Encountering God

Encountering God[i]

There once was a little boy who wanted to meet God. He knew it was a long trip to where God lived, so he packed his suitcase with Twinkies and a six-pack of root beer, and he started his journey.

When he had gone about three blocks, he met an old woman. She was sitting in the park just staring at some pigeons. The boy sat down next to her and opened his suitcase. He was about to take a drink from his root beer when he noticed that the old lady looked hungry, so he offered her a Twinkie. She gratefully accepted it and smiled at him. Her smile was so pretty that the boy wanted to see it again, so he offered her a root beer. Once again, she smiled at him. The boy was delighted! They sat there all afternoon eating and smiling, but they never said a word.

As it grew dark, the boy realized how tired he was and he got up to leave, but before he had gone more than a few steps, he turned around, ran back to the old woman and gave her a hug. She gave him her biggest smile ever. When the boy opened the door to his own house a short time later, his mother was surprised by the look of joy on his face. She asked him, "What did you do today that made you so happy?" He replied, "I had lunch with God." But before his mother could respond, he added, "You know what? She's got the most beautiful smile I've ever seen!"

Meanwhile, the old woman, also radiant with joy, returned to her home. Her son was stunned by the look of peace on her face and he asked, "Mother, what did you do today that made you so happy?" She replied, "I ate Twinkies in the park with God." But before her son responded, she added, "You know, he's much younger than I expected."[ii]

MOSES met God on a Tuesday afternoon… and it was very disturbing. He said this… I was just doing my job the way I always do my job.

I’m not… or I wasn’t… a public person. I didn’t like talking to people because I had a speech defect… I stammered. So, because of that, and because of my past which I don’t want to go into, I looked after animals… sheep mostly.

I was just doing my job, just minding my sheep, just looking at the same grass, the same hills I had looked at every day, when I noticed a tree… an ordinary tree.

And suddenly, the ordinary became special: the leaves became candles, the dull earth became holy ground… and that’s where I met God… when the ordinary became special.

Like this testimony from a well-known Biblical figure based on what we know of him from scripture, our readings this morning are connected by the theme of encounter with God. In Genesis we hear the story of Jacob as he journeys to be reunited with Esau. He is uncertain how he will be received – plotting and planning – praying that God will deliver him. In this troubled time, he is encountered by God…

JACOB met God on a Monday night… and it was very disturbing. He said… I’m not a violent man, I don’t even argue much, but I felt like a fright that night.

I had lain awake, a thousand things on my mind. And when, long after midnight, there was a knock at the door, I was up and downstairs like a bear with a sore paw.

A stranger, standing there, stretched out his hand. I took it, out of anger more than friendship… and he didn’t let go.

He didn’t let go – so I started to tug, to pull away, to push him, to wrestle.

We wrestled till daybreak, he never letting go, until finally he said I had won… and that I had met God… wrestling.

The reading from 1^st Kings revolves around Elijah. The prophet is troubled – beside himself. He has temporarily lost control of his purpose and mission – he is floundering. Fleeing to the quiet seclusion and safety of the wilderness, he too is encountered by God…

ELIJAH met God on a Thursday night, and it was very disturbing. He might tell it like this… I had just won a competition, and I felt totally depressed. It wasn’t a hollow victory… you might say it was divinely inspired, but I felt depressed. So, I went for a walk into the hills, where I felt I could be nearer to my Maker.

It was very beautiful, looking roundabout, but I didn’t feel a bit closer to God.

Then the wind got up, and the ground started to shake. I thought it was the end of the world. I thought I’d see my Maker face to face before long. But the wind dropped, the shaking stopped, and nothing happened.

Then, from nowhere it seemed, a fire started, and I remembered a story about how someone first met God when faced with fire. But that didn’t work for me.

It was afterwards… after the wind and the shaking and the fire… it was when I thought God had given up on me that I met God… in silence.

In Matthew’s Gospel I can’t decide who encounters God. Is it the woman who comes to Jesus with great faith and receives the blessing of healing for her daughter? Or is it Jesus who is challenged by the woman to understand that his divine mission extends far beyond what he initially imagined? What is clear is that God is present in their meeting.

There are consequences to these encounters. Jacob’s name is changed to Israel as a constant reminder of the event. Elijah comes to the presence of God and though he has been traumatized by recent events, he is restored in the moment of sheer silence with the Lord. His motivation and strength return, and he continues his work for God. The Canaanite woman leaves with her daughter healed and her faith vindicated. Will she share her experience in her community? Jesus is also changed – ready now to expand his ministry to the Gentiles. How are we changed by our encounters with the divine? Do we bring all our questions, doubts and fears to each encounter with God?

This theme of encountering God is not one that rests comfortably within the confines of scripture – we believe that God is present with us here and now. We affirm that Jesus continues to guide us as disciples and that the Holy Spirit is active in our lives every day. When I reflected on encountering God, I wrote my own story like those of the Bible characters we’ve heard today, and I asked others to do the same.

