God's Faithfulness and Touching

God’s Faithfulness ---Touching

But Jesus said, “Someone touched Me, for I perceive that power has gone out from Me.” And when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling, and falling down before Him declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched Him, and how she had been immediately healed. (Luke 8:46,47 ESV)

Jesus Christ, Himself Trinitarian, fulfilled God’s promises faithfully.  While He could have simply HEALED, He chose to heal through touch.  He touched eyes and healed the blind.  He touched skin and healed lepers.  He touched the lame and they walked.

And here, this woman touched HIM, and she was healed.

Consider Thomas’ touching of Christ’s healed deadly wounds.  Consider the embrace of the Prodigal Son and the Gracious Father.  Consider Christ’s hands as He ministered.  Christ was faithful to God’s people through His holy touch.

And we can do that, too.  Touching appropriately combats emotional distance.  Touching allows practical help, instead of merely thinking helpful thoughts.  Touching is a means for us to be faithful as God the Father is faithful, God the Son is faithful, and even God the Holy Spirit is faithful.

I recall an old chorus… “He touched me, and made me whole.”

God's Faithfulness and Hearing

God’s Faithfulness – Hearing

My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. (John 10:27 ESV)

My dog recognizes my voice.  Even when he is asleep, his tail wags (a little bit) when I say something in the room.  I do not know exactly how it works in the brain of a dog, But I suspect it has something to do with a connection made between the sound of my voice and what he has experienced with me.

If I were regularly mean to him, the sound of my voice would make him cringe.

If I neglected him, the sound of my voice would be meaningless to him.

But I am generally kind to him… I feed him… I call him to me and pet him… I give him treats…. I protect him from the evil cats.

And so the sound of my voice is a good thing for my dog.

Because God is faithful to us… He is creator, provider, protector, redeemer, and promise-keeper… when we hear His voice we are drawn to Him.

When we hear of His actions we are drawn to Him.

When we hear the sounds and noises of His creation we are drawn to Him.

When we hear His voice we follow Him.

God's Goodness and Smell

God’s Goodness ----- Smelling

Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. (I Peter 4:8 ESV)

Perfumes, air fresheners, and deodorants are successful Industries because most people, at some time or another, desire to smell nice.

And usually, such a desire arises from the need to mask something ugly.

We do not usually say something like, “my breath smells like daffodils… I will mask that odor by smelling like a blueberry instead.”

We do not usually say something like, “my car smells like springtime… I will mask that odor by smelling like a bakery instead.”

We do not usually say something like, “I want to impress that girl, so rather than my usual scent of strawberries, I will smell instead like daisies.”

Peter quotes a Biblical Proverb here, and points out that love masks the odor of sin.  Our sins are not as offensive, reproachable, or hurtful, if we mask them with our loving thoughts, words, and deeds.  We still have sin… but we can lessen sin’s effects.

Christ’s love: sacrificial, unconditional, and humble, masks our sin, too. He pays for our sin.  He presents our lives before God masked with His holiness.  He covers over our stench, replacing it with the scent of Easter lilies, holy incense, and love.

But God does not need to mask anything.  He is already good, all the time.  There is nothing God needs to disguise, hide, or cover up.

HIS Love is not a masking, but His natural state.

God's Goodness and Taste

God’s Goodness ---- Tasting

Taste and see that the Lord is good. (Psalm 34:8 ESV)

The ability to taste is a good gift from our creator.

The other senses are a lot more necessary.  But the sense of taste does not help us survive.

Corn, watermelon, and pizza would still be nutritious if they tasted the same as cardboard.

Even those things that taste bad can be understood as giving us context for the things that taste good.

Every time we taste something, it should remind us that God is good.  Things that taste good, things that taste bad, and everything in between.  Because it is tasting itself that shows us God’s goodness.

We get to enjoy His gift of taste.

God's Goodness and Touch

God’s Goodness --- Touching

And wherever he came, in villages, cities, or countryside, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and implored him that they might touch even the fringe of his garment. And as many as touched it were made well. (Mark 6:56 ESV)

Physically touching Jesus was a sure way to experience God’s goodness.  Often in the form of healing. 

Healing is a pretty good thing!

