Come Boldly Into the Throne Room

 

¹¹ This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, ¹² in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him. Ephesians 3:11-12

               “We’d like to see our Representative please.” It was the summer of 1974 and we were a group of high school students from Abilene, Texas. We’d stopped for a few days in Washington DC while coming back from a mission trip to New Milford, Connecticut. On a whim, a small group, about six or eight, of us had trooped into the U.S. capitol, looked up our Senator’s office on a placard, and paid him an unscheduled visit. After a few minutes waiting in the outer office, we were shown into the big man’s office where he greeted each of us, chatted for a few minutes about his work in Washington, and summoned a photographer for a group photo. I still have the fading photo somewhere in my stack o’ stuff. At the time we did not consider or really understand the audacity of what we did. We just barged in like we had every right to demand time with a U.S. Senator. It was quite a bold thing to do, but hey, when you’re in high school, you do bold things. In 1974, we could get away with such boldness; but not today.

               If you go to the capital today, you cannot just walk into your representative’s office. Thanks to physical security concerns, you need an appointment and must go through a variety of screenings to see your duly elected official. Sadly, thanks to various violent individuals and incidents, these are valid concerns. We must remember that those who hold public office face many demands on their time and energy. Frequently while I was in the Army, I struggled with a general officer’s aid trying to find time in their busy schedule for an important briefing. Their days were scheduled down to the minute. Politicians face similar time constraints. There are not enough hours in the day for their business. Those of us who are mere mortals rarely get the chance to sit down and talk to a person of importance. I doubt I could walk into the office of the mayor of Lubbock or Cloudcroft without a good reason and without getting on his schedule some time in advance. I do not say this to criticize these important people. That is just the way it is in our fast-paced modern world. Decision makers find themselves far removed from those they serve. Fortunately, we serve a God who takes a different view.

¹⁶ Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:16

               The writer of Hebrews tells us to come into the presence of God with confidence. Some versions render confidence as boldness. I do not have to schedule a meeting with the Lord weeks in advance. I do not need to approach Him with timidity. I can come into His presence with confidence, with boldness. He yearns for my presence.

¹⁵ And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. Luke 15:20

               In this parable, Jesus portrays God as a father longing to see His son and upon seeing him trudging down the road towards home, races to greet and hug him. We serve a God, a Father, who longs for us and our company. Scripture paints a picture of a father who aches for His children’s company.

¹ I was ready to be sought by those who did not ask for me; I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me. I said, “Here I am, here I am,” to a nation that was not called by my name. ² I spread out my hands all the day to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, following their own devices; Isaiah 65:1-2

Did you see that, God is ready to be found, He’s holding out His hands toward us. God does not want to be some distant, unfeeling character far away. A popular song in 1990 “From a Distance,” by Bette Midler describes a faraway God and nothing could be farther from the truth. God is not distant, He’s not hard to find, and He’s not so busy that I cannot get to see Him. Since the fateful day when humanity turned away from a close relationship with God and embraced prideful rebellion, God has continually sought to regain that level of intimacy and closeness. Imagine the kind or relationship in which it did not matter if you were clothed or naked.

One of the difficult challenges every soldier must overcome is being naked in front of relative strangers. For various reasons during your time in uniform, a soldier finds himself naked in a group setting. For almost everyone this at least a bit unsettling. Being unclothed implies a certain level of intimacy, not something most of us wish to experience with twenty or thirty of our favorite strangers. Yet, God desires that level of closeness in our relationship, and ever since that pivotal day in the long-ago-garden He’s been working to regain what we lost.

¹ That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life… I John 1:1

Take a moment and read that again. “…which we have looked upon and have touched with our hands…” God so wants an intimate relationship, He became one of us, letting Himself be touched and handled. That desire carries on today. When we pray, we find ourselves in the throne-room of God, the true “master of the universe.” Through the work of Jesus, God grants us the authority to enter in, tug on His coat, and secure His full attention. We do not even have to worry about becoming tongue-tied in the presence of His magnificence or our inability to adequately explain what we’re trying to say.

²⁶ Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. Romans 8:26

Not only does God grant us full access, through the Holy Spirit, He helps us communicate what we feel. Often in the presence of greatness we find ourselves stammering and tongue-tied, struggling to find the right words. This also happens when we try to explain deeply felt emotions, especially those of pain and loss. Always seeking a greater level of relationship, God puts His Spirit inside us to help us say the right things. This is mysterious indeed. God so yearns for intimate communication that He expends great effort to help us communicate. Not only does He have an open-door policy, He also provides a translator to get us through those rough spots.

               Like the long ago senator, God welcomes us into His presence. He sets aside His schedule, making time and space for us. He wants to hear. He provides us help to communicate, to explain those painful issues, issues of hurt, failure, and remorse. Whatever the reason, God wants to hear from us. We are not a bother or interruption. We can come boldly into His presence.