The Longing for Transcendence

Study Notes

Modern Longings: Ancient Words -- The Longing for Transcendence

Psalm 63

     Let me begin by telling you about my title, i.e., The Longing for Transcendence.  I imagine that in a series of sermons about “modern longings”, you might think that few people would say that transcendence is among the things modern people long for.  Consider your own deepest desires right now.  What are you longing for most?  Winning the lottery?  Getting a good health report?  Having the Dodgers win the World Series this year?  But, does the word “transcendence” immediately pop into your mind as being one of the things you most fervently desire?  I doubt it.  So, let me speak with you for a while about what I mean by the longing for transcendence.

     By transcendence, I mean the existence of a reality that goes beyond the material realities of our world.  Transcendence refers to worldview that believes that the material world with its natural causes and processes is not all that is. There is a supernatural reality that is a part of existence. 

     In John Naisbitt’s first Megatrends book, a book that was #1 on the NY Times’ best-seller list for 2 years, he wrote of the growing influence of a world view among some scholars that seeks to explain everything in the universe by natural causes.  Naisbitt predicted that people would react against that mechanical view of the world. He said that, because of that, we should expect people in the future to become more and more interested in the supernatural -- not less.  More religious – not less.  I agree with him.

     I saw the truth of Naisbitt’s predictions when I moved to Europe in the 1970s.  People were saying that all of Europe had become a secular society with no interest in religion.  But, that wasn’t true.  In those years, the growth of religions like New Age and witchcraft, even among the highly educated in Europe, was remarkable. 

     Stanford University sociologist Theodore Roszak wrote about this in his Where the Wasteland Ends.  Although he was not a church goer, he said that the tendency among some in the scientific community to deny the supernatural and reduce everything to natural components will not be satisfying to the kinds of questions that human beings ask about life.  He wrote that there is “an irreducible intuition in human beings that reality is awesomely vast.”  He said people intuit that there are both natural and supernatural realities.  He insisted that if you try to eradicate or suppress your search for something in this universe greater than yourself, it will be like putting a cork in Old Faithful.  As I’m sure you know, that wouldn’t keep Old Faithful from erupting.  No, it would break out in all sorts of crazy places and ways.    

     I became most convinced of this longing for transcendence when I was studying in Cambridge, England and heard a sermon on Ps 63 preached by… of all people… a scientist -- a chemist who had come to faith in Jesus and had sensed God’s call to the ministry.  He loved being a scientist because he loved studying the material world and all its natural processes.  But, he had come to believe that good science acknowledges that all reality cannot be explained in terms of material things and natural processes alone.  Deep in his heart, he knew there had to be something and Someone, greater than this natural world. He loved creation -- but wanted to meet the Creator.  The title of his sermon from Ps 63 was The Search for Transcendence. 

     We have a good number of scientists in our church too.  One is a leader in our prayer ministries, Dr. Steve Cunningham.  Another is one of our main worship leaders, Dr. Lauren White.  When I tell this to people, I find they are often quite surprised.  So, I’ve decided to ask Lauren to come and talk with me about this matter of how it is that a person can be a devoted scientist and, at the same time, a devoted follower of Jesus.

INTERVIEW

1. Lauren, maybe we’d better first establish that you’re a real scientist. What have you studied – and what is your current job?

    I have a bachelor's in Chemistry and PhD in Chemistry. I started working in the field of Astrobiology after that. Prior to graduate school I studied Martian meteorites looking for signs of life (fossils) as evidence of life on Mars.  During graduate school I took on an "origin of life" study from a professor at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Under his advisement, I performed experiments testing his theory for the origin of life from hydrothermal vents at the bottom of Earth's oceans.  After graduate school, I jumped into the engineering field. I've worked as a systems engineer for over 5 years now on 2 flight projects that launched and operated on the international space station and I'm currently working on the Mars 2020 rover launching to Mars next year.

2. 
   So, you’re an astrobiologist, chemist, engineer – a real “rocket scientist”? But, you write worship songs
   about Jesus and lead us in worship here at Lake. How do you put those two things together?

