Holy Ground

Last week I went to a Worship United event. Worship United is a worship band that two of my friends are in. They do all the common, well-known contemporary worship songs (Crowder, Tomlin, Redman, etc.) and sort of add their own style to it. It was really good worship.

While I was worshipping, I kept getting the sense that I was standing on holy ground. Really. So I took off my shoes.

This kind of thing happened to some guy named Moses a few years ago.

“When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, ‘Moses! Moses!’
And Moses said, ‘Here I am.’

‘Do not come any closer,’ God said. ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.’”

- Exodus 3:4-5

The specific site of this incident at the burning bush is unknown, other than the fact that it happened somewhere in the wilderness between Egypt and Palestine. But it was holy ground, wherever it was.

In ancient times (and still today in Islamic tradition and some other oriental religions) people would take off their sandals before entering temples or synagogues. This was a sign of deepest respect for that place, with the belief that it is holy ground – because God is present.

Last Friday night I felt like I was on holy ground, so I took off my shoes. It obviously wasn’t quite as direct as the command to Moses, but I did feel it, and I do believe it was God.

Then I started thinking.

Why was this holy ground?

God created this world. In seven days. When He made it, did He make it full of sin right off the bat? Nope. The Scriptures say that God made it good. In just Genesis 1-3, the word “good” is used 15 times. God kept making things and He kept making them good.

So when Adam and Eve ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil and the fall of man occurred, did everything all of a sudden become not good? Did everything that God made good all of a sudden become bad? I don’t believe so. Did it become fractured? Broken? Lost? Diseased? Absolutely. But it was still good. When Auntie Ruth whom you love so dearly gets cancer at the age of 64, is she, as a person, as Auntie Ruth, all of a sudden… bad? Do you stop talking to her and visiting her and do you forget about her completely? I sure hope not. You still love her just as much as you ever have. Because she is still Auntie Ruth. Same concept.

I believe when God made the heavens and the earth and everything in it, it was good because God was present. Everywhere. And always has been. God did not make the world, and then sit back and watch, leaving us and the world to itself. Nope. God’s here. He was then, and He is now. David knew it.

“Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?

If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.”

- Psalm 139:7-8

And praise God for that. It’s a beautiful thing. Where I am right now is good, because God is here.

You know, it’s not a big deal or anything, but it always bugs me just a little bit when someone is praying at the beginning of a worship service or event and they ask God to come and meet us there.

As if He’s not already there.

Wherever I’m at, God is there. I just don’t always acknowledge it.

So, as I mentioned earlier, I started thinking.

Why am I taking off my shoes right now? Because this is holy ground. Why is this holy ground? Because God is present. Why did God command Moses to take off his sandals when he was at the burning bush? Because it was holy ground. And why was it holy ground? Because God was present.

Wait a second. We’ve just established the fact that God is always present. Everywhere. So yes… holy ground. Everywhere. I don’t know when and where you’re reading this right now, but I do know that you’re on holy ground.

I like Rob Bell. He’s sweet. So is his book Velvet Elvis. So I’m going to quote it.

“Moses has been tending sheep in this region for forty years. How many times has he passed by this spot? How many times has he stood in this exact place? And now God tells him the ground is holy?

Has the ground been holy the whole time and Moses is just becoming aware of it for the first time?

Do you and I walk on holy ground all the time, but we are moving so fast and returning so many calls and writing so many emails and having such long lists to get done that we miss it?”

I’m not saying we should all walk around barefoot. I am saying, however, that wherever you and I walk at whatever time, we are on holy ground. Broken, fractured, and diseased ground? Yes. But it’s holy. It’s holy because God is there.

Acknowledge it. It’s a good thing.