This week we continue our reading of the sixth letter written by Henri Nouwen to his nephew, Marc, discussing his Christian faith. If you happened to miss any of the previous devotionals, they can be found in the previous Facebook posts and are also available under the Pastor's Desk tab on our church website (irvingtonumc.org).

Letter 6: Jesus: The Hidden God (Pt. 2)

Taking you back to last week's devotional, Nouwen's sixth letter to Marc was written from a small village in France that was the home of a woman by the name of Marthe Robin. Nouwen explains that her name kept coming up, brought up by persons who told Nouwen that she was the cause for their deep faith in Jesus. As Nouwen learned more about her, he looked back to Jesus and reflects on how Jesus chose to come to earth. Jesus could have been born wealthy or to a famous family or as the son of a military general - but instead he was born in poverty and obscurity. Why? Nouwen entitles this letter, "Jesus: The Hidden God?"

"I'm constantly struck by the fact that wherever the gospel of Jesus bears fruit, we come across hiddenness. The great Christians throughout history have always been lowly people who sought to be hidden. [Nouwen refers Benedict, Francis of Assisi, Ignatius, and others.] The initial reaction of someone who has a really personal encounter with Jesus is not to start shouting it from the rooftops, but to dwell secretly in the presence of God. It is important for you to realize that perhaps the greater part of God's work in this world may go unnoticed .. That's a mystery which is difficult to grasp in an age that attaches so much value to publicity. We tend to think that the more people know and talk about something, the more important it must be .. it's become nearly impossible to believe that what's really important happens in secret. Yet we do possess some intimations of this .. 

If you're ready to trust your intuition and so preserve a degree of healthy skepticism in the face of the current propaganda, you are more likely to detect the hidden presence of God. It strikes me again and again that, in our publicity-seeking world, a lot of discussions about God take it as their starting point that even God has to justify himself. People often say, 'If that God of yours really exists, then why doesn't he make his omnipotence more visible in this chaotic world of ours?' God is called to account, as it were, and mockingly invited to prove, just for once, that God really does exist. Again, you often hear someone say, 'I've no need whatever for God. I can perfectly well look after myself...' The bitterness and sarcasm evident in remarks of this sort show what's expected of God: that God should at least be concerned about his own popularity. People often talk as though God has as great a need for recognition as we do. 

Now look at Jesus, who came to reveal God to us, and you see that popularity in any form is the very thing he avoids .. And here we're back again with the mystery of our own heart. Our heart is at the center of our being human .. and yet we know little or nothing of our heart. What is most intimate is also what frightens us most .. We fail to know our hidden center, and so we live and die often without knowing who we really are .. The mystery of the spiritual life is that Jesus desires to meet us in the seclusion of our own heart, to make his love known to us there, to free us from our fears .. therefore, we can learn not only to know Jesus, but through Jesus to know ourselves as well. Thus, the more you learn to love God, the more you learn to know and cherish yourself. 

But all this requires discipline. The spiritual life demands a discipline of the heart .. This doesn't mean that you make things difficult for yourself .. but that you make your inner space where God can touch you available .. [so that] God can let something truly new take place. This is not easy to do; we like to be master in our own house and don't want to admit that our house is God's house too .. God's love is a demanding love, even a jealous love, and when we let that love speak within us, we are led into places where we often would rather not go .. And so I say, make room in your heart for God and let God cherish you. There you can be alone with God. There heart speaks to heart .. Where God's heart speaks to your heart, there everything is made new. "

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I wonder if, when we die, we will be able to look back over time and see all the ways in which God intervened in world events and in the little events of our personal lives. What do you think about that? As you conclude your sixth letter, I encourage you to think / write your thoughts about God's hiddenness in our world and why God doesn't seek publicity. What have you heard said about God and his apparent absence from pain, suffering, death, etc.? What are your thoughts about Nouwen's perspective that God may be acting in ways we cannot see? Finally, think about or write down your "heart-to-heart" experiences with God. If you haven't allowed that to happen yet, today might be a good day to begin. If you have had such experiences, how has that changed your life?

Next week we look at Nouwen's last letter to Marc and end this devotional series: Listening to Jesus.

Have a blessed week!

Pastor Denise