     I didn't put them together - God just wired me that way. He gave me a passion for Music and passion for Science. It actually feels quite natural to me to jump between the two. All of us are uniquely gifted by God and when you actively use those gifts to God's glory, at least for me, I feel more alive and near to God.

3. 
   I spoke about the chemist-pastor who loved being a scientist before becoming a Christian – but found
   that meeting his Creator through faith in Jesus deepened his love of science even more. Do you think
   that your relationship with your Maker enhances your love of science?

     Absolutely - even in my origin of life work I was constantly thinking on these amazing hydrothermal vents that God designed at the bottom of our ocean with tiny microbial life that exists perfectly in that environment. How did God create that system ? Perhaps through some of the very chemistry I was testing? I didn't have to take a leap from that into a neo-Darwinian view that everything evolved slowly but I did wonder at how God created these systems if He would reveal it to us. He is the ultimate engineer and designer. The perfect balance in which all of this exists only affirms my faith.

4. Lauren, try to envision being a scientist without any connection to God. Do you think that would change anything? Do you think you would have any kind of “longing for transcendence”?

     Everything would change. In science and engineering we often use calibration techniques - for cameras it's a physical calibration target. That target has a known and quantified resolution. In science, we use calibration curves where we first run a known quantity of a substance and then quantify the unknown substance against it. In other words, it's "truth" that we always check ourselves against to better understand our measurements. God is the ultimate truth, the calibration target for my life. I can always check myself and my circumstances against Him and the truth of His word. 

     If I’m going to be honest, I believe without this truth in my life I would be ruled by insecurity which I know leads to bitterness and emptiness. What I see most of all in my work place is people throwing their entire lives into 1 project. Their entire identity is wrapped up in this one thing. On one of my flight projects that I worked on - it got cancelled twice in a 3 years span ! I would be devastated and bitter if my entire identity was wrapped up in that. When I find myself getting overwhelmed - I re-calibrate against God's truth. That I am a child of God. My identity is in Him. And He gave me these projects and jobs and He can take them away just as easily. But He is good. He is trustworthy. And so I don't have to be insecure or afraid or bitter  - I can rest in my identity in Him and "wait, wait" , as you put it these past 2 weeks, for further direction from Him.

     In the moments we have left in our service, I want to take you to King David’s longing for transcendence in Ps 63.  It’s a Bible passage that has shaped my ministry and affected my witness enormously. Let’s walk through the three phases of the Psalm as if we’re journeying through the desert that David was in as he wrote it. Then, I’ll tell you the two reasons I’m preaching this sermon in my last month as your Sr Pastor.

Journeying through the Desert

The 1st Phase:  Identifying the Greatest Need -- (63:1). You, God, are my God,  earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you,  my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water.

     Put yourself now in King David’s shoes.  He wasn’t in the desert by choice.  This wasn’t a vacation trip to Palm Desert. No, he was hiding in that desert with his life in danger.  This may have been the time when his son Absalom was seeking to take his kingdom away from him.  If so, David would have had many needs in that desert as he wrote this Psalm:  physical needs – like lodging, water and food.  Occupational needs: his role as king seemed to be over.  Relational needs: his family and closest associates had turned against him.  What would your greatest longing have been at a time like that?

     So, what is the greatest need that he expressed?  He said, “My whole being longs for you, my God, in a dry and parched land where there is no water.”  David here was speaking of the point I’m trying to make – that there are both natural and supernatural realities in our world.  He understood the natural, material needs, didn’t he?  He said, “I’m in a hot, dry and parched land and need some water.”  But, at the same time, he was aware of the spiritual and eternal part of him.  He knew that, as hard as it might be for us to grasp, his longing for God was his greatest longing.  So, he said, “My body longs for water.  That’s real. But, my whole being longs for you, my God!”

     He knew the truth of what I spoke to you about last week from Ps 91, i.e., that even if he got the water, it would not last.  But, if he had God, nothing eternal could ever be taken from him.  So, let me make an assertion and you see if you agree:  The deepest need of your human heart is to know God.  At the beginning of the Bible, in Gen 2, we are told that walked personally with people, i.e., we are made to “dwell with” God – to experience his presence and reality regularly.  At the end of the Bible, when Jesus returns and makes all things new, we read in Rev. 21:3 that we will again dwell in the unrestricted presence of God.

