God is Not Here

Wait a minute.  Before you start penning your rebuttal, read on.

A group of adult children lost their dad.  Well, they didn't actually lose him.  He died.

In the days that followed his death, the children and their mother began discussing how they wanted to memorialize him.  Some assumed there would be a memorial in the church that he and his wife attended.  Others assumed there would be a family gathering at someone's house.  Another assumed there would be ticker-tape parade in New York City.  One thought there should be a circus with elephants and flying trapeze artists.  A few thought it would be a good idea to go to the beach, or HomeTown Buffet or maybe a family climb of Kilimanjaro.  One person was simply adamant that the family walk across America hand in hand in his honor.

Or maybe that wasn't how the story went at all.

When it really came down to it, there were people who didn't want a memorial in a church and people who did.

The people who did want it in the church thought it fit the bill quite nicely for a few reasons: it would be free (super important factor) and it seemed like a fitting place.  The man attended church regularly as long as his health allowed it, his church was a source of support and encouragement to his wife throughout the years, and this specific church was the place he was baptized in 10 years earlier.

The people who didn't want a memorial at the church said their dad always said he didn't want a memorial at all and a memorial at a church would become a social event, they wanted something just for family.

I have a hard time understanding how a short memorial service at a church would be offensive to someone.  The location itself seems so insignificant to me.  Nobody ever told me why they didn't want a service in a church so, I can only guess.  I think that some people simply feel uncomfortable in a church.

Churches are pretty unique.  The buildings house pews, hymnals, religious art on the walls, and the carpet is usually bad.  Sometimes there are little troughs of water by the doors for dipping your fingers, offering baskets piled in the back, and that feeling that you have to be on your very best behavior.  Then there is that one thing, that really big thing that no matter how hard you try you just can't avoid seeing . . . the cross.  Usually there is a big cross at the front of the church symbolizing that place where Jesus died for our sins.

Oh that cross.  It reminds me of my shame, it reminds me of the price that Jesus paid for me.  It is not comfortable to look upon that cross.

I get it, a church can be uncomfortable.

While you can escape the discomfort of being in that church building, you can't escape the discomfort of the whisper of God.

See, God is not in that church, he is here.

Moses was hanging out in a desert and God said "take off your sandals, for the place you are standing is holy ground".  A desert. Not a church.

God has arrived in a mighty wind, a furious earthquake, a fire, and he hung out on a mountain top.  He has shown up in the most common places.  He showed up as a baby in a manger, he hung on the cross and he shows up every day in a still small voice.

You can run out of a church but no matter how hard you try, you cannot out run God.

God will be there when we face trials, like it or not.  He will be that whisper that you can't get out of your head.  He will be peace whether you accept it or not.  He will be comfort when you don't want it. He is wherever you are.