes, there is a behavioral piece to the problem that needs to be addressed.  However, the way to achieve long-term success in being free is to find fulfillment in something outside of the addiction.  To answer the question:  "What need is being met within the addiction and how can that need be met somewhere else?"

That's what God does with us.  He doesn't ask that our desires be taken away from us.  He has created the desires.  They are from His hand.  It is our sin and brokenness that taint desire and turn it into something potentially harmful.  Our desires become destructive when we seek their fulfillment outside of God.  However, if we allow God to satisfy these desires, He is able to bring life and goodness.  Our fulfillment is found in Him and Him alone.  

Praise be to God, who doesn't ask that we lose our desires, but to find them met in Him.  

Beauty of Fall

Twice a year my work hosts a "Prayer and Fasting" day at a local arboretum.  It's a chance for us to get away from the craziness of the office and decompress a little.  We spend most of the day in solitude, with 5 hours spent wandering the grounds praying, reflecting, and reading.  It was during one of these times a couple of weeks ago, that I was struck in a new way by the beauty surrounding me.  The trees were on the cusp of beginning to change colors for the fall.  It was a gorgeously sunny day with temps in the 70s.  I was walking through a forest, surrounded by God's creation with no one else in sight.  I found myself thinking about how immensely pretty everything was.  Then, I thought to myself, "why?" "Why did God create things to be beautiful?" Instead of the deep greens and rustic browns, I could be looking at gray and black.  Everything could be one color of "blah" and I wouldn't know any different.  If I grew up with monochrome surroundings, a world of colorless nothing, then that would be my "familiar."  Yet, instead, I have been given beauty and richness, and am therefore able to differentiate between the mundane and the extravagant.  I began to be so appreciative of not just of the beauty that is in front of me, but also the beauty that will be.   If I think things are so wonderful now, what  will they look like when all things are renewed?  This "beautiful" world we are surrounded carries with it the effects of sin and brokenness. The Bible tells us that creation groans for it's own restoration.  The beauty I see now is but a mere reflection, a fleeting shadow, of the beauty that is to come.

So, when you see a tree in the splendor of its fall colors, sparkling in the sunlight, take a moment to thank God--not just for the beauty that it is, but the beauty that is to come when all things are redeemed and restored.

Romans 8: 20-23:  For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. 

"Life in Death"...Easter Reflections

Today I had a realization.  5 years ago, I experienced a huge turning point in my life.  I didn't quite understand the full extent of it at the time (and probably still don't), but God had been working to bring me to a point of freedom from things i had been struggling with for a long time.  During this Easter season, i can't help but reflect on my own journey from death to life.  I'm going to share with you excerpts from my journal entry on 4-2-07.  Read and reflect with me about the work of a God who brings light into dark places and life into places of brokenness and struggle in our lives.

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4-2-07

"So many times when we rebel we think that we are choosing independence.  We want to do what we want to do and sometimes we lose our better judgment and actually do it.  

There have been times in my life that I have made poor choices in the name of "freedom."  I want to have the ability to choose what I wish--to not be bound by obligation.  So, I strike out on my own path and quickly find that my so called "freedom" wasn't all it was cracked up to be.  Instead of being free, I found myself a captive.  Instead of independence--slavery.

The truth is that I have 2 choices; not "freedom" and "service,"  but "service" and "service."  Will I choose to serve God or serve an idol? That idol make take the form of my desires, a crutch, a relationship, or so many other things, but no matter what object it becomes, in the end it leads to captivity.  So, in essence, my choice for freedom does not lead to freedom at all--unless it is a choice that involves service to God.  It is in this choice to die that I find life--to lose that I find gain.  So, who will I serve?  What choice will I make?  One of faith or one of immediacy?  One of sacrifice or one of indulgence?  One of life or one of destruction?  

On Saturday (3-31-07), I made a commitment...God showed me that I needed to just plant both feet and take the plunge--to leave all of that completely behind me.  I didn't want the option to ever be held in my hand anymore.  I realized that in order to be free I had to completely commit--I had to "lose my life for His sake in order to find it"--I had to go full-throttle and not look back, realizing that I might not always land it perfectly, but there would be no successful jumps otherwise.  So, yeah, that's where I'm at--diving in and seeking to be fully obedient, praying for God's strength to carry me through."  

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And carry me through He has.  5 years later, I can look back at my life and rejoice at the work God has done. May this Easter season afford you the opportunity to reflect and express gratitude as well.  And if you are currently in the midst of struggle or pain, may you be encouraged to anticipate and trust in the work God is doing as we speak and will continue to do in the future.  Praise be to God for His wonderful work of redemption and rescue in our lives!  

new glasses

In 1896, a psychologist by the name of George Stratton did an experiment on vision and the images our retina detects.  He wore glasses for 3 days that caused him to see the world upside down.  Although at first he had difficulty navigating his new perspective, over time things began to change.  Eventually, he was able to see things "right side up," as he had seen them before wearing the glasses.  Soon enough, his vision had adapted and he was able to perceive things normally.

Lately, I have been thinking a lot about "perspective" and it's fluctuating nature.  Studies like these only confirm the fact that we are an adaptive species.  This has been proven in our physical vision, and I would go so far to say that it applies to our "spiritual vision" as well.

How often have we had a spiritual encounter and a "life changing experience" only to find ourselves back in the same spot engaging in the same lifestyle or behaviors a few weeks (or days) later?  Our spiritual selves begin to adapt to this newness and without further adaptations, it begins to swing back to "normalcy" or baseline.

Yet, the truth is, as Christians, our vision has truly changed.  We no longer perceive the world through the same set of lenses as we used prior to our encounters with Christ.  However, every single day we are bombarded with stimuli and messages that counteract our new perception.  The old way of viewing things is in competition with our new perception.  So, how do we keep ourselves from reverting back to our old way of seeing things?