     So, you and I now live in this in-between time – between the beginning in paradise and the end in the new creation.  But, even in this in-between time, we human beings have been created to live life knowing that God is with us. We experience that presence of God now through faith in Jesus. Jesus came so that we who are alive to the natural world might also be made alive to God -- that we might be born again to eternal life with God.

     The point is that all of us are human – made in the Creator’s image.  Our greatest need is to know God.  I am convinced that, deep down, all who are human have a longing for that kind of transcendence.

The 2^nd Phase: Zakar, Remembering God Even in the Desert (63:2-8). I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory.

     God may have seemed far away when David was in the desert, but David knew God is real. How?  Because he had experienced God genuinely. Where had David experienced the reality of God?  He said in v. 2 it was in his worship with God’s people in the sanctuary.  In his worship among God’s people he had personally experienced the power and glory of God.  So, when he was in a dry and barren place on his own, he remembered back to his worship and remembered that, as his said in v. 3, “God’s love is better than life.”  And, as he proclaimed in v. 4, he wanted to praise God as long as he had physical life – even if he had to do it alone and in a desert.  And, he added in v.5, he will be satisfied with God’s presence even more that if he had the riches of foods – even if he had no food at the time.

     So, in v. 6, in the worst time of his life, he remembered what he had experienced about God as he had worshipped with his family of faith.  He remembered it in the day and all through the night. What he remembered was God’s reality, God’s love and God’s presence.  He knew, as I so often say, there is no God-forsaken place or person in this world.  David knew that the God who is real is also the God who is there! 

     And, I love v. 8, he declared, “My God – I cling to you.  You are here, and I cling to you!”  This could and should be a sermon on its own.  But, I’ll simply ask you:  “What do you cling to when you are in those desert times and God seems far away?”  When you have truly met God, you remember – and you cling to him.

The 3^rd Phase: Living Today with the End in Mind (63:9-11). All those who make promises in God’s name will rejoice.  But the mouths of liars will be shut.

     David knew that his time in the desert would not last forever.  It’s clear that David was only in the desert because of enemies who were lying about him and were seeking to destroy him.  I’m sure that, at the time, the enemies seemed strong and David seemed weak.  But, he knew their kind of strength would not last – because the God who is God is a just God.  David, with eyes of faith, in vv. 9-11, looked into God’s promise to bring about justice.  He knew that God had promised that faith in God will ultimately be rewarded, and evil will be punished.  He trusted God’s promise and was able to wait until God made things right.  When you know that God is like that, you will find hope in the face of enemies.  When you meet God and learn to know him, it will keep you going in the deserts of life until God finishes his work and makes all things right.

David’s Experience Can Be Yours (The Takeaway)

     So, now I want to tell you the two reasons why I wanted to preach to you about this topic.

     The first reason is that I want you to learn to meet God when you come to this sanctuary and worship together with your church family.  David was able to remember who God is and what God is like because he had deep and genuine experiences with God in his worship gatherings together with his people in the sanctuary.  In his place of worship, he had beheld the power and glory of God. He had learned that God’s love is better than life itself. He had learned to sing praise to God.  Because he had been a faithful worshipper in the good times of his life, he was able to remember who God is even when he was under attack in the desert.

     How might that happen for you as you worship with us at Lake?  Well, we have some responsibilities as a church. We need to be faithful to putting God at the center of our worship services.  We do that as they did in David’s day, i.e., by singing songs that actually give praise to God and speak of his love and power and glory. And, also as happened in David’s day, we must open the Word of God so that you can hear afresh what God says about himself and about life in this world.  We must do this together as your church family.  This is the mystery of Christ-centered community – which is what a church should be. We can meet God on our own but, when we worship God together, we experience God as David wrote about in this Psalm.  As Jesus said in Mt 18:20, “When 2 or 3 gather in my name, there I am with them.”  Jesus is always with us of course.  But, it’s clear that our experience of him is deepened as we worship in the sanctuary with our church family.

