Hey, You!

Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a Person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction.    (Pope Benedict XVI)

It is not we who seek the Way, but the Way which seeks us.  (Dag Hammarskjold: Markings)

The lovers of God have no religion but God alone.  (Rumi)

We seem to forget that all the major religions of the world today had their origin in one man---Abraham----who had no religion at first but paganism, worship of the sun, stars, and moon.

But He had an encounter with the living God, Who called him out of darkness into His marvelous light, Who accompanied him on a journey to a place Abraham did not know, but where he was willing to discover because of the One Who called him.  Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness (Romans).

God continued to reveal Who He Is/ I Am to Abraham every step of the journey, never leaving or abandoning him along the way, until Abraham's trust was perfect.  Only then could God use Abraham to teach others --- I do not desire child sacrifice, only love and obedience.

Abraham Heschel's most wonderful book on the philosophy of Judiasm is called God in Search of Man.  What a great title---and how accurate!  If we read the Bible, we cannot help but notice the "Hey, You!" factor.  Abraham, Moses, Jeremiah, Peter, the nation of Israel---all nobodies minding their own business---when God said to them, "Hey, you!   Yeah, you!  I have a mission for you.  Come with Me!"     And all of them replied, "Please, Lord, not me!  I can't do this!  Send someone else!"

Religion is only supposed to lead us to the point of that encounter;  it cannot be the end in itself.  It has been said that the reason Moses (representing the Law) could not enter the Promised Land is that the Law / religion can take us only to the threshhold of the Promised Land; it takes Joshua/ Jesus to take us in.  (The name in Hebrew for both Joshua and Jesus is Yeshua.)

The Gospel of John puts it this way:  The law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.  No one has ever seen God, but God the only Son, who is at the Father's side, has made Him known  (1:17-18).

The Book of Sirach says, "Great peace have they who love your law/ instruction."

Now we know that the Law cannot give peace on its own to its adherents---peace and joy are the fruits of the Spirit of God dwelling within us.  But listening to the law/ instruction is the beginning of listening to the Spirit of God who wants to communicate with us and teach us all things, "hidden from the foundation of the world." 

Sooner or later, those who seek God in religion or in the Law will be found by Him.  And that encounter with the real and living Person behind the Law is always a life-changing surprise, giving us like Abraham a new direction and a new purpose.  Then we will know Him even as we are known by Him!