"Ooh!"
said Susan. "I'd thought he was a man. Is he -- quite safe? I shall feel
rather nervous about meeting a lion."
"That
you will, dearie, and no mistake," said Mrs. Beaver, "if there's
anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they're either
braver than most or else just silly."
"Then
he isn't safe?" said Lucy.
"Safe?"
said Mr. Beaver. "Don't you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said
anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I
tell you."
-C.S. Lewis from The Lion, The Witch, & The Wardrobe
A couple of weeks ago I was at a camp where all heaven
literally broke lose. God showed up in the place in such a tangible way that kids were on the
ground sobbing, some were laughing, and some were shaking visibly as they
encountered God and just a fraction of His love and power. To
anyone who walked into the room it looked like a bomb had gone off in the
place. My initial reaction was, Oh Crap
have we just amped up a bunch of teens into an emotional frenzy, but our
speaker was about as low key as they come and had simply invited God’s Spirit
to come and touch the teens lives and had instructed a few of the teens to
begin to pray for one another. This is
something I’ve done in my ministry tons of times, and there are usually some tears
and peace and a real sense of God’s presence; this is what happens most of the
time, but there are times when the Spirit shows up in a way that the only way
to wrap your mind around it is to think of Pentecost in the book of Acts. This is not the first time I had seen
something like this, but when it happens it is always a little disconcerting.
As a matter of fact I remember my initial reaction to
experiencing God’s love and power in a way that was beyond “normal”. It was my freshman year of college and we
liked to go to a church called Aldersgate
United Methodist
Church in College Station Gary
After the service was over we almost ran out of the
sanctuary to Harold’s truck. I remember
Harold looking over and saying, “What do you guys think?” I said “I think it was God.” and they shook
their heads in affirmation. Gary
So here’s the question, if that experience and the
experience at Camp was God, and I believe it was, why would it be so
disconcerting; dare I say even a little scary?
In his book The Silver Chair, C.S. Lewis draws an analogy about
God’s character, that I find to be quite profound, with the story of a young
girl named Jill. She's in the land
of Narnia
"If
I run away, it'll be after me in a moment," thought Jill. "And if I
go on, I shall run straight into its mouth." Anyway, she couldn't have
moved if she had tried, and she couldn't take her eyes off it. How long this
lasted, she could not be sure; it seemed like hours. And the thirst became so
bad that she almost felt she would not mind being eaten by the Lion if only she
could be sure of getting a mouthful of water first. . . .
"Are
you not thirsty?" said the Lion.
"I'm
dying of thirst," said Jill.
"Then
drink," said the Lion.
"May
I, would you mind going away while I do?" said Jill.
The
Lion answered this only by a look and a very low growl. And as Jill gazed at
its motionless bulk, she realized that she might as well have asked the whole
mountain to move aside for her convenience. The delicious rippling noise of the
stream was driving her nearly frantic.
"Will
you promise not to do anything to me, if I do come?" said Jill.
"I
make no promise," said the Lion.
Jill
was so thirsty now that, without noticing it, she had come a step nearer.
"Do you eat girls?" she said.
"I
have swallowed up girls and boys, women and men, kings and emperors, cities and
realms," said the Lion. It didn't say this as if it were boasting, nor as
if it were sorry, nor as if it were angry. It just said it.
"I
daren't come and drink," said Jill.
"Then
you will die of thirst," said the Lion.
"Oh
dear!" said Jill, coming another step nearer. "I suppose I must go
and look for another stream then."
"There
is no other stream," said the Lion. It never occurred to Jill to
disbelieve the Lion & no one who had seen his stern face could do that and
her mind suddenly made itself up.
It
was the worst thing she had ever had to do, but she went straight to the
stream, knelt down, and began scooping up water in her hand. It was the
coldest, most refreshing water she had ever tasted. You didn't need to drink
much of it, for it quenched your thirst at once. Before she tasted it she had
been intending to make a dash away from the Lion the moment she had finished.
Now, she realized that this would be on the whole the most dangerous thing of
all.
So you’ve heard a little bit about my experience with God
and some profound words from one of the great Christian minds of the last
century, but does this ring true with scripture? When people encounter the presence of the
living God is it always quite, peaceful, and still?[2] Let’s look at a few examples from the
scripture. This is not an exhaustive
list in any fashion.
Again this is just a highlight reel. It is in no way exhaustive. I tried to include something from every major
section of scripture.[4] Doesn’t it make sense that if we encounter
the presence of God in a real and vital way that it would fry our circuits a
bit? We are talking about the God who
spoke and all things came into existence.
Even a tiny bit of His power in a place is going to be overwhelming at
best.
Let me finish with telling a few of the stories of what
happened during that “Pentecost” experience at camp.
The first person that evening who encountered God’s power
fell on the floor and began laughing uncontrollably. It was disconcerting to anyone in the
auditorium. The next day I sat down and
talked with them about what happened.
They related to me that their parents had gone through a nasty divorce
and how that had made them very angry, bitter, and even filled with rage. As our speaker invited the Spirit to come the
individual just asked God to help them. They said a wave of joy that was so powerful
just rushed into them. Something they were
unable to control, but after the evening God had given them a peace about their
life and that things were going to be O.K.
There was another person who was there who had accepted
Jesus as their savior the first night.
The next night they fell out on the floor sobbing from the depth of
their being for the better part of an hour.
This persons father had been beheaded by a drug cartel when they were
young. The family had fled the country
for the safety of the U.S.
I could tell story after story. What I want you to know is that God can’t be
tamed. His ways are not our ways. He is more powerful than we can possibly
understand and comprehend and when He decides to touch us with His power and
love it is not uncommon for us to come completely undone, for us to be struck
by awe, fear, or even denial.
Have you been trying to tame a God who can’t be tamed?
[1] All
believers are filled with the Spirit when they decide to make Jesus their King,
but God likes to empower our lives through the Spirit so we will be more
excited about sharing about the life giving love that is available to us
through Jesus.
[2] There is
no doubt that God’s presence does come to us in a comforting and quiet way in
scripture. The thing I want to explore
has to do with whether this is the only way God’s presence is manifest in our
lives according to scripture.
[3] Jewish
people weren’t to eat pork, so keeping a herd of pigs shows these people
weren’t keeping the law as they should.
[4] The Law,
The Histories, The Prophets, The New Testament
