7-8-2019

Good Morning All,

    Luke 2:9; “An angel from the Lord suddenly appeared to them. The glory of the Lord filled the area with light, and they were terrified.”

    Why don’t we see this anymore?  Smoke and fire, bright lights, thunder, the shaking of the earth; where are they?  Why don’t we see this miraculous display of God’s majesty?  When we think of the story that surrounds the plagues of Egypt, the crossing of the Red Sea, the leading through the wilderness with the pillar of cloud and fire; when we think of the awe and majesty of God’s very presence at Mount Sinai we think, “now that is what God should be like.”  “I could believe in a God like that very easily.  I would never leave a God like that.”  “Just give me a God with thunderbolts and lightening and make Him very, very frightening to all His (my) enemies.”

   You would think that wouldn’t you?  It must have been so easy for those early Israelites to believe in God; they saw Him and the mighty works that He did.  Yet, a few chapters after God reveals himself in power and majesty on Mount Sinai, the Israelites make and worship a golden calf for an idol.  The shepherds, after going to see the newborn Jesus, pretty much went back to work, just another day.  Too often, our pleas for God to do something, is really a call for God to do what I want, when I want and to whom I want it done.  Ultimately, we don’t want God to show His power so we can have faith; we want God to show His power so we can try and control God to do our will.  We are trying to trade places with God and place ourselves on His holy throne and rule all.  That is too often the “proof “we seek.

     Fortunately, God knows better than all of us.  He acts in ways that are designed to reconcile back to Him with love and not total fear.  He doesn’t try to scare us into faith; rather He leads us back to Him with “a still, quiet voice” a voice that offers hope and comfort.  God’s majesty is all around; all we need to do is look.  The psalms express this often with cries that speak to the grandeur of God’s creation; the sun, moon, stars, mountains, and creatures.  This is to have us re-focus on who God is and on who we are; God is the Creator and we are the created.  So when we come to the altar of God in prayer, we do so in a humble way and with a penitent heart, seeking God’s mercy and knowing fully that God can do whatever He desires.  We come asking God, not demanding but asking for his grace which he has promised to provide.  God’s love is revealed to us in the empty tomb of Christ.  We should then respond to the world with love, as God does to us, and leave the “thunderbolts and lightening” to old rock songs.

God of power and might, we give you thanks for your great power but we especially give you thanks for your great love.  Move us to share that love with one person today.  In the precious Name of Jesus we pray, Amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret