Seeing God and Being Seen (Wednesday)—Job 42:1-6

by RobertCummins | Mar 23, 2016 | 12. Seeing God and Being Seen

Job answered God: “I’m convinced: You can do anything and everything. Nothing and no one can upset your plans. You asked, ‘Who is this muddying the water, ignorantly confusing the issue, second-guessing my purposes?’ I admit it. I was the one. I babbled on about things far beyond me, made small talk about wonders way over my head. You told me, ‘Listen, and let me do the talking. Let me ask the questions. You give the answers.’ I admit I once lived by rumors of you; now I have it all firsthand—from my own eyes and ears! I’m sorry—forgive me. I’ll never do that again, I promise! I’ll never again live on crusts of hearsay, crumbs of rumor.” Job 42:1-6 MSG

Job no longer had to say things in theory about God because he now had experience with God. Instead of having a sermon, Job had a testimony. While the sermon may be the weapon of the preacher, the testimony is the weapon of the foot soldier. Foot soldiers are always being strategically positioned for the kingdom’s expansion. All they need is armament.

No one is better located than you and I are within our relational networks. But if all we have to say is, “Pastor says this or the Bible says that, and hey, would you like to go to church with me?” we are shooting with plastic bows and arrows. Our world is filled with Christian materials that the faithful regularly gorge themselves on; the world wants to know what all this knowledge has done for you and I. “Is your God real. Then, please, show me.”

In the midst of a message I was sharing a few years ago, a light came on: I had the keen awareness that I was an accomplice to a great crime. I had had a rich time in preparation. I had gained real nourishment from it. But, here I was, momma bird regurgitating what I’d digested to many who should have been kicked out of the nest a long time ago. To be fair, some were self-feeders. But many had been conditioned by the year-after-year, week-to-week servings from the pastor. The pastor would have better equipped these baby birds to not grow up dependent on him. The true equipper makes sure the babies learn to feed themselves. He would personally demonstrate how babies grow up to have their own firsthand stories of God’s involvement in their lives. He would teach them how to think and dream and live in the light of Truth, enabling them to bend a bow of bronze and enter into the battle in their own strategic theater of operations with their own strategic God-given weaponry.

The church I was a part of called itself a sheep-shed. Given the importance of identity, I think that was unfortunate. I believe the status quo conditions us would-be warriors to remain as sheep. If we are an army someone is going to have to impart a greater identity to us than that of “witless creatures dependent on another to feed us and tell us what to do.” Granted some will remain babes and may always need bottle-fed; for most of us, however, our passivity and lethargy are due to the seconhand food we consume. (And we complain, we aren’t being fed well?) It’s not that the food wasn’t excellent fare when the pastor chewed on it; he got the lion-share of benefit, though–not the flock.

When I see what transpired in Job’s life to silence the babbler and encourage the listener, I tremble. How many of us would sign up for personal testimony class if we had to pay the tuition Job did? It might be a very small class since much of our spiritual diet has been laced with cheap grace. We have been preached a gospel in the west that says salvation is a free gift and it will cost you nothing. The Bible portrays the gospel of the kingdom which is free yet, mysteriously, will cost us everything.

Not only do preachers condition sheep—sheep condition preachers. If sheep hear a regular barrage of Jesus’ hard sayings, they will begin to complain about the diet. Giving and attendance may even fall off.  When the amens die out, most pastors can project where this will lead and resume using words more pleasing to the ear (which indirectly stabilize the cash flow).

Once I taught on Job in an adult Sunday school class, and a sincere believer suggested that the book of Job should not be taken seriously because it did not fit well with the theology in the rest of scripture. He said, “After all, its only one book.” He could make this statement because his personal reflection had been flavored with pastor’s words, which focused on blessing, power, and intimacy. The possibility of suffering and any redemptive purpose in it had been surgically removed from the gospel in this setting.

Father… I admit I once lived by rumors of you; now I have firsthand knowledge—from my own eyes and ears. I’m sorry—forgive me. By your grace, I’ll never do that again, I promise. I’ll never again live on the crusts of hearsay, crumbs of rumor. Deliver me from trivializing Your majesty and mystery with my speculative babbling. Continue to teach me to let you do the talking and ask the questions. Help me to simply listen. Amen.

Seeing God and Being Seen (Tuesday)—Mark 9:1-10

by RobertCummins | Mar 22, 2016 | 12. Seeing God and Being Seen

I would liked to have been Peter’s biographer. But since that’s not possible, I’ll use what I know about him from scripture to imagine a dialogue with him. Let’s say I’ve been permitted to interview Peter in his prison cell in Rome. We pick up at the tail end of a long afternoon of discussion.

