Visitation

“ If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, and shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation. ”

IN summertime, during holidays and special anniversaries we like to pay visits to our family members who've moved away for their jobs, education and other relationships. When we visit or when we are paid a visit, there is great preparation, gifts purchased, special arrangements for sleeping and eating, showing and sharing the sites of the town. When people visit Chico, we take them to Bidwell Mansion, Covered Bridge, Butte Creek and Feather River or even Mount Lassen. Members of this church might bring them here for a service, to see our historic building, to share in the joy and pride of what we feel a part of.

Visitations create excitement when we know in advance and can prepare. But a sudden visit can cause a great deal of panic because nothing is ready for the greeting and entertaining of an important guest. People who just show up unannounced are frequently cursed in our culture. It's almost unthinkable to simply knock on your family's door and say, “Surprise! We're here!”

Not so in the Middle East. A household is generally set with extra room, or at least sufficient space for more people. Every meal is prepared with generosity, sumptuous proportions, and always an impossible mountain of rice. Jews at a holiday meal set an extra place at the table, as they say, for Elijah, and leave the front door ajar. If friends or family members just drop by at dinnertime in Iran, kisses and hugs go around and everyone makes room for the visitors and is happy to include them. It's considered a blessing to be able to share your meal with others. And the poor are not forgotten. Remember the mountain of rice…

Say you go home after church, change your clothes, fix a light afternoon meal and just sit down to enjoy it before getting to some errands you must see to before the week starts up again when— rat-tat-tat-tat! Ding dongggg. You wonder who that might be on a Sunday. Getting up reluctantly —“Jehovah's witnesses?” you mutter, then reach for the door handle. Your attitude is one of annoyance. This interruption better be worth it. The door swings in to reveal a man of slight build, rather long stringy hair and a beard, more like a 70s hippie than a salesman. He looks at you and waits for something.

“Umm. Yes?” you manage to say.

“I'm here,” is all he says.

“Well, that's true. You are,” you reply, still waiting for the man's business. Hare Krishna or Moonies , you're guessing.

He says nothing more, but seems to have expected a reception, as though you had an appointment with him. You rack your brains to remember any visitor you'd agreed to meet on a Sunday. Not like you. Not likely to forget, either. You tell the stranger your name, to establish his identity, and gain time while the uncomfortable silence remains. He nods. He knew that already. “May I ask your name? And why have you come?”

“I'd think you knew both already, my friend. You've been asking for me all day and using my name as a calling card to gain acceptance. I've already come to you earlier this morning and we shared breakfast.” He hesitates, waiting for your recognition, your slow memory to recall whatever the heck he's talking about. Your expression shows him no understanding and his face falls, disappointed. “I thought you knew me. I'm sorry.”

He turns to retreat down your front walk. You stand in the doorway totally flummoxed. Who is this man and what is He talking about? You feel saddened by the way you greeting him and he obviously hasn't come to the wrong house. “Wait a minute!” you shout behind him. “I'm sorry. Have I misunderstood?” You take a few hurried steps to catch up to him and as he turns around toward you, you sense a thrill of recognition somewhere in your spirit. Your mind still does not get a name or association, but there was something in the moment his face came visible. Now…

“Would you like to come inside? I've just fixed lunch, but there's really enough for two.” You're relieved to see him smile. But there is a strange light in his eyes, a knowing look that says: “I see that you still don't know who I am.” He nods and follows you into the house.

In the kitchen, he sits at your place, and you get him water, and then fix yourself another sandwich. He patiently waits for you before beginning to eat. Then he raises his hands over the table and says a blessing, invoking God's praises and presence right there in your kitchen. You were going to forget to say grace, but he did it for you. The meal is eaten in silence, except for chewing and swallowing sounds. Every time you look up at your guest, he smiles. Finally, you set your uneaten second half down and lean over to tell him, “I'm just a bit stupid today and I'm embarrassed to admit this. It's my fault entirely, but though I'm sure we know each other, I just can't place you or remember your name. Forgive me.”

“That's all done,” he replies, enigmatically, with another smile. No help. No name. He just goes on eating. This is maddening. Who IS he?

