That s what this week, what the scripture that Wallace just read, is all about God dwelling among his people.

Transcription

1 1 I. One of my most frequent, consistent prayers for the youth of our church is that they would experience God and his love, grace, and mercy in an absolutely undeniable way. a. And among the many prayers I say on behalf of the youth, there s a real reason why this one has risen to the top, been repeated, and asked with great sincerity. b. It s because that, above all other things, is what I ve identified our students want and need the most. Some of them know it and have said as much to me. Others know that something is missing but don t know what it is. But the fact of the matter is that the thing that our youth want more than anything is to experience God. c. They want to know that he is real. They want to know that he really is good and powerful. They want to know that he really does love them. They want to know that he really is present. And they re young. They re inexperienced. d. But I don t think they re much different from the rest of us. We doubt. We wonder if God is really there. We wonder if he is really for us. Our faith wavers. We want God to reach out and touch us. To show us that he is present. e. Only then will we really be willing to give him everything. We long for him to show up. f. And this attitude is nothing new! The last time I preached, it was about a couple hundred years after Moses, with David and Goliath. And we spent a lot of time talking not about David, but about Saul a man who was made king of Israel because Israel needed someone they could see. Their faith had floundered. They wanted a man they could see instead of a seemingly unknowable God. g. But back to our story, to our scripture. We re following the Israelites through the desert. h. They ve escaped slavery in Egypt through 10 plagues and the parting of the Red Sea, they received manna from heaven and water from rocks, they ve traveled to Sinai and received commandments, they ve been led by a pillar of smoke in the day and fire at night. i. They have experienced God in some of the most incredible ways recorded in human history. j. And yet, because they have not seen the face of God, their faith fails. They doubt. They disobey. They turn from God. k. And because of this, and because of the covenants he has made with Abraham and Moses that the Israelites would be His people, God decides that he will dwell among them. II. That s what this week, what the scripture that Wallace just read, is all about God dwelling among his people.

2 2 a. This is the beginning of God s instructions to build the Tabernacle. Well, what in the world is a tabernacle? It is the place where God dwells. Literally, it is where he resides. It is his presence on earth. b. This is nothing that anyone has ever experienced before! Noah and Abraham heard the voice of God. Jacob wrestled with angels. Joseph received visions. But the Israelites were receiving instructions on how to build God a house that he could live in. c. He was going to be a part of their community, travel with them, live with them. God was going to live in a tent in the desert with a ragtag group of humans because they were his and he loved them even though most the time they re a bunch of punks. d. This is a HUUUUUUUGE deal. We know this because instructions for building the tabernacle take up 6 chapters! e. {Read from Exodus 26:1-12ish} I mean, geeze, talk about detail! This is the kind of writing that gives the Bible a bad rap! When confronted with this, you ll be begging for wordless illustrations from Ikea! III. But let s jump ahead and see a fuller view of what it is God is telling Moses and the Isrealites to build. {in Pathways, have a slide diagram} a. Basically, what we ve got here is 150 x75 of tent walls. That s basically half a football field enclosed in a wall. b. Then, inside of that, you ve got a smaller tent. It s like 30 x15. c. And inside that, you ve got another tent that s 15 x15. So you ve got those Russian nesting dolls of tents. d. The big one, basically this big courtyard, it s a meeting area. It has places for sacrifices. Provided you had followed your cleanliness laws and some of the other directives of God, your normal Israelite could go in there. e. Then there s that smaller middle tent. This is the Holy Place. Only priests are allowed in here. It has an altar and lampstand and table it s a place for sacrifices and very Holy. f. Then you ve got your smallest tent. The Holy of Holies or the Most Holy Place. In youth speak, this is high key holy. g. This is the throne of God. It is where he resides. It has his presence in it. This is where heaven meets earth. This is basically the gates of heaven. God. On. Earth. h. And separating this tent from the just normal Holy place is this curtain. It s thick with several layers of different materials and is basically a shield between God and the Israelites. You go past that curtain into God s presence, and you go bye-bye. i. And here s the thing, it s not just because God decided it would be cool to remain mysterious and unknowable. It s because God is so good, so holy, so loving, so majestic, so great, so impressive, so glorious that if any of us were to actually be in God s presence, we would die as a result because of our sin.

