Perhaps you have read the classic book by J.B. Phillips entitled Your God Is Too Small. I was reminded of this beloved book recently in our pastor’s sermon and immediately thought that the problem I encounter with people of faith is also that their God seems too far away.
We are all the products of our culture, nature and nurture. For us, the effects of the Enlightenment and Scientific Revolution have held sway over our world view for centuries and are only slowly giving way to a broader view of reality. Over time, the world’s view of God became more distant—almost disconnected from everyday life, very authoritative, and even condemning. Most people see God as the Almighty Judge that they are too unworthy to approach. We soak up these views from our culture. It is embedded in us until we are blessed with our own personal “reformation.”
We can actually thank quantum physics for a shift in our understanding of the universe. The less rigid view of life is enabling us to release some of our strict boundaries around our concepts about God, too. We read scripture through the lens we have been handed in our educational and ecclesiastical traditions, so we read from a dualistic viewpoint—somewhat static concepts and a patriarchal model for human relationships.
Masculine energy has dominated the world for centuries and is only slowly allowing feminine energy to be included in partnership and leadership. All of this affects the way we view God—whether as a sovereign judge or a perfect father who loves us like a mother. Jesus depicted God in the latter view in the parable of the prodigal son.
We tend to make God in our image rather than the other way around. Because the creation story sets forth the truth that we are created in the Divine image, we assume God must be like us in form. Many people still tend to function from an anthropomorphic vision of God. There is a prevailing thought about God seated on a far, distant throne, looking very much like an oversized ethereal human—grandfatherly or stern, maybe wispy and snowy white, aloof and unapproachable. In my early childhood view, He was a beautiful bluish-white.
We are like people who need to see an optometrist and get new glasses to improve their view of the world—and of God. I think the truth about God is hidden in plain sight, but we are pre-conditioned to overlook it as we read scripture. Paul wrote in the first century, “The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things. . . For in him we live and move and have our being. . .” (Acts 17:24-28, NRSV).
In Him we live and move and have our being. So, let us ditch the anthropomorphic view. If God is shaped like a human, how can all of us throughout the world live and move and have our being in such a limited form? Jesus said that God is Spirit. Put the ideas of Jesus and Paul together, and you can see that God is invisible and expansive in being, able to embrace all of life in His life-giving presence. Since He gives to all mortals their life and breath, then He must be very near in order to be our source of life. In the passage cited above, Paul also taught that God’s purpose is that all people would search for Him and find Him, adding “indeed he is not far from each one of us” (verse 27). I would say, closer than our nearest breath.
That close? Then why do we labor in our lives as if we must bring Him down to us by some extraordinary faith measures and attempts at righteousness? Why do we pray as if He is far away and we must make exaggerated efforts to reach Him and pound on the doors of heaven to be heard and plead for Him to pay attention to our needs—even get a cacophony of voices praying for us?
Or, maybe the thought of such nearness makes us uncomfortable and causes us to want to think of Him in the faraway images. Perhaps it seems eerie or weird that God sees and knows all—literally all we think and do. Perhaps our awareness of our sinfulness would lead us to prefer for God to be extremely far away and not aware of every thought, word and action.
I think His nearness is what Jesus was conveying in the Beatitudes and throughout His teachings. God is so near to the brokenhearted that they are already welcome in His Kingdom. Jesus took it further and said, “The Kingdom of Heaven is within you” (Luke 17:21, NIV). Since the Kingdom of Heaven is where God dwells and reigns, then God is present within every soul who longs for God to be near and to help them live according to His plan and purpose in Creation. No need to worry about our sinfulness. He has taken care of that, too.
Even in the Old Testament, in the 30th chapter of the ancient book of Deuteronomy, God and His Word were depicted as very near, meaning that there is no need for us to have to try to reach heaven in order to find Him. God is not beyond the sea or the galaxy. He is not hiding from us, playing hard-to-get. The author says, “No, the word is very near to you; it is in your mouth and in your heart for you to observe” (Deut. 30:14, NRSV). This means the Word of God that spoke Creation into being and the Word of Righteousness to inspire us is not obsolete or antiquated, and certainly not distant. If His Word is near and relevant, then He is near and relevant.
All the history of the Bible was moving toward the great redemptive revelation of God in Christ, so that we could know that God loves us. Through Christ, we are assured that we can draw near and not be afraid. We can welcome His near Presence moment by moment. We can rejoice that he knows all, because that means he is intimately aware of our deepest needs. Besides, Paul declared, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1, NRSV). No condemnation. None. Nada. Zero. Zilch. There is only welcome in the presence of God to all who believe.
In His Presence, there is light, love, truth, hope, wisdom and promise. Let Him draw near to you this day. Let yourself draw near to Him. You do not even have to move. Just close your eyes to break the distractions of what you see, and sink gently within yourself and call Him by His favorite name: Jesus. Why? Because Jesus said, “I am in the Father and the Father is in me” (John 14:11, NRSV). He wants us to share that same nearness and oneness with Him.
Try it. You’ll like having Him that near. The loving embrace of His Spirit will reassure you and His Spirit will guide you into the truth you need for your life, just as Jesus promised. Trust Him.
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