SURELY THE LORD IS IN THIS PLACE AND I DID NOT KNOW IT

1 SURELY THE LORD IS IN THIS PLACE AND I DID NOT KNOW IT It was the last thing he expected out in the wilderness going about his business and Jacob is stopped in his tracks, invited to an encounter that would change his life change the story of his people change the course of history Surely the Lord is in this place and I didn t know it! People find God in unexpected places. Or he finds them. There are around 43 churches listed in Geneva.. If people were looking for God Would they be best placed to look for him in one of those? In the churches? Or out there in the big world he made? in all the surprising places and encounters and experiences of people and their lives Is the role of the Church to take God to the world as if he were contained in here or, to find him in the world where he already is, and always has been?.. Perhaps we re better to understand that the Church - wonderful though it is has no exclusive hold on him No rights of possession. He is bigger than our best ideas, Bigger than our churches and cathedrals Bigger than our creeds and our dogmas Bigger than our most inventive and imaginative programmes -- Now, we do know from our own experience that Some places lend themselves to finding God lend themselves to the possibility of encounter with the numinous. That reality was part of the heartbeat of Celtic Christianity Christ be beside me, Christ be before me, Christ be behind me,

2 Christ be in all things Lord of my heart But we know too that Moments and music do it People and actions do it Bring God closer make God real. When there is the reality and miracle of Forgiveness old quarrels healed. Family feuds ended in the name of truth harmony and love God is in the middle of those moments of blessed reconciliation and emotional healing And there is plenty of opportunity and need for that kind of healing within our own communities and our own families. There are those transcendent moments When the ordinary is shot through with the extraordinary. And the miracles and wonders that are around us every day, inviting our response summoning our gratitude Speak holy truth to our heart How come we miss those discoveries and revelations and allow ourselves to live in a monochrome world, without music, mystery, magic and surprise? We allow ourselves to become bogged down in the mundane, the busyness and stuff collecting and our eyes are glazed over by getting. we look through a haze of having we interpret the world mistakenly our understanding skewed by the easy entertainments that allow us to amuse ourselves to death and we miss the presence of God. all around us, if we sought knocked and asked. -- This is the freedom and the mystery of God s Spirit the wind blows where it wishes and it s not up to us to say where or where not! God has come to people huddled in their hovel, surrounded by poverty and need He is present in the celebrations when we mark a special anniversary affirm a great saint, honour the life of some champion of the Church

3 God the root and ground of our joy if we are open to his coming. And the Bible tells us that where there is need God is there to be found calling for our compassion reaching with outstretched hand for our love and our generosity Doesn t that change our perception when we realise that it s Christ in the wheelchair God broken on the battle-field God among the earthquake victims...challenging us with those most searching verses in as much as you did it for one of the least of these my brothers, you did it for me and more tellingly Lord, when did we see you naked and not clothe you, hungry and not feed you, sick and not visit you inasmuch as you neglected to do it for one of these my brothers, you neglected to do it for me We may not like the sound of it, but we find God in the most unexpected places. Surely the Lord is in this place and I did not know it.. So, with a shocking clarity God invites us to look where we might not think to look in order to find him Certainly, clearly, in the need of others In prison - In hospital In poverty In truth, it s a worrying thought We might - like the artists of the past be more inclined to look for God in vivid visions of angels smoke and mirrors Not in the stench of squalor and need! Not among the weak, the vulnerable and the broken... And certainly not on a Cross. At the place of a Skull Golgotha

4 We forget how shocking, outrageous and terrible was the Christian claim that God could be anywhere near this monstrous moment still less at the heart of it and when we think about it, it still is an outrageous and appalling idea Yet there it is, embedded as the core belief of Christianity that if you really want to discover the presence and the power of God and his love come to Calvary and find it there. Kneel there with the burdens of your heart and find the grace and love reach out to you Unthinkable. True. And, yes, as the story of the faith unfolds you would hope to find him in the Church even here? Especially here? In a place of Sanctuary.as we come with respect in an attitude of quest and longing our hearts quiet and our mind open looking and listening This is why we set apart time for worship and prayer It s not about entertainment or amusement though we may be entertained and amused within the experience Rather, we come to a holy place to experience a sacred time making a special opportunity to meet the Lord and be met by him. And at his table with bread and wine Here most surely. I attended a pretty disastrous service somewhere in Bermondsey, in London, a while back on holiday The music was banal and poorly sung sermon was a rambling, lazy mishmash Trust me, it was pretty thin fare for a hungry pilgrim i But, as I knelt to receive the Sacrament - as bread and wine were offered in that moment, in that miracle of grace, nothing else mattered. Here was the presence of the Lord right up close and personal