     But, it’s not just the church’s responsibility to facilitate worship.  You have responsibility too. A big part of your experience of God in worship is that you should come prepared to worship God and to hear his Word.  Many of the Psalms speak of this.  They are called Ascent Psalms. People would gather before the worship service and ascend from the bottom of the hill to the place of worship confessing their sins, remembering God’s grace and opening up their minds and hearts to hear God’s Word.  I encourage you to do that even before you come to church.  Come with your heart and mind ready to meet the Lord.  If you have children, tell them of how you are longing to meet the Lord and pray with them that they will meet him in their church too.

     Over the past few months, starting with Vacation Bible School, we have had a number of people who have returned to church after being away for a long time.  Why? Many of them told me they had experienced something good about God and with God while they were here years ago – and longed for that to happen again.  I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory.  When you meet God in the sanctuary with your church family, you will be ready to face whatever happens in the deserts of your life.

     The other reason I chose to speak to you from Ps 63 is I want you to let Psalm 63 impact the way you seek to witness to people about our faith in Jesus. Again, I believe that deep in the hearts of all human beings is a longing for transcendence.  I think that is true even of those who are most fervently resistant to any kind of faith.  Human beings are made to know God and to live with God dwelling in their hearts.  This was the experience of St. Augustine when he said in his Confessions, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in you.” 

     I hold onto that conviction when I speak about Jesus even when I sense that those I speak with are antagonistic to what I’m saying.  I remind myself that God has made them for himself -- even if they seem resistant at the time.    Last June, Chris and I went back to my hometown of Bluefield, WV for my 50^th High School reunion.  I think both of us were surprised when classmate after classmate came up and told us that they had come to faith in Jesus.  A number of them referred to my witness to them as a part of that.  I could hardly believe it because some of them had been staunchly anti-religious.  I felt that most of my attempts to witness to them had been weak and ineffective.  But, God used those frail words because my friends had later come to a place in which they had a longing to know the God I sought to tell them about.  I want you to see people that way.  Learn to see people as those who, deep down their hearts, have a place that only God can fill.  That’s how God has made us all: with a longing for transcendence that only God can satisfy.

 

Two Questions

What have you learned (or been reminded of) about God in the sanctuary today?

Is there anyone you should speak to about Jesus?

Chinese Study Notes

遠古的話語—今天的渴望

渴望超越性

詩篇 63

      今天的題目是渴望超越性，而這個系列的主題是“今天的渴望”，你可能會想今天很少有人會渴望超越性，請你現在查驗內心深處，你最渴望的是什麼？彩票？好的健康報告？道奇隊今年大滿貫？當你想這些最渴望之事的時候，“超越性”有沒有出現？沒有？那讓我告訴你，渴望超越性是什麼意思。

      我說的超越，是指超越物質世界的真實存在。超越是一個世界觀，它相信物質世界和它的因果關係並非全部真相，還有超自然的存在。

     約翰奈斯比的第一部“大趨勢”蟬聯兩年的紐約時報暢銷書之首，他脫離了一般學者用自然因素解釋世界的窠臼，發展了一個頗具吸引力的世界觀。他預言了人類將反對機械的世界觀，因此我們應該期待未來人對超自然越來越有興趣，而非減少；也會更傾向宗教，而非減少。我很認同這點。    

      我70年代搬去歐洲的時候，就發現他的預言很准。人們都在說歐洲已經是一個世俗之地，對宗教沒有興趣，但這不對，新興的宗教比如新世紀運動和魔法在教育程度很高的歐洲人中很流行。

      斯坦福的社會學家希歐多爾洛斯卡在他的“荒廢之地何時休”一書中就寫到這些。儘管他不去教會，但他說一些科學家否認超自然，用自然因素解釋萬物是不能回答人類的生命問題。他說，有一種“不能削弱的人類直覺感到真相實在太巨大了”，人類直覺到自然和超自然同時存在。他比喻說：若你想壓制超越你自身的宇宙真相時，無異於用木塞塞住老忠實噴泉，那絕不會阻止它的噴發，真相會在出人意料的場合以出人意料的方式爆發。