Part of it comes with remembering our new way of thinking/perceiving.  Since we have adapted to this new perception, it becomes difficult to be actively aware of it.  Just like Stratton got used to his new lenses over time, our new lenses can get comfortable.  We have to remind ourselves of what life is like through our "new" perspective:  what did things look like BEFORE we put on the new perspective, how have things changed now that we have this new vision in our lives?

We also have to constantly sort through what is the "real" perspective and what is the false one.  Every single day we are told to perceive things a certain way according to the culture around us.  However, is that the TRUE lens?  Or, like Neo in the Matrix, are we engaging in a world that has deceived us and the true world (or kingdom) is beyond what we can actually see in front of us?

If we look back in biblical history, the Israelites faced the same struggle. When God initially gave them the commandments (a new way of living and perceiving things), He not only gave them the "new lens" but also gave them guidelines as to how to keep this perspective at the front of their minds:

"These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.  Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. When the LORD your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers...be careful that you do not forget the LORD, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery."  Deuteronomy 6: 6-12  

God knew the human capacity to strive for equilibrium and to lose perspective.  The Israelites were in danger of the same things we are susceptible to today.  If we learn anything from them, we recognize the importance of remembrance.

So, as we live in this world as aliens and strangers, walking around with the lenses of another perspective, may we continue to fight the pull of adaptation.  The perspective of the world is all around us and try as we might, we can't completely rid ourselves of its influence.  But what we CAN do is walk in the ways of the new perspective and call to mind the moments of gratitude for the new vision we have been given.

a lesson in perspective (from Jesus' family drama)

In case you were wondering, Jesus had family drama too...And it all starts with a mob and a rambunctious crowd.  

In Mark chapter 3, Mark mentions some actions of the crowd that is following Jesus.  The people with "diseases were pushing forward to touch him (v.10)," "many people came (v.7)," "a crowd was sitting around him (v.32)," and in verse 20 "again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat."  If you can imagine, the popularity of Christ is growing so much so that Jesus can't even get a chance to grab some food!  The crowds are pressing in on his every step to the point that Jesus had to go up on a mountainside to have enough privacy to appoint his disciples (v.13-14).

In the midst of all of this craziness, there's a very interesting piece about Jesus' family.  See the verses below:

"Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat.  When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, "He is out of his mind." (v.20-21)

"Then Jesus' mother and brothers arrived.  Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him.  A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, "Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you."  "Who are my mother and my brothers?" he asked.  Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, "Here are my mother and my brothers!  Whoever does God's will is my brother and sister and mother."  (v. 31-35)

I always read the last set of verses and felt a little perplexed.  It seems to come across as a little rude.  It seems as if Jesus's family stopped by to pay him a visit and then he turns around and disowns them.  However, if you look at the previous verses, you can find the connection.  "When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, 'He is out of his mind.'" 

Imagine it. Here is Jesus.  His ministry is just getting off the ground.  People are starting to hear about his miraculous abilities and they are flocking to him for healing.  Just within the first two chapters of Mark he's already healed a demon possessed man, a man with leprosy, a paralytic, Peter's mother-in-law, and "many who had various diseases."  Needless to say, he's been a little busy.

Soon enough, the population in the area begins to find out and make their way to him.  The crowds begin to grow in intensity.  Jesus begins to have to distance himself from them in order to have time with his disciples.  Then, it gets to the point where he can't even find time to eat.

His family begins to think he's crazy.

They think their Son, Brother, Cousin, is crazy.

How can this be?  Don't they realize WHO he is and what sort of life he was meant to lead?

But surely, not Mary.  Of all people to understand, it would have to be her.  30 years prior, she was approached by an angel as a young betrothed woman.  (See Luke 1: 26-28)  This angel began to tell her that she was "highly favored" and that she had "found favor with God."  God chose her to carry the "Son of the Most High God" who will "reign over the house of Jacob forever" and whose "kingdom will never end."  She would be the mother to the Messiah.

Yet, here she is knocking at the door, thinking her Son was "out of his mind."  Was it a mother's concern over the fact that he wasn't eating?  Was she worried that he was living too much of a fast-paced life and should go back to carpentry?  Did she remember his lingering at the temple when he was younger and think that he had once again gotten too wrapped up in things?  Did she ever doubt that the miracles were actually real?  What had happened in those 30 years to change her perspective?

Here is this woman who is revered by many as the mother of Christ.  She had a literal angel appear to her, informing her of the divine nature of her Son.  She was a recipient of a miraculous event herself.  And yet, she still doubted.  She still lost perspective.

Mary had perhaps gotten so caught up in the day-to-day life of raising the Messiah, that she forgot what was actually going on.  Maybe she lost sight of her heavenly encounter all those many years ago.  Maybe all the diapers, schooling, feeding, and mothering had gotten in the way of the vision she had of God's plan.  Perhaps she couldn't see the bigger picture of God's kingdom for the simple fact she was too focused on what was directly in front of her.

This was such a stark reminder to me.  If this woman can fail at "getting it,"  how much more can I?  I who have never had an encounter with an angel.  I who have never had Magi travel from foreign lands to lay offerings at the feet of my Son.  I who never raised a child who was perfect and blameless.  How much more can I lose perspective on this amazing thing that's right in front of me...yet sooo much bigger than I can possibly imagine?

So, may this be a reminder to all of us.  May we not get so caught up in what's right in front of us that we miss the bigger picture.  May the day-to-day mundane not keep us from seeing the heavenly perspective.  And most importantly, may the "this is the way it should be's" not keep us from seeing that God could be doing something so amazingly huge and dynamic, even though it may come in a form that we least expect it.