Scripture: 1 Kings 19:1-13
Dear Church,
For a long time I was part of a church that used a standardized liturgy each time we celebrated communion. The pastor would come to the table and say, ‘The Lord be with you,’ and we all knew to answer back, ‘And also with you.’
That part always bothered me. Because it seemed as though the pastor was saying, ‘May the Lord be with you’ like the characters said, ‘may the odds be ever in your favor’ at the start of the Hunger Games. Like we were praying that God would be with us in the future (maybe even in the immediate future once we took the bread and the cup) but for now, we were all acknowledging that God wasn’t with us. Our prayers were like a holy dinner bell, calling God in for supper. The Lord may be with you…or maybe not.
And for most of human history, people have thought this way. We’ve believed that God’s sacred nature meant that God had to stay far away from ordinary sin-filled humans People climbed mountains to get closer to God, or sought the holy in the depths of caves, acting like God was a prize that could only be won by the strongest and bravest and most exceptional. People thought God might come closer to those who devoted their whole lives to achieving spiritual perfection, but could not stand the stink of ordinary imperfect human lives. Or maybe we just hoped it was that way.
The consistent revelation of scripture is that God is with us. Already. From the beginning of Genesis to the glorious triumph of love in Revelation, God is with us. God is close, right now. Theologian Sam Wells speculates that the biggest problem of humans isn’t our morality–it’s our isolation. We weren’t made to do things ‘for’ God, but to be with God. As our friend Lisa Koons puts it, ‘God made us to hang out with us.’
So we start not with a hope–‘may the Lord be with you!’ but a stunned declaration, ‘God IS with us!’ God is WITH us. GOD is with us…close to…us. It’s a glorious truth to savor in this season of astonishment.
I hope you can join us as we watch the prophet Elijah discover the nearness of God for the first time. It happens, not when he’s at the top of his game, but when he’s burned out and teetering on the edge of despair. Maybe you’re there too? Come and discover how tender and close God is to your beautiful weary heart.
Peace,
Pastor Kate
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