For openers, this isn’t a philosophical question of existentialism. Good thing, since there doesn’t seem to be any answer, in that discipline. No, this is theology, the Reality of an all-present God, which confronts us in next Sunday’s readings. Not for navel-gazing or dreaming in the stars, “Why are you HERE?” could be an amazed expression which translates, “I didn’t expect to find GOD here!”
Elijah was drained. He had just killed off the priests of Ba’al, and was now running from royal wrath, first to the desert and then to Mt. Horeb (Sinai). (I Kings 19:1-15) And God asked, “What are you doing HERE, Elijah?” Alone and afraid, Elijah was on pilgrimage to the place where he knew that God had once been found; still he was a bit surprised to see Yahweh so far from his home.
Galatia. Now THAT’s a strange place to experience God! The mountains of what’s now Central Turkey were full of wild Celtic tribes, hardly a scene for a refined Jewish scholar and Roman citizen. Yet Paul writes, “…for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith….And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise.” (Galatians 3:26,29) What are you doing HERE, Paul?
The Gentile Gospel writer, Luke, tells a funny story (Luke 8:26-39) about Jesus healing a fellow named Legion from his many demons, and sending these demons into a herd of pigs, who promptly rushed over the cliff and drowned! (“See, we knew they were unclean!”) What’s really special about this narrative is that it happened in SYRIA, near what we now call the Golan Heights. What are you doing HERE, Jesus?
As a seminarian, one of our assignments was to go one evening each week to Greenwich Village, “deep in the heart of New York City.” We were to wear garb which identified us as clergy, and to mingle with folks in bars & coffee-houses, perhaps to provoke Holy Conversation. My friend Ed and I were in one of these dives when a woman said loudly to her companion, “They’re EVERYwhere, aren’t they!” Glad ya noticed, lady!
Who’s surprised more, faith-bearers or skeptics, when God is discovered Out of Town? Or maybe it’s God discovering US, even where and when we expect God least…….
God Bless Us, Every One H B King
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