This weekend, our church held a prayer retreat at a local bible camp. It gave everyone time to reflect and call for prayer for a number of things. Currently, the church is finding itself on a rebound of sorts. We have moved into a new space and there is a renewed sense of purpose. My wife and I are on the front lines of this renewal, but the position itself has had its share of trials. I won’t belabor the point or descend into a complaining rant about any of it. This isn’t about that at all. What I want to talk about is the idea that God is somewhere else and will someday return to us. It was brought up a few times over the 22 hours we were together. During the sessions, someone talked about how we open in prayer and talk to God as if we are conjuring him up from somewhere else. We call Him forth as if he were some kind of spirit that would be used to smite our enemies. God, as it was said, is no off in some high castle. He’s everywhere and everything. He cannot be called forth because He is standing right beside us and within us. The idea that that Jesus will return to this world is in a state of doubt for me now. If God is everywhere, wouldn’t that mean that there is no need for return because He never left? Wouldn’t it seem that the illustration of God coming to our world, pulling away all the righteous, and devastating our spiritual attackers is just that? It feels to me like the word of the Bible has been taken somewhat too literally. We have been given this picture painted by many different people from different walks of life. Flowing robes and a man flying down or appearing in a flash of light, armies laying down their weapons. Groups of people have been waiting for this to happen for centuries and it has been happening everyday. Everyday people die and are buried. What happens when they do pass away can only be seen by those who are “living” through it. Is it so strange to think of it in those terms? I’m still trying to get the philosophy right in my head, but it makes a small amount of sense.
