I think about a friend in this congregation who has been a Christian for only a few years. It has been exciting, in the last couple of years, to hear him speak self-consciously of what is occurring on his pilgrimage. Some time ago, he was visiting with a former partner in business. She observed that he seemed always to be going to church these days. He said he took the opportunity to tell her about what a difference God has made in his life. She replied that she would like to go to church sometime. Afterward, he reflected on the conversation and realized that he was now witnessing to his faith. He could see his own growth occurring. It was an exciting moment.
I don't mean that we should spend our time feeling our pulses to see how we're doing. But there should be times of introspection when we think about the journey we're making, how far we've come, and what we ought to do to facilitate our future progress.
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When I taught courses on prayer in the divinity school, I asked my students to keep journals of their experiences during the semester. Each day, they would write about their prayer lives and other things that impinged upon their spiritual formation. In the years since, I have often had a former student say to me, either in a letter or in person, "I am so glad you had us keep a journal. It began a practice I have never given up, and it still rewards me when I look back and see the distance I have come."
May I summarize for you? First, learn God's story. Second, spend time with God. Third, seek to please God. And, fourth, reflect on what your life is becoming with God.
Do these things and you will find yourself growing in intimacy with God.
Maybe you saw the movie A Field of Dreams. It is a beautiful, whimsical story about a young farmer who hears a voice in the cornfield say to him, "If you will build it, he will come." Build what, he wants to know. A ball park, he learns. Who will come? Shoeless Joe Jackson, the great star of the Chicago White Sox. So the farmer plows under his corn and builds a ball diamond. And sure enough, one day Shoeless Joe Jackson walks out of the cornfield and begins to play ball. So do seven other White Sox players, and then some old New York Giants. It is a lilting, tender story, and it probably sounds crazy if you haven't seen it, but it almost invariably gives people's spirits a lift.
"If you will build it, he will come."
That's the promise we are dealing with too, isn't it? If we will create the right conditions in our lives, God will come and dwell in them. God doesn't make the intimacy. We do. But God never fails to reveal Himself intimately to those who make the overtures, those who take the simple steps of preparing for His presence.
Build your life in these ways and He will come.