In our weekly church worship we have a time following the sermon where we “pass the peace”. That is, we take a few minutes to walk through the congregation greeting each other with the words “the peace of the Lord be with you”. Also, in our time of pray we have the opportunity to offer prayer needs or thanksgivings that we would like the leader to lift up before our Lord. We then conclude with the Lord’s prayer beginning with “Our Father……”
It strikes me that this is all about relationships, personal relationships. We are a small congregation having known one another for a number of years. There are some newer folks that we also seek to enfold in God’s fellowship. We, too often, think of God in terms of laws and requirements, and church as one of our duties to Him. We need to think beyond this to our relationship with God our Father through His Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. We use all these relational terms. We just need to take them more seriously.
God is our Heavenly Father. Yes, He does have standards and values (laws) we are to live by, just as any parent with children. But I think, to often, we look at God more in terms of a Heavenly Power with balance scales. We try to live a good life and be helpful to others. Whether or not we are bold enough to express it like this, we feel that we are putting weights on our side of the scale. This is what is behind the often asked question, why do bad things happen to good people?. We need to think more in terms of our relationship. God loves us. He is our Heavenly Father. The more we get to know Him through His Holy Word and prayer, the more we realize how much we are loved personally as His child. It is through this that we want to follow Him, honor Him, learn to know Him deeply, and seek to follow His way of life. No balance scales, but a love relationship that finds our best joy in being a part of Him, doing His will.
This take time. For many it is a new way of thinking even though it has been His gracious invitation to us from the beginning. Genesis chapter 1 says that God walked with man in the garden in the cool of the day. Jesus talked about seeking the one sheep that was lost until He finds it. Luke 1f. So Scripture assures us that our Father God wants us to be a real part of Himself. But I say this takes time.
We know how busy we get with work, home, and family. We have given in to other distractions with our computers and cell phones. A quote from an unrelated article in the newspaper said, “we humans aren’t built to relax……Thanks to the restlessness we inherited from our nomadic ancestors, nobody really wants to stop and smell the roses – ” This may have become true over time, complicated by our electronic age, but it is a battle we need to fight to make time for getting to know our God. This is the difference between the God of our Biblical faith and all of the other world’s deities. Our God has created us to be in a personal relationship with Himself, even using the marriage relationship to describe that of Christ and the Church. He has revealed His nature in the person of His Son, Jesus, the Christ, who said “he who has seen me has seen the Father”. (John14:9)
Give it some thought. Meditate on some of those important passages of Scripture. Be a bit more intentional with setting aside time just to be quiet in God’s presence. Call Him Father. Tell Him you love Him. Give Him your needs and cares. Then just be quiet and listen. Enjoy His presence and all He has given you.
Blessings dear ones,
Pastor Irv