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I was sitting in a Starbucks about two to three weeks ago, dedicating some time to studying. I was spending a lengthy amount of time in Starbucks that morning and had seen tens of customers rush in and out of the store. During one of the slower periods of customer traffic, the associate behind the counter came around to the front of the counter and was adjusting the displays. A customer walked into the store and approached the counter to order while the associate was still in front of the counter. Rather than return to behind the counter to take the customer's order, the associate took the customer's order in front of the counter in a very conversational manner. The customer was clearly uncomfortable to order in front of the counter; after all, the customary thing to do is to order from someone behind the counter. By remaining in front of the counter, the transaction took on a level of intimacy that does not normally occur between a Starbucks employee and a customer. No longer was the man behind the counter an entity separated by the comfort of the counter, but he was now a real person having a real conversation about what the customer preferred to drink. The associate was no longer a means to an end but a human servant. I had never realized the importance of the counter - it provides us with a distinct separation from those who work behind it. When the associate came around the counter, that separation had been eliminated.
As I sat and read, I realized that God had done the same thing for us through Jesus. Jesus, the Son of God and God in human form, humbled Himself and came around the counter of sin and doubt and became a person with whom intimacy became possible. No longer did God stand behind the counter, a deity to whom humans submit their request and then wait in hopes of a properly and quickly completed order. "The Word (Jesus) became flesh and made his dwelling among us" (1 John 1:14). An immediately uncomfortable yet progressively disarming intimacy is now possible. No longer is God simply taking prayer requests and offering potential suggestions (whip or no whip with that?), He is engaging us in real conversation. A distant God becomes a real God in Jesus because He became sin who knew no sin that we might become His righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21). God came around the counter when Jesus became flesh and entered the world and then destroyed the counter when Jesus died on the cross and rose from the grave. The counter of sin was separated by the grace and person of Jesus, who is the means by which we can boldly communicate with God (Hebrews 4:16). Now when we pray, we are not speaking to a distant God but are actively involved in an intimate conversation with a real person who genuinely cares about our lives.
I was so pleasantly surprised by the imagery during my seminary study that morning. The whole scene gave value to the work I was doing. I am thankful for God's mercy and that He came 'round the counter. True story.
