This is a phrase popularized in recent years, and with good reason, for we have a solid scriptural basis in Ps. 139:5,7-8. What does it mean to practice the presence of Jesus? Spend some time today in the dusty annals of church history, examining some of the writings and thoughts of a man who lived over 700 years ago, and comparing those ideas to the teachings of Jesus in the sermon on the Mount, especially in the Beatitudes.
Have you ever been to one of those endless church meetings? When I was younger, many church activities seemed endless. I remember finding the precise middle of the song book by the method of eliminating one page from each side, beginning with the two covers. I remember chasing dust particles in the sunshine that gleamed through the Sunday morning windows. I hope I have learned the lesson that a lesson does not have to be eternal to be timeless.
When I was in college, Brother Kelcy intrigued me with a study of the "comings of Jesus." I have preached a sermon much like the sermon he suggested, identifying five or six different comings of Jesus in the Bible. But in this sermon, I want to think with you about only 3 aspects of his coming. Not long ago, I was introduced to the idea of three major comings of Jesus. This idea is not some new millennium twist, but comes to us from the pen of the 14th century Flemish writer, John of Ruysbroeck (d. 1381).
The first coming is the incarnation. Ruysbroeck wrote, "He became man, for man's sake, out of love." The third coming is what many refer to today as the second coming, what is more biblically called his appearing, the literal meaning of the word parousia. Followers of Jesus today, as in Ruysbroeck's day, live between these two comings. As Ruysbroeck suggests, we need to focus not on his first coming, although many will during this holiday season, nor on his third coming, always a popular topic, especially in prophecy circles and conferences, but we need to be spending more time looking for his second coming.
What is the second coming of Jesus? Listen again to Ruysbroeck: "The second coming takes place daily, often and many times, in every loving heart, with new graces and with new gifts, as each is able to receive them." The pressing question for every Christian is not about our historical understanding of the incarnation of Jesus--his birth, ministry, and death, as important as this gospel story is. The pressing question is not about our knowledge of the alleged signs or various passages concerning his appearing at the end of time. The pressing question is, "How will Jesus come into my life and my world today?"
What about today? How is Jesus present in your life right now right here? Where do you see Jesus today? Do you hear Jesus in the words of Scripture or in the cries of the poor and needy or in the lives of the lost in our world? Can you see Jesus in this community, in your family, in your friends?
Ruysbroeck was gripped by the words of Matthew 25:6, "Look, Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him." Today, we think together about how we can practice the presence of Jesus, the "present coming of Christ...which takes place daily within our souls." This requires that we learn open eyes, a God seeing life.
I. The Valley of Humility
One way we can learn the presence of Jesus, as reflected in the Beatitudes, is to create our own little microworld. When I visited Ecuador, I was intrigued by the villages which exist now in the crater of volcanoes no longer active. One can stand on the rim of the volcano, and look down on villages which exist with little contact with the outside world, in a fertile, almost self-sustaining world. I am not suggesting that Jesus wants us to isolate ourselves from the world around us, but there is a value in creating this kind of retreat. We can cultivate a sense of Jesus' presence in our world and in our personal lives by creating what Ruysbroeck calls a valley of humility.
First, the presence of Jesus daily is seen in a sense of destitution without him. "Blessed are the poor in spirit." Genuine humility is not easy. We are more prone to point out our strengths. We live in a culture that values self-reliance and self-confidence. But many self-esteem building workshops are the death of our souls. Our confidence is not in self, but in the Savior.
Second, the presence of Jesus daily is seen in our sorrow for the things that cause God sorrow. Do we mourn over the condition of our world, over the condition of our friends and family? "Blessed are they that mourn..."
Third, Jesus' presence in reflected in a certain attitude. "Blessed are the meek." At his first coming, Jesus did not come to the high and mighty, but to the God-fearers of his day. Mary received Jesus into her life as a humble handmaiden of the Lord, the beauty of the Christmas story. It is no different in the coming of Jesus into our lives. Jesus says it is the poor in spirit, the mourners, and the meek who will see the kingdom of God and its King most clearly, for the King will break into the lives of those who honor his Lordship. Ruysbroeck challenges those who want to practice the presence of Jesus to "take a stand upon your own littleness...to confess and know that you have nothing and are nothing...and when we can see clearly how often we fail in virtue and works, we confess our poverty and helplessness." The first three Beatitudes cultivate a valley of humility.
