Knowing, Seeing, and Surrendering
I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, "Know the LORD," for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. (Jeremiah 31:33)
Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus." (John 12:20, 21)
You want to know the Lord? Great. You’ll know God, but not just like you know a movie-star, or a character in a novel: you can know God in your heart, God will be your God, and you will be God’s people.
You want to see Jesus? Don’t you worry about it. He’ll be right there – he’ll be right with you. In fact, he’s already here, next to you; around you; inside you; and enthroned next to His Father in Heaven.
Can you imagine going up to the gates of Buckingham Palace, and telling the attendant at the gate (in his ridiculous red and white ruffled uniform), that you’d like to know the Queen – that you’d like to see her. Can you imagine the look he’d give you?
Can you imagine going up to one of the guard houses outside the White House and asking to see the President, because you want to know him deeply, and let him live in your heart. How long do you think it would it take Homeland Security to ship you off to Guantanimo?
But, God, the creator of the universe – the Lord of all Creation – the one who made the sun and moon and stars, and who makes the daffodils spring forth even as we sit here – That God was us to see Him, and know Him deeply.
With Jesus all remaining barriers had been broken down. The barriers weren’t there to begin with – in fact the barriers weren’t intended to be there at all. Don’t you remember Adam and Eve walking with God through the cool mists of the garden?
But that all changed with a few bites of an apple – an intentionally defiant act – and up when the barriers.
Sacramental priesthood. Complex sacrificial system. (You commit sin ‘A,’ ok, make sacrifice ‘B.’ You commit sin ‘C,’ alright, go get a pigeon. . .or a goat. . . or a bull.) 600 and some odd laws to follow painstakingly set out to govern every aspect of life. God meets his people in the Tabernacle, in the Temple, on the mercy seat on top of the Ark – between the cherubim.
Barriers were put up, nailed down, and boundaries were tightly set up.
God didn’t stop loving us, he just set some behavioral limits.
And, then God thinks about giving it another try, and so he sends his Son. A New Covenant. A New Deal. A God Incarnate – and a new sign of God’s love for us.
We can know God. We can see Jesus. We can walk with the Creator in the cool mists of the garden, or the woods, or the school hallways, or driving down the highway.
And, Jesus tells us how we can know God, and how we can see Jesus, though the answers may be surprising:
Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
You will know Jesus not by great pyrotechnic displays, or outrageous shows of power: you will know him by his death. When he is lifted high on the cross for all the world to see – then you will know God.
Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
You will know Jesus by forsaking our own self-importance. We will know God by sacrificing those things which make us comfortable. We will know God when we make God #1 in our lives, and not ourselves.
Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.
You will know God when you serve God – when we take the form of a servant (as Christ took the form of a servant), and serve our Master and our fellow servants.
Whoever serves me must follow me
You will see Jesus when you follow Jesus. You will know God when you know yourself as a follower, looking to the Master for direction.
All of this is a surrender: Jesus surrendering his life for us, and us, in turn, surrendering ourselves for God. When we follower Christ in his surrender we will know God, we will see Jesus, we will walk with God in the cool of the garden, and God will be our God and we will be God’s people.
The surrender that we offer though, must be just that: an offering. It must be willing, it must be intentional. It can’t be a last ditch option with our backs against a wall. It must be born out of the same love that God has for us. It must be born out of the same desire to be God’s People, as God’s desire to be our God comes from.
It must be our choice. It must be our choice in life, and it must be our daily choice.
When that surrender is our intentional choice – when it is our frequent choice – and when it is our constant choice we will know the Lord, we will see Jesus face to face in His death, in our lives, and in God’s Kingdom which is breaking out all around us in love, in the cool of the garden, and in the cool of our hearts.
Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus." (John 12:20, 21)
You want to know the Lord? Great. You’ll know God, but not just like you know a movie-star, or a character in a novel: you can know God in your heart, God will be your God, and you will be God’s people.
You want to see Jesus? Don’t you worry about it. He’ll be right there – he’ll be right with you. In fact, he’s already here, next to you; around you; inside you; and enthroned next to His Father in Heaven.
Can you imagine going up to the gates of Buckingham Palace, and telling the attendant at the gate (in his ridiculous red and white ruffled uniform), that you’d like to know the Queen – that you’d like to see her. Can you imagine the look he’d give you?
Can you imagine going up to one of the guard houses outside the White House and asking to see the President, because you want to know him deeply, and let him live in your heart. How long do you think it would it take Homeland Security to ship you off to Guantanimo?
But, God, the creator of the universe – the Lord of all Creation – the one who made the sun and moon and stars, and who makes the daffodils spring forth even as we sit here – That God was us to see Him, and know Him deeply.
With Jesus all remaining barriers had been broken down. The barriers weren’t there to begin with – in fact the barriers weren’t intended to be there at all. Don’t you remember Adam and Eve walking with God through the cool mists of the garden?
But that all changed with a few bites of an apple – an intentionally defiant act – and up when the barriers.
Sacramental priesthood. Complex sacrificial system. (You commit sin ‘A,’ ok, make sacrifice ‘B.’ You commit sin ‘C,’ alright, go get a pigeon. . .or a goat. . . or a bull.) 600 and some odd laws to follow painstakingly set out to govern every aspect of life. God meets his people in the Tabernacle, in the Temple, on the mercy seat on top of the Ark – between the cherubim.
Barriers were put up, nailed down, and boundaries were tightly set up.
God didn’t stop loving us, he just set some behavioral limits.
And, then God thinks about giving it another try, and so he sends his Son. A New Covenant. A New Deal. A God Incarnate – and a new sign of God’s love for us.
We can know God. We can see Jesus. We can walk with the Creator in the cool mists of the garden, or the woods, or the school hallways, or driving down the highway.
And, Jesus tells us how we can know God, and how we can see Jesus, though the answers may be surprising:
Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
You will know Jesus not by great pyrotechnic displays, or outrageous shows of power: you will know him by his death. When he is lifted high on the cross for all the world to see – then you will know God.
Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
You will know Jesus by forsaking our own self-importance. We will know God by sacrificing those things which make us comfortable. We will know God when we make God #1 in our lives, and not ourselves.
Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.
You will know God when you serve God – when we take the form of a servant (as Christ took the form of a servant), and serve our Master and our fellow servants.
Whoever serves me must follow me
You will see Jesus when you follow Jesus. You will know God when you know yourself as a follower, looking to the Master for direction.
All of this is a surrender: Jesus surrendering his life for us, and us, in turn, surrendering ourselves for God. When we follower Christ in his surrender we will know God, we will see Jesus, we will walk with God in the cool of the garden, and God will be our God and we will be God’s people.
The surrender that we offer though, must be just that: an offering. It must be willing, it must be intentional. It can’t be a last ditch option with our backs against a wall. It must be born out of the same love that God has for us. It must be born out of the same desire to be God’s People, as God’s desire to be our God comes from.
It must be our choice. It must be our choice in life, and it must be our daily choice.
When that surrender is our intentional choice – when it is our frequent choice – and when it is our constant choice we will know the Lord, we will see Jesus face to face in His death, in our lives, and in God’s Kingdom which is breaking out all around us in love, in the cool of the garden, and in the cool of our hearts.
posted by Fr. Rick Morley at 4:58 PM
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