God Bends Down
Prayer: Dear God, open my heart to receive what you want for me. Amen
In our pursuit of learning to live closer to God, it makes sense to learn as much as we can about how God operates. One way to do this is by analyzing peoples’ reports of their encounters with God throughout history. Scripture is one source, but there are many others. What can we learn about God’s modes operandi? Two characteristics immediately bubble to the surface and bookend the nature of God’s activity in relation to his people through the ages.
One is upholding and demonstrating the royal nature of the divine. Most of us recognize and appreciate the regal quality God displays. For example, our corporate worship demonstrates this. Our hymns celebrate the sense of awe we feel in God’s presence. Our recognition of this majesty of God is apparent in church architecture with cathedral spires reaching high into the heavens.
The majesty of God has been noted and accepted from the very beginning. The three monotheistic religions of the world - Christianity, Judaism and Islam - all practice kneeling in worship to mark and emphasize the gap between the creator and the created. Factions within Judaism believe so intently in the majesty of God they will not even utter the name. Awareness of God’s majesty is acted out in a variety of expressions.
While the majestic nature of God is important to note, there is a second and very different side of God we might find even more appealing. It is God, the mysterious companion. In this role God bends down to be with us - to be our companion - to join us in our daily lives. It is mysterious because it is unexpected and inexplicable. Why would the almighty so willingly become our companion? Yet, that is precisely what Jesus is all about - God coming to us on our own level - as a companion.
A companion is someone with whom we play and with whom we do fun things. Amazingly, God reaches down to us from the majestic throne and says: Let’s play - let’s go fishing - let’s be together - let’s be best friends.” This is the mysterious companionship is offered and sought by God. Worship of the majestic is accepted by God - companionship with the ordinary is sought by God. This dichotomy is extraordinary, but existential. How God can be both/and is truly a mystery, and we must allow it to remain a mystery We need only to celebrate it - not try to understand it.
What a boon to our cause! We are sought by a God of majesty to be our companion. Becoming aware of this mystery is perhaps the most exciting, but incomprehensible, discovery we can make. Almighty God is our constant companion. Let that wave of truth wash over you.
