Good News

Living in the Presence

Zephaniah 3:17; Psalm 23

To be in the presence of God—ultimately, this is the end of faith. Faith leads to a need to be with God. There is no other outcome possible—our innermost being longs to be home.

Understanding this idea is not all that difficult. All of us can think of a time or place where we felt more comfortable than anywhere else we had been. It was a place where we felt free to express ourselves—even our deepest beliefs—without fear of someone laughing at or dismissing them. It was a place where we could fully be who we believe ourselves to be. We can relax. We can let go. We can simply be.

Now, a word of warning, being truly comfortable, being able to completely be who you are, is not the same as being allowed to be unfettered. A “Garfield” comic caught this perfectly—

Jon: Home is where you can scratch where it itches, where you can sit in your underwear all day, and where you can burp after every meal!

Garfield: Home is disgusting!

No, the comfort being sought through faith is not the comfort of being able to decompose. It is the comfort to fully realize all the promise and potential of being made in the image of God. This comfort is more in line with a wonderful experience many of us had of working with a truly tuned-in mentor. This teacher got to know us, maybe even a bit better than we knew ourselves, and pushed us explore where our spirits went. They listened to our dreams. They knew our hopes. They walked with us toward their realization. That is the comfort faith seeks in God.

The good news for today—God provides.

God provides the place, the time, and the will to make such possible. God does this through the work the prophet Zephaniah spoke of, work which the prophet turned into a hymn to God the Advocate. As we work through the points elucidated by this faithful voice, we find the full nature of God’s redeeming. Let’s take them in order—

SAVES

Way back in “olden days,” Christians worshipped with the simple phrase, “Jesus saves!” Over time, though, the phrase got worn out with overuse, lost its power, and became a cliche. Perhaps the time has come to reclaim this gospel message, once again hearing the full implications of it.

The basic meaning of this affirmation is that Jesus has the power to extricate us from the complications, conundrums, and catastrophes of human existence. This word is wondrous good news in the face of terror raging though world cities, in the heart of Africa, and in people trying to survive from one day into another. We believe God to be more powerful than any of this human mess. We believe that as Jesus rose from the dead, the power of all of these frightening powers and principalities emptied. They could not touch those in Christ. As the old gospel hymn sang out—

You can bury my body I don’t care where

But my soul is gonna live with God!

That is faith that knows salvation—real and actual salvation—not even death can end our presence with God.

REJOICES

Zephaniah then sings that God rejoices with us as this good news sinks into us. God rejoices! How long has it been since anyone really thought of God laughing—not at our stubborn stupidity—but with real, belly-rolling joy over us as we are. This laughter is that of a parent dandling a baby on their knee. If God takes such joy in us, then maybe we need to rethink who we are before God. Being in the presence of God may not be as fearsome as we fear—too often, I think we assume God is fed up with us, or that God hovers over us, waiting to nail us with judgment. The scripture, though, paints a different portrait—God waits for us with patience, kindness, and mercy. God loved making us, loves being with us, and loves for us to know that love. When one of us awakens to that love, God erupts in holy laughter—Jesus said—

I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

(Lk. 15:7)

QUIETS

But God knows how difficult it is for us to accept that truth, so God continues to breathe in us and through us with God’s ordering Spirit that brought creation into being out of chaos. 

I so enjoy science TV, not because I understand it, but because I don’t! I especially love programs about the miracle, mystery, and meaning of the cosmos. As astronomers map out creation itself, tracking the most ancient light to reach us, the afterglow of the explosion that brought everything into being, I cannot help but think of God’s ordering Spirit, slowly, carefully, and willfully coalescing the dust, gas, and stuff spewed out into planets, stars, galaxies, and all else. God quiets the explosion into being what would become us.

If God has that sort of power, God can still my troubled mind! My mind is not bigger than that cosmic chaos, even though they are days when it feels like it is. God’s peace is there—rest in God, quiet will come.

EXULTS

Finally, Zephaniah tells us God exults. Just as God bursts into laughter when someone realizes the saving presence of God, God exults—celebrates in absolute triumph—over us as we draw ever more deeply into God’s presence. It begins with the acceptance of God’s saving grace, grows as we feel God’s joy warm our weary hearts, takes shape as God orders and quiets us, and then it explodes as God’s joy becomes complete and we walk with God. 

That joy comes into being when our lives begin to proclaim the same gifts received from God given to others. When all the presence of God informs our own presence—our words and our actions—then God exults, for now things are as they are to be. The Kingdom manifests. There is glory.

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So, take heart—God is with us. Open to that presence. Allow that presence to shape you, console you, and keep you.

All shall be well and all manner of thing shall be well.