Who Is God? Shekinah


Exodus 13:17-22
November 17, 2013

 When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was nearer; for God thought, ‘If the people face war, they may change their minds and return to Egypt.’ So God led the people by the roundabout way of the wilderness towards the Red Sea. The Israelites went up out of the land of Egypt prepared for battle. And Moses took with him the bones of Joseph, who had required a solemn oath of the Israelites, saying, ‘God will surely take notice of you, and then you must carry my bones with you from here.’ They set out from Succoth, and camped at Etham, on the edge of the wilderness. The Lord went in front of them in a pillar of cloud by day, to lead them along the way, and in a pillar of fire by night, to give them light, so that they might travel by day and by night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.

            I want to start by asking you to take time, before reading this sermon, to watch a video on YouTube. It’s a song called “I Saw God the Other Day” by Victor Wooten. You may not know who he is, but he is considered one of the top bassists in jazz today, along with Stanley Clark and Marcus Miller. If you like jazz you may be aware of him from his work with Bela Fleck and the Flecktones.

            Victor has become good friends with our music director, Bruce Smith, who is the one who first made me aware of the video. It’s a video that Victor made seven years ago, and it has a lot to do with our passage for today, but even more with the idea of God as Shekinah. Here’s the link to the video:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_h9eQ15CIs

            If you veer more toward Christian orthodoxy, you probably found a number of things that bother you in the video, but I’m going to ask you to put those aside to pay attention to a bigger message. What Victor says in the song is a profound reflection of God as Shekinah.

            My guess is that you’ve never heard the name or term, Shekinah, but it is ancient understanding of God that appears in our passage, and continues on throughout the rest of the Bible. Shekinah is a name for God that means “God’s presence in our midst.” The word in Hebrew looks like this: שכינה. It literally means “to settle, inhabit, or dwell.” When our passage talks about God as appearing before the Israelites as a pillar of cloud by day, and of fire by night, that is God as Shekinah. When we hear about the tabernacle (a tent that holds the ark of the covenant), we are hearing about the holy place where the Shekinah of God rests. When Elijah is in the cave, and he hears God in the silence, that silence is Shekinah. When the prophets hear God speak to them, and share God’s word with the Israelites, that is them living in and sharing Shekinah.

            The Bible is adamant about the fact that God is a presence constantly in our midst, a holy Shekinah living in, with, and among us. Too many Christians have a problematic theology that promotes the idea of God’s separation and distance from us. Many Christians hold the belief that God is up in heaven and we are down on earth. They also believe that when each of us was created, we were given the task of living out the Golden Rule, treating other as we would be treated ourselves, and believing Jesus so that when we die and go up to heaven, St. Peter will let us in. That’s a belief in God’s separation.

            That is not a biblical belief, and it is definitely NOT what either the Old Testament or New Testament. They teach God’s Shekinah. They teach that God has been a presence with us from the beginning. In Genesis we are told that God walked with Adam and Eve in the Garden. We are also told that God literally appeared before Abraham to tell him that Sarah would bear a child. All throughout the Bible we find God’s Shekinah, including in Jesus.

            What is also interesting about God as Shekinah is that like the name for God that Rev. Frierson preached about last week, Sophia (God as Wisdom), Shekinah is also feminine. In English we don’t have feminine or masculine words, so this idea can be confusing to us. It certainly was confusing to me when I was taking French. I could never figure out why some words were feminine and some were masculine. But I’ve since found out that one reason is that the originators of the words were trying to communicate something essential in their choice of masculine or feminine designations. What was essential about making Shekinah feminine was that God’s presence has many of the qualities of what we think of as feminine: nurturing, loving, gentle, peaceful, and intimate. We often think of God as a “he,” and therefore give God masculine attributes. The Hebrews were adamant that God has feminine qualities, too, that come out in God’s Shekinah.

            I first heard of Shekinah from the great Quaker mystic and writer, Thomas Kelly. His book, Testament of Devotion, was a revelation for me because it was the first Christian writing that opened me up to a whole different dimension of understanding God than I had been aware of before. He said, Deep within us all there is an amazing inner sanctuary of the soul, a holy place, a Divine Center, a speaking Voice, to which we may continuously return. Eternity is at our hearts, pressing upon our time-torn lives, warming us with intimations of an astounding destiny, calling us home unto Itself. Yielding to these persuasions, gladly committing ourselves in body and soul, utterly and completely, to the Light Within, is the beginning of true life. It is a dynamic center, a creative Life that presses to birth within us. It is a Light Within which illumines the face of God and casts new shadows and new glories upon the face of men. It is a seed stirring to life if we do not choke it. It is the Shekinah of the soul, the Presence in the midst. Here is the Slumbering Christ, stirring to be awakened, to become the soul we clothe in earthly form and action. And He is within us all.” Prior to reading this passage, I had never heard the word “Shekinah,” and I had to look it up, which took a while to find.

