Clothesline - Edition 223

By Rev. Elizabeth L. Nelson, Pastor

October 30, 2024  

Because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy…raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms…(Eph. 2:4-6)

What does it mean to be “seated with him in the heavenly realms”? Are you able to sit still, let alone in the “heavenly realms”? Well, we sit in these “heavenly realms” on Sunday mornings when we worship, but what about other times?

We live in a world where there is little quiet, little stillness, little meditative opportunities. How sad! And I’m as guilty as the next who doesn’t take the time to find quiet times. Somewhere along the way someone made me believe that if I wasn’t accomplishing something, I was wasting time. I didn’t know there is power in stillness. A great believer once said, “All things come to him who knows how to trust …and to be silent.” How often did Jesus himself leave the crowds and go off by Himself to have quiet time with his Father! You’d think we’d understand its importance by now.

We may not feel something happening in silence, but we can be confident that God is at work. Scripture is filled with examples of Jesus going off by himself. But it wasn’t really to be by himself; it was to be away from the noise and intimately connect with his Father. I’ve thought about that often, how Jesus, before the beginning of time, had always been in the heavenly realms with his Father. And because he wanted to redeem us from sin, he came to earth, setting aside this wonderful existence in the heavenly realms with his Father. And by doing so, he took on our humanity, and lived a human life away from that intimacy.

That’s why he often left his followers to find a quiet place, a place where he could be present with his Father. While he was giving us an example, imagine, how painful it must have been for Jesus to leave that quiet heavenly realm and return to the noise and confusion that human nature supplies.

But the truth is he never actually left his Father’s presence. Neither do we. It’s just sometimes more difficult to feel that heavenly presence of God amid the noise and confusion of the world. We need to look hard to find it. So, it’s up to us to seek out those moments, those times when we can draw closer to God, even amid our human existence. We must learn to find those places with God in the “heavenly realms” where we can be peaceful and quiet. Those places may be hard to find, but that’s where the power begins!