“The Finger of God”
Rev. Stephen E. Stults
St. Barnabas Anglican Church
3rd
Sunday in Lent 2012
March , 2013
(Luke 11:20) But if
I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come
upon you.
Have you ever been touched with the “finger of
God?” That is, have you ever had an
experience that could only be described as miraculous? I dare say that many of us have, be it an
amazing incident of healing, or an answered prayer, or simply an experience of
God’s overwhelming Presence in our lives. The fact is, all of us have felt, or
better said, have known, that God is with us in some strange and wonderful way.
It may be something rather remarkable, as in the
case of a lady I know personally who actually had a beatific vision when she
was a small child. In this case, she was
walking slowly up the stairs in her aunt’s house, when she saw a patch of mist
on the landing between the levels. In
the center of this patch, she saw the hem of a robe. Beneath it, she saw two feet, each with a
large nail hole. She knew, and we know,
whose feet they were…
Perhaps rather than asking the rather obvious
question, “who”, it might be more profitable to ask the question “why”. That is, why would our Lord and Savior choose
to manifest Himself to a small child at bedtime? Why, indeed…
Have you ever felt the magnificent presence of God
in nature? For example, have you ever
stood on a very high hill or even a mountain, and felt the cool rush of fresh,
cold, air in your face? As you experienced this, perhaps even fighting a bit to
catch a breath because of the fierceness of the cold, oncoming air, you may
have had a moment of realization as you were wrapped in something far greater
than yourself. At that moment, you may have even realized, at least to some
degree, the overarching magnificence of God’s power.
Permit me to give you a personal example…This past
week, in fact I believe it was Monday night, this priest was stationed at a
place called Boulevard Place in the Galleria area. It is situated at the corner of Post Oak and
Ambassador Way, and is an area of high-end offices, restaurants, and
shops. You will recall that the cold
front had just moved in that evening about five o’clock that evening. Well, about nine that night this priest had
one of those “finger of God” moments. Imagine this scene if you will: the cold
wind was howling and the trees were whipping; the air was cold and fresh, and
the night was incredibly clear. Even the
darkness seemed to have a luminosity about it as the as the various street
lamps and pole lights accentuated themselves against the pitch black around
them. Standing in the middle of a
parking lot, this priest looked around him and beheld the monuments to man’s
ingenuity, these large class-A office buildings and high-rise apartment
complexes. All of them had some
yellowish or whitish light projecting from their windows. It was very striking and even beautiful in
the wild, cold, windy, night.
Then, this priest raised his head and looked
up. Heretofore unnoticed was a large,
pale, full Moon, hanging over the scene.
The Moon was up and ebullient in his own luminosity. Of course, around
the Moon were stars, which, miraculously for Houston, could actually be seen
clearly. They were bright, beautiful
points of lights all above.
At that point, this priest was filled with the
presence of God. Surrounded by large works of man’s ability to build, itself a
gift from God, one could almost be a bit awed.
Then, to look up and see further evidence of God’s immense Glory made my
heart and spirit full of thanksgiving and praise for Him who doeth all things
well…
If any of these experiences sound familiar, then in
the words of Theodore Roosevelt, “Bully for you!” We say that, because these
experiences are not only a gift from God, but are sent to us for a specific
purpose. What is that purpose, one might ask?
It is, as God always wants, for the purpose of achieving greater
fellowship with us. God is constantly
calling us, seeking us and giving Himself to us, as we grant Him entrance. Our Father God, through His Son Jesus Christ,
and with the facilitation of the blessed Holy Spirit, wants to come to us and
make His abode with us. In the classic Protestant or even Fundamentalist sense,
God comes to us and makes his dwelling. In the classic Catholic sense, we are in God.
In the classic Anglican sense, we are both, as we
accept Jesus Christ into our lives as our Lord and Savior, and as we
participate in the nourishing life of the Church through worship, sacrament,
and fellowship.
One point needs to be made, however. The Holy Spirit does not deign to dwell in a
place in which He is not welcome. If we
constantly shun God, or prove by our actions that we simply don’t want to be on
his side, or never keep Him in mind, He will graciously give us our desired
state. God rarely forces Himself on
anyone. That soul, who has rejected
God’s repeated callings through his earthly life, will, through an exercise of
free will, be granted that desire through eternity. It will exist without God and will be absent
all the attendant blessings of the same.
On the other hand, that soul who had been attentive
to God’s callings will have a different
state, both in this life and the next.
Here, in this “vail of tears”, we will have difficulties, trials,
tumults, and temptations. This is
certain and no one is exempt. In fact,
sometimes it seems that the Christian gets more than his share of this
challenging experiences, according to God’s mysterious and holy Will. Yet, even in the midst of trial, tumult, and
temptation, there is joy, mysterious joy available. There is a quality of life that only the
Christian who seeks God’s face knows, even in the midst of trouble.
That quality of life comes to us as we seek, and are
led to, those “finger of God” moments.
In an ever-enfolding cycle of revealing, God gives Himself to us as we
seek His face. As we desire more and more of God in our lives, He will grant us
that request. Like the fresco of Adam
touching the finger of God on celing ofthe Sistine Chapel, let us too reach out
our hand for God. Surely, He will not
disappoint us.
We are in the proper season for such an effort. Through sacrifice, prayer, worship, and
fellowship, let us draw nigh to God. Let us seek Him in this holy season of
Lent. We are not promising you a miraculous, spectacular, spiritual experience
all at once, necessarily, although that may happen. What we are promising you is that if you
plant the seed, the plant will grow. If
you nourish the plant with prayer, worship, and fellowship, it will
flourish. If you tend and prune the
plant through spiritual discipline and through restraint of the flesh, it will
produce fruit for all men to behold.
This fruit will be: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness,
goodness, faith, meekness, and
temperance.[1] It will be visible to all men here on earth, whle
we pray that ”as we grow in age, we
may grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” [2] Best of all, it will be part of our blessed
heritage in Heaven.
Luke 11:20: “But if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of
God is come upon you.”
Glory be to God the Father, and to God
the Son and God the Holy Ghost, now and forever. AMEN
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