Between the Almost and the Not Yet

Ask any kid on a car journey about liminal space, and they will stare at you blankly.  But they all know the experience of liminality.  And so do you.  We find ourselves in liminal spaces all the time. How do I know?  Ever asked or answered this question on a road trip? “Are we there yet?” If you have answered with the words, “almost” or “not yet”, you understand the concept of  a liminal space. They are those transitional spaces in our lives that come between the Almost and the Not Yet.  They are transitory spaces.  Places where you cross one threshold but you are not quite to where you are going. 

In a house, we would call them entryways or hallways.  A place, not to stay, but to get from one place to another.  Get trapped in an entryway by someone blocking your entrance and someone behind you wanting to get in and you experience one of life’s teaching moments.  There is nothing quite so awkward as being stuck in a liminal space. An elevator would be another great example of that.  It is used to get from one floor to another, and that is extremely helpful,  but to get stuck in one can suddenly become frightening. Even hanging out in a stairwell of building leaves us feeling out of sorts.  Use it the way it was designed, and it is useful.  Stay there too long and it begins to feel a bit creepy.

In our world today, we find ourselves at that awkward place of liminality.  We are not yet through the pandemic, but almost.  We can see light at the end of the tunnel, and we certainly aren't where we were a year ago, but we aren’t yet back to normal.  That teen with a learner’s permit? Liminal state.  That pursuit of a degree?  Liminal stage of life.  They are phases to pass through but not to stay.  To be in a liminal state means that we are in transition,  moving to another stage, another place or another level. We have left one place and stage, but we have yet to arrive at our new place or stage.  And liminal phases almost always leave us feeling unsettled, unfinished or unresolved. There is something about leaving that liminal place and crossing into a more permanent or resting place that gives us the resolution we crave.

Moving from the kitchen down the hallway to the bedroom gives our purpose fulfillment.  We find sustenance in the kitchen and rest in the bedroom, but the hallway is not a place we typically hang out.  Its main purpose is to be the thoroughfare that gets us from one place to the other.  Necessary, to be sure, but not designed to be a destination.

Consider that one of the greatest liminal spaces for the Christian, that place between the Almost and the Not Yet, is simply called…mortal life.  Consider this: we know we have salvation in Christ as believers, because of what He did for us on the cross, and once we believe, we have left our old life behind,  but the fulfillment of that in its entirety is not yet.  And it won’t be until we cross the portals into heaven. This life, though it has many places of fulfillment and resting and enjoyments, albeit countered by pain, sorrow, loss and death, is really only a liminal space. 

From the womb to the tomb, this journey we are on is not a place we are to crave staying, any more than we would desire to always stand in the foyer or camp out in the hallway.  And even when we arrive at the tomb, it too, in reality, is only a liminal place.  We are, for lack of a better way to view it, stuck between the almost and the not yet.  In fact, according to scripture there are only two ultimate destinations-Heaven or Hell. And that isn’t so much a place as it is a Person. While I believe heaven and hell can be physical locations,  I believe they are more accurately descriptions of either being with Jesus or away from Him.

All through scripture, God continues to remind us that, though we were born here, this is only the hallway to heaven.  He seeks to help us understand that He intentioned more for us in the beginning, and though we blew that plan to pieces through our sin,  through Jesus, God desires to rescue us from our liminal spaces, both physical and mental, and deliver us to a place of true destiny; our ultimate destiny.   A place where we will finally discover in totality, who we really are, and how we can live into that for eternity. To know and be truly known…and totally belong.

That destiny can start here and now.  It is one of purpose and intentionality: to pursue the Creator God in personal relationship, to seek and discover how God has put us together and to utilize those gifts to help others see the futility in seeking anything on this earth as a final destination.  Wealth?  Fleeting.  Power? Fickle and damaging.  Fame? Here today, forgotten tomorrow.  All liminal spaces.  None of them are permanent destinations.  Those who pursue them find, after attaining a certain amount of any or all,  that there is still more of each to seek after.  And even if you could attain all of the money that exists in the world, all of the power that is available and all the fame you possibly could attain, the burning question would still be: Is this all there is?  Now what?

They are the same questions that all seek.  And the answers?  No.  This isn’t all there is.  You have an ultimate destiny and it is found in the person of Jesus Christ. Now what?  Perhaps Solomon, the wisest man that ever lived, can answer what we are to be doing until our ultimate Destiny-Jesus, comes to take us to our ultimate home-heaven, as we wait between the Almost and the Not Yet.

Eccl. 12:13    That’s the whole story. Here now is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone’s duty.

Heb. 12:1    Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. ² We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.

Hold on my friends…until the FINALLY HERE arrives.

Don't Pray for the Holy Spirit... if You Just Want to Warm the Bench

There’s nothing worse than mismatched timing.  It makes us uncomfortable.   It makes us nervous. 
Perhaps, it even makes us feel foolish.  Whatever it makes us feel, we know that something’s not right.

It's like a zoom call where the audio doesn't match the video.  It’s like a choir where the sopranos are three words ahead of the altos who are two notes ahead of the basses and the tenors are “ten or” twelve notes behind everyone.  What a noise!