      我相信這種對超越性的渴望，我在劍橋學習的時候就聽過一個科學家講詩篇63，他是一個化學家，信主後感到神呼召他事奉。儘管他喜歡科學，因為科學可以研究物質世界及其規律，但他更知道，一切真相是不可能只用物質及其規律解釋的。他內心深處確信一定還要什麼比自然世界要大。他喜愛創造，但更想與創造主相遇，他基於詩篇63的講道題目是：尋求超越性。

      我們教會也有許多科學家，其中一個是禱告事工的領袖史蒂夫甘甯韓博士，另一個是敬拜事工的領袖勞瑞懷特。當我告訴別人他們的身份時，對方往往很吃驚，於是我決定請勞瑞和我談談，她是如何既對科學委身，又能作一個虔誠基督徒的？

 

採訪

1.勞瑞，還是讓我們先確認你是一個真正的科學家吧，你學了什麼？現在做什麼呢？

      我取得了化學的學士和博士，之後開始在太空生物學方面工作。事實上，在上研究生前，我就學習了火星知識，尋找火星上的生命跡象。研究生期間，我在噴氣動力實驗室跟從我的導師學習“生命起源”， 在他的指導下，我做實驗驗證他的理論，即生命起源于大洋底部的熱泉口。畢業後，我轉為工程領域，我做了5年的系統工程師，現在有兩個飛行項目是關於國際空間站，都與明年登陸火星的項目“火星2020” 相關。

2. 
   2. 哇，你是一個太空生物學家，化學家和工程師，一個真正的“搖滾科學家”？但你又寫詩讚美耶穌，在教會帶領敬拜，你是如何把這些結合起來的？

不是我結合起來的，是神的作為，是他給了我對音樂和科學的熱心，讓我可以自由在兩者切換。每個人都有神所賜的獨特恩賜，當你積極使用它們來榮耀神的時候，至少對我而言，我感到自己更有生命力，更親近神。

3. 
   我談到的那個化學家牧師在信主前熱愛科學，但後來發現因信耶穌與創造主相遇更能加深對科學的熱愛，你是否有同感呢？

絕對如此---甚至在我作生命起源研究時，我一直想神是如何創造了美妙的系統，讓奇妙的海底噴泉提供給微生物賴以生存的環境？我做了許多純化學實驗，沒有跳到新達爾文主義認為萬物都是緩慢進化的，反而想到如果神要啟示我們，他就會創造這些系統，他是一個終極的工程師和設計師。一切存在的完美平衡都只會確定我的信仰。

4. 勞瑞，能否想想生命中沒有神的科學家是什麼樣的？會有什麼不同？還會“渴望超越性”麼？

      那樣的話，一切都改變了。在科學和工程領域，我們常常使用校準技術，比如照相就是物理地校準目標；而目標常常有一個已知的定量標準。在科學上，我們常常用已知物作為基準，再對比未知物。換句話說，我們常常檢驗自身瞭解的“真理”，從而更好明白我們的測量方法。

      神是終極真理，是我生命的基準，我可以常常對照他和他的話語檢測自己的生命狀態。
      我可以坦白地說，我生命中若沒有真理就沒有安全感，就會充滿苦毒和空虛。我常常看到人們在一個專案上投入一生，他們的身份只和一件事有關。我所做的一個飛行專案在三年裡被取消了二次，若我的身份認同只在這上面，我早就崩潰了。當我發現自己受不了的時候，就在上帝真理中重新較對自己，因為我是神的孩子，我的身份屬於他。他可以給我這些專案和工作，也可以輕易拿走。但他是好的，配得信任的，我必不致失落、害怕、苦毒，我可以在他裡面安息，“等候再等候”，就像你在上兩周所說的，等候神進一步的帶領。

      我們回到63篇，看看“渴望超越性”的主題。我常常回到聖經，是因為聖經矯正了我的服事，極大地影響了我的見證。現在，就讓我們一起走過詩篇的三階段，就像大衛寫這詩的時候經行曠野一樣。然後，我會告訴你們為什麼在我作主任牧師的最後一個月要講這篇道的二個原因。

