And There He Was
Caravaggio, The Supper at Emmaus, 1601
I think almost everyone, believers and non-believers alike, long to have an encounter with God. Think about those times you may have felt God stooping down into your little space. What was happening? Were there ways to encourage this visit to happen again? And how do we know about such things? Well, there are plenty of incredible stories from Scripture to help show the way. And there are amazing stories from throughout history, both ancient and current, that inspire us to be ready when God decides to come near.
I am reminded of one my favorite passages in all of Scripture:
The man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God walking about in the garden at the time of the evening breeze. Genesis 3:8
This story goes on to talk about the disastrous consequences when Adam and Eve turn their backs on this God. How could they possibly turn away from this gentle presence? Here is the Creator of the world, relaxed and poised, merely walking about in the garden. Here is God walking along on a garden path, as the breezes blow softly across the evening. Come, he seems to say, let us get to know one another.
We think too about some of the stories of the days after the resurrection of Jesus.
As they were talking about all this, there he was, standing among them. Startled and terrified, they thought they were seeing a ghost. But he said, ‘Why are you so perturbed? Why do doubts arise in your minds? Look at my hands and feet. It is I myself. . . . And they returned to Jerusalem full of joy, and spent all their time in the temple praising God. Luke 24.
There we are, standing around chattering away, and suddenly, there he is, standing right there in front of us. When this happens, almost always, we are startled, even struck with fear. Can this be so? Why the fear and the doubt, Jesus always asks. Here I am! Maybe let’s break some bread together, just enjoy one another. After the encounter, as we head out into our busy days, we are so “full of joy.” We want to spend more time praising God.
We can take valuable time remembering all the remarkable encounters with God throughout history. We think of Moses saying I must go over to see why this bush is burning; or St. Paul completely changed as he is thrown from his horse; or St. Augustine whose eyes are opened hearing a child’s voice telling him to read from the Bible; or Martin Luther, in his tower reading Romans, landing on the grace that will change the shape of Europe.
And then there are amazing stories like C. S. Lewis finding joy that leads to God, all from a little tin cup filled with plants; or Thomas Merton seeing Christ on the streets of New York, heading off then to a life of prayer in the monastery; or Malcom Muggeridge noticing, in the faces of tourists bowing before shrines in Bethlehem, people who actually believe God is present. Or we may think of Van Gogh calming the rage in his mind as he hears the bells of vespers ringing from a distant church as the glory of the Lord blazes across the skies.
I am reading an absolutely marvelous book by Carys Walsh called Frequencies of God. You may have noticed how I have been drawn again into the poems of R. S. Thomas lately. Walsh has been my guide of late. She asks our question:
Where and how do we expect to encounter God? We might think of prayer as the natural place of encounter. Or we may chose to enter a “thin place” or space; we may expect to meet God in the unfamiliar or in ancient revelations. Our God might be transcendent or immanent; far from us, or close by; beyond all things, or profoundly present; quickening all things, far and near.
This covers a lot of territory I’ve been exploring lately. A whole new kind of life is being offered when this quickening presence of God comes near. Could God be leading me someplace new? I sense he is calling me into his presence but then from there to share the joy and peace I find into the places where I live and the people with whom I share my life. That’s the task before us, isn’t it? We’ve got to share the story.