Why does any of this matter?

Hey everybody…
 
I’ve often called God the “Cosmic Taco Bell.” I certainly mean no irreverence by this, but I suppose I’ll have to explain myself in Deeper Thoughts below. I hope you’ll come with me. It will be yummy.
 
But first…
 
·      Men…  Father’s Day is this Sunday. We want to pray over you and celebrate you!
 
o   AND… Gordon Albert would like to get together with our men to explore possible next steps with our Men’s Ministry. After a months-long hiatus from hosting occasional Saturday men’s breakfasts, mark your calendars for Saturday, June 28 at 8:30 a.m. to talk about what comes next for us! More details to come!
 
·      Teens:  NO Youth Group this Sunday, as you celebrate your dads on Father’s Day. And a huge “thank you” to all our teens who helped out last week at our Summer Kick Off extravaganza! To get plugged into our growing and awesome youth group, email Jessica Sauder: [email protected].
 
·      Remember not to miss “The Daily Six” videos as we continue our teaching series called “Knowing God.” Join me for six minutes each morning, Monday through Friday, on our YouTube channel as we study through the entire Old Testament together. If you’d like to receive daily email reminders and you’re not already getting them, click here to sign up!
 
·      Our summertime event schedule will stay a little lighter as folks enjoy vacations and such. Big things are ahead, to include Mt. Hope’s 190th Anniversary celebration August 24! Standby for more news!
 
OK…that’s it today for you email skimmers and you who can’t stomach the idea of God owning a Taco Bell… BUT…
 
Some Deeper Thoughts…
 
It probably has something to do with my time in college. I attended university in a very small town in the middle of nowhere Indiana.
 
To the chagrin of the entire student body’s 20-year-old midnight energy, the only off campus public space in town that was open past 9:00 p.m. was Taco Bell. After we had exhausted whatever shenanigans we could come up with to entertain ourselves at WalMart--which closed at 9:00 p.m.—any festivities that we didn’t want under the watchful eye of our dormitory director had to move over to Taco Bell.
 
And yes, this also meant that any “first dates” with interesting young ladies had to occur at… well, you guessed it… Taco Bell. (Hmmm… this might have something to do with why I graduated college as a single man.)
 
Needless to say, with multiple visits per week to Taco Bell, I became very well acquainted with the menu. According to Mr. Google, Taco Bell serves 77 different items. That’s a lot of mediocre imitation Mexican dishes. But have you noticed? These 77 items are all made with the same nine ingredients: Flour, corn, beef, chicken, beans, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and sour cream. Somehow, Taco Bell has managed to come up with 77 different ways to combine nine ingredients. Talk about creativity!
 
“So, Chris, what does any of this have to do with God, and why have you wasted my time this far?”
 
Because God is just like Taco Bell.
 
You remember the Periodic Table of Elements from Chemistry class, don’t you? There are 118 elements in the universe. That’s it. Everything that exists. Only 118 ingredients.
 
Talk about creativity!
 
The scriptures record that “In the beginning… the earth was formless and empty; darkness was over the surface of the deep” (Genesis 1:1-2). In this context, the Word is not speaking merely of the planet earth, but the whole of the universe. It was formless. Empty. Dark. Nothing was there.
 
And then, the Lord reveals that “the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters” (Genesis 1:2). Since water had not yet been created—in terms of specifically combining two hydrogen atoms with one oxygen atom-- “water” in this verse is speaking of the Holy Spirit hovering over all the elements. They just had not yet been put together into anything.
 
Just like the highly talented chefs at your local Taco Bell hover over their nine trays of flour, corn, beef, lettuce, etc. dreaming of how they can slam those ingredients into 77 different semi-delicious combinations, the Holy Spirit was eyeing His 118 universal atoms and concocting a super-robust menu.
 
Trees. Rocks. Dogs. Stars. Crows. Apples. Clouds. Ants. Snakes. Peanuts. Spiders. Cats. Eels. Jupiter. Mars. Fungus.
 
You.
 
Fingernails. Muscles. Eyeballs. Pinky toes. Eyebrows. Skin. Hair (er…for most folks).
 
The list goes on. You get the point. Absolutely everything was made from just 118 ingredients. That’s a LOT of creativity, a lot of careful combinations. And it all started with a Master Chef hovering over His trays of elements and dreaming of how He could slam all those atoms together into a limitless array of beauty and wonder.
 
So why does any of this matter to me?
 
I want to point you to the identity and character of the chef. His motivation for mixing these 118 ingredients—His motivation for mixing you together—is what I believe is relevant. Profoundly relevant.
 
If you missed this Tuesday’s Daily Six, I recommend you click here and pick it up. As I was reading Genesis 1:1-2 with you all, the Holy Spirit revealed something about Himself.
 
When we think of the mysterious reality of the Trinity—One God, three persons: Father, Son, Holy Spirit—the fact that it was the Spirit of God who was the initial member of the Trinity to contemplate creation is important.
 
The Holy Spirit is the aspect of God who relates with us in intimacy. The Holy Spirit is the one who dwells inside of us. He guides us. He speaks to us (even when we aren’t perceiving Him, He is). He comforts us. He convicts us. He supports us. He carries us.
 
In simple terms, the Holy Spirit is the aspect of God who pursues and actuates a spiritual, meaningful, and intimate relationship with us.
 
So why does any of this matter to me?
 
Because when God made the decision to take 118 elements and make you, He did so with one goal in mind: Intimate relationship.
 
You are not a random accident. You are not a minuscule number in a vast and unknown sea of created entities. You are not invisible to God. You are a precise person with whom God wants to relate in profound intimacy. He fiddled around with 118 elements to build endless combinations—one of which is precisely you.
 
SO… can you lean into this purpose with everything you have? “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one [editor’s note: which includes the Holy Spirit]. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength” (Deuteronomy 6:4-5).
 
That is why you are here. To be in love with God and God with you. All of you.
 
Shall we lean in this Sunday? 10:00 a.m. Let’s dig deep and discover what we are supposed to do with this… why any of this matters to us.
 
Can’t wait… see you Sunday!!
 
Chris Eads
Mt. Hope Pastor
Friend