Body of Christ-Heralding God

2^nd Kings 1:1-8; John 5:30-40; Romans 10:8-17

Rev. Chris Harbin, Rocks Baptist Church—Pamplin, VA

28 March 2004

Where is God? We most often ask this question when we face circumstances that we do not understand. We are supposed to know, but it often seems that we forget the simple fact of God’s presence. Can we be sure of God’s presence even in the midst of the turmoil of life? Can others find assurance of God’s presence and love by watching us?

The prophet Elijah was very confident of God’s presence. He was sure that Yahweh was in the midst of the nation and stood readily to herald the fact of God’s action, presence, and will. He had the certainty of God’s reality, but also of God’s interest in the nation. That he recognized God’s presence was really no big deal, for the people of Elijah’s day were very attuned to spiritual reality, even if they did not understand the truth of God. Their lives were immersed in recognition of the world of spirits, gods, and the messengers of the gods. What they did not seem to grasp was just how different Yahweh was from the way they imagined the gods to be.

As Yahweh’s mouthpiece, it was Elijah’s task to announce not only the fact of Yahweh’s presence, but also Yahweh’s will. He was the voice to remind the people that they owed their allegiance to Yahweh, who had created the nation and rescued them out of Egyptian slavery. His was the voice calling them back to trust the one God they should be serving.

Elijah’s words to Ahaziah are a sharp critique to the king. No one denied the existence of the gods. What Ahaziah denied was allegiance to Yahweh as the God of Israel. He denied his own responsibility to follow Yahweh and to live in accordance with Yahweh’s will. While he did not deny the fact of Yahweh’s presence, his life and actions denied Yahweh’s authority over his life, his plans, his desires, and his will. He knew that Yahweh was present, but he chose to ignore that fact by the way he lived and responded to the pressures and difficulties of life.

We may overlook the fact that Yahweh’s words through Elijah are a warning. God’s pronouncements of judgement in the Old Testament are generally conditional. There is an underlying assumption that if the king were to repent and seek Yahweh in honesty and integrity, God would be willing to intervene with grace and mercy. Despite the conditional aspect of Elijah’s words, Ahaziah chose to shut God out of the picture. In so doing, his actions denied God’s presence. It was Elijah’s task to herald God’s presence, will, and action. His was the call to remember that Yahweh was still there.

The same could describe a major component of Jesus’ ministry and teaching. A large part of Jesus’ task was to remind people that God was present and interested in becoming an active part of their lives. He was brushed off by many, for they already knew that God was present. They already knew that Yahweh was the only true God and their only God. What they did not realize was that they were far from following God’s direction for their lives. They proclaimed God’s presence and reality, but did not see the inconsistency of their actions in light of the faith they proclaimed.

Jesus’ words in John chapter five are recorded in the context of a discussion over the validity of healing a man on the Sabbath. They celebrated the Sabbath in accordance with God’s commands through Moses, yet they failed to understand the meaning of the Sabbath they celebrated. They were intent of following God’s words through Moses, yet they failed to grasp the meaning of those very words. They were so caught up in their misconceptions about God that they could not easily accept the reality of God’s presence in the words, ministry, and person of Jesus Christ. They knew that God was in their midst, but they did not recognize that they were holding fast to the form and ignoring the essence.

Jesus challenged them to recognize that they were missing the point of Biblical witness. They could not see God’s grace and mercy for the blinders of legalism that they wore. Jesus came then, to herald Yahweh’s grace, mercy, and love, for they had missed it. God’s love and mercy was manifest throughout Scripture, but they just would not accept that reality. They preferred to trade God’s grace for judgement, mercy for punishment, and love for anger. They were missing the whole point. The result was that they completely ignored the will, identity, and character of the God they reported to serve. They might as well have defended that God did not exist, for they had legislated God out of their lives.

They knew about Yahweh. They had a lot of information regarding God. They had memorized many facts, but they were not allowing the information to transform their lives as it should. They might as well have been ignoring the fact of Yahweh’s presence and sought after false gods. Their lives announced that Yahweh was absent from Israel, for they were not allowing Yahweh to have full sway in the direction and action of their lives.

Paul wrote about the proximity and duality of knowledge and faith. Faith is much more than information, it is relationship and acceptance. It is allowing the knowledge of God to change our lives in acceptance of the reality of God’s love and grace. He wrote that the message is nearby, but has to be accepted. He also wrote that it needs to be proclaimed.

That is our charge—to accept the reality of God’s presence, love, and grace, and then announce that reality to the world around us. As Elijah, we are called to herald the presence of Yahweh in the world around us. We herald God, not simply by announcing God’s presence in words, but by living the reality we proclaim.

Many will not understand our lives. Many will not understand our words. Many will fail to grasp the reality of God’s grace, mercy, and love, even while they proclaim God’s existence. Many will claim to know the God we proclaim and yet live in disregard to that knowledge. Even so, we are to herald not only the presence of God, but God’s true identity. We must allow the character and identity of God to transform our lives into beacons of God’s presence.

Where is God, anyway? Do we allow God’s presence to permeate our lives? Do our words and actions herald God’s presence? Do others see the reality of God in the way we live? We are the body of Christ—God’s physical presence in the world. God is in our midst. Do our lives herald the presence of Christ Jesus before others? Are we up to the challenge of becoming beacons of God’s presence, grace, and love?

—©2004 Christopher B. Harbin

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