Last week we learned of faith from Abraham as we heard God say , “Can you hear me now?  Do you trust me now?”  We hear God.  We can trust him.  But so often we catch ourselves asking, “Where are you God?”

 

            We know that God is spirit in that he has no created form as we understand it.  We have our bodies and cannot be outside of the body.  It is our container.  Paul describes our bodies as “jars of clay.”  Yes, we have ways of broadcasting ourselves to be somewhere else such as radio, telephone, or video transmission.  But the body is not there as it can only physically be one place at one time.  We are local.

 

            That is the limit of our understanding too.  All of our fantasies and mysticisms do not materialize outside of what we can touch, smell, taste, etc.  Dorothy found that out in the “Great and Powerful Oz.”  But God  has no container or just one specific place where he is.

 

            God, who is far away in heaven, how can he really be near?  How do we know he is near?  When the world is crumbling around you and you call him to be there at the snap of your fingers and on your conditions, is he or isn’t he there?

 

"Am I only a God nearby," declares the LORD, "and not a God far away?  Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot see him?" declares the LORD. "Do not I fill heaven and earth?" declares the LORD.  [Jeremiah 23:23-24]

 

            Jeremiah is writing these words of God to his people who are in exile.  They want to go back to Jerusalem.  It seems he is not hearing them.  Where is he? 

 

            Also, there were self-proclaimed prophets who were preaching what we today call politically correct doctrines.  They were proclaiming messages that were pleasing things to all people no matter what they believed in order to foster peace and goodwill.  They were telling their listeners as Paul wrote to Timothy, “what their itching ears want to hear.” 

 

            It is like today when we demand that God be in my perspective and as I think he should be.  I’ll sing or say “God bless America,” and he better do just that.  I am here at this gathering and that sounds good if we all do that while we wave flags and cheer the plane flying over.  Then we can go back to quaffing our beers, smoking the cigars, and cursing the other team or political candidate.  Hey God, we’re good down here, so now it is your job to bless us and not the other guy.  Go wipe him out, not me.

 

            It is like approaching God saying, “You should be good to me because I say I believe and go to church when I am not doing something more important.  But, God, stay out of my way when I decide to ridicule the president or his opponent, say nasty things about my neighbor who isn’t as good as I, or as I take off to work, my recreation, to shop, or do something else when my life isn’t in a crisis.  I only need you then and why didn’t you stop that crisis anyway?”

 

            Is God far away?  Is he only near when you decide to drag him into your life?  Is he present only when things go well but it is his fault for being away when things fall apart?

 

"Am I only a God nearby," declares the LORD, "and not a God far away?  Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot see him?" declares the LORD. "Do not I fill heaven and earth?" declares the LORD.  [Jeremiah 23:23-24]

 

            God is omnipresent.  He is everywhere at every moment.  He is not just here on earth but throughout all of his creation.  He is not just with people but with everything in every little way.  From Psalm 139:

 

            O Lord, you have searched me and you know me.  You know when I sit and when I rise…You hem me in---behind and before; and you have laid your hand upon me…Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?  If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.  If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.

 

            It is more than just being everywhere.  It is a pretty personal thing.  God has been with you and knows you from before your birth:

 

            My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place.  When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body.  All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

 

            We can never escape God.  We are never without him in our very being.

• He “will never leave or forsake you.”
• He leads you into green pastures and beside still waters.
• When others assault you he is there not just for you but for them to know too as he “prepares your table in the presence of your enemies.”
• He has promised to always be with you, “…even to the end of the ages.”
• He cares for every detail as he has numbered the hairs on your head.
• He will take you from the limits of this earth to be with him forever as he “will come again to take you to be where I am.”
• He wants you to always know that what he does is for you and for you to be one with him again when he says, “Take eat and drink, my body and blood, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.
• He will never be absent as long as this earth exists reminding that “my word will be proclaimed throughout the world until I come again.”

 

            Throughout Scripture and throughout all time, God is always there.  He is there with believers and unbelievers alike.  Some believed and followed him and some defied him.  Some trusted in him and some trusted in chariots, horses, and earthly princes and rulers.  Some were destroyed by him and some were restored by him.  Some were raised up by him and some were chastised by him.  Some feared and hid from him and some delighted in him.  Those who trusted him were always saved.  He only turned his face away from those who turned away and despised him to his face and to others.

 

            Likewise, he is with you always whether you are faithful or not.  When is his word not there?  You may turn it on or off, but it is always there.  It is there and comforts and strengthens and leads you in righteousness when you listen to him and follow his word.  It cuts you to the heart when you go contrary and your conscience tells you so no matter how you try to disguise and hide your sin.

 

            When is baptism not there?  You may deny it or push it out of your thoughts and memory, but it is always there, washing away sins and restoring the believer in forgiveness of sins and everlasting life through Jesus’ suffering, death and resurrection.

 

            When is Jesus body and blood not there?  Whenever his words of promise are said with the bread and wine, he is there as he has promised and he never breaks his promise. 

 

            When is God’s creating power not there?  When is there not air, soil, water, and all of the intricacies of this world? 

 

            When is his love not there?  1 Peter 3:18 For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.   It is a love that never ends, not even in death, but in the resurrection that is given to you.

 

            Truly, our God is a loving God who wishes to draw us to himself.  He does that in his grace and mercy through the proclamations of his word and in the blessings given in baptism and the Lord’s Supper.  We, who have been far off, have been brought close to him by his always being there in spirit, in creation, in his word, in the sacraments, and simply because of who he is, “I AM.”  There is no limit to his “am.”  He is not contained by body, space, land, water, or absence of matter.  And he is the same yesterday, today and forever.

 

            Where is God?  He is with you now, always has been, and always will be.  It is simply because he loves you and wants you to be with him nearby and far away, yesterday, today, and forever.  Amen.