From the sparrows perch atop the posts of the tabernacle, one thing becomes abundantly clear; there is a true desire among most men to have a place of relationship with the creator of the universe. The ebb and flow of mankind through the gate of the tabernacle fence demonstrates the desire for the presence of God. As our little sparrow flits from perch to perch in the courtyard, he can't help but notice that there is one place that only a handful of people go to. When they enter, they wear ornate dress and carry blood stained items in their hands. It is a place he is intimate with, but very few men can enter. For our little sparrow, it is the shadow of the almighty, the tender place beneath His wing, a refuge from the storms, the Fowler, and pestilence. It is the holy place.
One of the pleasures of growing old, is that while life seems to move in a frenetic dash toward the exit at stage left, there are these marvelous moments of extended clarity. These moments can be held in breathtaking moments of contemplation and meditation. One of these moments happened for me recently as I thought of my grandson Brendan playing in our tub. I'd long forgotten the pleasures of a large bathtub filled to scuba diving depth. Along the ledge of the tub were swimming goggles, buckets, floaties, and other necessities for swimming in the tub. Just a small amount of bubble bath, takes it up to another level. At my age, taking a shower or bath has a distinct purpose; to get clean. Having fun in the tub. . . . lets just say I'm not as small as Brendan. He gets on the edge of the tub and with a quick thrust of his legs, slides down the slope of the tub into the water. The splash of water bathes the floor and the walls (all tiled of course.) This goes on for at least an hour, until his grandmother tells him it's enough. He is animated as she towels his shivering little body and he dances on his toes in joy. In one unrehearsed moment, he pecks her on the cheek. "I love you, grandma Bragg." he says. "Can I sleep in the waterbed with you and grandpa tonight?"
What do you think the answer was?
One thing I think happens to us in our Christian walk, is that we forget what it is like to take a bath in the Lord. We forget about our silly spiritual swimming goggles, our joy at sliding down the slope of his presence and feeling the joy of His love splashing all over everyone and everything. We forget the moments when all we wanted to do, was kiss His lovely face and ask if we could sleep with Him. Too quickly, we forget the thrill of diving into the safety of his love and the warmth of his Spirit as he dries us off from our experience with him. Our failures, filthiness, mistakes, or just plain fun, begin to make us pull away. The innocence that is the hallmark of intimacy is exchanged for the shame of occasional visits.
The sparrow can't help but notice it either. The Lord has never refused to feed him, has never pushed him away from His presence. Mankind picks people to go in to the Holy Place who on the surface appear to have it all together. The tender embrace of intimacy is exchanged for the rights and rituals of cleansing. The cross and its work become the focus of their religious existence instead of staying in the tub of his presence. It's no wonder our services are relegated to simple formulas that leave us clean, cold, and longing. We run the water of the Spirit by singing two or three hymns or choruses. Of course, we can make the water as hot or cold as we want, until someone complains. We don't want to run the water too deep, that would be a waste of . . .time. Then we pull out the soap of the word, lather up and let the man of God pronounce his inspection of our lives. Yes, we could grow sinful potatoes in our ears, get the crud from under our fingernails, and wipe the poop off our rear ends. Now, we dry off with our Spiritual towel, knowing there is one thing we would really love to do if we had the time; jump back in and splash around awhile. Instead, we head off toward our Sunday meal, make excuses to ourselves for not having fun, and then take a nap to dull the pain of knowing there was more fun to be had in the presence of God.
As we grow older, our two man spiritual tub is replaced with a more economical model, or we simply take showers.
Enough said.
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