I wonder if this is part of what Paul had in mind when he instructed us to ‘greet each other with a holy kiss.’ (Romans 16:16) Socially, that would probably not go over well, today.  But a handshake can be an encouraging thing… a way to bring goodness into the moment.  A friendly simple hug can do the same thing.  Maybe even a high-five or a fist-bump.

God created us as Physical Beings… and touch is a way to communicate something good.

God's Goodness and Hearing

God’s Goodness – Hearing

And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. (Luke 2:10,11 ESV)

“That sounds good!”

“I like the sound of that!”

“… and now here are the dulcet tones of…”

And of course, benediction literally means good words.

God’s goodness and hearing are closely aligned.  The good news, the gospel, that the angels brought to the shepherds was not sent in a telegram to be read, felt in a massage at the end of their hard shepherding day, smelt over a campfire, or licked from an ice cream cone. 

The gospel was heard.

The State Song of Kansas reaches for this concept when it declares that in Kansas, “never is heard a discouraging word…”

But in fact discouraging words ARE heard in Kansas.  Words like drought, tornado, and taxes.

But the goodness of God, found in His Words, are not discouraging.

The things we hear from God are the good news of eternal life.

Listen up!

God's Goodness and Sight

God’s Goodness – Seeing

This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. (I John 1:5 ESV)

When I was very young, my bedroom had a very scary closet.  Many nights, I was convinced that something scary was in that dark place.  I was too proud to seek help, but I found a simple solution.

I turned on the lights.  Because light made the bad dark disappear.

When my parents eventually observed that I had gone to sleep with the lights on, they turned them off.  So rather than suffer the terrors of that closet, I found strange illogical comfort in turning on a flashlight, placing it in the closet, and closing the closet door.

Whatever was in the dark, it was not good… but the light that defeated it was good… very good.

Even though I could not SEE the light, I knew the light was there, combating the scary darkness.  And it was enough.

While darkness can be spiritual or emotional, it is first physical.  And the light defeated the darkness in my closet, whether I could observe it or not.

God purposefully describes Himself as light. 

Because light always defeats darkness.

Lights on, scary darkness gone.

Dark pushing against our minds and hearts, His light will always overcome it.

God's Power and Smelling

God’s Power ----- Smelling

But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.  (I Corinthians2:14 ESV)

Smells, odors, and fragrances are often the result of something else.  We do not usually think of a smell simply existing… but instead something smells.  Someone smells.  Somewhere smells.

And Christ’s victorious power causes the fragrance of His people to drift through the world.

That fragrance, be it the gospel, be it loving acts, be it true hope, is spread throughout our families, throughout our communities, throughout our communities, and throughout our relationships.

And because the Gospel is powerful, our ability to spread is powerful.

God's Power and Tasting

God’s Power ---- Tasting

 They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted on the fire; with unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it. (Exodus 12:8 ESV)

God’s Word contains detailed descriptions of the original Passover meal, and similarly detailed descriptions of how the food of the Feasts was to be prepared.

And those descriptions regard the taste of the food, not the appearance of the food.

Those descriptions regard the taste of the food, not the texture of the food.

Those descriptions regard the taste of the food, not the sound of the food.

Certainly the festive ingredients had appearance, texture, and sounds.  But God, in His instructions, emphasized the taste.

The rich symbolic taste.  The surprising contrasting taste.  The deep memorable taste.

Because God’s people can experience the power of God through taste.

It might be more subjective than we are comfortable with… but it is real.  It might be more personal than we are comfortable with… but it is real.  It might be more temporary than we are comfortable with… but it is real.

In the light of the Scriptural connections with God’s power, taste brings us into His throne room, too.

God's Power and Touching

God’s Power ---Touching

Then He said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” Thomas answered Him, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:27,28 ESV)

For many folk, seeing is believing.  But for Thomas touching was believing.

Thomas knew that he was not seeing an illusion because he touched Christ’s wounds.

Thomas knew that he was not dreaming because he touched Christ’s wounds.

Thomas knew that he was not having a vision because he touched Christ’s wounds.

We call this disciple “Doubting Thomas”, but that is unfair.

Thomas’s sense of touch led him to believe.  He felt the result of the power of God.  He touched the proof that Jesus had died, and rose again.  He physically experienced his own future, as Christ’s resurrection paved the way for all believers.

