‘“Sang Chol!” 92-year-old Lee Keum-seom exclaimed… Lee had been waiting 68 years for this moment, after the two became separated during the Korean War and became trapped either side of the demilitarized zone (DMZ) which now splits the two Koreas. Sang Chol was four when she last saw him. He is now 71…’[1]
In the first of our series, we considered the problem of hiddenness.
In part two, we considered the interim solution: promises.
In this final third, we consider the true resolution to the problem of God’s hiddenness: presence.
Longing for Another
When I saw the photo above, I wondered what that longing for presence felt like.
I wondered what that embrace did to Lee.
She had not seen her son since he was 4 and now he is 71!
For many in our midst, the presence of a particular loved one would mean so much to us.
Memories are great, promises are precious, but an embrace is what we really need.
We would do anything, pay anything, try anything just to feel their presence again.
We know that in Christ we will one day see them again, but our hearts want them here and now.
May God sustain those of us who experience this ache.
Longing and waiting well is critical to our pilgrimage on earth.
Longing for God
In the Scriptures and in our lives, we sometimes encounter people who likewise long for the presence of Another – but this ‘Another’ is God himself.[2]
These people testify to the fullness of satisfaction that is experienced in God’s presence.
They’ve tasted and seen that the ‘LORD is good’ (Ps 34:8).
They’ve understood that in God’s ‘presence there is fullness of joy’ and ‘pleasures forevermore’ (Ps 16:11).
They’ve accepted that there’s a kind of fullness of satisfaction that nothing else can give.
Even the most extravagant holidays can feel empty.
Even the most delicious foods can seem lacking.
Even the most wonderful relationships can grow dull.
But the consistent testimony of the Scriptures and especially the Psalms is that there is nothing better than to be in God’s presence.
No wonder that in a Psalm we recently preached, the Psalmist says, ‘Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you… God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.’ (Ps 73:25-26)[3]
I can testify that this experience is real – I’ve experienced moments of ecstasy, of deep rest and of all-satisfying joy, in God’s presence. The sad thing is that we are (and I am) so easily distracted from what the LORD holds out to us. To use C.S. Lewis’ famous description, we are half-hearted creatures, unwilling to seek God with any sort of persistence.
Longing for God…intentionally
How then? How can we act on this? How can we respond to this gap between what’s generously offered to us on one hand and our feeble attempts on the other? Allow me to get real practical here.
First, in this season of Advent, a season of longing for the presence of Emmanuel, let us set aside a time and a place to seek God in Word and prayer. The spiritual disciplines of Word and prayer are mentioned so often in Christian communities that it’s easy to tune it out as ‘spiritual nagging’. But it is repeated for good reasons. By nature, we don’t desire Word or prayer. The sinful self, the world, and the devil steer us away by all sorts of schemes – because meeting God in Word and prayer is truly bread and butter for the Christian life. We neglect it at our own peril.
It is not like some of us are just ‘word-people’ or some of us are just ‘prayer-people’ and some of us can do without either. Sure, some are indeed commendably persistent in these. But what Scripture shows is that the discipline of Word and prayer is indispensable. We need it to grow as Christians (and for that matter, to remain as Christians). But even more motivating is the knowledge that God desires to meet His people. I’m sure you’ve heard all of this before – but pay close attention to it. As far as I can tell, these practices easily fall by the wayside.
Second, if time with God seems particularly dull, consider whether there’s sin that’s hindering your vision of God. Jesus says, ‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.’ (Mt 5:8). A good prayer to pray is ‘Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!’ (Ps 139:23-24) I’ve frequently prayed the essence of this prayer in my life because I know that even my perception of myself is blurred by sin. I pray this knowing that God gives us His Spirit to convict us of sin (Jn 16:8).
Third, and most central: seek God in faith at the Communion meal. This is the way that Christ our King has instituted for us to meet Him.
Frequently in the Scripture, God’s presence is encountered at His own provision of a sacrifice. People go to the temple to encounter God’s presence and that is also where sacrifices are made. Sacrifice and presence are intertwined. In 2 Chronicles 7:1, sacrifice gives rise to presence, “Fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering… and the glory of the LORD filled the temple.” Sacrifice is absolute essentially for us to come into God’s presence because as one well-known prophet once said, ‘Woe is me!For I am lost;for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen theKing, the LORD of hosts!’ (Isa 6:5). God’s people are undone in God’s holy presence unless God Himself provides a sacrifice.[4] At the Communion table, we commune with Christ, who is God with us and God for us, in his atonement.
I pray that as we endeavour to meet God, He will meet us.
[1] Photo and description taken from: https://edition.cnn.com/2018/08/20/asia/korea-family-reunion-intl
[2] In the Scripture, the presence of God is a complex concept. OT Theologian, John Goldingay, reflecting on the OT, explains, ‘There are many ways in which Yhwh’s presence can make itself felt on earth. The whole of the heavens and the earth are indeed Yhwh’s home… Then there is a settled, local divine presence… There is an attentive presence…active presence…narrative presence…personal presence…intense presence’. Goldingay references: Num 10:35–36; Ex 33:7–11; Ex 25:8–9; Gen 12:7; Gen 28:10–18; Ex 20:24; Gen 4:3–7; Gen 12:8; Ps 132; Ezek 11:22–23; Ezek 43:1–7; Ex 15:13–18; 1 Kgs 8:37–40; Ps 50; Jer 7; Ps 18; Ps 97; 1 Sam 4:3–9; Ps 14:2,7; Ps 20:2,6; Ps 76:1–3,8; Ps 80:1,14; Ps 48; Isa 31:4–5; Ps 63:2; Gen 18; Ex 40:34–38; Ezek 1–3.
[3] And again ‘One thing have I asked of the LORD… to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple.’ (Ps 27:4)
[4] See Ex 3:6; Ex 20:18–19; Judg 6:22–23; Judg 13:22; Job 42:5–6; Ezek 1:28; Dan 10:8–9; Luke 5:8; Matt 17:6; Rev 1:17
