Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” John 14:8

(click on the image to see camp photos)

Alice finds the Mad Hatter in an endless tea party. The clock is stuck at 6 and therefore it is always tea time, never time to clean up or move on or… So the table overflows with dirty with tea cups, saucers, and pots. But no matter how dysfunctional, the hatter continues on and on in the insanity…

“Insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” ~ Albert Einstein

Philip delivers the statement on so many minds, “Show us God.” The comment has been uttered and desired for all time. Of course Jesus stomps on the question, because – as we know – if Philip has seen Jesus, then he has seen God. They are one. “Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and that the Father is in me?”

Then Jesus begins a discussion on the arrival of the Holy Spirit and he repeats the phrase again – only a little different, “On that day you will realize that I am in the Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.”

With the arrival of the Spirit in Acts 2, God now dwells inside of us! So that when the old question arises, “Show us God,” we do not need to point to books or logic or rhetoric. Instead we should point to Spirit filled lives! Lives that humble themselves before God, opening themselves to His message, and living out His commands…

The problem is that we often try to answer the question with words. We point to things already tried, we repeat the same strategies and programs… but all is ineffective…

God has come down and Jesus is risen, but he has not left us alone. Instead he has sent the comforter, the Spirit. But if we do not hear the Word of the Lord that is speaking in our hearts. If we do not obey this Word… then everything is insanity…

But if we obey, we will join the fledgling beginning in Acts 2. A time when a small group of fearful men and women poured into the streets. Under the Spirit’s power, their words cut through the crowds that once crucified Christ, “and about three thousand were added to their number that day.”

May we again take the plunge and follow the Spirit ~ sold-out to His desires!