Thomas touched the power of God.

Th

God's Power and Hearing

God’s Power – Hearing

Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known. (Jeremiah 33:3 ESV)

God does not say, here, that He will hear His people as long as we call to Him at a particular time.  God does not say, here, that He will hear His people if we call to Him from a particular location.  God does not say, here, that He will hear His people so long as we speak in one particular language.

No.

He hears us and will answer us if we call to Him.

No one else hears like that.

No one else listens like that.

No one else has the power of hearing that God has.

And God’s power is also shown on the other side of that coin.

He will reveal Himself to us by telling.

He will teach us the hidden truths of salvation by telling.

He will educate us in HIM by telling.

We can graft in to God’s power by hearing His Word.

God's Power and Seeing

God’s Power – Seeing

And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” (Exodus 3:3 ESV)

I was once driving in Minnesota, and saw a Moose by the side of the road, and was amazed.

I once saw a total eclipse of the sun and was amazed.

I once saw the Northern Lights and was amazed.

I twice saw the faces of my newborn children and was amazed.

The shepherds saw the baby born in Bethlehem and were amazed.

A Roman centurion saw the death of the Messiah and was amazed.

And Moses saw a flaming bush, that despite the fire, was not consumed.  And Moses was amazed.

All of these seen things displayed the power of God.

Open your eyes, and see His power!

God's Immutability and Smell

God Is Unchanging----- Smell

His shoots shall spread out; his beauty shall be like the olive, and his fragrance like Lebanon. (Hosea 14:6 ESV)

Ancient Lebanon was known for two distinct smells.  Most famously, the forests of Lebanon were sweet smelling cedars, the source of many perfumes and scents (for instance, Frankincense). And Lebanon was also renown for the grapes and wine that the vineyards produced.

Those distinct smells did not change from year to year, until the trees of Lebanon no longer were prominent, and weather patterns ruined the grape industry.

When the Israelites were wandering in the wilderness, they looked forward to the smells of Lebanon (Deuteronomy 3:25), particularly while wandering in the mundane wilderness. Because the source of the fragrance was permanent, the smells were the same… from Israel’s settling of the Promised Land until it’s eventual destruction.

The fragrance was reliable in its lack of change.

In the same way, the fragrance that Christians present to the world (a metaphor, obviously!) is as unchanging as the Christ who is its source. The more ingrafted into God we are… the more we read His Word, pray to Him, and live for Him… the more the world can be astonished by Him. 

And even when we falter, or age, or develop, or change, the unchanging Jesus will be evident.  The source is the same.  But when the source is ourselves, the fragrance will alter.  Our witness will falter.  Our Godly beauty will falter.  Our saltiness will falter.  Our light will falter.  Our faith will falter. 

Hold on to the Source… and because GOD is unchanging, our fragrance will not change.

God's Immutability and Taste

God Is Unchanging---- Taste

On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined. (Isaiah 25:6 ESV)

When Isaiah describes the holy pleasures of God’s presence, he unsurprisingly uses a picture of a feast.  Unsurprising, because God often uses festive language to describe how good He is!

That heavenly feast is rich… to everyone’s taste, a constant reminder there of the goodness of God.

And since God does not change, we can have some hints of that taste here and now.

Because of sin’s ongoing presence in this life, that wonderful taste of God is muted, disguised, and hidden.  But it IS there.

The sweetness of Jesus is discernable past the sourness of our doubts.

The heartiness of the Holy Spirit is discernable underneath the frailty of our self-focus.

The full flavor of the power of the Father is discernable, mixed with the blandness of our weaknesses.

That future feast is with us now!  Open your tastebuds and know it.

God's Immutability and Touch

God Is Unchanging--- Touching

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8 ESV)

The idea of feelings often refers to our emotional reaction to circumstances.  We might feel happy, or content, or angry, or confused, or lonely, or proud…

But feelings also refers to our sense of touch.  A dog’s fur can feel soft.  An old glove can feel comfortable.  A rocky path can feel rough.

Both types of feelings, for us, are mutable… which means they can change. 

Our emotions change because both our circumstances and our internal reaction to them are quite fluid.