A car doesn’t run well when the timing is off.  Baking bread either burns or is still raw when the timing is off.  It seems every time we try to use timed bake, the timing is off.  (Actually, I don’t think it ever comes on!)  Relay racers rely on good timing as they pass the baton.  Rock climbers have to have split second accuracy as they leap across a chasm to a miniscule ledge.  And preachers have to have good timing.  (Let ‘em out by 12 and you got it made!)  

But most of us don’t realize that  Christians have to have good timing too.  We need to be “in-synch” with God.  The problem is that many of us are so busy that we fail to recognize what God’s timing is.  And because we are “out-of-synch” with Him, we don’t get done what He’s asking and providing power for us to do.  So, what does it take to be “right on time” with God?

The book of Acts gives us a good clue. Let’s get some background.  Jesus was just about to return to heaven.  But before He left, He described again, to the disciples,  how the Messiah was to suffer and die, and then be resurrected.  He then promised to be with them as they shared these things with the world.

Acts 1:8   But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." 

Luke 24:49   I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high." 

Jesus is saying that once you are a believer in Him, the first step to getting in touch with His timing is waiting.  Waiting to be clothed with power from the Holy Spirit.  And that’s what the disciples did.  But they did not wait in idleness.

Luke 24:52   Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy.  53 And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God. 

Acts 1:14   They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers. 

Neither Acts 1,2 or Luke 24 provide much more detail, and I wanted to find out more.  What was going on there.  The book entitled “The Acts of the Apostles” (AA) helps fill in the details.   In chapter 4, it’s as though the author, Ellen White, were adding color to a picture that was just a sketch.  Let’s fill out the picture.

First, she says (AA)P. 35  “In obedience to Christ’s command, they waited in Jerusalem for the promise of the Father-the outpouring of the Spirit.”    First, they waited.  

Second, (AA) p. 36 says, “As the disciples waited for the fulfillment of the promise, they humbled their hearts in true repentance and confessed their unbelief.” Wow... They humbled their hearts and confessed unbelief as a sin.

Third, (AA) p. 37 tells us, “The disciples prayed with intense earnestness for a fitness to meet men and in their daily intercourse to speak words that would lead sinners to Christ.  Putting away all differences, all desires for supremacy, they came close together in Christian fellowship.”  They prayed for a desire to lead others to Christ, and they put away all their differences and selfishness.

Continuing on-  (AA) p. 37  These days of preparation were days of deep heart searching.  The disciples felt their spiritual need and cried to the Lord for the holy unction that was to fit them for the work of soul saving. . . . They were weighted with the burden of the salvation of souls.  They realized that the gospel was to be carried to the world, and they claimed the power that Christ had promised.”  They felt their spiritual need, and as a result, they felt a real passion for saving others. 

Then the Holy Spirit came.  Scripture gives us this scene in Acts 2 beginning with verse 1.  “When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.   2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.   3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.   4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.   5 Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven.   6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language.”

(AA) page 38  “The Spirit came upon the waiting, praying disciples with a fullness that reached every heart. . . .Lost in wonder, the apostles exclaimed, ‘Herein is love.’   They grasped the imparted gift.  And what followed?  The sword of the Spirit, newly edged with power and bathed in the lightnings of heaven, cut its way through unbelief.  Thousands were converted in a day.”

There it is in a nutshell.  Wait in obedience for the Holy Spirit.  Humble your heart and confess your unbelief.  Pray with intense earnestness, claiming the promise that the Holy Spirit will be yours.  Accept the gift.  And then . . .warm the pew.    That’s right!  Ask for the Holy Spirit so that you can get that bench just a little warmer.  Yeah- It’s like a teacher of mine once said. . . “grab all you can-can all you grab, and sit on the lid while saying quietly to yourself, ‘I got the Holy Spirit!’ ”

If you think that’s it, think again.  Same author, different book.  A little book called “Christian Service.”    On page 253 it says, “The Holy Spirit won’t be poured out  while a majority sit still.”  Friend, if all you’re wanting to do is keep the pew warm,  they sell battery-operated stadium seat warmers.  You don’t need the Holy Spirit for that.  And my guess is, as long as the seat warmers are available, the Holy Spirit won’t come for that purpose anyway.  Don’t pray for the Holy Spirit if you just want to warm the bench.

(Paraphrase of AA p45) When the disciple were training under Jesus, they were led to feel their need of the Spirit.  He had promised it, told them they needed it, and told them what it was for.  Under the Spirit’s teaching they received the final qualification, and went forth to their lifework.  They were no longer ignorant and uncultured.  No longer were they a collection of independent units or men in conflict with each other.  They  weren’t looking for worldly greatness anymore.  

Instead, they were in harmony with each other.  ch 4:32 says they were “one in heart and mind.”  Christ filled their thoughts; the advancement of His kingdom was their aim.  No bench-warming here.  When the Holy Spirit is granted to  a person, there is no sitting still.  They have to do something.  They have to move.  That’s because the Holy Spirit is a moving agent.  

