(Further reflections on “Spiritual Distancing, Anyone?”—Sunday 1-May-2022)
There had, since the Fall, always been a distance between God and His people. It has never been God’s design or desire to be so. Due to our sinful nature, we tend to move or slide away from God’s presence even though He had done absolutely everything to close the gap between Himself and us. Yet still, the inclination of a sinful heart is wandering. The tendency of a sinful mind is idolatry (be his own god or worship other gods). It is perhaps grievous for God to see this and He had even sent His Son who fulfilled every single detail of the Law, so that His people can enter His presence and draw closer to Him and there should be no gap between the two. But He knows not everyone will return to Him and be saved and spared from eternal separation.
God is holy and loving. Although God had done everything on His side to clear any gap/distance between us and Himself, He has never forced anyone to come to Him. He created and respected our freewill, which is the main but "good" problem. This means, those who freely and willingly come to Him will enjoy an intimate relationship with Him and the distance will be minimized each day as they continue to draw themselves closer to Him through daily reading of His word; hearing His voice; conversing (praying) with Him; fellowshipping with other fellow believers in His Body, specific the local church; and introducing Jesus to others, so that they too can begin to come and draw close to Jesus.
We are sinful and unloving (due to sin that we do not even know how to love ourselves and others in godly way). Although some of us might have been trying so hard to be a ‘good’ Christian (religiosity in our own mindset/terms) in a good/neat religion, we continue to feel the distance from God and His church/people due to, God only knows, million reasons, which we might never be able to pinpoint exactly. However, drawing insights from the conversation between Jesus and the Syrophoenician women (Mark 7:24-30), we see that the following main factors closed a huge (cultural/social/spiritual/physical/emotional) gap between the Savior and sinner. She had no fear of rejection as she clearly know how lowly she was. She did not take any offense when hearing Jesus’ statement of truth regardless of how ‘offensive’ it was. Perhaps, she never felt entitled to anything in her life. She viewed Jesus’ statement as truth and begged Him for His mercy and grace. The most powerful and interesting part was that Jesus was amazed by her statement of faith in Him and her ‘surprising’ knowledge of His attributes, so she received what she asked for- the healing of her son. There was quite a distance between where she heard Jesus’ declaration and her home. She did not question Jesus’ word from the start. She believed every single word that Jesus told her. The (physical/spiritual) distance between Jesus and her was being close from the time she heard and the time she arrived home. Faith in Jesus draws us closer the Lord, our God no matter what we are facing. Here are some practical steps for us to minimize distance between us and and God and draw closer to Him.
(1.) Know that your identity is in Christ alone. Ask, Who am I?
(2.) Take no offense in truth regardless of how offensive it might be in our circumstances, which no one knows (even your pastor), except the Lord Himself, and remember to say, “Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs” (Mark 7:28). Ask, “Have I been crucified with Christ? (3.) Believe and trust every single word that come out the mouth of our Lord Jesus Christ and do it as soon as we hear Him. Do not delay as we may harden our heart. Ask, Do I trust Jesus’ word? Let us live them out and do keep each other in prayer, so that none of us will be distant from the Lord (unless some chose to be so).
Love and blessing,
—
Pastor Lap
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