I was born in the north (New Jersey), but lived in the south for 25 years. And now, I am back in the north, in the great state of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Have you ever wondered what’s the difference between northerners and southerners? A few years ago, Harper’s Magazine tried to answer that question. And they answered by saying, “Suppose a man is walking across a field. To the question, ‘Who is that?’ A southerner would reply, ‘Well wasn’t his granddaddy the one whose dog and him got struck by lightning on the steel bridge. Mama’s third cousin, dead before my time, found his railroad watch in that 8 pound catfish’s stomach that next summer just above the dam. Then the way he married for that new, blue Cadillac automobile, reckon that’s how come he’s walking like he’s wearing his Sunday shoes, – if that is him, and I think it is.’” 

Then the article goes on to say, to that very same question, ‘Who is that?’ A northerner would say, “That’s Joe Smith.” To which the southerner would think, but be too polite to say out loud, “They didn’t ask his name, -- they asked who he was!” I don’t think you will like hearing this, but God truly is a southerner. God knows who we are. God knows our mama, and our third cousin.

My friends, God has come close to us in Jesus Christ to be with us, -- and to truly know who we are. Because He knows us, the God of the universe is wooing us so that He might win our hearts. And, we are invited to come into his presence every day. I know people who tell me that their only experience has been of a God who they cowered in fear from, -- instead of a God in whose presence they wished for. The image in their mind is of a God who is very angry, vengeful, unloving, -- a God who had a clenched fist. And because of the family they grew up with, they don’t see the face of God, but of a parent who was very uncaring to them, -- and with scars and bad memories, they cannot bring themselves to trust God, and to give their life to Him.

If you are feeling that way today, I want to help you by giving you a different image of God. He showed us his nail-scarred hands, from the love of his sacrifice. He gave us a meal to share with us so that we might remember and celebrate his love and devotion. As we are home waiting for things to get back to “normal,” God is still with us, wants to know us, and of course, to make Him known.