'He's not remote; He's near. We live and move in Him, can't get away from Him! One of your poets said it well: 'We're the God-created.' Well, if we are the God-created, it doesn't make a lot of sense to think we could hire a sculptor to chisel a god out of stone for us, does it?' Acts 17 v29, The Message
For the lastcouple ofdays I have had three words in my head. Those who know me may be amazed as that's three more than normal!! Three little words. If you had to think of three words what would they be? I love you? I need help? What's the point? I don't know? What a day?
The three words that have been in my head are The Unknown God. Not words that pop into my head on the average day between getting the kids to school, doing the dishes, writing, picking the kids up, talking to my husband and going to sleep. Not average words. There is a story in the book of Acts - Acts is the book in the Bible thatpicks up after Jesus has told his followers that He will be with them however it's their turn to live what He has taught them now. In short - go act!
The story in Acts goes like this... Paul, who used to pace up and down Israel obsessively rooting out and killing followers of Jesus, has had an incredible personal encounter with Jesus. Paul hated Jesus because he saw Him as a threat toPaul's neat, ordered religious way of life and to every custom and tradition that Paul was clinging onto. Paul was prepared to kill to keep his tidy, tightly heldbelief in place. Paul did not believe in Jesus, however as it turns out Jesus believed in him. Paul is having an average day, travelling to the next place on his persecution agenda when he hears a voice; 'Why are you persecuting Me?'.
In a few extraordinary moments Paul is confronted with The Unknown God. This is not the god that he thought he was serving by violently protecting his old way of life. This is not the god of 1,000s of rules and regulations that he has learned so well that they are as familiar to him as his very skin, this is not the god that he has studied and quoted by heart since he was a child, this is not the god in whose service he has come to be respected and honoured within his learned community.
This God has turned his whole notion of what god is on its head. This is the living God who refuses men's boxes and labels, a God who is not defined by who gets the best seats on a Sunday morning, a God who ardently pursues even men who are so misguided that they think they are serving Him by killing in His name.
A God who strips faith of its status, hierarchy, pre-conceived ideas, intellectual reasoning and pride. Who will not rest until He prises off the fingers of those who hold onto their image of Himso thatthey can be free to touch Him. This Unknown God - who is He to you?