Here are our stories of meeting God…

LAURA… I met God on a Friday morning in June... and it was disquieting.

I just wanted to go for a walk – to visit a special school. I wasn’t looking for God.

I invited another minister to walk with me – a friend. It was humid for Edmonton, and my shoes hurt my feet. We walked through the outdoor classroom – I remembered reading aloud by the pond in the heat of another June day.

We entered through the back door – everything so familiar, tears stinging my eyes.

I drank in the art on the walls – the classroom murmurs. We knocked on doors – I hugged past colleagues – recognized faces, routines, books, changes. It must have seemed dull to my friend, to any passerby – just a trip down memory lane, but I awoke to the truth that God was very present in this place – in a secular school, with children, families, friends and coworkers.

I met God amid the chaos of an elementary school as I struggled to discern God’s call.

I met God then in unexpected people – and I met God again as I remembered how God forms and prepares us through the people we encounter and the tasks we undertake.

Eila met God in a pair of high school teachers.

High School could have been just busy but uninspiring: classes, clubs, sports, band, weekends spent independently hiking, biking, rowing, sailing, or skiing depending on the season.

Church started off busy but uninspiring too. Sunday school was a place to sing some hymns and then learn Bible stories at 10a.m., so families could sit together during the service to sing some hymns and hear a vaguely encouraging message at 11a.m.

But as it turned out, she was pursued by God through the work of two high school history teachers, Ruth and Jack, who treated their students like real people, hosting a group of young hungry minds in their home on Friday or Saturday evenings to discuss history and philosophy by the fireplace over hot chocolate.

And then Ruth agreed to take the high school Sunday school class at church through a 2-year exploration, first a year of world religions, and then a deep dive into Christianity. Students from across town came to learn, from other churches and from no church, all hungry. And God fed them.

Ruth and Jack noticed Eila’s interest. The hungrier she got, the more books they fed her: CS Lewis, Francis Schaeffer, Os Guiness, John Stott, FF Bruce, more CS Lewis. And through the work of all those people, God became, for Eila, a real person too.

Frederick has witnessed the presence of God through the love and kindness shown by others, even total strangers. In many situations where he couldn't foresee a positive outcome, everything turned out better than he imagined. The only explanation is that God was there with him. Although he can't see or touch God, he knows that amidst all the chaos and silence, God is there, guiding him along the way.

Matt said a few things leapt to mind but on reflection he decided to share the first time he learned to experience God differently. This is what he shared... I come from a part of the world where the pre-Columbian indigenous people are long gone, so I had not even met an indigenous person or learned the word Métis until well into adulthood when I moved to Alberta. The first such person I got to meet is Pastor Margaret, a Métis Presbyterian and founder of Winnipeg Inner City Mission. I remember that when the group was smudged – another word I had never learned until that moment – the nagging thoughts of my childhood religion echoed in the back of my mind. “Is it ok for a Christian to do this? Is this the sort of thing so many adults I had trusted told me is “Paganism” I should spurn?” But there were several ministers around, so I decided it was ok to stay.

I don’t talk about this much because recalling the way God laid my heart bare to me an hour later in the safety of Pastor Margaret’s sharing circle still causes tears to well up. Fortunately, I only have to write it out for Pastor Laura to read. I’d read the books dozens of times, but that moment was when God showed up to show me what Ezekiel and Jeremiah, and the Psalms are really talking about when they say the Lord will put a new heart in you and put a new Spirit in you.

One person noted several experiences of encountering God that have stood out in their lifetime...

The surrounding warmth experienced when surrounded by the beautiful, treed mountains at the old Miette Campground.

Being alone in a surveyor’s cut line with silent, heavy snowflakes coming down while hunting in October, then seeing the moose that had been looking at me, only meters away while my rifle sat on my lap. Then vowing never to pull the trigger to destroy one of God’s wonderful creations.

The outward courage and faith of a beloved youth leader dying of pancreatic cancer when pain management was not as evolved as it is today, nearly 60 years later.

The birth of my 8 weeks premature son asking GOD for his life when all was uncertain. Now a 6’4”, “Viking looking young man.” And the wonders of the normal birth of my 2 daughters.

The comfort, warmth, luncheon fellowship, and love exhibited by a remote client Hutterite colony that was the target of an unjustified multimillion dollar lawsuit from a neighbour.

The unfolding participation as a testament of a rich Thanksgiving service. God is in it all.

Judy’s story began with Sunday School, where she truly found joy in her walk with God. It was her choice to be baptized and confirmed as a teenager and the walk continued as young adult.

However, she let go of God’s hand for several years, until she heard the voice of God again. Since then, she has found renewed comfort in her faith journey.

What is your story? When and where and through whom have you encountered God – walked with Jesus? How have you been changed by an encounter with the divine?

[i] The Moses, Jacob and Elijah stories are from and Iona worship book.

[ii]I don’t remember where I found this lovely fable.