GOD DIDN'T 'GRAM

 

Weathered by age and life’s trials, the white-haired man gingerly pushed himself up and out of his recliner. Laying his afghan blanket on the cracked, brown leather chair, he shuffled in his house slippers to heed the call of the doorbell. His chuckling voice rang out, followed by a muffled cough. “I’m coming. It’ll take me a bit. Be patient.”

“Take your time,” I said. “We’re in no hurry.” Due to a move 3,000 miles across the country, it had been eight years since we’d seen him face to face. A few minutes longer wouldn’t hurt.

Head slightly bobbing, the old man stood there, scratching the back of his head, straining to see through the screen door. His eyes lingered on me, then on my older brother. A baffled look rose upon his face. A sigh swept through our spirits. He didn’t recognize us.

Grandpa Schrader

This day called for jubilant greetings, open embraces, and laughter. A celebration was in order – it was a family reunion. Instead, the elderly man lifted a slightly shaking index finger and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose in hopes of identifying the two strangers. Squinting, the confusion on the old man’s face became even more distinct.

“Grandpa, it’s us – Chris and Dann,” I said.

“What? Who did you say you were?”

“Chris and Dann. Your grandsons. Your son Bill’s boys.”

Silence ensued. Hearts ached. My brother and I glanced sideways at each other, not knowing how to tactfully get him to understand who we were. The last thing we wanted to do was embarrass him. How could Grandpa not recognize us? Dad said he’d call and let Grandpa know we’d be coming by today. Had the cataracts distorted his vision that much? Was he starting to lose some of his mental faculties? I knew it had been a long time, but…

Chris and Dann

It turns out this problem could have been avoided. A long-distance call from our hotel room that night helped us understand Grandpa’s plight. Dad didn’t tell him we were coming! Others had promised to visit Grandpa in the past but failed to fulfill their commitment. Dad was afraid of a repeat non-performance, so he kept silent.

The scenario God the Father foretold regarding his Son’s arrival was radically different. He promised his children that they would know when the Messiah’s time had arrived. “See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come, says the Lord Almighty.”[i] John the Baptizer burst on the scene 400 years after this prophecy, paving the way for the coming of the Messiah, fulfilling the promise of the Father of a face-to-face encounter with the living God.

There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.[ii]

John’s sole job was to be a witness going before Jesus and proclaiming his imminent arrival. The Greek word for witness is martus, from which we get our English word martyr. A martyr is one who bears witness, by his death, of what he has seen, heard, or known. John spoke in order to wake people up to their need for the Word that was sent from God, the Word that was God – Jesus the Messiah. John’s desire, and the Father’s, was that all people might believe in Jesus and be saved. John did his job. He turned people’s gazes upon Jesus – not on himself or anyone else.

This definitive announcement to humanity about the Messiah’s imminent arrival isn’t surprising. God has always desired that his creation know he is present, and he has continuously sought to be intimately involved with his children. It is apparent from the beginning of history that God never intended to simply give people a list of rules to live by and then disappear from the picture. God has always been with his people in real ways. Scripture tells us, “Then the man [Adam] and his wife [Eve] heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day....”[iii] What a beautiful picture of how it was meant to be – and how someday it will be again for those who are God’s children. Even after Adam and Eve sinned and tried to hide from God, he pursued them. When they and their descendants were permanently barred from the Garden, God still remained with his people in order to guide them back to him.
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[i] Malachi 3:1

[ii] John 1:6-9

[iii] Genesis 3:8

When Israel wandered through the desert after God saved them from slavery in Egypt, he showed that he was with them in a unique way. “By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.”[i] When the Israelites camped in the desert, God’s presence dwelt in the tabernacle, the tent of meeting. “Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.”[ii] God has never been an absentee landlord. He is always present on his property, with his people, fulfilling his promises.

But this was not the furthest God went in interacting with humanity. He desired a face-to-face, in-the-flesh encounter. There would be no sitting on high, directing events from a distance for God. “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.”[iii] He did not choose social networking to get your attention. He did not count on posting curated, sepia-filtered pics from heaven with the caption, “Wishing you were here!” or reacting with the Care emoji on Facebook. Instead, Jesus, “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross!”[iv]

God came down from heaven into the filth of a barn to be born, to have most people misunderstand him throughout his life, and to end up dying painfully on a cross in order to demonstrate his love for the world, because “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”[v]

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[i] Exodus 13:21-22

[ii] Exodus 40:34

[iii] John 1:14

[iv] Philippians 2:6-8

[v] John 15:13

It was the Father’s plan that Jesus would completely identify with people, without sinning, in order to help us to see the beauty and love of God, becoming visible to help us to see and comprehend the invisible. The Supreme example of sacrificial love came from our heavenly Father’s desire to draw people home in order that they might feel his embrace. So he sent Jesus, Immanuel, “God with us.”[i] “In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son [Jesus], whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.”[ii] So the Word became flesh and literally ‘tented’ among us. The same God who was with Israel in the tent of meeting, the tabernacle, chose to give up everything in order to “pitch a tent” with people, his most cherished creation. This was an offer for everyone to be part of his family, not just an invitation to merely be ‘friends.’

“I think what pitching a tent implies is that God wants to be on familiar terms with us. He wants us to be close. He wants a lot of interaction. If you come into a community and build a huge palace with a wall around it, it says one thing about your desires to be with people. But if you pitch a tent in my back yard you will probably use my bathroom and eat often at my table. This is why God became human. He came to pitch a tent in our backyard so we would have a lot of dealings with him.”[iii]

Video: Is Jesus God? Did Jesus Ever Claim to be God? 

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[i] Matthew 1:23

[ii] Hebrews 1:1-2

[iii] Piper, John; Sermon on John 1:14-18: Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis, MN.

So if you truly desire to know what God is like, you must investigate the life of Jesus as shown in the Gospels. “No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only [Jesus] who is at the Father’s side has made him known.”[i] Only then can the Light shine brightest in the darkness so you can understand who God is and the relationship he desires to have with you. Jesus is not merely a good man, moral teacher, spiritual guru, or counselor. He is LOVE, who came in the flesh so that you might grasp how he is passionately pursuing you – even to the ends of the earth.

Music: I'll Find You 

 [i] John 1:18