The story of hiddenness

Questions often have presumptions

We all have heard that “there is no such thing as a bad question.” Though in an important sense this is true, this phrase is not about the questions themselves, but about the dangers of refraining from inquiry. If we have questions, we ought to ask them because if we are silent, we cannot learn. For even if one has a bad question, knowledge cannot be had if questions are not asked. But as we grow in wisdom, we understand that though we ought to continue to ask questions, our questions are often indicators of our presumptions on a subject. This is because our questions often come with baggage. We see the situation from our perspective, and it takes a lot of work to step outside that perspective. Often, our presumptions are wrong.

We see this clearly in our relationships for many of us know what it is to hurt someone by asking a question that implied certain assumptions about the person, only to find out that we were way off base. We end up finding ourselves profusely apologizing for our ungrounded and incompetent question. Often, in these cases, we do this because we don’t have the full picture or context, or story. Though it is still better to ask a question in this situation than to hold on to false ideas about a person, we are aware that are question was one based on ignorance rather than truth. This humility is important if we desire to pursue truth.

We must be willing to scrutinize and discern both the answers as well as our questions. For we also understand that sometimes questions, if not scrutinized, can be used to limit our ability to learn. Lawyers, for example, use this fact to their advantage to get the outcome they desire. When we are more interested in winning an argument than the truth, questions can become a dangerous tool for closing our minds and blinding us to the evidence. If, when confronted with the presumptions of our questions, we insist that our presumptions are true, then we will never learn. In our relationships, we will only be building walls that separate us from knowing those around us. And in our pursuit of knowledge, we will only end up falling into a pit of our own foolishness.

Asking bad questions can lead us down the wrong path. Sometimes, when we can’t get the puzzle to come together, it is because we are so determined to get a square peg into the circular hole. But often, when we step back and see things from a proper perspective, the puzzle easily falls into place. This is often what happens when people struggle with the hiddenness of God. They bring their baggage to the story, filtering it and distorting it to match their preconceived ideas instead of pausing and listening and letting the story speak for itself.

A God who pursues unashamedly

One of the presumptions we make is that if knowing God is what it takes to be saved from our sin and the wrath of God, then all God would have to do is make himself clearly known with some show of extraordinary evidence. We might argue,

All it would take is for God to just show up and say, “Hi”. That would be powerful and convincing evidence. I would believe in him and so would the rest of the world. If God is loving, surely, he would do what it takes to bring us to himself. . ..

If this were the case, and this is all it would take, it is clear from the Bible that God would not hesitate for a second to make this happen. Our loving Father would not only be willing but also eager to run to our rescue. The Bible gives us imagery of his desire to bring us to himself and shelter us under his wings and to envelope us in the Father’s embrace as we are lavished by his kisses. Indeed, his love and longing for us is deeper than the father of the prodigal son in Luke 15.

The parables of Luke 15 show a God who is desperately and actively seeking the lost. In the parables of the lost sheep, coin, and son, we find someone who will face the dangers of the open country and one who leaves no stone or pillow unturned as they sweep the house and seek diligently till what was lost is found. We see this theme as well in Proverbs 1,

     Wisdom cries aloud in the street, 
	in the markets she raises her voice; 
     at the head of the noisy streets she cries out; 
	at the entrance of the city gates she speaks: 
               (Proverbs 1:20,21)

God is not aloof but is active in his pursuit of the lost. These parables describe God’s joy over just one sheep, one coin, one prodigal son . . . “one sinner who repents”. If this is his pursuit and passion for one sinner, what can we say of his pursuit of all humanity?

Pursuit of the two sons

But there is more, for in these parables, we also see with what abandonment God pursues us, particularly in the parable of the two sons. In that culture, when a son asked for his inheritance while his father was alive, it was the same as the son saying, “Father, you are dead to me.” And this was indeed true, for he forgot his father and went off to a faraway country, abandoning both his father and home. This son had spat in his father’s face, heaping insult upon his father. He then squanders his father’s hard work, making his father’s years of labor amount to nothing.

Despite what his son had done to him, we see the father, having seen his son from afar off, girding up his loins, exposing his bare legs, and running toward his son. And when he reaches his son, he embraces him with kisses. In that culture, a father running and exposing his legs would have been a shameful and disgraceful act. And his running was not a private act. Because the father had to run quite a distance, his shame was probably seen by many and possibly the village as well. But we can feel the joy he had, despising the shame, so he could embrace his beloved son.

Some have speculated that the father ran so urgently because the son being far off might have also been noticed by those in the village before he had a chance to reach his father. Those in the village would have been well aware of who he was and the shame he had brought on his father. If this was the case, the father would have worried that those in the village might intercept his son and having intercepted his son, brought him before the village in a ceremony known as Kezazah and pronounced official judgment on him for the shame he had brought to his father and the village, a judgment that would have cut off the son from the community and declared him to be dead from that point on. The father, in urgent haste to prevent this, was willing to be seen with bare legs running for all to see to reach his son. Regardless, the emphasis of the parable is that the father ran because he loved and longed for his son in the deepest parts of who he was. Though his son had already shamed him and spit in his face, he was more than willing to take upon himself even more shame and public humiliation if that is what it meant to have his son back. In this act, he declares his son alive, not dead, for all to see. In his act of shame, he takes away the reproach of his son, giving his son the honor he does not deserve. And instead of a Kezazah, the whole village rejoices and celebrates with the father that his son is alive.