5 nowhere to hide, and no need to hide faith - raw, needy, naked To celebrate and keep that moment of encounter with God That touched his spirit so deeply, Jacob built an altar put down a marker That said I will not let this moment be lost in the fretful business of my life When I get back to reality When things become normal again And this time, this place, this gift will be forgotten. That will not happen. He built an altar It became a place in his story. A moment, a milestone, a blessing he would not allow to be Overwhelmed by the ordinariness of his life. So, we are encouraged to explore the holy moment those times when the presence of God settles over our soul, quietens our spirit, and we feel with a passion or a stillness the truth of our faith, the power of God s truth, the beauty of the way to which he has called us. When we let it, that time, that feeling can take us by surprise with a blessing and a certainty that is thrilling, affirming and memorable. We know that we know the places we have been, where it is right to build an altar to the Lord It can be an actual place. And we so seldom draw on the opportunities to find ourselves at such places They are closer than we know. Ancient sites connected with the story of the church people come here to brush against the history of the faith and feel connected to the story in a new way we welcome seekers and pilgrims We don t have to travel on a crusade to the Holy Land for the holy things to touch against our spirit ancient cathedrals are on our doorstep The pilgrim way to Santiago passes through our town

6 Little country chapels and churches invite us into their silence and their sacredness Instead of the stridency and rush and busyness and crowded diary: Time to still our spirits in places that have been soaked in the Spirit for centuries, and where that sense of God s presence is allowed to speak to the secret place of our soul When we do it it works. We know that we know the places we have been, where it is right to build an altar to the Lord fix the moment firmly in our heart, our history. And, when we allow them to be, other moments and experiences can bring that spiritual fire to our hearts the powerful words of a hymn that stir something very deep in us the kindliness of a friend who prays for us or with us the disturbing word of truth we hear as we listen to a sermon, the tingling of God s truth as we see it and understand it, when a preacher s words reach right into our heart and we know we know It can be something less obviously spiritual but affective and effective nonetheless a piece of music that reminds us of sublime things a night sky when suddenly, the truth that there are a billion stars in the galaxy and a billion galaxies in the universe hits us with a stunning force - and we are lost in wonder that in a universe like that God cares about us! Perhaps we have our finger held by a tiny baby An evening sunset stops us in our tracks and the big sky swallows up our fears The company of good friends a thoughtful gift kindly given a word of encouragement when we are low.. All these moments are around, and shot through with the possibility and often the reality of God s presence if our antennae are sensitive and our hearts are tuned and our mind is focused and open As the singer has it We are looking for the sacred and divine and it s standing right beside us all the time Of course, this is more than admiring a fine view, or being happy that our dog is having a good time,

7 running in the surf It is not to encourage the modern myth that You can be just as close to God listening to Beethoven, as you can singing hymns in church it s not just about feeling nice it s about sensing the God who calls us, invites us and disturbs us about being open and obedient to his summons and prepared to let his presence and his Spirit take us where we might not want to go And, it s about fixing that sometimes uncomfortable moment - as we build an altar in our heart recognising the reality that something happened here that mattered that made a difference something true, holy, unexpected, undeserved and precious.that we mustn t let slip by unrecognised Washington, DC Metro Station on a cold January morning in 2007. The man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time approx. 2 thousand people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. 45 minutes: The musician played continuously. Only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while. About 20 gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace. The man collected a total of $32. 1 hour: He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition. No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before Joshua Bell sold out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100. This is a true story.. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people's priorities.

8 The questions raised: in a common place environment at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context? One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this: If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made... How many other things are we missing Surely the Lord is in this place and I did not know it! AMEN. +++