Believing Is NOT Seeing

Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls ----- 1 Peter 1:8 - 9

Justification: that pivotal moment when we either accept Jesus or walk away. It is faith that allows us to love Him and say "yes, I believe" even though we cannot see Him before us. We cannot touch Jesus or hear Him speak in our ears. And still we put our trust in Him. Only faith could produce such results.

Thomas had the advantage of seeing the risen Christ standing before him. He was able to touch the holes in Jesus' hands--holes made by the nails which fixed Him to the cross. Thomas placed his own hand into the gash in Jesus' side--the gash that verified His death. After seeing and touching, Thomas proclaimed his faith. And Jesus said to him:

Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed (John 20:29).

You've heard that old adage: a picture is worth a thousand words. And we believe another adage: a picture never lies. We've heard (and spoken) these sayings so often that we actually believe them. We accept the "proof" of a photograph because we believe that it has literally captured a moment in time.

Yet from photography's earliest stages, pictures have been manipulated to show the meaning the photographer wants to portray. The ghost pictures of William H. Mumler (c. 1860s and 70s) show portraits of grieving widows and mothers and fathers with "ectoplasmic" images of their loved ones standing behind or next to them. The subjects believed that grainy, cloudy image appearing with them was truly the spirit form of their dearly departed. After all, a picture wouldn't lie! How ironic that Mumler was exposed as a fraud when it was discovered some of those images were revealed to be actual living residents of Boston. The doctored negatives spoke a thousand words.

Jesus stressed the importance of believing without needing physical proof. Tangible evidence does not build faith. God does. Knowing God, trusting Him and His promises, praising Him though the evils of the world surround us...these are the fundamentals that nurture and sustain our faith. Practicing them keep us grounded though the world seems to be falling apart.

We are people of faith. We do trust in the promises of God: there is salvation from sin, there is new life in Christ, there is judgment when God will make right all the evils we've suffered, there is a reward for faithful living. Keeping the focus on Jesus despite what we see all around us takes faith. In the midst of misery and hopelessness, in times of despair, when people around us ask, "Where is God?," we people of faith can tell them with confidence, "He is here." Though we cannot see Him with the eyes of this earthly body, we can tell people that we know Jesus is present.

Oh, God, what a gift you've given us, this gift of faith. Some speak of it as a "blind faith. That's not necessarily a negative. Perhaps we should affirm that more often. We are blind. We do not see. And yet we believe. And we love. And we rejoice with words and emotion that comes from places within us that are a mystery. This is faith. And it comes from you.

God, I accept this gift. Help me to use it lavishly and wisely. I know you will grow it. I know you will reveal yourself through it. I pray for my work that comes from it, Father. I pray for work that builds others...not me. I leave that work to you, Father God Almighty.

 

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Hitting System Restore

For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.----- Romans 8:29 - 30

Microsoft introduced an innovative feature when it launched the operating system Windows ME: "system restore." Suppose you suffered a system crash on your computer on Thursday. Then suppose you hadn't backed up the last two weeks of financial information you entered Wednesday, or the history report your child started writing Monday. What would you do? Try to recreate your hours of work? Or just give up? No need for either option. Windows ME allowed the operator to "system restore." The option would turn back the clock to a specified reset date. Voila! Problem solved. All the things that had once seemed lost would be found. The system would return to its original configuration.
I accepted Christ's forgiveness for my sins about 13 years ago. I trust that all I had done to that point was forgiven and forgotten. I thought I was done with sin. How frustrating to realize that it remains in my life even today. Why can't I have a "system restore" so that my tendency toward sin could just be erased? How wonderful it would be to never again have a self-centered desire, to experience petty glee over someone else's failure, or to delight to hear gossip. Why is it that I can write about the powerful work of the cross one minute...and belittle my husband the next? I know I've been forgiven. I know the price Christ paid for that forgiveness. So why then do I still sin? It can be the most discouraging, the most defeating fact of this new life. Despite all the progress I've made, I can still revert to old hurts and habits. Why is that?
I guess because this transformation into the image of God's Son is a process. It doesn't occur with a wave of a magic wand. It materializes in subtle, unseen ways. It comes about through failure. It becomes apparent with confession, repentance, and forgiveness.
I know transformation is happening in me because I've experienced compassion, grace, forgiveness coming from me. Reactions I am incapable of exhibiting on my own, in my natural self, I now express. I'd like a little more compassion and forgiveness in my life, but again this is a process. God is growing that in me (1 Cor 3:6). I can trust that God is at work, that He's not done with me yet, because of what I know has already occurred. And the signs are not just the fruits of the Spirit. I know God is at work because I have been justified. I've been made right because of my faith in Christ Jesus and the power of the Cross. I know I've been justified because I believe that for much of my adult life, Jesus was calling me to come to Him. He was inviting me into the peace and safety of His forgiveness. I trust that transformation began the instant I obeyed His call and fell into His embrace. I trust that what God began in me will be completed because the Lord God is faithful to all His promises.
Oh, Father God, I do long for perfection...me, remade into the perfect, enduring image of Christ. I long for the end of frustration with people, anger over the things they say and do, disappointment in their lukewarm faith or lack of compassion for the poor. I long for the end of my human failings. I have a long way to go, and as much as I say I ready to go home, Father I know I am not ready to give an account for how I lived with what you've given me.
Thank you, Father, for those who planted and those who watered to bring me to knowledge of you. Thank you, gracious Father for the growth I've experienced. I ask for greater patience, compassion, greater love to be poured out from me. I ask that those wonderful characteristics of yours shine from me, so that I am useful as a planter and waterer for whatever time remains. Thank you, loving Father. Amen

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Who Is My Teacher?