Interviewer: Peter, you have told me many stories about the Lord, but we have not yet talked about the day He took you and the sons of thunder up the mountain. Would you be comfortable telling me that story?

Peter: You know… Jesus wouldn’t allow the three of us to breathe a word about that until he rose from the dead. By the way, we had no idea what he was talking about when he said “the Son of Man will rise on the third day.” But, yes, I would like to try to tell you this story.

Interviewer: Let’s set this up. Where had you just come from?

Peter: Hmm, you’re testing me now… give me a minute… well… there was the feeding of the multitude out in the country…. then, in Bethsaida he healed a man blind from birth. Yes, I recall now. We had just come from the Caesarea Philippi district where He had been pressing us about who He really was. He first wanted to know who the multitude said He was. We told him that they thought he was a great prophet like John the Baptist or Elijah. He then asked us, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ I couldn’t believe what came out of my mouth (as is often the case with me). I said what had been stirring in my heart,  ‘You are the Christ.’

Yes, I remember this as if it were yesterday. It was one of the best and the worst days of my life. I knew He was pleased with my confession, but not an hour later He had to say to me, ‘Get behind Me, Satan; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.’ It’s almost humorous looking back. I was making suggestions to the Lord on how to be the Lord, and of all things I chose to counsel Him on ‘His suffering’. How brilliant! Oh the patience of God!

You really have to understand something. We really were clueless as to where things were headed. Practically every time Jesus opened his mouth He said something we did not grasp. It was always like that. I well recall what He had just told us before this mountain top experience. Let me see if I can’t quote him. He said:

‘If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? For what will a man give in exchange for his soul?’ 

Interviewer: That’s pretty good. How did you remember that so well?

Peter: We had all been listening very carefully and playing back all his teachings over and over as we travelled, correcting each other until we all pretty well could recite anything he had ever taught us. After all, He had told us that He had words of life. No one had ever spoken like this. We believed Him.

Interviewer: Ok, if I understand you, Jesus had essentially said if you were going to follow Him it would be costly, even fatal? Did you think about turning back when you heard Him say things like this?

Peter: I suppose the thought had crossed our minds, but then again…not really. You would have just had to seen His eyes when he spoke. You couldn’t really doubt Him. Anyway… compared to what we had with Him, nothing was ever going to satisfy us but being with him.  In a very real way He had ruined us for this world. Like sheep with their shepherd, we came to require his presence.

Interviewer: Ok, here is a question that has troubled me and I know it troubles others as well. Why did He choose just you three to go up the mountain with him?  Why not all twelve of you?

Peter (laughing): Excellent question! I honestly have no clue. None of us ever knew why He did the things He did. As I said, we were the company of the clueless. We really had to get used to following Him in the presence of much we would have liked to know but never did. As we have reflected on His teachings, we now have come to think of our vast unknowing as “mystery,” the essential context where we each must work out our salvation, and might I add, with a fair portion of that fear and trembling my brother Paul is so fond of referring to.

Here is an embarrassing confession, though. We did speculate as to our status. Even though I was quiet in the debate, I was the chief of speculators. While the others would argue as to who would be the greatest in the Kingdom, I was aloof because I knew that as ‘The Rock” I was the superior disciple. Oh dear. Am I blushing? It really is humbling to recall how I had thought about myself before I was broken and then restored to Him. Mind you, it did not hurt either that I was filled with the Holy Spirit and power.

As to our hike into the mountains with Jesus… James, John and myself were elated to be invited. Every moment with him was like living in another dimension. We were also feeling special. It did not bother us, as we ascended, watching the other nine getting smaller and smaller in our vision. But then…

Interviewer: Yes, but then…what? Are you all right Peter?

Peter: Just give me a minute.

Interviewer: Certainly. Take your time.

Peter: Oh dear… I forget how hard it is to tell this story. I really don’t think my words ever do it justice. He told me it was OK, but although I have had permission to speak of it, I never feel I have the adequate words.

Interviewer: Peter, your disclaimer is duly noted. We will be grateful for your best stab at this.

Peter: OK. Here is how I remember it… I don’t know how else to say it. He was transfigured before us. His garments became radiant and exceedingly white, as no launderer on earth can whiten them. And I kid you not, Elijah appeared to us along with Moses; and they were talking with Jesus. I said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three tabernacles, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”

Interviewer: Are you all right? You are white as a ghost.

Peter: I’ll be OK in a minute. Just retelling this takes it out of me. Think about it. It was as if we’d seen three ghosts! We saw Moses! Elijah! We were seeing into another world! (Or, perhaps it was seeing into us. I really don’t know.) And as I am jabbering away about building some tabernacles for them (as if this service were required?), an ominous cloud (I suspect from that other world) descended upon us and my little speech was interrupted (thank God) by a voice that thundered in our ears… “This is My beloved Son, listen to Him!”