We ought not think that God is not above shaming himself to receive us back into his arms. God took upon himself the ultimate shame to win us back.

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2:5–8, ESV)

looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2)

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— (Galatians 3:13)

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

If God is not above shaming himself, he is not above showing up, making himself bare and fully evident, and saying, “hi”. This realization ought to make us pause . . . and think about our questions. Do we understand what we are asking? Do we know the whole picture? Could we be wrong in our assumptions? Maybe there is more to the story. . .. Maybe there is more to the heart of God and his love for us . . .. He cries out to us, “How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!” (Matthew 23:37).

If there were another way

Now, let us look at a pinnacle moment in the life of Jesus that gets to the heart of the question of whether there was another way. In the Garden of Gethsemane, in anguish and wrestling to the point of sweating blood, Jesus “prayed, saying, ‘My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.’” Do not read this too quickly. . .. Jesus, while teaching during his ministry, is clear that the Father always listens to him. Jesus is asking, “if it is possible”. This was not a shallow request on the part of Jesus, this was a request coming from deep in the bowels and the heart and soul of Jesus. And this was not the request of a passerby, this was a request of a much beloved son. The Father deeply loves the Son. His son was in deep agony and was sweating blood. We who are evil would not hesitate to heed the call of our child in this situation. Make no mistake, neither would the Father. Jesus said, “Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels?” If it were possible, if there were even some remote prospect of another way to redeem humanity, his father would not have hesitated to answer this request from his son.

Maybe there is more to the story

And so, once again, these things ought to make us stop, pause, and look at the presumptions of our questions. What baggage or assumptions are we bringing? Is it not human nature to think we understand the story or situation well, even when we don’t? Yet, we often don’t know as much as we think we do. And as we often bring poor questions in our relationships with others due to our misunderstandings, perhaps we are doing the same with God. And because we do this in everyday life, this should not surprise us. Despite this, the scripture invites us to ask these questions. The scripture does not ignore them. But we must also be willing to cast off our presumptions and have ears to listen. When we listen, we will find that when it comes to the hiddenness of God, there is more to the story . . ..                                                  

You are a spiritual person, you believe in a spiritual reality, and you believe there is love, and that there is a deepness that exists. Yet there is there more, more than the imaginations of our hearts and minds. Most of us who believe in the concept of a god, or gods, or a force, want to include that love and these forces go together. But what does this mean?

There is a fundamental truth, God is love. But the implications of this reality are staggering and will overwhelm us if we realize the beauty of this statement. For love to be real it requires a God who actively loves us and pursues us both in reality and in history, not just our imaginations.

You are writing your memoirs. I look forward to reading them. It is a way to get to know you better and to know how much you have loved us. I see you with my children and how much you love Ariana and Kaelyn. I see your desire to know them and for them to know you, and it is a beautiful desire. Love desires to know and to be known, not with a mere acknowledgment of existence, but relationally and intimately. God who is love desires to be known and to know us and to have a relationship with us, as well.

 God is not looking for a mere casual acknowledgment of his existence, but an intimate, close, bonding relationship with his children. Is it enough for you for my children to acknowledge you are their grandfather, but never talk with you or spend time with you? Or is it your desire for them to experience a relationship with you as their grandfather? No, you have loving and actively pursued my children. And my kids know that you love them because of this. They talk about their Poppop and Yayah, even when y’all are not around. God’s desire for us is so much more than my love for my children or your love for me and my kids. Just like us, God desires more than a casual acknowledgment of some force or being, he desires to be a lover, a father, a husband, and to be our God.

So, one of the things I have heard you say often is that you cannot understand Jesus being the only way. Well, there is only one God to know and therefore there is only one God to have a relationship with. As such if he genuinely loves us and desires to have a relationship with us, He is only going to call us to himself. If God is a God of the kind of love that is relational, he would pursue to make himself known, just as we do those we love. A lover pursues the one he loves; a father pursues his children. Love does not stand by and let things happen but takes action. If we believe in a God of love, we ought to expect him to pursue us and to call us to himself, in these intimate terms. He is not calling us to other gods or philosophies or to our imaginations, He is calling us to himself alone. I call my kids to love me and to be in a relationship with me as their father. A god or force that does not desire close and personal intimacy with us may be comfortable, but they are not a god of love. Your desire to be in a relationship with your children and grandchildren does not come from an unrelational force. These kind of gods cannot satisfy the deep longings for intimacy we have within us. They will only leave us parched and thirsty, withering away.

God beckons to us, “But my people have changed their glory for that which does not profit. Be appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked, be utterly desolate, declares the Lord, for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.”

Our rejection of the one and only true God, and our search for other gods, can only bring death because we have abandoned the fountain of Life.

