God in a Box

[I started this blog post thinking I was writing about how we need to get God out-of-the-box....which is true...but I guess that's for another day. ]


"While all Israel were crossing over on dry ground, the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, until the entire nation finished crossing over the Jordan."  --Joshua 3:17

This is the story of the second parting of a sea.  Joshua is leading the people out from their tents to cross over the Jordan and God instructs him to have the priests go ahead of the people and carry the ark of the covenant on their shoulders.  When the priests feet touch the Jordan, the waters part. The Israelites pass through on dry land.

The ark of the covenant was so holy that God instructed them to create a space of about three thousand feet between the people and the ark as it passed through the crowd.  Only the priests could carry the ark.

The Israelites truly had God-in-a-box.  Or that-which-represented-God-to-them was in a box.

When God came to this planet and took the form of a human being, the need for a box was obliterated. We no longer need to carry God in a box as we pass through the rivers of life.

But I think that we are just as desperate as the Israelites to get God into a box so that we can get our minds around who God is.  God is much easier to manage when God is safely crammed into a container in our lives.  When we pick God up, or put God somewhere, or stay a safe distance (3000 feet from God), we feel much more secure.

A relationship with the Living God is much harder to navigate than a list of commandments, beliefs, and responsibilities that is left to our pastors to carry around on their shoulders.  Jesus came to set us free from the boxes!  This is true all the time.

But here is where this rests with me today:

We all need a "God-in-a-box" at times of challenge in our lives. We need beliefs and promises that are clear and steady and that we can write down on our arms in sharpie and tattoo across the tops of our feet. We need to see the people around us holding promises of God in their lives and in their hands in tangible ways.
We need pastors and spiritual friends who bear the weight of God on their shoulders and who show Christ in their faces.  We need them to go ahead of us with God as we pass through the rivers of life and death.

A relationship with the Divine Omnipotent Being of the Universe is much of time to huge and mysterious for us mere mortals on some(even most) days.

And on those days, I am thankful for a God who is sensitive to the human condition.  That we have this God who created an ark of the covenant to lead the ancient people of God when they desperately needed something to touch, see, hold, and even keep their distance from out of awe and wonder.

Perhaps today you need God-in-a-box.

You may be called to be that person who carries God with you on your face and in your hands, on your shoulders and in your heart as you stand in the midst of the river of life and death so that others can pass through on dry land.  They may keep 3000 feet from you. You may never know their story or see their face, but they are watching you--seeing you holding God for them. Being the one whose feet touch the water and give space for the Spirit of God to move.

You may need a scripture or truth to write down in sharpie across your palm or on your the cardboard of the coffee cup.  And carry it with you as your own teeny ark that bears God for you.

As you walk through the river of life and death today, how do you carry God with you?