As Kevin has preached these past several weeks, the texts don't seem to get any easier. We looked at how God comes to us in pain last week - "Don't Waste Your Suffering". And two days ago, we read Jesus' parable of the dishonest manager, in which Jesus tells a story of a master who fires his dishonest manager, but then professes admiration of him after the manager cuts several deals which cheat the master out of up to half of what people actually owe him. He praises the guy. He praises him for being shrewd, but what about his dishonesty? Did Jesus really tell that story?...
I find it interesting to look back at the series title - "How God Comes to Us". Truth, Suffering, Shrewdness. It is interesting because I bet if I asked the average person how God comes to them, they would tell me about the beach, their kids, the mountains, acts of random kindness - you know, things everybody likes. I believe God comes to me in those things too. But it challenges me to think how God comes to me in these other ways.
I feel delight in a kind person, and I think "Surely if I feel this way, then how does God feel?" I magnify my own emotions and feelings and think, "That must be what God is like." I watch a sunrise out my window early in the morning or I look at a flower with perfect symmetry and dazzling purple splashed across it and I think, "God made that!" I think these wonderful things make me feel close to God. But if someone asked God, "when did you feel close to Chris?", I somehow doubt that my nice thoughts would be able to compete with meaningful action. "I felt close to Chris when he faced the truth...and then when he called out to me and relied on me entirely when he saw how people suffer around the world and in his town...and when he took steps to pursue excellence in what he does so that people would think of me when they see him." I think God would feel close to me in these ways.
Sometimes, my wife and I ask each other, "When did you feel close to God" or "What was the best part of your day?" before we go to sleep. Often, I get to tell her that something she did or said made me feel close to God. If it really was some other moment, sometimes I'll cheat and use two so she knows I was thankful for her...just being honest! But I sometimes feel as though I honestly was closest to God when something really difficult happened that made me turn to him. That always surprises me a little. Shouldn't I feel closest to God in the good times?
But God didn't come into the world to congratulate us on how well we were doing. He came to save us from eternal peril and to make a way to new life. That way is a person. Through Jesus Christ, we know that God loves us because he gave his Son to give his life for us. To know him is pure joy, but it is also humbling because he becomes our Lord, and this means we aren't Lord. We may be most in key with the Lord when we feel closest to him in the hardest parts of our day.
Reflection Questions:
1) What was the highlight of your day?
2) Now, when did you feel closest to God today? And when do you think God felt closest to you?
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