Space

After a lot of invisible things in Pauls list in Romans 8 38-39 we are now considering more physical things in our list.

For I am convinced that ….. neither height nor depth….. can separate from the Love of God..

We are now considering perhaps less spiritual things or at least how the physical world can influence the spiritual. In our western worldview we tend to hold physical and spiritual as quite separate things but in the East there is a lot of overlap and the scriptures and the world of Jesus would have had no problem seeing that everything is interrelated.

Where can we go to escape God? Nowhere. There is no place we can go to hide, the whole physical world is open to God he is everywhere and we cannot escape him. Alternatively, there are no special places that are more sacred where Jesus is more present.

Sure, there are places that can help us connect better, places where we are less distracted and more centred but that is about us sorting ourselves out. God will come to us wherever we are when we call to him, if we remember in the Garden of Eden God does not always wait for us to call, sometimes He comes looking for us. Conversely there are places where it is difficult for us to connect with God especially if those places awaken our sinful nature and these are places we should choose to avoid if possible.

We can if we so choose, use space to separate us from God, we can rearrange our lives so there is no reminder of him. We can avoid visiting places such as churches where we are reminded that He wants to connect to us. We may live in a context where Christ is not recognised and any symbols of him are removed, but that does not make any difference if we desire to connect with Him, he is still there and waiting for us. We can therefore if we so choose, also use space to draw close to him, we can build a sanctuary surrounded by things that help us or visit places that help us to focus and reduce the distractions that are around us and also those within us.

Finding a physical space where we are more rested and feel secure and at peace, can be a positive help. Initially when finding this quiet place, we can feel the rush of distraction and imperative demands which can be quite disturbing. But with practice and perseverance we can learn not only to find a quiet place but also to quiet our own soul, to still the mind and learn to listen in the stillness.

What about the heights and depths of the emotional world?

When I was defining this Lenten series I saw heights and depths as referring simply to the physical world, our immediate environment. But on discussion with my wife she pointed out that this can also refer to the emotional world, it is also subject to the expression heights and depths. I find it quite amusing that it needed my wife to point this out to me, we men can be a bit dense sometimes.

And yes, whatever our emotional world is like, there cannot be anything in it that can separate us from the love of God. This does not mean that we can always feel his presence. Indeed a lot of the time our feelings deceive us and can cause us to doubt. Again Paul draws attention to the two sides and says that neither can cause a separation. The obvious separation is the feeling when we are in the depths, the ‘slough of despond’ or worse actual depression, separation from God’s love could almost be a definition of this place, and it is difficult to see where or how God’s love could ever reach us. Yet this word from Paul reassures that God is greater and although we feel separate that feeling is a lie.

John also writes in 1 John 3:19-20  

19 This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence: 20 If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. 

……God is greater than our heart….This is a great comfort.

The other extreme would be the heights, the high or happy feeling which can be a trap simply because it is such a nice thing. If God’s Love was only there when we felt good about life then it would be a pretty shallow thing and not to be depended upon. If we commit ourselves to always being happy and needing everything to be in a good place we have allowed our feelings to tell us whether God Loves us or not. This is also a lie, God Loves us whether we feel good or bad and we must avoid the temptation to associate God’s love with particular feelings and not others.

But certainly  we need to learn the right appreciation of our feelings they are there to be enjoyed and when we are aware of their place in our lives we can find a freedom. Our feelings are not our masters that is a place only God can take. Yet to deny our feelings any place in our lives can remove us from one of the aspects of our humanity that we should be able to enjoy.

The Easter story is very much about spaces or places and feelings. We have very important places which carry great significance, and each place carries also an abundance of feelings. So as we approach Holy week we will encounter these places afresh and we will travel through depths and heights of emotion with our Lord Jesus. From the Last supper with friends, on to the Garden of Gethsemane with the earth shaking tears and the closeness of Jesus with the Heavenly Father, and then through the pain of Betrayal in the same place. The public trial and shame in a unjust courtroom, on to the place of the skull and the crucifixion. Then the silence and mystery of the Tomb when time stood still, followed by the transforming of the place of death into a sepulchre of resurrection.

Everything is transformed though. The room of the last supper was transformed into a place where Jesus walks through walls and shows his scars. The garden of gethsemane has been superseded by the mount of transfiguration. All these physical places are associated with Jesus’ journey amongst us and speak to us in our own heights and depths.

Summary

1. God is everywhere and we cannot escape Him
2. He is there when we need Him wherever we are
3. Our feelings can deceive us both heights and depths
4. Our feelings are not though to be despised
5. Easter is rich with heights and depths both physical, emotional and spiritual.
6. Jesus rose from the dead transforming the deepest darkest chasm into the triumphant light of God’s Love.

We can go anywhere without fear of separation from God’s Love. This word encourages us to walk confidently through the darkest valley and happily through the green pastures of Psalm 23.

1 The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

2 He makes me lie down in green pastures;

he leads me beside still waters;

3 he restores my soul.

He leads me in right paths for his name's sake.

4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil;

for you are with me; your rod and your staff— they comfort me

5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;

you anoint my head with oil;

my cup overflows.

6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,

and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long.