There's something special about having someone visit you. I remember my cousin coming to stay with me once while I was house-sitting a place all alone, in Perth. The fact that my double-major, all-round busy cousin would take the time to drive across the city in the middle of his week just to see me and make sure I was doing okay, was something that really touched me. So it was interesting to come across in my reading recently an insight into what it means to visit. The root of the English word is related to "looking" or "seeing." It also has the idea of "thinking about" or "showing concern for" another.Something I'm looking forward to in my Religions of the World class this semester, is exploring the different ideas that each religion has about who God is and what he is like. We've started by looking at Hinduism and so far the representation of deity is one that seems to be distant and hard to please. There's the fire sacrifice, which if big enough might convince the gods to hear you. Then there are the age old hymns and chants recorded in the Vedas which are used to please the gods not just with their content but with the way they are said. These don't seem to be the kind of God you'd imagine would be thinking about you. Nor do they seem like the kind you'd want to have over for a cuppa. Well perhaps you would, but they might refuse the invitation.
The God we see in the Bible seems to be quite different in this respect. One might look at the Old Testament and say he too appears to be hard to please. It is true that there we get a clear picture of the chasm between God's holiness and our unholiness. We learn that "without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness." In order to come to God, his people were required to bring a sacrifice -- and not just once, but every year.
Yet, a closer look I think also shows his mercy and his nearness to all who call on him. We find that he is "the God who sees me" as Hagar discovered, and, who "knows how we are formed." We see his faithfulness to an often unfaithful bunch of people. And then we see the steps he takes to close the chasm between God and people by promising a Lamb that would take away the sins of the world -- a sacrifice once and for all, which he provided for in sending his Son. I think this gives us a remarkable, and perhaps unexpected, insight into what God is like. By bridging that unbridgeable barrier he is a God who cares enough "to look into and do something about our affairs." A God who cares enough to visit.
(Quotations mostly from "Shepherding God's Flock" by Jay E. Adams)
2 comments:
Just got caught up with the posts I missed while in HK. Thanks for the insight! I really appreciate the time and thoughtfulness you spent in writing your thoughts out. I can always use a reminder that God is here with us, waiting to visit if we let Him in...
I've studied a bit about other religions, and when I ask Hindus about their religion they find it hard to put into conventional terms. They use the word "deity" but the forms which they refer to seem to come off more as facets, or isolated natures of Brahman which is something like the eternal universe and oneness of everything because everything is only and wholly some part of Brahman. But that's just the impression that I've gotten from reading certain things and talking to people.
I don't think it's fair to compare God from any bible with other "gods" or "deities." I say this because I don't believe two languages or ideas (even when translated into the same word) always refer to the same thing, or idea, or intent. You refer to God as a "he" while in other religions, such as Islam Allah transcends gender. I have heard that it's silly to consider Allah ever "having a child" as humans might, or even "thinking" as we do.
You make a good observation of the Bible, I just feel that if someone wanted to try and prove that said God was not always near to people someone could potentially twist the meanings in their mind to do so.
On a similar note, a visit from God or a particular deity, or any other kind of idea sounds nice in theory, but to me it is just a matter of intention. Some things, we do not intend to have visit us, and so we find protection. The idea of the Devil for example, might be a strong source of belief, and to keep him from visiting us we may have a prayer or a crucifix, right? We follow a route to separate us from that particular idea because it is either not useful, or beneficial to us for whatever reason.
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