            This is one of the most profound passages I’ve ever read, and it has had a deep impact on me. Kelly emphasizes that there is something of Christ, of God’s presence, in each and every one of us, but that this is a polite presence. God’s Shekinah will never be forced upon us. If we choose to ignore God’s presence in us, then God will become a “Slumbering Christ” within each and every one of us, remaining unknown and dormant. But if we choose to say “yes” to God’s Shekinah within, God’s presence will grow in us to lead us to an amazing life.

            This message of Shekinah is a message we preach all the time at Calvin Church, so it’s most likely familiar to you, but it’s not to many Christians. As I mentioned before, too many Christians think of God as “up there,” and of us as “down here.” God as Shekinah is a radical understanding of God that says that God is with us wherever we are, and deeply involved in our lives. It also means that God’s presence isn’t just in humans, but that it’s in everything. Everything manifests God’s Shekinah: nature, books, music, relationships,… life.

            Why do so many Christians have a hard time with this idea? I believe it has to do with orthodox, doctrinal Christians being scared of pantheism, which literally means that everything (pan) is God (theism). Many New Age believers like to promote everything as being God—us, trees, mountains, lakes, animals,… everything. The truth is that Christians do not believe in pantheism, but we do believe in panentheism, which is that God (theism) is in (en) everything (pan).

            Panentheism is deeply biblical. You find it promoted in the beginning of John’s gospel, where is says that “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being.”

            Panetheism is promoted in Paul’s letter to the Colossians, where Paul says about Christ, “for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible.”

            Panentheism is also promoted in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, where he says, “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.”

            The point is that God’s Shekinah is here among each and every one of us, but that doesn’t mean that we are always aware of it. I want to close with one of my favorite stories that speaks to the difference God’s Shekinah can make in our lives. Years ago there was a small monastery in the mountains of France. It once had been the center of inspiration for pilgrims and seekers yearning for God. People came from all over Europe to discover God in the monastery. But then it changed. It became proud. The brothers took themselves too seriously. Instead of being truly humble, they became proud of their humility. So began their decline. Fewer and fewer pilgrims sought their wisdom, and few monks joined their ranks. They became old. They became rigid. They worshiped their past. They were spiritually dead and physically dying. In another generation their members would be dead and they would be no more. 

            One day a scraggly stranger came to their door. He smiled a toothless smile as he asked for a place to rest for the night. He was invited in. The monks thoroughly enjoyed his presence at dinner and sensed a spiritual depth about him, even if he was rough and smelly on the outside.

            The next morning, as he was leaving, he profusely thanked the abbot. Taking the abbot’s hand, he leaned forward, and said in a soft whisper,  “I need to tell you a secret, one that God has given me permission to tell you. Christ is here in your midst. The messiah is masquerading as one of your brothers.” The abbot was shocked:  “The messiah? Here? In this place? No, it isn’t possible!” 

            He told the other brothers what the stranger had said. They also couldn’t believe it. Then they began to think about it.  Could it be brother Joseph? No, he’s too selfish. Could it be brother John? No, he’s much too strange. Is it brother Bernard? No, he’s too clumsy. No matter whom they thought of, they couldn’t imagine that brother being the messiah. Still, what if the stranger was right? A thought occurred to them. What if brother Joseph is really Christ, and just pretending to be selfish? What if Christ is brother John, and he is just pretending to be strange? What if Christ is brother Bernard, and just pretending to be clumsy? So they started to treat each other as though each one was possibly Christ, lest Christ really be one of them. As they did, the monastery changed. They began to focus more deeply on God during worship, lest Jesus catch them slumbering. They read scripture with a renewed fervor, lest Christ catch them daydreaming. As they did, they grew spiritually. Their prayers took on a new life. So did their teaching and service. And people noticed. Soon pilgrims and seekers came to their doors to learn from their wisdom. New monks joined their ranks to learn the spiritual secrets. They became alive once again, and once again they became a center of spiritual life for all of Europe. They became alive to Christ. 

