Jesus as Presence

"And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age."  --Matthew 28:20 

Diana Butler Bass is wrapping up her book, "Freeing Jesus:  Rediscovering Jesus as Friend, Teacher, Savior, Lord, Way, and Presence."  This month I am writing about Jesus as Presence in my life.  Diana begins this chapter on Presence:

Like most Christians, I have affirmed and recited historic creeds.....I admire the precision of the creeds, the stunning staying power of ideas formed more than a thousand years ago, and their continued capacity to both shape ritual and provoke argument.....Yet I also wonder why it is that words so treasured, ideas fought over to the point of death, somehow fail to communicate the lived experience of millions of Christians throughout these same ages.  Every week, I recite words about Jesus that actually communicate nothing he taught, lack mention of his passionate love, avoid the fact that he welcomed and fed all sorts of sinners and outcasts, say nothing about the poor (who Jesus spoke of all the time), leave out the Beatitudes, conveniently omit Jesus's harsh words against Caesar, and studiously avoid the uncomfortable reality that he radically transformed the lives of those who followed him.

She said this was why she became a historian instead of a theologian.  She prefers "fluidity to precision, how we actually live rather than what we should  believe."  She said Jesus has become present in her life in ways she had never expected.  Christian theology says Jesus is the way to know the Spirit, but she feels we cannot know Jesus without the Spirit.  She quotes John 3:3:  "Very truly, I tell you no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above."  Jesus was speaking about being born again. 

Andrew Farley has pointed out that the New Covenant does not begin on the day Jesus was  born nor the day He was crucified, but rather on the day of His resurrection.  Jesus sits at the right hand of God now, but His Holy Spirit resides in us.  When we believe and are born again it's because we receive the life of Christ into us, into our new hearts made possible by Jesus's death on the cross.  This is the Presence Diana is referring to.

She writes about experiencing the presence of Jesus in her life when she became a new mother. Holding her newborn child, "cradling the image of God so close....Jesus, the birthed one, is also the ever-birthing presence, calling new life from the womb of God into the world."  Then leaving her books and ministry for a time to care for her baby allowed her to find Jesus in the ordinary moments of her domestic life.  

For me this discovery began at the end of 1977 when I sprained my ankle and had to take a day off from work.  My younger brother had left a few weeks before after staying with us for three months while he looked for a job after college in the Washington, DC area.  I'd often encouraged him to evaluate a job by how much he'd love doing it rather than by how much it paid.  I remember lying on my couch with my foot propped up and hearing these words in my head, "There's got to be more to life than this."  My plan had been to work (for the extra money) until I was with child and about to deliver, but after a year that just wasn't happening.  Hearing those words convicted me.  We were already living on my husband's income, so quitting my job would not strain our budget.  I put in my notice and left my job by February of 1978.  Our son was born May 1979.  During that time I started visiting an elderly lady in a nursing home (which continued for more than 5 years until her death), applied to become a Big Sister (but they never had anyone in my area for me to visit), took a doll house furniture class which led to my reading a book about the Quakers which led to me attending their Meetings for Worship where I heard the Holy Spirit for the first time.  And then I conceived after trying for two years (and waiting seven to start trying).  When my father died suddenly in October I had the comfort of knowing God's presence was with me through it all----I did not have to pray for His Presence.  

This year I've been reading my daily entries in my 1996 and 2012 journals each day. Twenty-eight years ago today (1996) I wrote in my journal:

I was awake from 3:30 to 5:00 because of my "cold" or whatever it is.  I did some of my Bible Study then.  As I was going back to sleep I had these thoughts:  a better way to express what it means to be "saved" or "born again" might be to say, "I've experienced God's love.  For once we've actually experienced something we can make it a part of who we are.  Once we make God's love a part of who we are (by experiencing it) we can't be the same.  All our experiences in life are a part of who we are.  They shape us in some way.  So if we've truly experienced God's love---that is, to receive His gift of forgiveness---we will change."

Diana says, "To experience Jesus is the work of active divinity; Jesus is known as the presence of God, made alive to us through the Spirit......The Spirit  is the driving force, the animating creative life of the entire cosmos."

It took me a long time to experience Jesus in this way.  He was always "out there" somewhere, someone who had to be called upon in order to know that He was there.  This is why I used a photo (above, from the internet) of stars shining in the night sky to illustrate this message.  I was well into adulthood when I realized that the stars that I saw at night were still there during the day.  It wasn't that I thought they went somewhere during the day or turned off come morning.  It just wasn't something I'd actually given any thought to before, but I remember feeling shocked when I realized they were always there even though I couldn't see them.  Realizing that Jesus's Spirit lives in me all the time, even when I can't see or feel Him was just as revelatory.  I knew this from scripture but it took experiencing it to make it real.

Diana concludes her book:

We know Jesus through our experience.  There is no other way to become acquainted with one who lived so long ago and who lives in ways we can barely understand through church, scripture, and good works and in the faces of our neighbors.  In these pages, I have shared six Jesuses whom I experienced through something I call "memoir theology".  Memoir theology is the making of theology---understanding the nature of God---through the text of our own lives and taking seriously how we have encountered Jesus.

 Her endnote:  "During the months of reflecting and writing, the coronavirus pandemic broke out across the world, forcing us to distance and church building to close....If you wanted to find Jesus in a church, you couldn't.  The doors were shut tight.  But as millions have discovered in these many months, Jesus was not confined to a building.  Jesus was around our tables at home, with us on walks and hikes, present in music, art, and books, and visible in faces via Zoom.  Jesus was with us....

Yes, Jesus is with us always and forever, for those who put their faith in Him.

Note:  If you want to go back to the beginning of this series about Diana's book you can find it in the first post for October 2023 entitled "The Benefits of Receiving God's Gift".

Father, Your yoke is easy and Your burden is light because of Jesus, my Friend, Teacher, Savior, Lord, Way and my very life by His Presence in me.  May my mind be renewed daily in this truth so that I do not wander off the path You've prepared for my journey.  Thank you for the hard times that have kept me close to You in thought.  And thank you for knowing when I need a respite so I can experience the beauty of all that You've given me.  Amen

Link to scripture:  2 Corinthians 13:5  *

*Andrew Farley comments on this verse:  This self-examination is not about trying to prove our worthiness or earn God's favor. It is about allowing the Holy Spirit to reveal areas in our lives where we may need to grow and align more closely with the character of Christ. It is an opportunity for us to surrender to the leading of the Holy Spirit and allow Him to transform us from the inside out.

So, while 2 Corinthians 13:5 reminds us to examine ourselves, let us do so with the understanding that our salvation is secure in Christ. We can trust in His grace and rely on His Spirit to guide us in our journey of faith.

Take Action:  Morality and Ethics or Jesus Christ

At the end of Andrew's message he explains the two commands that believers have written on their hearts.  They may not be what you're used to hearing.....