Seventh Sunday of Easter
Sunday, June 2, 2019
Lectionary C
John 17:20-26
What has been your experience with God? The Bible has people from all different backgrounds who have experienced God. Abraham not only heard God, but he also felt God’s presence in his daily life. Moses had the most powerful experience with God as he met the Lord in the burning bush, in a cloud, and on the mountain top. But the people who experienced God’s presence in a personal way were those who saw him, heard him, walked with him, were healed by him, delivered by him, saved by him while he lived on earth in the person of Jesus.
Living in the presence of God is the most transforming experience one can ever have. Psalm 148:18 says “The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.” In God’s presence, says Psalm16:11, there is fulness of joy and at His right hand there are pleasures for evermore. God has promised always to be with us but most often we miss the experience of His spiritual presence in our lives for not being aware, or for going our own ways. We are caught up dealing with the demands of daily life so that we don’t see, nor feel the Lord around us.
There are many ways to experience God’s awesome presence. One way to accomplish this is through prayers. This should not take us by surprise since our Lord Jesus spent most of his time, while on earth, in prayer; He even taught His disciples to pray. Jesus looked for a quiet place to pray, to listen to His Father and to obtain advice. Prayer is a simple way to get in touch with God and listen to what he has to say in return. The second way to experience God is by spending time in the Word. Through the daily reading of Scriptures, we experience the presence of God, and it gives us spiritual strength to face life’s challenges. The third way is through meditation, a spiritual process that enables us to reflect on God, his words and promises until we get a revelation from God.
Another way to experience the presence of God is through worship. Worship is more than attending services on Sunday morning. Many people leave worship without experiencing God because their minds and hearts are not ready for his encounter. The Bible describes ways in which we can experience God during worship. It says that we should kneel, bless God and bow down. These actions communicate that God holds a place of importance in our hearts and helps us remember just how great he is. Singing praises to the Lord from the heart helps us encounter God in a powerful way and allow us to meet him during worship. In the Eucharist, Jesus comes and turns the bread into his body and the wine into his blood to give us that same experience the apostles had the night before his crucifixion, and the kind of experience Paul describes in his first letter to the Corinthians in chapter eleven.
Every Christian should have daily experiences with God, through prayer, reading the word, meditation, and in worship. God desires to be with us in our daily life. Therefore, if you haven’t experienced the presence of God in your life, this is the time to seek it. Pentecost is the season designed by God to help us meet the Lord in his house and to experience His awesome presence in ways you have never had before.