The Gospel of Presence

In the Hebrew Bible, we are sometimes given a beautiful oasis in the harsh desert. Amid the Old Testament’s difficult stuff, amid talk of the vengefulness, wrathfulness, and tribalism of God, we sometimes come across an oasis of good news that is so relatable and real that it can bring one to tears.

To begin this morning, I’d like to look at an example of this, looking at the book of Exodus chapter 33. 

Within the book of Exodus itself we see a dynamic playing out. Again and again in Exodus, Moses and his people experience the all-too-human stuff of the wilderness. But every now and again, Moses, and the people through Moses, experience mountaintop moments where the divine realm is real and all-encompassing. 

In Exodus 33, we are given an oasis of good news amid the desert, a little snippet of heaven, where God is presented as God really is. But surrounding that oasis is a hard and harsh story.

Hardness and harshness makes sense. The people of Israel inhabit the hard and harsh wilderness of the Sinai desert. Exodus 19 through chapter 32 tells the story of a desert bound people. There are no lessons learned in the desert.

At the end of chapter 32, we come to a tale familiar to us. God’s people have turned away from their God and are worshiping a golden calf.

God is beyond angry at this wrong. God is beside-himself angry. So much so that God considers breaking his rainbow promise to never destroy his people. Yes, God is considering going rogue, going Noah and the flood again. 

Thankfully, Moses, the friend of God, talks God down from this drastic turn, and God relents. 

Yet, upon returning to his people, Moses takes his own drastic turn upon seeing the golden calf and his people’s devotion to it. Violence intrudes upon the story. But violence only makes things worse, leading to a plague that wreaks more havoc on the people.

God at this point realizes that the desert life isn’t working. A change is desperately needed. So God decides to send his people out of the desert and have them journey on. But maybe without him. God is still upset and considers letting his beloved people go on without him. Yet God relents. God sees his people’s pain and hears Moses’ pleas and relents.

Just before they are about to leave the wilderness desert and are again on the go, God offers Moses, and his people through Moses, a life-changing reminder. We are given our oasis, our little pocket of heaven.

God reminds them and us, 

“My presence will go with you and I will give you rest.” 

Out of the chaos, the clamor, the cacophony that is the wilderness, we are given an oasis of good news. Amid our own personal hells, we are given a little pocket of heaven:

God goes with us and gives us rest.

God is with us, that is the heart of our faith. God is with us, with you, with me – it is the river running through our lives, sustaining us, nudging us on. God is with us – nothing can take this good news away.

So, the people, God with them, move toward the Promised Land. 

We move to the New Testament.

It is no accident that in the very first chapter of the New Testament, we are reminded of our singular truth. The messiah is given a name - Immanuel, God with us.

Throughout the Bible, both old and new testaments, there is a related mantra, a recurring phrase invoked to ease our spirits. Isaiah 41:10 perhaps says it most clearly:

“Fear not, for I am with you.”

We see a version of this mantra in the middle of the most popular chapter in the Bible, Psalm 23, too. 

“I fear no evil, for thou art with me.”

We see a version of our mantra in the most celebrated moment of all time. An angel introduces Christ’s birth to shepherds in a Bethlehem field. “Fear not, for, behold, I bring you good news of great joy.” That good news? 

Matthew 1:23 -

“Behold, the virgin shall be with child and give birth to a Son, and they shall call his name Immanuel – which means God with us.”

We see our mantra in Jesus’ final words to his disciples before he ascends. Amid their fear about what happens without him, Jesus reminds them they’re never without him. Jesus in Matthew 28 says, 

“Go and know I am with you always.”

The Apostle Paul also experiences the pivotal truth of God’s presence and just when he needed it. 

In the book of Acts, chapter 18, we read about this. Paul’s ministering in Corinth. Corinth is extremely diverse religiously with many competing voices. It is also a city of philosophers. But so much suffering marked the city. This made Paul’s mission work difficult. Paul struggled, needing divine help. 

In verse 9, Paul is reminded that his help is near. God says to his spirit, 

“Do not be afraid, keep going, for I am with you.”

Reminded of God’s presence with us, we are strengthened. For Paul, it’s the same. Reminded, Paul is able to continue strong in his ministry. Reminded of God’s presence with him, he is able to in turn be present to others.

So, we see Paul’s ministry of presence at work throughout the book of Acts. He is regularly present with and to those who suffer, those who struggle, those weighed down by sin’s havoc, those needing refuge and salvation.

We also see evidence of Paul’s ministry of presence in his letters. 

Paul writes twice to the church in Corinth, in the very city where he experienced God’s presence so poignantly. In his first letter to the Corinthians, chapter 5, he mirrors to his brothers and sisters in Corinth God’s words and truth to him early on. He writes,

“Even though I am not present with you physically, I am with you in spirit.” 

God’s spiritual presence with us is meant to be shared. When we are present to another we do the work of God. We embody God’s presence with our own presence. And in turn, we experience God’s presence in the presence of friends, loved-ones, strangers, even our beloved pets. 

Okay, let me close by returning to our mantra and make it personal.

“Do not fear, for God is with me.” 

I invite you to use this mantra in your daily lives. When you feel afraid, when you feel alone, when you feel anxious, when you worry about the fate of the world around us, invoke the mantra, maybe doing so in rhythm with your breath.

Let’s practice together as our closing prayer.

Breathe in and out a couple times.

Then, when you’re ready, breathe in the words, “Do not be afraid.”

And breathe out the words, “for God is with me.”

Breathing in, Do not be afraid.

Breathing out, For God is with me.