Epiphany

This is not about the beloved season in the church year following Christmas where we celebrate “God with us,” in the person of Jesus. This is about, once again, seeing something in scripture that I have seen or heard about hundreds of times in my life. This morning, it hit me like a ton of bricks, and I do not want it to ever go away.

My morning devotion time consists of using a Bible app on my phone to hear some scripture read. Recently I was led — I guess — to begin a plan whereby I read an Old Testament passage, a Psalm, a Gospel passage, and a section of an epistle. This takes abut 10 minutes and the app reads the passage. As of now, I am in Joshua 8, Psalm…about 78, Matthew 12, and Romans 8. Joshua chapter 7 showed me something that was an epiphany and eye opening like I have experienced only on occasion before. Something has lodged itself in my mind and has brought me to a place of silence. It is about a love so profound that we cannot begin to comprehend it.

In the Old Testament, if you sinned a certain way, you could be put to death. Prostitution, adultery and other things could be death if you were caught. Joshua chapter 7 talks about Achan, who stole some things that belonged to God. Israel was going to go up against Ai to hopefully conquer it.

Israel got creamed. They had a lot of success since entering the promised land, but not this time.

Joshua was distraught and fell on his face before God. God told him to “get up” and search for the reason of this dismal failure. Joshua called all the tribes to himself and questioned them. Finally he found out what had happened. A guy named Achan had stolen some things — including silver — from what had been consecrated to God. Joshua sent some guys to check it out, and sure enough they found the stash in Achan’s tent, where he had hidden it away.

Big mistake.

Here is what grabbed me this morning. Even though Achan confessed, he was still put to death, along with some family members, and burned. 

The point: After the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ we need to remember that when we sin, no matter what it is, Jesus was put to death for our sin in our place…  Achan died for his own sin. Jesus died in our place for our sin. What an incredible thought! He voluntarily took our place. 

Sometimes something hits you that you’ve known all along, but at a particular moment grabs you and will not let go… and you don’t want it to. Our sins are atoned for because Christ died on the cross in our place. 

Isaiah 53:5 says it loud and clear. 

But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. (NIV)

I want to live every moment “under his care,” realizing his willingness to take our place as the means back to God.

Thanks be to God.

Back Yard Cathedral

I am a morning person. No question about that. Come 6:00 and I am ready to get on with my day. Being a morning person — and Carol is definitely not — gives me time to have a favorite breakfast, check a little bit of tv while eating, then spend some time in devotions. This time with God is precious and an important part of my days. Things become clearer, my mind relaxes, and my heart tunes with God.

Recently I decided to once again go outside for my devotional time. Weather does not always allow that but it definitely did this morning. Carol and I got our new patio and pergola put in last summer, and we have had a grand time with it. It is indeed a lovely place.

That particular morning was pretty special. It was about 7:00 and the temperature was about 70 degrees. The sun was just coming up, streaming through the branches of trees, and a gentle breeze moved through from the West. The tree branches, the landscaping, grass, and surrounding bushes and weeds all responded.

I have a very large walnut tree in my backyard. I don’t know trees that well, but I know this one is walnut because every fall I need to pick up what seems to be thousands of walnuts and move them off my grass. Fortunately I have a large natural barrier between my property and the duplexes next door that runs right by the walnut tree. It gives us some good privacy, and me a place to put all those walnuts. There are several other large trees about the same size close by and they form a kind of ceiling. The rising curvature of the trunks and the ridiculously rich green create that ceiling resembling the sanctuary in a gothic cathedral. This particular morning while I was listening to scripture being read on an app on my phone it dawned on me that this was a place I was supposed to be. The trees ascended and formed a partial green covering, then suddenly opened to revealed a perfect blue sky with only a few wisps of cloud moving along.

My devotional time continued with daily readings from Keller and Yancey, followed by a time of prayer. The whole time was rich with God’s gentle presence calming me and moving me to silence. Silence is not easy in our world anymore. Distractions seem constant. Sometimes it takes moments like this to get us to be quiet, while we listen and God talks. This brings to mind a time when someone asked Mother Teresa how she prayed. “God talks and I listen, then I talk and He listens,” was her direct, to the point answer.

My little backyard cathedral reminded of a couple of places in Scripture that speak to the beauty and majesty of creation. The very first few verses in Genesis say that God was pleased with it all saying, “That’s good.” Psalm 8 starts out by declaring the majesty of God's work and how his glory is reflected in all of creation. Psalm 24 declares that all of the earth belongs to God and reflects his glory.

Oh yeah, let me tell you about a little squirrel. He comes each morning to my patio and stays for a few moments. He showed up this morning also. If he has found a storage place on my patio for walnuts I have not discovered it yet. This morning, he went about half way down the main trunk of the large walnut tree and stopped and glared at me for a bit. It was like he was saying, “Uh…excuse me, but are you finished yet?” In my crazy frame of mind, I spoke to him saying, “Ok, kid, don’t get all impatient with me. You’ll get yours soon enough.” Ultimately he left and went to another part of the tree. I thought, God takes care of his creatures, and the squirrel lives in a walnut tree…I mean…it can’t be better than that, right? Don’t worry, I don’t talk to squirrels on a regular basis.

I know not all mornings are like this. Some are cooler, overcast and not as lovely. God, however, is the same, and is continually calling us to be silent before him.

I love Psalm 46, verses 1 and 10. “God is our Refuge and Strength, a very present help in trouble.” Verse 10 speaks to the silence that I experienced this morning, “Be still and know that I am God.” This morning I seemed to experience something that was bigger and more profound than I. It silenced me and I have a feeling it changed me also.

Thanks be to God.