As I write this I am sitting at my friend's dining room table, looking out over her busy suburban neighborhood. Pedestrians with umbrellas and backpacks are making their way to the bus stop or the grocery store. Cars and bikes are taking residents to their morning destinations. Birds are singing and I see some spring blue sky poking through the rain-laden clouds from last night. The funny thing is I traveled from Seattle to Chicago to Frankfurt, Germany to witness this peaceful scene! My friend and I had been planning and anticipating this visit for two or three weeks and here I am!
Before I came I checked the weather forecast to choose an appropriate wardrobe. I did laundry to be sure my good jeans were clean. And I did some research online about Frankfurt and the surrounding area to get some ideas about what to see while I'm here. My friend and I emailed, facebooked and talked on the phone, getting more and more excited to spend time together. She always says that all you need to get on the plane is a passport and a credit card because you can buy what you need when you arrive, but both of us enjoy the preparation and anticipation that a new travel experience brings.
So you may be wondering if there is a spiritual implication to all this or if I'm just indulging my desire to have my own travel blog. I do have a point. Just before I left home I read the following passage from Leviticus about preparing and anticipating something big:
On the eighth day Moses summoned Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel. 2 He said to Aaron, "Take a bull calf for your sin offering and a ram for your burnt offering, both without defect, and present them before the LORD. 3 Then say to the Israelites: 'Take a male goat for a sin offering, a calf and a lamb - both a year old and without defect - for a burnt offering, 4 and an ox and a ram for a fellowship offering to sacrifice before the LORD, together with a grain offering mixed with oil. For today the LORD will appear to you.'"
5 They took the things Moses commanded to the front of the Tent of Meeting, and the entire assembly came near and stood before the LORD. 6 Then Moses said, "This is what the LORD has commanded you to do, so that the glory of the LORD may appear to you."
7 Moses said to Aaron, "come to the altar and sacrifice your sin offering and your burnt offering that is for the people and make atonement for them, as the LORD has commanded." (Leviticus 9:1-7)
Here's what jumped out to me: the second half of verses 4 and 6. Why are Aaron and the other leaders doing all this? Why are they finding the right animals and slaughtering them in just the right way? For today the Lord will appear to you in all His glory. And for Aaron and the others to be in the right place spiritually they needed to prepare. In this case, they needed to prepare the animals for sacrifice. In our case, Paul tells us (via the Romans a couple thousand years ago) to "offer your bodies as living sacrifices holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of worship" (Romans 12:1). We are the sacrifice we bring to God. Lives that reflect and respect Him.
There is no definite pattern or prediction to how God will choose to reveal Himself to us in all His glory. There are precedents, both scriptural and experiential, for God's glory to appear to individuals and to groups of people. For a specific purpose and for teaching people about Himself. He may overwhelm us or reveal Himself in small doses as His perfect plan dictates. That being said, I think there is something to the idea of anticipating and preparing for being in God's Presence and seeing how He will move among us. This may include preparing our hearts and minds for the day by reading a short devotional or settting aside time on Saturday night to prepare ourselves for the corporate worship experience of church on Sunday morning. The priests of the Old Testament went through elaborate rituals before they could come into the Holy Place to be in God's Presence. With our casual church services and somewhat lackadaisical approach to authority and tradition today, there can be a tendency to apply those same standards to God. We shouldn't. Our Father in Heaven is not "The Big Guy Upstairs" or "god" with a little g. He is I AM. The Alpha and Omega. Judge and Creator of all mankind and the universe. When we approach the throne of grace with confidence, we are not approaching without reverence and awe. He is our Father, but He is also the One who can pierce our souls with the conviction of His Word. He knit us together in our mother's womb, but He also causes earthquakes, hurricanes and the Northern Lights.
When we rush into God's Presence or fail to adequately prepare our hearts to hear or see Him move in our lives, we run the risk of missing the very specific and unique thing He may want to do in us. And we fool ourselves to think that whatever we have going on is more urgent or more important than slowing down to meet with our Savior. And how great it is to have the experience with God and share it in the community of believers. Look at the effect Aaron's preparation had on the rest of the Israelite community later in this chapter:
22 Then Aaron lifted his hands toward the people and blessed them. And having sacrificed the sin offering, the burnt offering and the fellowship offering, he stepped down.
23 Moses and Aaron then went into the Tent of Meeting. When they came out, they blessed the people; and the glory of the LORD appeared to all the people. 24 Fire came down from the presence fo the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar. And when all the people saw it, they shouted for joy and fell facedown.
What!? How awesome does that sound?! Aaron and Moses obediently prepared to come into God's Presence, in anticipation of experiencing His glory. In response, God appeared to the whole community and sent fire to consume the sacrificial offerings they had made. And the people fell down and shouted. What else could they do?! I want that kind of experience with God, don't you? I want to be in His presence and see His glory and be completely consumed by Him in all areas of my life. Because whether we have the encounter with God individually or corporately, the community of believers benefits from each of us being connected to God. I see it in you and you see it in me. We are connected in Christ. "The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ...if one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it." (1 Corinthians 12:12, 26)
Let us prepare our hearts in anticipation of God's glory being among us. And let us encourage one another with our God stories as we grow closer to Him and see more and more of His glory among us. Amen?
- How do you prepare to come into God's Presence? Quiet times? Sunday morning? What can you do to remind yourself to prepare differently?
- Share a God eperience with someone this week and ask to hear someone else's God experience. You may even want to share your experience on the Cuppa Joe page!
- Pray for eyes to see God's glory around you this week. And encourage those around you in the community of believers to do the same.
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