1. Good morning. Let’s pray. O Lord, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing to You O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.
2. Opening Comments: Have we all – have most of us – have perhaps a few of us – actually experienced a sense of God’s Presence?
Let me clarify! I have had a number of experiences of God’s Presence which have helped define the quality of my faith.
· I’ve felt His Presence near me.
· I’ve experienced His miraculous answers to my prayers for me and others.
· I’ve felt His encouragement . . .
· I’ve even felt His gracious correction.
· I’ve felt His presence in others.
· I’ve seen Him miraculously healing of others. And so on . . .
So all of this to say that I have experienced God and His Presence in my life and the wonder of His presence in the lives of others. So I can say without any doubt that I have experienced God. Can you say the same thing?
I’m asking this question because it seems to me from our readings this morning that God wants to talk to us about experiencing Him. Let me tell you what I mean:
In our Old Testament reading we heard the prophet Jeremiah be true to his reputation by complaining to God about what God has brought Him to.
Oh He was experiencing God’s Presence but in Jeremiah’s case it wasn’t all that encouraging but when he tried to turn his back on God and avoid Him we heard him say,
Jer. 20:9 ¶ But if I say, “I will not mention him or speak any more in his name,” his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot.
Once you’ve actually experienced God you can ignore Him but only for a while and only in the certain knowledge that sooner or later you’re going to have to return to Him.
Once you’ve actually experienced Him there doesn’t seem to be any going back.
In our Psalm - Psalm 63 we read:
Psa. 63:1 ¶ O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. 2 I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. 3 Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. 4 I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. 5 My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you. 6 On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night. 7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings. 8 My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.
You and I got to join the Psalmist with the refrain:
“My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.”
As you said those words just a few minutes ago did you really mean them? Is your soul, in fact, actually thirsting for God!
In our Second Reading from the book of Romans, St. Paul urged us to . . .
“Offer our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God for this is our spiritual worship!”
And St. Paul went on to warn us not to . . .
“Conform ourselves to this age but rather be transformed by the renewal of our minds, so that we might be able to discern what is the mind and will of God!”
In these words we’re being encouraged to do something – to literally offer our bodies as living sacrifices – this is what living the life of a vital Christian looks like.
We’re being warned not to allow ourselves to be molded by the demands and seductions of this world.
And the result of our offering and our not conforming is to experience the will - the very heart of God!
That’s experiencing God don’t you think?
And finally in the Gospel Reading from the Matthew chapter 16 beginning at verse 21 we listen in to a conversation between Jesus and Peter where Peter who had just been blessed by Jesus’ comments,
“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (Matt 16:16)
And Jesus responded with these magnificent words:
Matt. 16:17 “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
Matt. 16:19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
But now just a few verses later when Peter hears Jesus telling them that He must suffer and die to fulfill His Father’s will to save the world, Peter responds with words to the effect:
“God forbid, Lord, this sort of thing is not for You!”
To which Jesus responds,
“Get behind me Satan, you are an obstacle to me! You don’t have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”
Wow! That’s harsh stuff don’t you think?
Peter’s earlier experience of Jesus - just a few verses before - was that as His dear friend – the one who really understood! But now he’s being referred to as Satan – Jesus’ arch enemy – and is being chastised for not having the mind of God but rather the mind of fallen men.
Wow this is tough stuff but it is a record of the experience of one man – a very special man – with God incarnate!
At this point I think I would characterize Peter’s relationship with Jesus as quite stormy - don’t you think? It’s certainly having steep ups and downs!
So how would you describe your current experience – your current relationship - with God – with the Lord?
Can you give me an adjective – a word to describe - how you’re experiencing God’s Presence in your life?
Elicit adjectives from members of the congregation.
I wonder how many of us would give an arm or a leg to experience Peter’s earlier relationship with the Lord?
How many of us would be absolutely delighted to hear the words come out of Jesus’ mouth:
Matt. 16:17 “Blessed are you, Robert or Debbie or Joan or Diane or Brian - for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.
How I would love to hear those words – to know that what I had just said came from God’s divine prompting!
To hear my Lord’s delight in me would be an amazingly wonderful experience! Don’t you think?
I think it’s true to say that all of us would love to experience God’s delight in us!
But how many of us would also love to experience God’s harsh denouncement of our behavior?
Now note, I didn’t say God’s harsh denouncement of us! But rather of our behavior.
God denounces our wrong behavior but never denounces us!
Jesus said some time later:
“Lo I am with you always to the very end of the age.” Matt 28:20
In Deut. 31:6 we hear these words:
“Be strong and courageous. Don’t be afraid or terrified . . . , for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”
But it needs to be brought out here that to have a relationship with Jesus is to have a relationship with a very real Being who will both love and encourage you but He will also correct and sometimes even harshly denounce your poor behavior!
I’m reminded of that iconic Jack Nickolson speech in the movie “A Few Good Men” who when being cross examined by Tom Cruise, playing the part of a naval prosecutor, responded to Cruise’s calculated taunts with the following now famous statement:
"You can't handle the truth! Son, we live in a world that has walls, and those walls have to be guarded by men with guns. Who's gonna do it? You? You, Lieutenant Weinberg? I have a greater responsibility than you can possibly fathom. . . .
We use words like "honor," "code," "loyalty." We use these words as the backbone of a life spent defending something. You use them as a punch line. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom that I provide and then questions the manner in which I provide it. I would rather you just said "thank you" and went on your way. Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a weapon and stand the post. Either way, I don't give a - - - what you think you’re entitled to!"
Can you and I handle the truth that comes with a real and living relationship with our Lord?
You and I call ourselves Christians but I owonder – more and more these days, if most of us really desire such a “real” relationship with our Lord.
Peter did – He didn’t run away. He was certainly chastened and he failed Jesus again soon thereafter when he denied that he even knew Him!
You remember Jesus told him that he would denounce him three times when the going got rough and sure enough Peter did but the wonder of it was that Jesus came back to Him in His resurrected form and asked Peter three times if he really loved him.
In this real encounter Jesus was graciously giving Peter a chance to regain his spiritual poise and to restore his relationship with Jesus!
You see. we follow a real Being – not a arrogant Colonel with a puffed up sense of his important and a deep disdain for weak human beings. We follow a God who doesn’t give up on us. Who doesn’t disdain us!
Oh, we might give up on Him – many of us do. But He doesn’t! He’s real with us and His truths are often too hard for us to handle! But He doesn’t give us on us!
Challenge: Do you want a “real” – read loving and deeply challenging - relationship with our Lord? Do you?
He wants such a relationship with us! He wants to draw us into the very heart of His Divine community – the Trinity!
He wants to take us to deeper places but, I fear, many of us including me all too often, want a light “surfacy” undemanding, immature, saphoramic, light weight, casual relationship with Him.
Such a relationship can’t survive the storms let alone the “hurricanes” of a real life!
Today God is calling every one of us out into deeper waters. It means spending time with Him – reading His Word, standing or sitting silently before Him – waiting patiently for His response. Letting Him be God and no longer trying to play God ourselves!
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