“In the morning Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples didn’t recognize him. . .and the disciple whom Jesus loved said, ‘It is the Lord”. John 21

Deus Absonditus. It’s a Latin term that means “The hidden God.”  It is a perfect description of who God is. 

We tend to look for God in obvious, miraculous and moving ways.  But God isn’t like that.  God hides.  And then God surprises us by appearing in ways we’d never expect.

In the Old Testament God surprised Moses by hiding in a burning bush, and on a mountain.  God surprises His people by appearing as Angels, and even at times in animals whom God spoke through.

In the New Testament God hides most obviously in Jesus.  God hides in the birth of a little baby. What a surprise! God hides in a little boy.  God hides as a criminal who is crucified.  And after the resurrection God hides as a gardener and as a man walking down a road to Emmaus.  And God surprises the disciples by showing up  on the shore of the Sea of Galilee.

The same holds true today.  God hides in churches—sometimes so well that God is nowhere to be found!  God hides in the bread and the wine of communion.  And God hides in the waters of baptism.  But it’s outside the doors of the church that God does an especially delightful job of hiding and surprising.

God hides in glorious sunrises and sunsets.  God surprises us with the bursting forth of spring where we see God’s beauty reflected in daisies and daffodils, and yes even dandelions.  God hides in Robins and Cardinals and Finches—where one can clearly hear God’s song!  God hides in all of naure, it’s true.  We would expect to find God hiding there.  If we pay attention we’ll never cease to be surprised!

But it’s in the other places that we wouldn’t expect to find God hiding that provide such surprises.  Just as God was discovered hiding with lepers and prostitutes in the person of Jesus, so too God hides in the most maligned of people today.  Look into the eyes of those who are rejected, despised, looked down upon, and we’ll see God.  Spend time with the sick and the suffering, those who are dying, or mourning the death of another, and we’ll see God.  Look deeply enough into another person, whomever that person might be, and we will discover that we are looking at God.  It will be quite a surprise!

There is one more place that God hides that is perhaps the most difficult of all to discover Him:  Us.  God hides in you!  God hides in me!  The greatest mystery, and most wonderful miracle, is that God makes a dwelling in each of us.  It has been said that God comes to us disguised as our lives.  I would go a step further and say that God comes to us AS our life!  In God we live and move and have our being! 

Don’t misunderstand, I’m not saying that we ourselves are the TRUE God, but rather simply that each of us, created in the image of God, contains the divine DNA which gives us life.  God breathed the Spirit into us and it is that spirit which vivifies us, makes us alive, and opens our eyes to see the surprise!

So here are some questions:  When was the last time you marveled at what a miracle you are?  How do you see God?  Where do you see God hiding?  And when you look at yourself, where do you see God living? And most importantly, when was the last time you were surprised by God?