March 3 - God is Everywhere

The questions have been asked for years: Where to find God? How do we reach him? Where do I go, what do I do, is there a special formula, a secret code, are there certain words I have to say? But we answer: oohhh that’s way too much to figure out – because I’ve got way too much to figure out already. Running from here to there, deadlines, appointments, commitments, responsibilities, expectations. I can barely keep up with what I’ve already heaped upon myself. The over scheduled calendar already reaches out into July and August, and it’s only the third of March. Even thinking about adding one more thing to my busy busy life makes the brain freeze up. And ya know....when you think about it... what does God expect....certainly God understands how busy we are in 2013, and the stress of getting ahead, or more often...just keeping our head above water. God must have figured out by now, that this life is way too full to spend much more than an hour on Sunday with God. Still, the questions persist. Where can I find God? How do I reach him? But the alarm clock goes off and we are off...and running...day after day... And we work overtime, and decide not to take our vacation days...and we sit at our laptops and work well into the night. And just like us - the kids and grandkids have to be here and there and everywhere.... and when we are not so busy busy...we have contraptions in our hands, at our fingertips, or in our ears that connect us to the world, and information, and friends, and games, and we can’t communicate anymore unless we are typing our conversations out on a little plastic pad of letters, or doing some such silliness in cyberspace. And we think nothing of spending hours watching the unexplainable on television: heartbreaking things like people who are hoarders, and people who are addicted to all kinds of things, shows about vampires, and reality shows about bachelors, and moonshiners, and wild and drunk young people in Brooklyn, the Jersey shoremand West Virginia. The world and its people are falling apart, but we won’t see it, cuz we’ve been lured into believing that all this stuff is most important. //// And somewhere back in our brain - somewhere under all that junk, we hear God asking us once again: Why are you wasting time on that which does not satisfy you, fill you, connect you...to anything? And we push that thought back further back in our brains...And we go on line to shop, and we go the mall to shop, and we go to QVC and shop...and we buy stuff we don’t need...and we buy stuff we can’t afford...and even when we go to the store to pick up just a few items, we end up with way too much stuff in our shopping carts... And again we hear God ask: Why are you spending your money on that which is not bread? I have fond memories of spending Saturday mornings at the West Side Market in Cleveland, Ohio. Built in 1912 the outdoor fruit and vegetable stalls stretch out 500 feet in front of you. Inside the adjoining building are cakes and pies, breads and fish, and any kind of meat you can imagine. The family owned kiosks and stalls have been there for 101 years. Shoppers yell out – a pound of German hotdogs please, a dozen perioges, two loaves of rye... a bunch of grapes, how about a dozen ears of corn. The sellers hawk their wares. C’mon now – this cheese is the freshest you will find – look at these strawberries as big as a tennis ball. There is banter across the aisle as vendors who have known each other since childhood participate in friendly competition. They point at the shoppers passing by and them “ You’re making a mistake if you buy from anyone else.” It’s busy, it’s loud, it’s hard to take it all in, it engages all your senses, and takes every bit of your attention. Just like this life. This scene from the Isaiah is much like that of a marketplace. And right there in the midst of life...between the strawberries and the rye bread...between the overtime, the ridiculous and obscene on TV, and the too full shopping cart -is God, speaking through Isaiah and telling us that in between it all, all around it all, in and through it all....that’s where God is. He picks you out of the passing crowd and points, and calls out, Hey you, are you thirsty, do you have money, no? No matter, it’s not important. I just want to say... listen to me ...pay attention, over this way, I’m here, come closer. I’ve been telling people for years, but they don’t take the time....but forever now -- I have wanted everyone to know ...that --- I have what you are searching for and what you need......I’m only asking you to partake of the good and the richness that I offer...so that you will have life. We think that so much has changed since Scripture was written – changed so much that it couldn’t possibly apply to us. And to be sure we have come a long long way in a few thousand years. So many discoveries, inventions, phenomenal leaps of in science, medicine and technology we cannot count. But human beings, human nature = not changed at all. From then until now, we have been obsessed and addicted, enamored and distracted by everything under the sun....everything except one thing = God. Augustine said our hearts will be restless until they rest in God...and so until we carve out a space for God in our busy busy lives, the questions will persist. Searching? Thirsty? Longing for a whole lot more than what the world offers you? Lent is a time – time enough to seek the Lord while he may be found...time enough to call upon him while he is near; more than enough time to realize that God – God is everywhere.