Tight with God

Hebrews 2:1-18 -- Micah 6:6-8 -- Deuteronomy 8:1-3

Tight with God. I would not have titled this--or anything else, with that. Yet that's the title Hereth uses in Listening to Lent for today. A few years ago students were calling things that were cool or nice, "tight." "That's tight." I never really got that. When I hear the word tight, I imagine tight pants on Thanksgiving, or tight shoes on a long walk, or tight spaces and too much stuff, or perhaps a tightwad. The word tight doesn't often have pleasant connotations, so I wondered about saying "That's tight" about something that is good. However, when I consider being tight with someone--being tight with God, that seems to have the potential for good. Tight would be closer than close, right? You're not just close to someone, but tight--really bound together--so close that you make impressions upon one another.

Imagine the tight pants again. The person causes the fabric to wrinkle and contort, while the pants leave marks upon the person. Both parties are shaped by the other. Now, I must say that to put on warm, freshly laundered, tight pants feels good. I like it...in the beginning. But as the day goes on, the tightness can be uncomfortable. I can tug and pull and rearrange, but truthfully I just can't wait to be in my pajamas again. Of course, if I hold out. If I continue to wear the pants for hours and hours they start to loosen up and wrinkle and become softer, and maybe I'll wear them a 2nd time before laundering them again and this time they're much more comfortable. But after a while, I long for them to be laundered again. The fresh, clean scent. The close, tight fit. It feels good...in the beginning.

Until this moment, I've never compared my relationship with God to tight pants. But it makes sense, at least for me. To be "tight with God," feels good...in the beginning. But then, when I'm really listening to God, it gets uncomfortable. Those nagging marks and impressions left on me. I can tug and pull and rearrange. I can escape to my pajamas for a time or I can relax in different scriptures. I can savor the sweetness of my salvation, the grace of God, the mercy of God. But after a while, I long for transformation. I long to be marked by God...even when it's painful or uncomfortable. John Wesley's covenant prayer comes to mind: "...put me to doing, put me to suffering...let me be full, let me be empty, let me have all things, let me have nothing. I freely and heartily yield all things to Thy pleasure and disposal.."

The Deuteronomy text reminds us, as Jesus did when he was in the wilderness, that one does not live on bread alone. In each of us is a longing for something more. There has to be more to life than eating and working and sleeping and going to Wal-Mart. The Hebrews text reminds us that Jesus made himself like one of us, truly human. "Because he himself was tested by what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested." And, the Micah text, some of my favorite words in all of scripture, remind us that God does not desire our offerings of wealth for our transgressions--"the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?" Our Lord requires that we do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with our God. Four requirements: justice, kindness, humility, and being tight with God. Sounds good...