            Two questions reflect on:  Do we allow ourselves to be a dwelling place for God’s Shekinah? Do we recognize God’s Shekinah in others and the world?

            As a final note, and as an exclamation point to this sermon, I want to share with you something that happened right after I preached this sermon at our 8:30 a.m. worship service. As I was shaking hands with members, one of our members handed me a blue folder and said, “God told me to give this to you.”  Not knowing what was in the folder, and a bit nervous that it might be his letter to me about the 50 ways I stink as a pastor, I stepped back and said, “Should I be afraid?” He said, “No, but let me explain it before you open it.  I wasn’t coming to church this morning, but it was like this nagging voice in my head kept urging me to go to church. It felt like there was an important reason for me to go. So I got dressed and headed out the door. But before I could walk out, I also felt this urgent compulsion to grab this folder. It seemed preposterous, but I couldn’t get the idea out of my head, so I grabbed it and headed out the door. I was a little embarrassed to walk in to church with it, so I left it in my car. After I heard your sermon, I realized that I was supposed to give it to you. Open it up.”

            I opened up the folder and found in it this bumper sticker:



            He said, “I got that bumper sticking at a Victor Wooten concert three years ago…”
  
            Amen.


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How Do We Find Happiness? by Giving



2 Corinthians 9:6-15
October 26, 2013

 The point is this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work. As it is written,
‘He scatters abroad, he gives to the poor;
   his righteousness endures for ever.’ 
He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way for your great generosity, which will produce thanksgiving to God through us; for the rendering of this ministry not only supplies the needs of the saints but also overflows with many thanksgivings to God. Through the testing of this ministry you glorify God by your obedience to the confession of the gospel of Christ and by the generosity of your sharing with them and with all others, while they long for you and pray for you because of the surpassing grace of God that he has given you. Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!

            I want give you a quick quiz: what’s the one extremely lucky thing, that if it happened to you, would both fulfill your dreams and ruin your life at the same time?  

            You probably guessed it, but the answer is winning the lotto. The fact is that, as often as not, winning the lotto ruins lives. Studies have been done on this, and many researchers have found that when you win the lotto, your life improves appreciably, and then in the ensuing years degrades incredibly. Many lotto winners end up worse off 5-10 years later than they were before they won. Let me give you some examples.

            Lara and Robert Griffith won $2.7 million. Before winning, they were reportedly a happy couple, but within two years of winning it their 14-year marriage ended. They first bought a million dollar house and he bought a Porsche. He then started having affairs, and then they called it quits.

            Sharon Tirabassi won $10 million from an Ontario lottery. She had been on welfare before winning. After winning she bought a huge house, bought a jacked up designer car, outfitter herself in designer clothes, hosted lavish parties, took exotic trips, gave handouts to family, and bad loans to friends. Within 10 years she was back in poverty.

            Ibi Roncailoli won $5 million, but she kept the winnings for herself and didn’t really share them with her husband, a gynecologist, or even tell him what she was doing with it.  Two years later he murdered her with an overdose of painkillers after he found out that she gave $2 million to man she secretly had child with (how you keep the child a secret from a gynecologist I’ll never know).

            Evelyn Adams won the New Jersey lotto twice, the two totaling $5.4. Over the course of 5 years she gambled it all away in Atlantic City and is now living in a trailer park.

            Willie Hurt won $3.1 million in the Michigan lottery. Two years later he was a crack addict, was separated from his wife, lost custody of his children, and was accused of murder.  

            My point in all of this is that so many of us think that winning the lottery would make us happier, and that having tons of money would make life easier, but many, if not most, winners find their lives become a mess after winning. This shouldn’t shock anyone, since Christianity has been talking about the connection between wealth and unhappiness, as well as giving and happiness, for thousands of years. Scripture constantly talks about how giving leads to happiness, and extreme wealth leads to unhappiness. But that’s a hard message to get across in a culture that equates the acquisition of wealth with the pursuit of happiness. When the Declaration of Independence said that we are endowed with “certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” modern Americans have equated that happiness with being rich. But that’s not what the founders believed. They believed that the pursuit of a meaningful life led to happiness, and that the nation should protect that right.

            The funny thing is that while Christianity has been saying for centuries that the pursuit of wealth for wealth’s sake leads to misery, and that giving leads to happiness, it’s only been in recent years that social research has confirmed this ancient wisdom. And in our modern life, nothing seems to be accepted as true until social research says it is.