3 3 j. Because we are not holy, loving, and good, our souls have never felt anything like it and to experience that would be a shock to our system so great, we would never recover. k. To be in God s presence is no laughing matter. That curtain is there not to keep the Israelites out, but to protect them from the full presence of God. l. Moses actually gets to be really brave a couple chapters down the road from this, and he asks to see God in all his glory. God tells him, No, because you see my face you ll die, but agrees to let Moses see part of him. And it s such an experience, that when Moses goes backed to the Israelites afterward, his face has been transformed. The best I can picture is you know how they ll show pictures from the beginning of a president s term and then the end, and it looks like they ve aged like 20 years and it s only been 4? I think it s gotta be kinda like that. That s what a glimpse of God s back will do to you. m. So what s the point of all this? Being in God s presence is an indescribably big deal. n. I ve spent so much time talking about his because the words just don t exist to describe it, so I m going with quantity over quality. o. God has Israel build him the tabernacle so that he can be with them; God on earth, among his people. This is amazing. IV. But still, so what? Why do we care? We aren t in a desert and we don t have a tent set up in the yard of the church. a. Well, we care because, like always, Jesus changed everything. b. The tabernacle was a huge deal. It was a portable tent, a dwelling place for God, so that he could be among his people. That was incredible. c. But then, King Solomon, the guy who came after King Saul and King David, he built the Temple in Jerusalem. The Israelites had finally established themselves in the promised land and no longer had to move around. They had a permanent home, and so Solomon had a permanent tabernacle built. A permanent place of dwelling where God could be with his people on earth. d. The Temple is an even bigger deal than the tabernacle. It s God s promises to his people coming true. It s him building a kingdom with his children. It s God s presence on earth. V. But it wasn t enough. God s people wanted more. God was there, but he was hidden behind that curtain, that shield that was necessary to keep them safe because of their sin. a. They couldn t see God in all his glory, so their faith wavered. They disobeyed. They rebelled. They turned their backs on God. They ignored him. Some forgot him, even though he was right there.

4 4 They longed for more. But they couldn t see what was right in front of them. Their faith wasn t strong enough. b. God wants nothing more than to be with his people and love them and have them love him back, but despite all he s done for them through thousands of years in the Old Testament, it just isn t enough. His people are hard-hearted, selfish, scared, and weak. c. So he sends us his son, Jesus, AKA Emmanuel, God with us. God had shown himself in a pillar of fire and smoke, but now becomes incarnated as man. God present on earth as a human being. d. Talk about revelation. Talk about presence. e. Jesus lives a life that tells us and shows us who God is. He lives a life of holiness, love, and perfection. He does what no man has ever been able to do before and remains faithful to God. He is obedient to the law. He loves the Father with everything that he has. He gives us everything we could ever ask for when it comes to wanting to know God. f. To a group of people who needed to see and experience God in order to have the faith to follow him, he gives them exactly that. g. And again, despite seeing and experiencing Jesus Christ, Son of God, Emmanuel, God with Us, in the flesh, those who know him and experience him the most, the disciples, even they fail. Their faith falters. h. The shield between God s glorious presence and us remains intact. He s present, but he s shielded for our safety. Our sin keeps us separated from God. VI. And because this chasm exists, because our sin separates us from the presence of the God who loves us, because there s no other way to bridge that gap and bring us into the Holy Presence of God, Jesus takes the sin of the world upon him, and he dies on the cross for our sins. a. And in the moment that he says with his dying breath that his work is finished, in the moment that he dies for the sins of the entire world, for you and for me, the curtain in the Temple rips in two. b. I said the curtain in the Temple rips in two. THE CURTAIN IN THE TEMPLE RIPS IN TWO. c. The shield, the one thing standing in the way between us and God s presence and glory is broken. d. The shield was necessary because of the sinfulness in our lives, but through Jesus s redemptive actions on the cross, we can be made holy. e. Hebrews 10:19-20 says, we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body. f. We can be in God s presence in a way that no one has ever experienced before because of Jesus.

5 5 g. The Israelites were incredibly fortunate to have this tabernacle and then the temple, this place where God could reside and be among them, but they were still shielded. h. Through Jesus s actions on the cross, that shield is no longer needed and God s presence is not just among us, but inside of us. i. We can not just be near God; God can be in us. VII. For real, think about this. Remember the Most Holy place? That tiniest tent of the Russian nesting egg tents? The place that is God s throne on earth? a. On one day each year, the high priest could enter that place to give a sacrifice on behalf of the people, but only after meticulous washing, special clothes, a blood sacrifice, and enough incense burned to still shield God from his view. They would put a rope around the guy before he went in so that they could pull him out if he died because he had done something wrong. b. That place is heaven meets earth. And all of a sudden, the shield is gone. God s presence is no longer confined to a place of residing, but now is freed to live in the hearts of all who accept Jesus as their savior and Lord. c. God s presence resides in the hearts of those who have not seen God, but believe that Jesus lived a perfect life but chose to die for their sins. d. God s presence resides in the hearts of those who long to know God, but struggle to invest in one that they cannot see. e. God s presence resides in the hearts of those who want to follow God, but fail to obey him over and over. f. God s presence resides in the hearts of those who disobey, who are too caught up in their own lives and goals and dreams to give him the time of day. g. God s presence resides in the hearts of those who are selfish, scared, and hard-hearted. h. God s presence resides in the hearts of us. If we accept Jesus for who he is. If we accept Jesus as God s presence on earth. If we accept Jesus as the God who died for his people because his presence was not enough. i. God s presence resides in us if we accept that we were broken and Jesus fixed us by being broken. j. God s presence resides in us if we accept that he cleansed us, clothed us, and served as the blood sacrifice necessary not just to cover our sins, but to remove them from us completely. k. Through Jesus s actions, we go from sinful people lucky to be God s neighbors, to cleansed, holy temples where God resides. l. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says, Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received

