July 20, 2008 - "Surrounded by the Holy"

Crescent Hill Baptist Church
Louisville, Kentucky
Pentecost 10
July 20, 2008
W. Gregory Pope

SURROUNDED BY THE HOLY
Genesis 28:10-19a; Psalm 139:1-12, 23-24;
Romans 8:12-25; Matthew 13:24-30

PSALM 139
O Lord you have searched me and known me.
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from far away.
You search out my path and my lying down,
and are acquainted with all my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue, O Lord, you know it completely.
You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is so high that I cannot attain it.
Where can I go from your spirit?
Or where can I flee from your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, you are there.
If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.
If I take the wings of the morning and settle at the farthest limits of the sea,
even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me fast.
If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover,
and the light around me become night,”
even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is as bright as the day,
for darkness is as light to you.
Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my thoughts.
See if there is any wicked way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.

Today’s psalm, Psalm 139, carries within its power the possibility of leaving the reader to be terribly frightened beyond belief or securely loved beyond measure.

To hear that God knows everything about us and sees everything we do can give us an image of God as Watchdog, looking over our shoulder, ready to catch us and punish us when we mess up. It would perhaps replay the tapes from our childhood that said with a pointed finger, “God is watching you!” To live with that image of God can lead us into terrible fright, leaving us perhaps beyond the capacity to believe that we are securely loved by God beyond measure.

But that doesn’t seem to be the Spirit of the psalmist who gave us Psalm 139, the words used by Hilary and Chris and Emily to sing us into worship this morning.

For the psalmist to know of God’s all-pervasive presence and knowledge of her every word, thought, and step is something the psalmist describes as too wonderful for her.

The psalmist invites God to search him and know him and test him and to cleanse him of any wicked way so that he might be led in the everlasting way.

This all-pervasive presence and knowledge of God is a good and beautiful thing because God is not a Watchdog, looking over our shoulder, ready to catch us and punish us when we mess up. No.

God is more of a caring Mother who knows what you need before you ask and keeps a careful eye upon you. And when you do mess up, She will catch you alright; She will catch you in the strongest most tender of hands to hold you and lead you, and to be the light in your darkness.

“Even the darkness is not dark to You,” sings the psalmist. “The night is as bright as the day, for darkness is as light to You.”

We all want to believe in that kind of God, don’t we? We all want to believe in a God whose presence surrounds our every step, who knows us through and through, with loving hands beneath us, tender arms around us, and shining face above us.

And there are days when it is as easy to believe in that kind of God, as easy as closing our eyes and breathing in God’s love.

There are also days when God seems so far away, no loving hands beneath us, no tender arms around us, no shining face above us. Darkness has covered us and the light around us dark as midnight. In the depths of despair we make our bed and God seems nowhere to be found.

It was in a moment of despair streaming from his own deceit, that Jacob made his bed all alone in a place called Luz. He was running for his life from his brother Esau, from whom he had stolen birthright and blessing.

During the night Jacob had a dream. One would have expected a nightmare for such a deceiver, but the ever-gracious God grants him a vision of a ladder set upon the earth, reaching to heaven, with angels, not demons, ascending and descending on the ladder. And the Lord stood beside Jacob and said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go; I will not leave you.”

Jacob woke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place - and I did not know it.” And he was overcome with a sense of awe and holiness. He said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” And Luz became Bethel - house of God.

You know what this story says to me?

It says that there are moments when God is present and we do not know it, blinded as we are by circumstance and fear, guilt and anxiety, doubt and mistrust.

It says to me that even when I find myself in a bed of despair, mourning my failures, darkness washing over me, the arms and hands and face of God nowhere to be found, God is still near, holiness everywhere and all around.

And given time, after a nice hot bath in the waters of God’s grace, I can look back on that wintry season and say, “Surely the Lord was in that place - and I did not know it.” And with tears washed away and sight restored I can look around at all the holiness that surrounds me and say, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”

The God of all creation, who knows you better than you know yourself, who knows the darkest worst and deepest best about you, loves you more than you could ever love yourself. And the God of creation is the God of redemption, who can redeem the darkest worst about you and nurture the deepest best within you.

I believe the God of creation and redemption sits beside you even now and if you will listen you will hear a divine whisper, “Know that I am with you. I will not leave you. I will keep you wherever you go.”

Where have you known God’s presence? Was it in this very room? Was it in the arms of someone you love? Was it walking a labyrinth? Was it standing by the cradle of your newborn child? Or sitting at the grave of a loved one gone way too soon? Where have you known God’s presence?

I invite you to come forward to the microphone and share. Please do your best to keep it brief so that others can share. Let us take a moment to celebrate God’s presence in our lives.

(Congregational Sharing)