            Many journalists are writing stories of what social researchers are finding regarding the connection between wealth and unhappiness, and giving and happiness. For example, Britt Peterson, a freelance writer for the Boston Globe and the Dallas Morning News, did a wonderful article citing research on how money changes us, and how the more money we have, the more it changes us (“Why it matters that our politicians are rich”). She wrote the article during the 2012 election, and noted that most people running for office now are exceedingly wealthy.

            She noted that there is a preponderance of research out now showing that the more money we have, the more it changes our personalities. As we become wealthier, we become more security conscious and less compassionate. She noted that recent research shows that when people just think about money, they become more focused on personal goals, while their ability to form relationships degrades. As one researcher cited said, “What money does ... is, it obviates the need for others… When you have feelings of security, there’s no extra motivation to spend your resources for compassion on other people.” Peterson also said that recent research shows that “a subject whose family income is over $75,000 will show more compassion and generosity than a subject with a family income over $150,000, and less than a subject with an income of $30,000.”

            Peterson’s insights are backed up by other studies and research. Ken Stern, a writer for The Atlantic magazine noted that in 2011, the wealthiest Americans— those with earnings in the top 20 percent—contributed on average 1.3 percent of their income to charity. By comparison, Americans at the base of the income pyramid—those in the bottom 20 percent—donated 3.2 percent of their income (“Why the Rich Don't Give to Charity”). In other words, the less money you have, the more you are likely to give sacrificially, while the more money you have, the less likely you are to give sacrificially.
Basically, the more we have, the less likely we are to share, even if we have more to share

            This is all getting to Paul’s point for this morning, which is a point Jesus made over and over again in the gospels. They both teach that a secret to finding both meaning in life and happiness is to give—to be generous—not just with money, but with time, effort, and love.

            Adam Grant, an organizational psychology professor at the University of Pennsylvania, talks about the impact of giving on happiness in his book, Give and Take. He suggests that there are basically three types of people in the world when it comes to how we negotiate and relate:  Givers, Takers, and Matchers. Matchers are people who look for fairness and equity in relationships and negotiations. Their attitude is that “if you scratch my back I’ll scratch yours.” In negotiations they look for what is fair and equal. Takers, as you can imagine, are people who look for advantage. They enter negotiations and relationships to see what they can get, and they love to get more out of negotiations and relationships than they put in. They always want more than is given. Givers are the opposite. They enter relationships and negotiations looking for ways to improve people’s lives. They want what’s best, not what’s equal.

            Grant’s research show that most people, relatively speaking, are Givers in their personal lives, but only 8 percent of people describe themselves as Givers at work. In other words, when we move into a work environment we are more likely to become a Matcher or even a Taker. The irony of this is that Givers are generally the most successful people in business, and they typically are the happiest. As he says, "There is powerful evidence that givers experience more meaning in their work than takers or matchers."

            A great example of this is John Huntsman. You may remember him from the 2012 presidential election where he ran for president as part of the Republican primary. He didn’t do all that well, but that may have something to do with his qualities. Before running for president he was a past governor of Utah, and then an ambassador to China under the Obama Administration.

            According to his 2008 book, Winners Never Cheat, he was in negotiations with Charles Miller Smith, the CEO of a British chemical company, to acquire it. In the midst of negotiations, Smith’s wife died. This potentially gave Huntsman a great negotiating advantage. He knew that he could use Smith’s grief to chip away another 20% of the price.  Here’s what Huntsman said about it: "I decided the fine points of the last 20 percent of the deal would stand as they were proposed… I probably could have clawed another $200 million out of the deal, but it would have come at the expense of Charles' emotional state. The agreement as it stood was good enough." What’s made Huntsman successful is his willingness to give, rather than to match or even to take.

            This fits completely with Paul’s and Jesus’ teachings: if we want to find meaning and purpose in life; if we want to find God in life; if we want to serve God in life, find a way to become a giver.

            The whole point of this is that if you really want to be happy, live a generous life. Now it’s easy to think that my point is to compel you to give more to the church, but that’s not what I’m aiming at. My point is that while I do want you to give to the church, and giving is important, what’s really important is to be a giver in everything. Don’t just give to the church. Give to charity. Give your time and effort to people in need. Give your compassion to people who are struggling. Give your love to others and to God.

            Basically, if you want to find happiness in life, you will find it in generosity.

            Amen.