So the Jews grumbled about Him, because He said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven." They said, "Is this not Jesus,the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does He now say, 'I have come down from heaven?'" 43 Jesus answered them, "Do not grumble among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. It is written in the Prophets, 'And they will all be taught by God.' Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father

comes to me..."

-----John 6:41 - 45 (ESV)

Timing is everything.  Over the past few days, I've been thinking about Biblical criticism--the treatment of Scripture by scholars who view the texts as historical accounts, or by those who look to sources of the writings (trying to establish who exactly wrote--or more precisely, who did not write--them), or the scholars who examine the texts for errors made by scribes. There are many categories of Biblical criticism. And each seem to reflect the scholar's point of view, their agenda for presenting their conclusions. Most aim to tell us that Scripture is not inspired by God. And so, we have scholars telling us that Scripture is not saying what we read it saying. Scholars tell us that we are not capable of reading Scripture.

Didn't we have a Reformation to set that one straight?

When we become "incapable" of reading Scripture on our own, we allow the scholars--well-educated, yet ordinary men and women--to teach us. In this passage from John, Jesus referred back to the teaching of the prophet Isaiah (54:13). God teaches, the prophet declared. We learn from God through the Scriptures. He speaks directly to us through His word. He never lies, distorts, or deceives us. God never leads us astray. In fact, Jesus affirms here in John 6:44 that God is always drawing us to Jesus. God of grace is always
opening ways for us to know Jesus, to come to Him, to trust in Him.

It is God who does the teaching. Not the intellectuals. Not the highly-educated, multi-degreed. Not even me. Once in a while I might have a good sermon. If someone connects, it's not me, but rather God who has done the teaching. And all with the goal of drawing another one to Christ Jesus.

Oh, Great Teacher, Father God. Thank you for all you have taught me. Thank you for truth that helps me see my need for you. I also thank you for the smart ones around us. Even those who put their faith in what (and how much) they know. I know that even these--even the Jews who scoffed at Jesus--even these, YOU are teaching. I pray that all our eyes are opened to see that our leaning comes from you, O God. Keep me humble in this, Father. It is an area where I can become so arrogant.

Choosing the Right Accessories

Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator...Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each

other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you must also forgive.

-----Colossians 3:9 - 10, 12 - 13

The word from this passage that stuck out was "chosen." A friend used it recently when she spoke of a woman who didn't believe she was one of the chosen. I bristled. This is predestination theology, a teaching that Wesley countered, a belief that the God of immense and limitless grace would hand-pick only a few to be saved was offensive to the sinner who knew the grace of God. For John Wesley, the word "chosen" was a club used by those who saw themselves as better than others, those who might say, "Who needs grace when God has chosen?"

The word offends me as well. Yet it is an appropriate word for this morning--if I keep in mind that God has already done the greatest choosing. He chose to save this broken world, a world He first chose to create. The word has meaning only in light of those basics. We are His chosen ones in that He chose to enter this world and befriend us. God made that choice.

And so, as one of the chosen, I am a new creation. The old self has been taken off like raggedy, stained and stinking garments. I now wear a fresh, clean, and newly whole garment--a garment that can be accessorized with trinkets of compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, tolerance, and forgiveness. All desirable accessories...that can all be worn at the same time. They won't clash. The completed outfit won't be garish or flashy.

The amazing thing is that I can choose my accessories. I get to decide which to add to my new self-outfit. Having been chosen, I now choose what I will put onto this new garment. My choices are often they either/or: I can choose ridicule or compassion. I can choose spite or kindness. I can boast or be humble. I can be quiet or I can make sure my presence is known. I can demand action or I can choose patience. I can reject or I can show tolerance. I can hold a grudge or I can forgive. All are choices to complete my garment.  Choices I am allowed to make...as my Lord chose to forgive me. As I am being renewed in knowledge after the image of the creator, I choose the pieces that will best reflect my Lord.

Holy and awesome God, it is amazing that you chose to take on this world for salvation. In my humanness, I am dumbfounded. You don't walk away from us...you don't let us suffer in the mess we've made. You save us. You chose to save us. Help me with my choices, Lord. It is amazing that in Christ, I can choose to love those who have hated me. I can choose to forgive those who have hurt me. I can choose to show them kindness and compassion for the wounds they have suffered. Lord, I know I cannot do these things on my own. It is only through you. Only through the work of the Holy Spirit in me can I choose to put on the
things that never adorned my old self-garment. Thank you, Father.