II. The Majesty of God's Mountain
The middle Beatitude stretches us to cultivate a greater desire for the things of God. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness. Reverse your position in the Ecuadorean Andes, and imagine yourself in the crater valley rather than on the rim. How majestic do those mountains rise around you, the first set, not all that high, ranging from 500 to 900 feet, but beyond them, the active volcanoes which seem to touch the sky at 14000 feet. How can we but bow down in humility, how can we but look inward with desire. The destitution of our hearts naturally leads to the desire for God. We are parched without his presence. We sing the words of the Psalmist: As the deer (Ps. 42:1). We know less well the words of David in Ps. 119:20, my soul is consumed with longing....
The early church anticipated the coming of Jesus at the end of time. That same expectant longing must throb in the hearts of Christians today who wish to see Jesus more clearly in the daily walks of life. This desire stretches our hearts with the ability to receive him once we have felt the empty place. Ruysbroeck again, "stretched with longing...to meet Christ and be filled with his gifts."
III. The Rigor of the Journey
The final Beatitudes speak to our dedication in seeing Jesus daily. It is no easy task to traverse the distance from the valley of humility to the majesty of God. Trust me--the characteristics of mercy, purity, and peace are not easy. Persecutions come, and the natural human tendency is to arch our backs and strike out against such injustices. But the attitude of Jesus' presence is one of mercy and pure living and peacemaking. These Beatitudes speak against the idea that Jesus is best served in lives of well-being and victory. The example of Jesus is in fact just the opposite. Jesus came without winning a battle, but he won the war.
Life in the presence of Jesus, life in the Beatitudes, as John knew about 7 centuries ago, is not a life that moves from one high point to another. Our spiritual journey is never so predictable. Nor are the three things we have discussed a straight line so that we move from destitution to desire to dedication. Our lives consistently move through the valleys of despair, not because Jesus is not present, but precisely because he is present. The last few years have seen the little poem "footprints" popularized, and I often see it as I visit in various homes and other places. Jesus is with us, both in the good times and in the bad. It may not be hard to see him in the good times, but it is extremely hard to see him in the bad times. Yet Jesus meets us where we are, and wants to be present where we live. He is present, he promised he would be, Mt. 28:20, ours is but to see him.
Jesus stops and stoops to meet us in the most mundane, most shameful, most unlikely places. Ruysbroeck said, "he has sought us in strange countries."
Conclusion
A mature faith will honor all three comings of Jesus. We may find strange the inordinate interest in his birth at this season, but it is a part of the story of Jesus' first coming. It is not to be ignored, but it is to be understood in the larger context of Jesus' life. The Word became flesh and lived among us, and so in his teaching, living and dying, and living again, we find our identity and salvation.
In his future coming, we find our hope, that lightens dark days of in-between times. It is in these two great events that Jesus redemptively enters the human history of our world.
But the sustenance that keeps us going daily is our understanding of the grand contours of God's cosmic work of reconciliation in Christ for us. In his second coming, daily in our lives, Jesus enters our own personal stories in their uniqueness and challenges. This allows us, in a final quote from Ruysbroeck, to taste him in time.
It is the unfathomable grace of Jesus that you and I are invited to practice the presence of Jesus in his second coming into our lives.
I am glad people in our world take time to focus on his first coming. I wish there were more awareness in the lives of those same people of his coming in judgment. But for his church, for us today, I wish a greater awareness of his coming into our lives daily, that we may see him, experience him, and honor his presence.
It is toward that end that we sing and encourage. If you are not a Christian, this is an opportunity to see your destitute situation and answer the desires of your heart.
If you have not been dedicated in your service, you can rekindle the desire and dedication, you can come home, you can know his daily presence. Blessed are ye...your needs will be met in Him.