A visitation in biblical terms means pretty much what we mean, but with either friendly or hostile intentions. Such a visit was a take over, or an inspection, or a judgment, or a reclaiming of ownership—like a car on which you've made no payments, a repossession. God's visitation means all of these. It also means a blessing, for God's coming to us is always a settling of scores, a righting of wrongs, and exposure of evil. That can be good news to the poor, the victims, the people on the bottom of the power curve.

God promised Joseph in Egypt that some day He would surely visit His people in Egypt again and deliver Joseph's bones back to the Promised Land. Genesis 50:23-26 400 years later, God told Moses, “Go, and gather the elders of Israel together, and say unto them, The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared unto me, saying, I have surely visited you, and seen that which is done to you in Egypt.” Exodus 3:16 Samuel's mother, Hannah, had been barren, but she prayed for a son. “And the Lord visited Hannah, so that she conceived, and bare three sons and two daughters.” 1 Samuel 2:21

But visitation in later scriptures took on the quality of judgment and doom. “If they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments; Then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes.” Psalm 89:31-32 “Moreover the multitude of thy strangers shall be like small dust, and the multitude of the terrible ones shall be as chaff that passeth away: yea, it shall be at an instant suddenly. Thou shalt be visited of the Lord of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire.” Isaiah 29:5-6 I think Jeremiah has the record for references to God's visitation, and all are frightening.

For God to come and His people to fear it says a great deal about us. Who is our God that we resist His presence? Would God come today and give us what for? Or has He calmed down over the centuries, mellowed out so that He expects today the things a generation ago would have sent Him through the roof? Since we've gotten used to the every day fornication, drunkenness, wild entertainment, gluttonous eating and overwhelmingly selfish and lazy lives we lead, do we believe that God's standards have also slipped?

Every Sunday, every day of worship, we come to an altar and pray.

“ALMIGHTY God, Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of thy Holy Spirit, Lord, have mercy upon us. I believe in the Father Almighty, in one Lord Jesus Christ, in the Holy Ghost, We humbly beseech thee most mercifully to receive these our prayers, We acknowledge and bewail our manifold sins and wickedness, The burden of them is intolerable. For thy Son our Lord Jesus Christ's sake, Forgive us all that is past; Come unto me and I will refresh you. With Angels and Archangels, we laud and magnify thy glorious Name; saying, Holy, holy, holy. In the night in which he was betrayed, he took Bread; and when he had given thanks, he brake it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, Take, eat, this is my Body, which is given for you; Do this in remembrance of me. Drink ye all of this; for this is my Blood of the New Testament, which is shed for you, and for many, for the remission of sins; Do this, as oft as ye shall drink it, in remembrance of me. Grant us so to eat the flesh of thy dear Son Jesus Christ, and to drink his blood. Take and eat this in remembrance that Christ died for thee, and feed on him in thy heart by faith, with thanksgiving. We humbly beseech thee, that we may continue in that holy fellowship, and do all such good works as thou hast prepared for us to walk in; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”

Jesus is our key, the means by which we ascend to the Father in prayer. He comes to us and we partake of His Body and Blood in a real and unique way, through the simple meal of bread and wine. Where is Jesus in this? He is in you, in me, and in the tabernacle. He visits us Himself, and expects our welcome, and recognition, and joy at His coming. If we don't know Jesus when He comes to us each Sunday morning, it is a stranger we meet at the door of the Eucharist. We don't know the name of the man at our table. Do you know this man?

Jesus looked out on Jerusalem and cried. “If only you had known what I have prepared for you and welcomed it. But you can't see. Now there is a day coming when every stone in you will be swept away. Your enemies will lay siege against you and cause you to starve, even your children. It must be so, because you didn't know nor recognize the day of your visitation.”

God's coming is always good. But it can be hard. It can strip away all that we pretend to be important, all we put in front of Him. That's good for us ultimately, but it plays havoc with our plans. Are you ready for God to visit you, in your home, at your TV, in this Church, at play, at work, at school, in your bed, your closet, your desk, your computer, your thoughts, your words, your will?

Let Him come. Worst can happen is a clean sweep. Begin again. Start fresh. Let Him come. Welcome Him at your front door. Be happy at the Lord's visitation. He comes to save you. He comes to know you want Him. He comes to repossess His own.

PFH+