When Peter got done preaching that day, 3,000 people  came forward for the call.  The Holy Spirit moved through that crowd.   And verse 41 says they were all baptized that day.   I wonder what would happen to the Pastor that had that happen today.   No studies.  No commitment cards.   They felt the Holy Spirit working on them, and they responded.   And the disciples didn’t know any better, so they baptized them.

When the Holy Spirit moves on hearts, there can be no bench-warming.  Things will happen, and the work of God will not sit still, but will go forward with power and conviction.  Those who grasp the gift of the Holy Spirit cannot stay the same.  They will become like Jesus both in thought and in character. 

 Notice Acts 4:13 “When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.”  What better statement can be made about a person?  

 The disciples were filled with an intense longing to carry forward the work that Jesus had started.  Not out of a sense of dreary, “I-know-I-ought-to-do-this-because-I’m-a-Christian” attitude.  Rather, they had hearts that were supercharged with a benevolence so full, so deep, so far-reaching, that it compelled them to go to the ends of the earth testifying to the power of Christ.

They had been brought, through the Holy Spirit, into such close communion with God, that their very words seemed to burn  into the hearts of those listening.  There was an excitement, an aliveness, about them.   The Spirit animated them and spoke through them.  The peace of Christ shone from their faces.  They had consecrated their lives to Him for service, and even their physical features were changed to give evidence that they belonged to Him.

Have you ever wished that could happen again today?  I have to agree with the author of  Acts of the Apostles  when she writes, pg 49 “The promise of the Holy Spirit is not  limited to any age or to any race.  Christ declared that the divine influence of His Spirit was to be with His followers unto the end.  To all who have accepted Christ as a personal saviour, the Holy Spirit has come as a counselor, sanctifier, guide, and witness.  The more closely believers have walked with God, the more clearly and powerfully have they testified of their Redeemer’s love and of His saving grace.”

Do you know why we don’t see these things happening today?  I believe its because we don’t pursue holiness.  As far as God is concerned,  the time period we live in is not the issue.  Christ‘s promise to send the Holy Spirit hasn’t changed.  We have.  We have grown tired of hearing the “same old thing," and so we content ourselves with warming the bench, putting in our time at church, and then going home to watch TV on Saturday night  “where the real action is."   We don’t really appreciate the promise of the Holy Spirit.   We don’t think about Him; don’t ask for Him; don’t expect Him;  and as a result, we don’t get Him! 

And what happens?  The church dies for lack of fire.  No living water.  Spiritual drought and spiritual coldness.  And the tragedy  is,  we like it that way!   We don’t want it to change.    It’s no wonder,  in Rev. 3:16,  that God wants to spew us out.   We wouldn’t know what to do if the Holy Spirit really started a movement  here.  It’s possible that we would  rise up against and squelch it, considering it’s not prone to look like what we expect or have grown use to.  Really, what would you do if 3,000 people suddenly ran in to your church begging to be baptized right now?  

The Lord is more willing to give the Holy Spirit to those who serve Him than parents are to give good gifts to their children.   We should be asking God daily for His Spirit, because His presence will give our words of truth a power that not all the honor or glory of the world could give.  Do you realize, that if we were a people empowered by the Holy Spirit, Seventh-day Adventists would be known for far more than just the church that  "worships on Saturdays."

We need to be a people known for our passionate pursuit of life lived by the power of the  Holy Spirit.  A people consumed with petitioning God daily for His grace and Spirit to continue working in our lives to make us holy.

Holiness is not just some euphoric experience:  “it is an entire surrender of the will to God; it is living by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God; it is doing the will of our heavenly Father;  it is trusting God in trial, in darkness as well as in the light; it is walking by faith and not by sight; it is relying on God with unquestioning confidence, and resting  in His love.” AA p51

Amid the confusion, the striving, the wrestling with life’s questions, the Holy Spirit wants to sustain and give you strength.  When you stand facing your failures and your mistakes, He offers forgiveness and comfort.  When you’re not sure if you want to accept Christ into your life, He pleads in tones of mercy and love.  And if  you’ve just sat warming the pew, He wants you to see that He is ready for action.  

Don’t pray for the Holy Spirit if you just want to warm the bench.  But if you’re tired of the same old dreary cycle of religious meanderings, then start praying.   If you want to be of service and become action-oriented, pray.  If you want power to proclaim and advance the Kingdom of God, pray for the Holy Spirit.  Pray and wait with a humbled heart, as you confess your unbelief.  Claim the promise of Jesus, and grasp the greatest gift since Salvation.  And once you have grasped it, you won’t be able to just sit and warm the pew.   You will be compelled, out of your fullness,  to advance God’s Kingdom.  To seek and bring  salvation to the lost.   To call others out of their boredom with a religious system, and into an aliveness that is true spirituality.

I challenge you to go  today, seeking that experience.  We desperately need those who crave that type of experience.  Those who will pray that God will send His Spirit to empower their work.  That’s when we’ll see a harvest.  That’s when we’ll see the work finished.  That’s when we’ll go home.    And when you talk about God’s timing,  it’s impossible to be more finely-tuned!   For the sake of the Kingdom, seek Him today.