經行曠野

第一階段:  確認最大的需要 (63:1)神 啊 ， 你 是 我 的 神 ， 我 要 切 切 地 尋 求 你 ， 在 乾 旱 疲 乏 無 水 之 地 ， 我 渴 想 你 ； 我 的 心 切 慕 你 。

     想像你在大衛的處境中：他並非自己選擇到曠野來的，不像我們去棕櫚泉度假，他是在曠野躲避生命危險。這可能是他的兒子押沙龍奪權的時期，那麼大衛此時一定有許多需要，比如身體方面，住處、食物和水；事業方面，他的王位似乎要完；人際方面，他的家和最近的人起來反對他…如果你在這樣的時候，最渴望的是什麼？

      大衛所表達的最大的需要是什麼呢？他說：“在 乾 旱 疲 乏 無 水 之 地 ， 我 渴 想 你 ； 我 的 心 切 慕 你。 ” 這裡，大衛說出了我想表達的要點：我們世界上有自然和超自然二種存在，大衛此時當然知道自然和物質的需求，他說：“我在炎熱、乾旱和焦幹之地需要水！”但同時，他意識到屬靈的永恆部分，他知道神是他的最大渴望，儘管對人是看不見摸不著的；所以他說：“我的身體缺水是真的，但我的全身心更渴望神！”

     我上周講91篇時分享了相關的內容，大衛也知道：就算你得到了水，也不過是暫時的；但如果你有上帝，就沒有什麼可以把永恆從你奪去。我說：人類心中最深的渴望是認識神，你同意嗎？在聖經開頭的創世紀第2章，神與人親密同行，我們受造在神的裡面，經歷他的顯現和真實；在聖經最後啟示錄的21章，耶穌再來使萬物更新，我們將再度住在神無限的顯現中。

      如今我們生活在時間裡，在起初的樂園和未來的新天新地之間----在這個時間段，我們受造要活出認識神的生命。我們如今可以藉著信耶穌經歷神的同在。耶穌來，使我們這些在自然世界生存的人也可以向神而活，得以重生，並獲得永遠與神同在的生命。

      這就是說，我們都是有神的形象的人，我們最大的需要是認識神。我確信，在每一個人的心靈深處，都會渴望這種超越性。

第二階段: 即使在曠野中也紀念神 (63:2-8) 我 在 聖 所 中 曾 如 此 瞻 仰 你 ， 為 要 見 你 的 能 力 和 你 的 榮 耀   。

當大衛在曠野中時，神好像離她很遠，但大衛卻知道神的真實存在，怎麼會呢？因為他有真切的經歷。那麼又是在哪裡經歷的呢？他在第2節談到在聖所中與百姓的敬拜，他親身經歷了神的能力和榮耀，所以在他身處乾旱荒涼之地，他還追憶了敬拜場景，紀念上帝，在3節說：“你的愛比生命更好！” 他在4節宣告：只要自己還活著就要稱頌神---不管自己單獨一人或是身處曠野。在5節又補充說：神的顯現比食物更讓他心滿意足---儘管此時他沒有食物。

      在第6節，他紀念與信仰的家人一起敬拜神，他晝思夜想，紀念神的真實、神的愛和神的同在。他知道世上沒有一個被神拋棄的人或被神拋棄的地方。大衛知道神是真實的，他就在那裡！

      我喜歡第8節。他宣告：“我 心 緊 緊 地 跟 隨 你 ； 你 的 右 手 扶 持 我 ”，這一節就是一個講道啊！我要問的是：“當你身處曠野，神好像遙遠時，你要抓住什麼？” 當你真實經歷過神，你就會緊緊抓住他、跟隨他。

第三階段: 確知未來，活在當下 (63:9-11) 凡 指 著 他 發 誓 的 必 要 誇 口 ， 因 為 說 謊 之 人 的 口 必 被 塞 住 。  

      大衛知道他不會永遠在曠野。很明顯，大衛此時在曠野是因為仇敵欺騙他，要毀滅他。我相信那時大衛的處境是敵強我弱，但他知道敵人的力量不會持久，因為神是公義的。在9-11節，大衛透過信心的眼睛看到神應許所帶來的公義。神應許了信靠他的人必有獎賞，邪惡必要滅亡。大衛相信神的應許，並願意等待應許的實現。當你知道神是如此信實，你就會在敵人面前也仍有盼望；當你遇見神並認識他時，你就有勇氣經行曠野直到神的工作完成，讓萬物歸正。