Love is not just a quality of God’s character. It flows from the very essence of who he is. God is the source of love. He is the fountain of love. Only the Christian God can claim to be a God whose very essence is love, for he is the only God that has existed eternally in relationship. The Christian God is one god in three persons. This is not just a statement of belief but is the very heart of the statement, “God is love”. Love can only exist if it is outward and relationally directed. God the Father, and God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit have loved one another in relationship from all eternity. If there is only one God, one person or a force, then before something is created love is only a concept because until something is created there is no one to love. This kind of god has not always loved, because creation must happen before love is a reality. If you believe in multiple gods, there may be relationship, but love is not the essence of one individually god, but only as a group. Both of these concepts require something other than the god for love to exist. The Christian God alone can claim that at his very essence, without anything beyond him, He is Love. And being so, he is also the source of Love. And it is through this love, he created us. So yes, I believe there is only one God, who can truly make the claim, “God is love.”

And if he is a God of love, like a grandfather, father, or lover, he is also actively calling us to a relationship with himself. He is not a grandfather in the sky, whom we can’t really know. Like a real grandfather, He comes near to us and He is calling us to intimately know him. The distinction of a Trinitarian God, who from all eternity loved and was in relationship is that life is not about the things we do, but life is about being in relationship with God. We are to come to know him the fountain of living waters. All the supposed greatness of our actions will not bring life, nor will the depth of our depravity keep us from life. What matters is will we come to him. . . . or will we continue to reject him in search of cisterns that cannot hold water?

As I make myself known to my children and you make yourself known to your grandchildren, a God of love will make himself known and he has made himself known . . . but will we reject him, for gods of our own making, gods who fit our concepts of love? Our gods our comfortable, they are made by us. They are tamed. But God will not settle for you to have other gods, who are no gods at all, gods that cannot love us, any more than a fairytale. God is jealous for us as husband is jealous for his wife, wanting her as a lover for himself alone, to experience what we call “True Love”. So yes, there is only one way to God, if God is love there can only be one way, for love drives us into a relationship to one and only God, who is real and active.

We are given the freedom to reject God, but if we do, we are left to ourselves and the gods of our own making, who will fade away and leave us thirsting, poor, and empty. God is begging, pleading with us not to go that way. This way is wide, for there are as many ideas of false gods as there are people. God calls us to abandon these false gods and acknowledge that a God of love has made himself known through Jesus, God the Son. Jesus is not the only way, because God is being restrictive. He is the only way, because, he is the only God. And to have a relationship with God we must stop rejecting God and holding on to our imagination and come to Him and place ourselves in His loving embrace. There may be only one way, but he is not exclusive, His arms are open wide to all those who willing to come.

Do you believe in a god who is out there somewhere, a force we cannot quite get a hold of or do you believe in a God who, like you have done as a grandfather, has actively in real history and in love pursued us, and in whose real and loving embrace we can run into . . .

Jesus is not an imagination. Whether you believe he is God or not. He historically existed. We would expect a God who actively pursues us to show up in real history (not just our imagination) . . .

Jesus was born, he dwelt with us. God became flesh because He loved humanity and desired to bring us into relationship with Himself. He lived, died, and rose to life to make a way for us to be reconciled to God – to be forgiven and restored.

We have sinned and rejected God. Yet in our rejection of Him, God has made a way for us to come back to him. Love has conquered the effects of sin and has broken down the walls that keep us from God. All our works are nailed at the cross, for they are of no avail. What matters is God’s love for us. As we have faith in the work and worth of Jesus, we die to our self, and our works no longer matter in the immense presence and beauty of being known and loved by God. We die to ourselves, only to gain everything and more. And in this relationship and love, we truly live.

For me, this is vital, for I don’t love as I ought. I don’t love my wife and kids as I ought. I don’t love my family as I ought. Nor do I love you as I ought. But it is not about me being perfect. It is about me realizing my works cannot save me good or bad. But I come to a God who loves me and desires to know me. And I find my life in Him, not in myself.

We can trust in our works to save us or we can let them go. We can trust in gods of our own making or we can come to what is real. Jesus said, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Our hope is not in the things we have done, but in having a relationship with the true and living God who loves us and went beyond our imaginations, to pursue us in reality. We can follow all the forces, gods, and imaginations of men. Or we can come to a God, who like a grandfather, father, and a lover has made himself known. No, it should not surprise us that Jesus is the only way. Love can only call us to Himself, there is no other place the fountain of Love can be found.

Because of your example of love to me as your son and your love for your grandchildren, I wouldn’t expect anything less from a God of love. Think on this, as a father and grandfather in your love and pursuit of us, would you expect anything less from Love. . . Jesus said that the love a father has for his children, though it is grand, is so small that it cannot possibly be compared to the magnitude of God’s love for us. We can know Him and be known by Him.

The distinction of a Trinitarian God, who from all eternity loved and was in relationship is that life is not about the things we do, but about being in relationship with God. All the supposed greatness of our actions will not bring life, nor will the depth of our depravity keep us from life. The devastation of sin, our rejection of God, for gods of our own making, is a broken relationship with God and separation from the source of life and love.

And so, the God who came as a babe, cries out, “Come to me, I am the Way the Truth and the Life.”! In God alone can we have life.