Finding God on the Mountain and in the Mess
Which words do you prefer?
A) Majestic, glorious, amazing, radiant, captivating
B) Messy, desperate, ugly, helpless, suffering
Let me ask it another way. Which words describe where you are most apt to find Jesus?
The scripture tells us that you will find him in both groups of words. In Isaiah 57:15 the prophet said that the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy actually lives in two places: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit.”
If you have been in the church for a while or read much of the Bible then you are used to the idea of God’s presence being holy, glorious, radiant, and so on. Many of the worship songs we sing during church services or masses, both the ancient hymns and our contemporary worship music, declare the glory of God. It is in our times of worship that we often experience the holiness of God and literally feel his presence. But we are mistaken if we think that is the only place we can hear from, feel, or know the presence of God.
In Mark 9 there are two very different stories. The chapter opens with Jesus taking Peter, James, and John up on a high mountain. There these three disciples experienced the transfiguration. The clothes Jesus wore became radiant and intensely white. A cloud overshadowed the mountain, and the disciples saw Jesus talking with Elijah and Moses and even heard the voice of God come from the cloud and declare; “this is my beloved Son; listen to him.”
This experience was so dramatic that the disciples wanted to set up tents for Moses, Elijah, and Jesus where they could dwell or live. Can you imagine that experience? I am confident that in that moment Peter, James, and John felt a certain timelessness. Often in the presence of God our worries and even our sense of time evaporates. But just as quickly as the transfiguration happened things were back to normal, and Jesus walked the three of them back down from the mountain top and into a great crowd who were listening to an argument.
Down below where things are sometimes ugly, a troubled and tired father had brought his son to see Jesus, but Jesus wasn’t there. He was up on that glorious mountain. The son at the base of the mountain had a demonic spirit that would often violently throw the boy down. When this happened, the boy would foam at the mouth, grind his teeth, and roll aggressively all over the ground. Apparently in Jesus absence some of the disciples had tried to cast the demon out of the boy but had failed.
When Jesus asked the father about the son’s condition, the father said he had been afflicted since his childhood. There had been years of torment for the young man, his father, and their family. The father told Jesus that sometimes the demon even threw the young man into fire or water trying to end his life. At some point in the conversation the father said to Jesus: “But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”
I wonder if Jesus raised his eyebrows at this comment. Jesus replied: “‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.” The father quickly cried out: “I believe; help my unbelief!” Jesus immediately responded and cast the demon out. The boy seemed dead in the next few seconds, but Jesus took the boy’s hand and lifted him up.
Back to Isaiah and his declaration of where Jesus lives. As mentioned above, he does dwell in the high and holy places like the mountain top of Mark’s text. But don’t miss the rest of the verse: “and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit”. In Hebrew, the word for contrite includes the idea of repentance and the word for lowly spirit refers to humility. Isaiah is clear that God dwells with us even as the sins of humanity have caused so much destruction.
Our daily struggles are rooted in the brokenness that the fall brought about in Genesis. While some of our messy situations, health issues, and financial struggles might be caused by some of our mistakes, they are also sometimes brought about because the world is broken and filled with broken people. The result of this brokenness brings pain, sickness, inequity and injustices to our world.
We would of course prefer to be with Jesus where there is no pain and no suffering, and one day we will be. But in the meantime, it is good to know that even on our worst days he dwells right there with us in the messy situations we must deal with. And when Jesus is there with us, we can pray that in our moments of unbelief he will strengthen our faith and do for us what is impossible for us to do alone.
Father, thank you for the reminders from your word concerning your address. We praise you as a God who is high and lifted up! And we ask today that you meet us in our messy situations, and there transform our situations by your power and grace. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Your Time with God’s Word
Isaiah 57:15; Mark 9:2-29 ESV
Photo by Pexels
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