大衛的經歷也可以是你的(你要帶著走)

      現在我要告訴你們，我講這個主題的兩個原因。

      第一個原因是我要你們學習，在聖所中與教會大家庭一起敬拜時迎見神。大衛可以記住神是誰、神是怎樣一位，是因為他和百姓一起在聖所敬拜時對神有真切和深刻的經歷，見到了神的能力和榮耀，學到了神的愛比生命更好，學會了唱詩讚美神；還因為在他生命中好時光之際，他已經是一個忠心的敬拜者，因此即便他在曠野受到攻擊時依然可以紀念神。
      當你與我們在教會敬拜時怎麼經歷這些呢？作為教會，我們有責任把神放在敬拜的中心，就像大衛當年做的，透過唱詩讚美神，述說他的愛、能力與榮耀；也要像大衛當年，打開聖經，聽神關於自己、關於世人所說的話語，我們必須作為一個大家庭一起這樣做，這就是以基督為中心的共同體的秘密，就是一個教會應有的樣子！當我們一起敬拜的時候，就可以親自與神相遇，就可以經歷大衛在詩篇中寫的那位上帝。正如耶穌在太18：20節所說：“有 兩 三 個 人 奉 我 的 名 聚 會 ， 那 裡 就 有 我 在 他 們 中 間 。” 耶穌的確常常與我們同在，但很清楚，當我們作為一個教會大家庭一同敬拜時，會深化這樣的經歷。

     但敬拜神不只是教會的事，我們也有責任。在敬拜中經歷神需要我們預備好敬拜和聽神的話，許多詩篇都說到這點，它們被稱為上行之詩。人們在敬拜前聚集，上到山頂的聖所承認自己的罪，紀念神的恩典，開敞自己的心來聽神的話。我鼓勵你們在來教會之前也如此，預備好自己的心懷意念迎見神。如果你有孩子，告訴他們你渴想與神相遇；你要為孩子們禱告，讓他們在教會也可以迎見神。

     在過去的幾個月，從VBS開始就有許多人在長時間後回歸教會。為什麼？許多人告訴我，多年前他們在這裡經歷了神的恩典和同在，他們渴望重新來過。當你在聖所與教會大家庭迎見神時，你要準備在下一周的曠野紀念他。我為你這樣禱告。

      我講63篇的另一個原因是，我想讓63篇影響你，好去向人見證耶穌。我再一次說，我深信每一個人內心深處都渴望超越性，就是那些最激烈拒絕任何信仰的人也不例外。人受造就是要認識神並活出住在他們心中的神，這就是聖奧古斯丁在《懺悔錄》中所寫的：“你為自己造了我們，主啊，我們的心若不在你裡面找到安息就沒有安息！”

     當我和人談論耶穌時，就算我感到對方排斥我所說的，我也要提醒自己，神為自己的緣故造了他們，儘管他們現在還抵擋福……去年6月，Chris和我回到我在西維吉尼亞Bluefield 老家慶祝高中同學50年團聚。當同學們一個個來說他們信了耶穌，我們非常吃驚；一些人還提到我的見證，我幾乎不能相信，因為有人向來是堅定反宗教的，我覺得我給他們的見證是微弱無效的。但神使用了這些脆弱的話語，我的朋友們後來到了一個地步，渴望認識我告訴他們的那位上帝！我盼望你也這樣看別人---在他們的內心深處，都會有一個隻有神可以填補的地方。這就是神造我們的明證：渴望超越性，因為只有神才能讓我們心滿意足。

 

兩個問題：

今天在這裡你學到（或受提醒）了些什麼可以更好認識神？

你心裡有沒有想到誰，你可以向他/她傳講耶穌？

榮耀歸給神！

Greg Waybright 博士

主任牧師