God is closer than you think

One of the images I grew up with was that God is a large, white-bearded man, sitting on a throne high above us all.  He looked like Santa and was apt to be very cranky at any moment.  That picture still sits on the shelf in my mind and is probably superglued there by time and neuroscience.

Distance is the key.  He's far away.  He's remote and can only be reached by proper prayer prayed by people who can flourish their words and sound like Beth Moore from the '90s.  Or he's like a 911 operator who finally takes our call for help in the midst of a disaster.  He's not exactly available.

But that is a picture that was shaped by religious people and the media, over time.  Well meaning people tried to give us an understanding of his majestic power.  He's the man behind the curtain in the Wizard of Oz.  And when Jesus was discussed, he was a cardigan wearing Mr. Rogers type with an English accent.

Distant, remote, hard to understand, already mad at you, willing to hear your pleadings for mercy but not necessarily happy about it, super concerned about your sex life, keeping attendance records on Sundays, marking down and erasing sins, entering us into the book of life, removing us, entering us back in, etc.

But that's all a load of our projections of what we'd like him to be, flavored by a little scripture, seasoned by our personal likes and dislikes, and certainly by our politics and prejudices.  God isn't that way at all in the big picture of the Bible and he's closer and more involved than we think.

Remember the Bible is written to and about people who don't live in the 2020's. Language back then, like over several thousand years, and across some very different cultures, paints a picture of God that we'd do completely over, answering our own questions, highlighting the things we think are important.

But that's not the Bible we have.

Skipping over a lot of translational and interpretational dynamics that are interesting, but not the point of this post, the God of scripture is actually one who knows you and me very personally and loves us more than we imagine.  He does, for real.  

And he's closer than you think, not off across the galaxy, waiting for our distress call.  

Some pictures that struck me in scripture that reshaped how I see God include the time when Peter, the apostle, was having a little prayer time and God wanted to make a point to him about accepting non-Jewish people - and God dropped a sheet full of unclean animals "out of heaven" for him to eat.

This sheet just appeared out of no where, but it is often said as if it came down from heaven.  Nope, just appeared in front of Peter.  Like heaven is literally there all the time around us, we just don't see it until God reveals it to us.

Jesus said that the angels that serve or guard over children in this world always have their angel faces pointed at and in God's presence.  So your kid has an angel and that angel is near them AND in God's presence.  That's closer than we think.

And Jesus said he was going to go away and send the Comforter or what we later know as the Holy Spirit, basically his spirit.  And when we believe the good news of his death providing the removal of all sin, his spirit can and does come in and live in each of us personally and permanently.  Like right now.

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We often don't know what any of that means and how to talk with God or "access the Spirit" and we say things like, "Lord, we invite your Spirit to come into this room" or other things that speak our false assumptions about God's location and activity. 

But he's never absent.  He's always near and/or inside us.  He's closer than Whoopi Goldberg and Demi Moore in that pottery scene.  But a lot less awkward.  Or maybe more awkward, I don't know.  But he's certainly closer and more involved than we think.

And that brings up a lot of questions.

Like, why didn't he stop that thing from happening?  And why didn't he do the things I wanted him to do? And why did my loved one die like that?  And why do I get a pimple right there right when I don't need one?  And what's up with those crazy people in the world doing all those crazy things?

Why does all that happen if he's close and involved and loves us?

If you're in church settings, you'll get lots of hugs for asking such questions and words that tell you what a mystery it all is, but no one will go much farther than that.  

And that's okay because what is popularly called church isn't set up for or capable of answering questions like that in an hour long time slot.  

Those are much longer times with God and some of his people, listening, asking, waiting, hearing, digesting, reframing, etc.  

That's a multiple course meal served a foreign country by people who know how to do it right, not a Happy Meal from church leader who wants you to just get over it already and get in line.

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Job said (13:15), "Even if God kills me, I will hope in him."

There are places in scripture from Job to Paul where people say things that make it seem like being in God's presence and in communication with him is more important than anything else.  

Even more important than staying alive and comfortable in this life.

Now THAT is a very different kind of relationship and closeness with God that doesn't fit a lot of touchy, feely, churchy stuff.  

It's a picture of a God who doesn't offer us "his favor" and yet we're okay with that and even think that people who talk like that might be worshipping something or someone different.

It's very thick and challenging and complicated and puzzling and...is like an actual relationship with a person.  

And I think that's the whole point.

We want a God on a throne who we can throw our hallelujahs at once in a while.  

He's the guy who won't get out of our car so we can drop him off and go on our merry way.

That's where we're going soon.

Grace and peace.