WE ARE ALL STANDING ON HOLY GROUND
Aspergers (Sprinkling with Holy Water)
This is God’s holy ground
And you are God’s holy people
The burning bush was blazing, yet it was not being consumed. It was not burning up. Moses said: “I need to go over there and check that out…It’s an unidentified burning object…a ‘UBO’, and see why that bush is not being burnt up…”God got Moses attention in the flaming burning bush. God called to him out of that bush, just as God calls to us out of the ordinary places in our lives…that he chooses to inhabit.
“Moses, Moses!” The God of the universe chooses to speak to Moses, individually and personally. “Don’t come any closer Moses…take those sandals off your feet…the place where you are standing is holy ground.” The natural becomes the supernatural, and the ordinary becomes the extraordinary. Moses hid his face. He was afraid to look at God. He was fearful of the presence of God.
Last week we talked about the passage in Philippians about our body of humiliation being conformed to the body of his glory, by the power that enables him to make all things subject to himself. We learned that we no longer need to be afraid. Jesus has made a way for us not to be afraid. In our humility we recognize our flaws, our faults, our struggles…to get it right, and we are all constantly getting it wrong…just like the disciples did. They were constantly getting it wrong, too. But, Jesus constantly gives us other opportunities to get it right.
In Psalm 63 we read this morning, “O God, you are my God, eagerly I seek you. My flesh faints for you. As in a barren land where there is no water.”V2 continues: I gazed upon you…Gazing on God in the holy place of life…Where is the holy place? Where is your holy place? Where is God in your life? Where is your burning bush? Is there a special place or thing in your life that God uses to get your attentionThis church is a holy place. God has designated this small piece of land, this church to be a holy place. It is our tradition to meet with God in this house of worship.” Take off your shoes. This is holy ground”
But, Jesus takes us one step further in our understanding of holy access. He says the presence of God is sacred and is holy ground, but he also says: “I have paid the price for you to hang around with God. Take off your shoes, and I will wash your feet, for this is holy ground, and I am here to serve you.”
God chooses to make the natural the supernatural. God chooses to make the common… holy…made holy by the spirit of God. That hunger and thirst that comes from God…is a natural thing… (A natural thirst for the supernatural)…You should be glad when you hunger and thirst for God…Where do you think that desire comes from? That desire comes from God.That’s normal behavior…the way God expects us to be.
The Psalmist continues, “That I might be able to know your power and your glory. I desire to know God and to be known by God.” That’s also expected to be normal behavior for those that have the God-given desire to draw near to God.For those that are seeking…those that are traveling…sojourners…this earth is not my home…I’m just a passing through…
The Psalmist continues in V5 “My soul is content, as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth praises you with joyful lips.” There is a contentment, being in the presence of God, knowing that yes, we are not worthy on our own merits, but Christ has made us worthy, so therefore we can be content, and fearless in Gods presence.
The Hebrew word for fatness means completeness, a rich and filling satisfaction of abundance in God; In the Hebrew culture of that time, “marrow and fatness” were regarded as the highest idea of godly provision…representing the full favor of God. Realizing that God blesses with abundance; not with scarcity…An over-flowing abundance of his love and provision. That’s what fatness means here.
What’s that result in when we are content? It results in adoration and praise and a sense of awe. That’s one thing I think that churches need more of. A healthy growing church needs a sense of awe, a sense appreciation that God is in this place. God is in this church, this parish. He has made the natural…supernatural. He has made the common…holy. And, it’s awesome.
Awesomeness, that not only can we sense it in this place and in this community of believers, but when we leave this place we can sense that awesomeness working in the natural and ordinary places in our lives. That’s where God meets us…in the natural order of our affairs. The natural becomes the supernatural. We are connected to the Spirit of God. We are connected to the holiness of God. And, God is in this place. And we are in this place.
This is Holy Ground and you are God’s Holy People.
Amen