But even our sense of touch is mutable. Touch is relative (40 degrees in the summer is COLD. In the winter it is WARM).  Touch is temporary (that comfy pair of slippers becomes loose and flat). Touch is reactive (thousands of visitors can smooth a carved wooden handrail). Touch is forgettable (I cannot recall the texture of my first car’s seat cover). And touch is emotional (holding my wife’s hand is sometimes comforting, sometimes poignant, sometimes routine).

But touch is unchanging, when it comes to our interaction with God.  

No matter our emotional state, the Bread in the Lord’s Supper is always the Body of Christ.

When we arrive in heaven, we will still be able to put our hand in Jesus’ side… and feel the holes in His pierced hands.

And every physical atom in the universe continues, and WILL continue to shout, “HE is Lord!”

God's Immutability and Hearing

God Is Unchanging—Hearing

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1 ESV)

Who does not enjoy an echo?  Echoes seem almost magical.  A phrase shouted into a cave, or at the edge of a canyon, or into an empty room comes back.  It lasts longer than voice box alone creates.  “Hello!” comes back, returns, is duplicated, and is heard again… but still, eventually fades.  Silence returns.

A party game, usually called, “Telephone”, reminds us that our words decline in meaning, as well as in volume.  Participants sit in a circle, and one players whispers a message in the ear of the next person.  Who whispers it to the next person.  Who repeats it to the next person.  Who tries to interpret (because almost guaranteed the message has already degraded), and then passes it on.  By the time the message gets back to the originator, it usually has changed beyond recognition.  “I like eating ice cream by the moonlight.” might have become “Starlight is cleaner, moo! Right?” Or something worse!

But God’s Word does not change.  Because God does not change.

The Word was in the beginning… and still is.  Because the Word of God is God.

Nothing else in the universe is like Him.  Our words become softer, and eventually our voice is forgotten.  The message of our words decays and changes, because WE change.

But God, and His Word, does not change. 

And that Word is how we know God.  That Word is how we understand Him.   That Word is how we learn to trust Him.  That Word is how we find faith.  That Word is how the world can be saved.

God's Infinity and Smell

God is Infinite-----Smelling

The Lord said to Moses, “Take sweet spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum, sweet spices with pure frankincense (of each shall there be an equal part), and make an incense blended as by the perfumer, seasoned with salt, pure and holy. You shall beat some of it very small, and put part of it before the testimony in the tent of meeting where I shall meet with you. It shall be most holy for you. And the incense that you shall make according to its composition, you shall not make for yourselves. It shall be for you holy to the Lord. Whoever makes any like it to use as perfume shall be cut off from his people.” (Exodus 30:34-38 ESV)

It is said that we remember smells more than we remember any other sense.

Perhaps that is why God instructed Moses, as an important part of formal worship, include an aspect of fragrance.

The fragrance (a pleasant adjective) of sweet spices, unfamiliar herbs, unusual minerals, was a way that the people of God could remember the worship, here on earth, of our infinite God.

Perhaps the long-lasting memory of those smells helped the worshippers remember God more than the other senses tended to help. Remembering the infinite is hard for us, so maybe God gave them special pleasant odors to strengthen their memory of Him. 

My tradition does not include such activities, usually.  But I do remember the smell of peppermints, given to children at the beginning of the sermon.  I do remember the clean smell of freshly treated pews.  I do remember perfumes regularly worn by some members, sitting by my family every Lord’s Day.

No, those things are not exactly what God commanded Moses.

But they are in the same room.

Our long lasting fragrances, however they might be attached to worship, seem to enable us to experience the infinity of God.

God's Infinity and Taste

God is Infinite---- Tasting

How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! (Psalm 119:103 ESV)

Have you read of the ancient honey found beneath the pyramids? Supposedly it has remained pure, and undecayed.  But yet, those who found it have not been willing to taste it.

Because physical taste decays.  Even if chemical analysis implies it would not be harmful, we all expect it to taste like… well, like dust.

But our heavenly Father, the infinite God, is sweeter than honey.

Not physically, of course.

But somehow, spiritually, foundationally, and profoundly… His words are sweet.  He is sweet.  He is a pleasure to His people.

His infinity drips into our finite awareness, and is so sweet.

Sweeter than honey to our mouths.