6 6 from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies. m. Your bodies are a temple bought with a price. Your bodies are a dwelling place of God, bought with a price. God resides with in you. VIII. IX. God resides within you. What are you going to do about it? That s the question that really matters. a. In John 14:15-21, Jesus says If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. b. Jesus says, when I finish this work, God will live in you. You will become temples. The Holy Spirit will live in you. And preceding all of that is, If you love me, keep my commands. c. Keep my commands. First, love God with everything you ve got. Second, love others with everything you ve got. That s what temples of the Holy Spirit do. Boiled down, all of this means that we are spoiled rotten brats. a. We have more access to God than anyone in history. We have the history of the OT. We have the gospels. We have the witnesses and wisdom of the NT letters. We have God not just dwelling among us but inside of us. b. The Israelites were privileged to have priests that could sometimes offer sacrifices to cover their sins. c. We have the Holy Spirit in us and Jesus Christ talking to God the Father on our behalf. d. We are privileged beyond our wildest dreams, and yet, most of us do little with it. We don t pray. We don t read scripture. We don t meditate. We don t spend time in silence with God. We don t congregate with each other for the purpose of seeing God appear to us through the love of another. e. We are privileged. And we waste it. f. We have God inside of us, but we live our lives in pursuit of other things, then blame God for not showing up. g. Maybe we have it wrong after all. Maybe it s not God who isn t present, but us. X. In Malcolm Gladwell s book Blink, one of my all-time favorites, Gladwell explores the things our mind is capable of in the blink of an eye.

7 7 a. He describes the amazing things our brains can do without us even knowing they re doing it. b. One of the things he talks about is the power of thin slicing that our minds can sometimes do a task in seconds or minutes nonconsciously better than we can do purposefully in hours or years. c. For example, he describes the work of Samuel Gosling, who did an in-depth personality work-up on 80 college students. d. He then asked the closest friends of those students people who had known them for years to rank the students personalities to guess what the personality test had revealed about their friend. e. But he also invited strangers go to into the dorm room of the student and to look around for 20 minutes to meet the person by seeing their room. Those strangers then also ranked the student s personality based solely on what they saw in the room. f. The results? The strangers who never met the person in their lives and only saw their room for 20 minutes were more accurate in describing and gauging the student s personality than the life-long friends. 20 minutes in a room gave a clearer picture of who the student was than a lifetime of friendship. g. Our dwelling place reflects our character. XI. If God s dwelling place is going to be reflective of his character, it needs to be holy, loving, good, and sacred. a. Your heart is the dwelling place of God. You are a temple. You are God s dorm room. b. Does your heart reflect God s goodness, holiness, and love? What does it actually say about God? Is he a part-time tenant? How much space does he have? Has he been allowed to redecorate and move things around? Are there cobwebs? What does your heart s Most Holy Place look like? What space have you prepared for him? c. I don t know about you, but I need a remodel. I need to let God live there and move stuff around as he wishes. d. I need him to get rid of selfishness and addiction. I need him to reshuffle my priorities. e. I need him to throw stuff out of there and make himself comfortable. I need to let him dwell within me. f. And I need to take the time to meet him there. I have him within me. He is present. g. Maybe it s me who has been absent. Maybe it s me who needs to slow down. h. Maybe instead of waiting and longing for God to show up and do something incredible, I need to realize that he already has done incredible things to meet me here, and I need to dive into the privilege of having a living God residing within me. i. I, too, long to experience God in an undeniable way. But I bet He longs to experience me even more.

8 8 j. He s there. I m usually not. k. I wonder who it is who really needs to change. I wonder who needs to show up. l. God has torn down the curtain. He s there. When are we going to make the time to meet him?