Interviewer (holding back tears and some laughter): Yes, I think I see what you mean. Words don’t quite get us there do they?”

Peter: Not at all.

Interviewer: What happened next?

Peter: Bear with me, but your word “next” seems out of place because, whatever had just happened took no time and yet it took all time. We didn’t know if a second or millennium had passed. In one sense, it was all over as soon as it began, and yet, in that second (if you can call it that) an eternity of impressions and details were imprinted upon our spirits. It seems anticlimactic but…all at once we looked around and saw no one with us anymore, except Jesus alone.

Interviewer: I’ve never heard anything like this. Looking back on this experience what are your reflections today some thirty odd years later?

Peter: Well…we both know what awaits me. I’m soon going to be absent from this body and once again immediately present to Him. Yes, what stands out to me is how His words have played out in my life. He made it perfectly clear to me and all who wanted to follow him: “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? For what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

There have been many false gospels preached these past three decades (and I suppose in light of our enemy’s strategies, there will be many more). One thing they all share in common is the exclusion of the cross. I know this is difficult to understand, but when He calls us to Life, he bids us, ‘Come and die.’ My vision of the cross was initially fuzzy. It has grown in clarity over the years, but today, in these chains, it is abundantly clear.

Because He did leave us the Holy Spirit, he has been teaching us from within (where He dwells) what the cross means. As painful as it has been to have my will crossed so regularly by Him, I am so, so grateful. Because he has been discipling us, raising us like children — birthing his kingdom in us and through us—I can say today, I am not ashamed of Him and His words even in this adulterous and sinful generation. And I know He will not be ashamed of me when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels, one day very soon, to take me to Him.

Father, may you confront every false gospel of our age that has cheapened grace by excluding your cross. Teach us what our cross looks like and help us to embrace it as Peter and the disciples did. May Your Kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven. Amen.

Seeing God and Being Seen (Monday)—John 1:35-51

by RobertCummins | Mar 21, 2016 | 12. Seeing God and Being Seen

Again the next day John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as He walked, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. And Jesus turned and saw them following, and said to them, “What do you seek?” They said to Him, “Rabbi (which translated means Teacher), where are You staying?” He said to them, “Come, and you will see.” So they came and saw where He was staying; and they stayed with Him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. One of the two who heard John speak and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He found first his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which translated means Christ). John 35-41

In thinking about “Seeing God and Being Seen” I am drawn to an idea that is burning brighter and brighter in my thoughts about Father. The thought is that understanding his backstory and ours is essential in shaping our view of reality. I used the word cosmology in the introduction to Saturday’s MwM post to describe our view of reality; it is simply our explanation of how and why things happen as they do. A Christian’s cosmology is typically embedded in their theology—how they have come to think about seeing God and being seen by him.

In our contemporary Christian culture, many of Jesus’ disciples are experiencing an inner and (I believe) holy dissatisfaction. In their honest and good hearts they want something that their cosmology (or theology) has not provided them—something that, by nature, even the most biblically accurate truths are incapable of providing. Their hunger is of the Romans 8 variety; it is simply the Sprit within them crying, “Abba.” (By all means dive into Romans 8:14-25.)

In a teaching-discussion series at PJ’s, Gene Griffin, my friend and mentor is diving deep into our backstory.  In yesterday’s introductory session Gene hinted at where we are going with this dialogue.  He referred us to Romans 6:5:

 For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection. Romans 6:5 NAS

The word united comes from the original Greek sumphotos which means to be congenitally related. If we think our relationship with God is being sustained by our doing this or that or by thinking this or that, what kind of violence have we done to the fundamental nature of our congenital relationship with Father? Is it possible that in all our religious doings we have alienated our hearts from him and that they are naturally crying out for that which they were created?

Gene made the point last night that conditional acceptance is one of the most detrimental burdens that can be placed upon a child. It sets the child up with an identity deficit. It calculates: “I do not qualify to be loved unless I am working to earn it.” Can you see how this could be embedded detrimentally into our belief systems contributing to the formation of many very busy yet deeply unfulfilled children?

Gene is simply asking those who are a part of this dialogue to keep our essential identities in view as we explore the gap between our experience and the life we know exists in Christ. He offered the following verses to consider in this exercise: Col. 2:9-10, II Cor. 5:17, Col. 3:4, Phil. 1:21, Gal. 2:20, 1 John 4:7, Eph. 5:8, Rom. 1:7, Rom. 8:16, Rom. 8:9, Gal. 3:25, Gal. 4:6.

Father, May your life giving Spirit impart to us the revelation of what we even now have in Christ.