Encountering God and Sharing our Stories

There once was a little boy who wanted to meet God. He knew it was a long trip to where God lived, so he packed his suitcase with Twinkies and a six-pack of root beer and he started his journey.

When he had gone about three blocks, he met an old woman. She was sitting in the park just staring at some pigeons. The boy sat down next to her and opened his suitcase. He was about to take a drink from his root beer when he noticed that the old lady looked hungry, so he offered her a Twinkie. She gratefully accepted it and smiled at him. Her smile was so pretty that the boy wanted to see it again, so he offered her a root beer. Once again, she smiled at him. The boy was delighted! They sat there all afternoon eating and smiling, but they never said a word.

As it grew dark, the boy realized how tired he was and he got up to leave, but before he had gone more than a few steps, he turned around, ran back to the old woman and gave her a hug. She gave him her biggest smile ever. When the boy opened the door to his own house a short time later, his mother was surprised by the look of joy on his face. She asked him, "What did you do today that made you so happy?" He replied, "I had lunch with God." But before his mother could respond, he added, "You know what? She's got the most beautiful smile I've ever seen!"

Meanwhile, the old woman, also radiant with joy, returned to her home. Her son was stunned by the look of peace on her face and he asked, "Mother, what did you do today that made you so happy?" She replied, "I ate Twinkies in the park with God." But before her son responded, she added, "You know, he's much younger than I expected."

MOSES met God on a Tuesday afternoon… and it was very disturbing. He said this…

I was just doing my job the way I always do my job. I’m not… or I wasn’t… a public person. I didn’t like talking to people because I had a speech defect… I stammered. So, because of that, and because of my past which I don’t want to go into, I looked after animals… sheep mostly. I was just doing my job, just minding my sheep, just looking at the same grass, the same hills I had looked at every day, when I noticed a tree… an ordinary tree.

And suddenly, the ordinary became special: the leaves became candles, the dull earth became holy ground… and that’s where I met God… when the ordinary became special.

Like this testimony from a well-known Biblical figure based on what we know of him from scripture, our readings this morning are connected by the theme of encounter with God. In Genesis we hear the story of Jacob as he journeys to be reunited with Esau. He is uncertain how he will be received – plotting and planning – praying that God will deliver him. In this troubled time, he is encountered by God…

JACOB met God on a Monday night… and it was very disturbing. He said…

I’m not a violent man, I don’t even argue much, but I felt like a fright that night. I had lain awake, a thousand things on my mind. And when, long after midnight, there was a knock at the door, I was up and downstairs like a bear with a sore paw.

A stranger, standing there, stretched out his hand. I took it, out of anger more than friendship… and he didn’t let go.

He didn’t let go – so I started to tug, to pull away, to push him, to wrestle.

We wrestled till daybreak, he never letting go, until finally he said I had won… and that I had met God… wrestling.

The reading from 1st Kings revolves around Elijah. The prophet is troubled – beside himself. He has temporarily lost control of his purpose and mission – he is floundering. Fleeing to the quiet seclusion and safety of the wilderness, he too is encountered by God…

ELIJAH met God on a Thursday night and it was very disturbing. He might tell it like this…

I had just won a competition, and I felt totally depressed. It wasn’t a hollow victory… you might say it was divinely inspired, but I felt depressed. So, I went for a walk into the hills, where I felt I could be nearer to my Maker.

It was very beautiful, looking roundabout, but I didn’t feel a bit closer to God.

Then the wind got up, and the ground started to shake. I thought it was the end of the world. I thought I’d see my Maker face to face before long. But the wind dropped, the shaking stopped, and nothing happened. Then, from nowhere it seemed, a fire started, and I remembered a story about how someone first met God when faced with fire. But that didn’t work for me.

It was afterwards… after the wind and the shaking and the fire… it was when I thought God had given up on me that I met God… in silence.

In Matthew’s Gospel I can’t decide who encounters God. Is it the woman who comes to Jesus with great faith and receives the blessing of healing for her daughter? Or is it Jesus who is challenged by the woman to understand that his divine mission extends far beyond what he initially imagined? What is clear is that God is present in their meeting.

There are consequences to these encounters. Jacob’s name is changed to Israel as a constant reminder of the event. Elijah comes to the presence of God and though he has been traumatized by recent events, he is restored in the moment of sheer silence with the Lord. His motivation and strength return, and he continues his work for God. The Canaanite woman leaves with her daughter healed and her faith vindicated. Will she share her experience in her community? Jesus is also changed ready now to expand his ministry to the Gentiles. How are we changed by our encounters with the divine? Do we bring all our questions, doubts and fears to each encounter with God?

This theme of encountering God is not one that rests comfortably within the confines of scripture – we believe that God is present with us here and now. We affirm that Jesus continues to guide us as disciples and that the Holy Spirit is active in our lives every day. When I reflected on encountering God, I wrote my own story like those of the Bible characters we’ve heard today, and I asked others to do the same.

Here are our stories of meeting God…

LAURA… I met God on a Friday morning in June... and it was disquieting. I just wanted to go for a walk – to visit a special school. I wasn’t looking for God. I invited another minister to walk with me – a friend. It was humid for Edmonton and my shoes hurt my feet. We walked through the outdoor classroom – I remembered reading aloud by the pond in the heat of another June day.

