Where Is Immanuel?
by Matthew Chapman
Why is there often very
little, if any, discernable presence of the Lord in
so many “church services” today (whether in
religious facilities or even in many home
gatherings)? In “churches” that run the spectrum
from charismatic and pentecostal to conservative
fundamental to moderate evangelical to liberal
Protestant, why is it that sheep so often leave
their meetings unedified, having the same gnawing
spiritual emptiness they came in with, knowing that
they never really touched the Lord because, in all
honesty, He was nowhere to be found in the midst of
the people gathered there? Why is it that “the
church” today, in form and function, bears little or
any resemblance to the church we read about in the
pages of the New Testament? Are we helplessly
confined to where we find ourselves in the
“evolution of Christendom” and need to just accept
“the way things are” and try to make the best of
it—or does the Lord have another way? Are we really
doing it right and, for some inexplicable reason,
the Lord is simply choosing not to bless us with His
presence and power, or are we hindered because we
(unknowingly) cling to a set of underlying
assumptions about how church life should be and the
Spirit-quenching baggage that goes with them?
These are needful and relevant questions that all
true followers of Jesus need to grapple with in our
day and time. As the Master shines His light of
truth in answer to our seeking Him with all of our
hearts, we need to embrace what He reveals along
with all the implications of how it will affect our
lives and practices. If, indeed, we are created for
His good pleasure and not our own (Phil. 2:13, Rev.
4:11), and if, indeed, the Church is for Him and not
for us (Eph. 5:22-33, Col. 1:16), then should we not
attend to Him personally and give Him what He
wants?! Is it right and submissive on our part to
continue in our entrenched un-Biblical practices and
traditions, demanding, in essence, that He settle
for what we are willing to offer Him? Anyone with
the Spirit of Truth in them knows the answers to
these questions.
Some years ago, while in a particular city, I was
invited to go eat lunch with some brothers, one of
whom was the pastor of a local institution (for the
sake of anonymity, I’ll refer to him hereafter as
“The Pastor”). After the waiter took our orders and
we began to talk more substantively, The Pastor
began relating a shocking (to him) story he had
heard from a particular preacher who has a fairly
extensive speaking ministry (I’ll refer to this man
hereafter as “The Traveling Preacher”). I was
somewhat familiar with The Traveling Preacher and
knew him to be a man of integrity who sought to be
faithful with the light that he had.
The Pastor went on to recount the story that The
Traveling Preacher had told about how, at the outset
of his ministry, when he was a young man, he had
begun keeping a journal that listed all the places
where he preached. The journal entries included the
date, location, subject he shared on, and a
description of the spiritual condition and
atmosphere he perceived among the people with whom
he shared—namely, whether or not he sensed the
presence of the Lord there. Some 25+ years had now
passed, and, gleaning from this journal that he
still kept current and updated, The Traveling
Preacher testified that of the more than 800
“churches” he had spoken at so far, he honestly did
not sense any true presence of the Lord in more than
600 of them.
The Pastor was both amazed and alarmed by this as he
shared it with us. While he allowed for the fact
that The Traveling Preacher is an imperfect and
fallible man, and that he may not have always
discerned things correctly or with complete
accuracy, we all noted a certain respect we had for
this man’s walk with the Lord and concluded that he
probably wasn’t very far off the mark in his
perceptions. Then The Pastor continued, “No sense of
any presence of the Lord in more than 600 out of
800+ churches!?! Can you believe this?! Matthew, do
you have any idea why this would be so?” This poor
brother obviously had no idea what he was walking
into by asking me this question.
I waited on the Lord for a moment, praying quietly
in my heart, asking Him to show me how to respond. I
then sensed that He gave me a word of wisdom (1 Cor.
12:8) and so I ventured out. I asked The Pastor if
he would “go on my ride” for a moment, indicating
that I was about to say some things that might sound
pretty outrageous to him but to hang with me because
I would be making a point in order to ultimately
answer his question. He smiled and responded that he
would. I then said, “Brother, would you like to
experience the presence of Lord Jesus in our midst
like you have never experienced Him before?”
“Well yeah, sure!” he replied.
“Great! Me too! So here’s what we need to do,” I
continued. “We all need to go into a room, close the
curtains, and put on long purple robes. Each one of
us must then take up a brass pan in our left hand
that has incense burning in it and a hawk feather in
our right hand. Next we all need to begin walking
around in a circle, counter-clockwise, shouting,
‘Hosanna!’ while swirling the hawk feather around
through the incense smoke. I promise you that if we
do this, we will encounter the Lord like we never
have before! So you want to go do it?”
“Well, no,” The Pastor replied.
“Oh come on, it will be wonderful, even glorious!
Come on!”
“No, I don’t think so.”
“Brother, don’t you want to experience the presence
of the Lord?”
“Well, yeah, sure, but…”
“Then come on, let’s go right now. I know a place
nearby where we can get the robes and hawk feathers
and everything we need. Are you ready to do it?”
“No”
“Why not? It’s what the Lord wants us to do—don’t
you want to please Him? Come on, let go.”
“Brother, that sounds weird.”
“Oh you’re just unfamiliar with the Lord’s ways for
genuine church life. Come on now, let’s go do it!”
“No”
“Why?”
“I just don’t want to”
“Why not?”
“It’s just not right”
“Why is that?”
“Well, it’s just not.”
“How do you know?” I asked—and then he took the
bait.
...This article is continued on page 6 of the
Premier Issue of Brush Arbor Quarterly.
Matthew Chapman preaches and writes extensively
concerning God’s eternal purpose, our participation
in it, and how this translates into our daily life
and choices. From matters such as deepening our
individual relationship with Jesus, to learning how
to consistently make a place for Him among us in how
we gather together around Him, to our marriages
being a reflection of Him and His bride, to
“training up our children in the way they should go”
and helping them come into their own walk with God,
to even how we conduct ourselves in matters of work
and everyday life. Matthew shares with a heart of
knowing that the Holy Spirit wants to touch
(sanctify) every part of our lives so that we might
“grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the Head,
even Christ” and make ourselves ready for our
glorious Bridegroom, the Lord Jesus. Matthew and his
wife, Maranatha, and their six children live in
Central Texas. For materials, please contact
Kindling Publications, PO Box 4614, Bryan, Texas
77805-4614, or visit
www.KindlingPublications.com. ©2005 Matthew
Chapman
