The Potent Presence of God

Service Link: https://youtu.be/2ZpkG-aHGE0

Readings: 2 Peter 1:16-21, Psalm 27, Luke 24:36-49

If you believe and hold strong to your faith in Christ, God is with you, always, but do you know what that means? Do you know how pivotal and life-changing that can be? The truth is that we will never completely understand the full significance of God’s presence. Like any relationship in this life, we will have to keep growing and getting to know God, but the thing we need to know is that God’s presence is way more significant, potent and meaningful than what we currently think it is. 

The disciples walked with Jesus for around three years. They listened to him, ate with him, asked him questions, watched him perform miracles, and yet they were continually blown away by what God with them meant. 

Our first reading from Peter’s first letter is referencing the transfiguration, where Jesus went up on a mountain and was made dazzling white before them, while he spoke to Moses and Elijah (two prophets from long ago). God spoke to them through the clouds and said, “This is my Son, my beloved, in whom I am well pleased, listen to him”. How do you think you would react? Peter was very confused and spoke without knowing. 

Now in this letter, it seems as if Peter is just beginning to understand. It is as if Peter was finally realizing the moment of transfiguration was showing the glory, honor, and majesty of God in Christ. Just simply understanding those three things in relation to God’s presence with us would make a big difference. 

Do you know of someone that is very highly honored and respected? Maybe it is someone you know personally, or maybe you are thinking of someone like Opera, Malela, or Desmund Tutu. There is a way in which we just want to be around people like this, as if their honor and respectability will just rub off on us. The beautiful thing is that with God it can. 

Or take the reality of glory. When someone does something that is glorious, we want to lift them up, we want to join the parade, we join in the excitement and joy. Yet, this is only a temporal kind of glory. Celebrating a win or achievement will slowly diminish in glory, but God is the very reality of glory. If we want to lift something up, if the joy and excitement become contagious for something so nominal, what could it be in our relationship with God. 

Then there is majesty. When we see something that is majestic, maybe it is a person, but I think more often today we relate it to a bird flying, a stream trickling, a peaceful lake, a deer galloping. We see majesty in nature and most of the time it makes me want to just settle in and watch. It brings with it a kind of beauty, trust, and peace that we don’t want to pass. God is the creator of this, so he is the source, but he is far more majestic still. These are just a taste of the beauty, faithfulness, and peace that can come from knowing and understanding God’s presence with us. 

I have just barely dug into three examples from this passage, but there is far more to dig into from this passage and in the rest of Scripture. One of our goals in life should be to grow in our understanding and experience of God’s wonderful presence with us. 

King David, our psalmist for today, understood a bit about God's presence, even if he didn’t always know how to live it. David calls God his stronghold, his light, his salvation, and more. David went through a lot of struggles in his life. He was persecuted by his king, he fought in numerous wars, he saw his children die, he was usurped by his own child, I could go on. In Psalm 27, David sees his enemies encircling him, he sees all that he has to be afraid of, and yet at the very same time he recognizes this is not frightening, he doesn't have to be scared because God is his stronghold. 

With all of this going wrong, what is David’s one wish? He could have asked to be delivered, to be spared the pain, or loss or death. No to David none of these compare to his wish. He wants to be in the presence of God. He wants to know God’s presence every day of his life and he wants to look upon God’s beauty. God’s presence is so manifold and wonderful that to David, it is the first thing we should desire and he is right. David knows that all of those other things like safety and love will follow with God, but as is best for us and those around us. David met hardship mostly at his own hands, but God brought him and his kingdom into something better through it. David’s son, Solomon, would be given one wish from God. He wouldn’t ask for God’s presence, though he would ask for something so entwined with God’s nature that it comes close. Solomon asks for God’s wisdom to lead Israel. The result is that Solomon also experiences God’s bounty, his glory, and more. This won’t always happen, but why don’t we always go to the source first before looking for these temporal things. King David understood that.

Now that brings us to Easter night. Earlier that day, the women came to the tomb and found it empty. The disciple ran there to see for themselves. Two disciples meet Jesus along a road Emmaus road walking away from Jerusalem and now they have come back in the middle of the night to tell the other disciples, to share and witness to them their experience of Jesus walking with them. That is when Jesus appears to all of them.

Yet, they are still flabbergasted by Jesus’ presence. They were like those disciples at the transfiguration, they saw something amazing and wonderful but their minds and their hearts couldn’t quite understand it yet. They still thought he was a ghost. 

Imagine that. They still held onto death, loss, and fear so strongly that even when proof of resurrection, life, and the power of love was right there in front of them, they still couldn’t let go of death and loss. Yet, I don’t think we need to imagine it. We are haunted by many ghosts and loss, we still hold onto our fear, even though God is with us and has redeemed so many situations in our lives. His powerful life has worked its way into our lives and yet we hold onto other things as more powerful, but God overcomes them all. 

I spoke last week about how God reveals himself throughout this journey of life and that we would do well to watch for him. As we have seen numerous times today, sometimes it is really hard to perceive his presence and what that means. That is why Scripture is so important. That is why Peter tells us that Scripture is not a matter of personal interpretation, but rather God-breathed to reveal himself. That is why, even when Jesus was with them, Jesus still used Scripture to show them who he is and what all this means. 

The grandeur of God’s presence with us is beyond our perception and understanding, but he is using all of our experience, all of nature, and all of history to reveal himself to us. The bible is God’s revealing of himself through history as he chose a particular people to bear his name, his image, to spread his blessing through the world. As God dwells with us, as he eats with us, and shares himself with us, we too are meant to learn from these Scriptures so that we too might understand his presence better, so that we might live in it and bear his name to the world. 

As Peter said, when we first understand God’s presence with us, it will start like a little beacon of light in a dark place. That little bit of hope that slowly casts out our fears, but as we let that presence affect and take hold of our lives, that is when the day will dawn and the sun will rise in our hearts. It is like the world is transformed and darkness no longer holds sway. That is when we can rest in the presence of God and dwell on his beauty every day of our life. AMEN

Bible Study

2 Peter 1: 16-21

1.   What things convinced Peter that Jesus was God’s Son?

2.   In v 17 Peter uses the words: Honour, Glory, and Majesty --- “For he received honor and glory from God the Father when that voice was conveyed to him by the Majestic Glory”. How do these terms help us think about Christ’s life here on earth?

3.   From vs 19-20 What can (should) the scriptures do for us?

4.   How can we understand the scriptures?

Luke 24: 33b-49

5.   Describe the scene the two who traveled with Jesus on the road to Emmaus encountered when they got back to Jerusalem.

6.   When Jesus entered the “Upper Room” what was the response of the disciples gathered there?

7.   What evidence did Jesus provide to help them understand that he was risen?

8.   What was the task they were given and how would they carry it out? How did they have to change to be able to do that task?

Reflection

A.   How do we reflect Christ’s Honour, Glory, and Majesty and why is that  important to our world?

B.   In what ways are we like the disciples in the “Upper Room”?

C.   What are the resources Christ promises to help us, as we work in our day, at the task he left to all of his followers? How do we have to change to be able to do that task?

D.  How can we be the beacon of light Peter refers to (2 Peter 1: 19)?

E.   When have you been aware of Jesus (Holy Spirit) interacting with you?