We entered through the back door – everything so familiar, tears stinging my eyes. I drank in the art on the walls – the classroom murmurs. We knocked on doors – I hugged past colleagues – recognized faces, routines, books, changes. It must have seemed dull to my friend, to any passerby – just a trip down memory lane, but I awoke to the truth that God was very present in this place – in a secular school, with children, families, friends and coworkers.

I met God amid the chaos of an elementary school as I struggled to discern God’s call. I met God then in unexpected people – and I met God again as I remembered how God forms and prepares us through the people we encounter and the tasks we undertake.

ISAAC tells this story of meeting God… I believe, for different reasons, that since I was a teenager, I was aware of the fact that we all die. Together with this conscience came also the questions of why are we here? What happens when we die? Purpose. Is there a God etc.? My exploration led me to a growing body of personal and spiritual indications.

But it was the year 1996, when I lived in Norway, that I had a personal encounter with Jesus Christ. After a very deep crisis and a broken heart, I cried to God for help… Strangely enough the words that my aunt Nereida shared with me at age 10 or 11 popped up in that moment. And they turned out to be what we call ‘the sinner’s prayer’.

It was an incredible and supernatural experience… I confess that the presence of God was there in my room. I told everyone about Jesus.

Unfortunately, because I pegged my conversion to a condition, my faithfulness to God disappeared when that relationship was lost. I returned to bad habits and with even worse consequences. I entered an even worse relationship. And it was only thru prayer that I asked God to help me be removed from that relationship.

God answered my prayer and I was finally set free… celebrating 13 years of sobriety in 2024 by God’s sustaining mercy and grace. Obeying and trusting God – worshiping helps me grow as well.

“Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.” (Psalm 107:6) May God bless us, in Jesus mighty name, Amen!

Here is Jennie to share her story…

Growing up in a dysfunctional home at age 6, with parents who argued all the time, left me each day with a feeling that gave me fear and no peace. I never knew what to expect living that way. I was always afraid of my father. Sometimes I did not even want to be in my own home, so I stayed at my best friend’s home every chance I could.

One afternoon my mom told my sisters and I that she was going to be sending us to Sunday School each Sunday, because it will teach us a new way of living and bring us happiness. So, we went.

When I listened to what our teacher taught us at Sunday School, I was so interested in who Jesus was. I looked forward to going to church each Sunday. I loved learning about Jesus and all the Bible Stories, and we had fun doing art. One Sunday the teacher let us know what we needed to do to be Christian. She said, “You have to ask Jesus to come into your heart and be your saviour.” She said, “If any of you make this decision, please call me and tell me.” She gave us her phone number.

All that day I thought about what she taught. So that evening in the quietness of my room, I knelt on my knees at my bed and asked Jesus to come into my heart. I felt such happiness after! I was so excited. I went to our phone and called her. She was so happy for me. The following Sunday, she asked me to please share my story with the congregation.

I have remembered that experience all my life, like it was yesterday. Thank you for letting me share.

April was wondering about meeting God and shares these two short encounters with children/youth at church…

A grandmother brought her two grandchildren (girl, 6 and boy, 4) for their first visit to church one Sunday. When she dropped the girl off at the Sunday School class where we were teaching that day, the boy started crying since he didn’t want to leave his sister. I said that he was welcome to stay with his sister, he settled down and we proceeded with the lesson.

A girl brought a friend to VBS. I said hello and welcomed her to the class and proceeded with the activities for the day/week.

I barely remembered either incident until a year or two afterwards when the grandmother told me that she decided to bring her grandchildren to church on a regular basis due to my interaction with her grandchildren that day. In the other case, the girl’s mother was explaining to a group of us that their family started attending our church due to her daughter’s experience at VBS and how she liked her teacher unaware that I had been the teacher.

So, who encountered God?

✓ The children for having the chance to experience the love of God

✓ The grandmother and the parents for being open to God’s call

✓ Me, for finally realizing that God is always with me in big and small ways and that a warm welcome can make someone’s day.

Jacqueline has meet God often and in a variety of places. Here is her story…

I met God when I swam into church in amniotic fluids. It was a constant comforting presence. I met God amidst my chemistry master’s research when my goal to be a chemist was in reach and God redirected my hands. I met God in the faces and hands of all the constantly loving people in my home congregation of St. Andrews. I met the spirit dancing in others in a notice I had a call 3 times in one day after lay preaching as an Interim moderator, head of ladies guild and atheist separately all recognized my call in one day. I met God when I stopped accidentally saying no to God’s quiet call and decided to listen. I walked with Jesus to seminary at the Vancouver School of Theology. I met the Trinity in unexpected ways and it carried me all the way across Canada to Sooke BC to try and help them see God on their journey as Christ already walks with them and the Spirit breath with in them.

Marianne met God on a women’s weekend retreat. Here she is to tell you what she remembers…

We all were singing one of our favourite hymns and I was overcome by emotion – with a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes. I was not able to continue to sing and I am certain the holy spirit had touched me. God was with us all in that room. It makes me think of the Gospel story of the feeding of the multitudes and how the crowds must have felt when Jesus performed a miracle. For me, I was excited to have that experience – that encounter with God.

What is your story? When and where and through whom have you encountered God – walked with Jesus? How have you been changed by an encounter with the divine?