Partially Seen, Fully True

"For now we see through a glass, darkly"-1 Corinthians 13:12

We do not know the future.  Regardless to what the tabloids and 1-800-pyschic commercials may tell you our ability to fully discern the future is pretty much impossible.  In the 13th chapter of Corinthians Paul is imploring his readers to live lives defined by sacrificial love.  And the motivation and encouragement for such love is the picture of the eternal hope we have from the receiving of the greatest sacrificial love that was freely given on the cross. 

But Paul uses this phrase to illustrate the reality; We can barely make out what that future looks like from our current vantage point.  Yet our hope in what we can see can be rooted in its being fully true.  While the absolute clarity of tomorrow's promise is dimly seen, the markers we pass along the way in the present point us towards the future moment when it will not be seen darkly, but in glorious light.

If we are indeed imprinted with the DNA of eternity as image bearers of God, then we will have an innate sense of seeing eternity through the dimly lit glass of our present.  And it would stand to reason that the experiences of our lives would leave markers and evidences of this eternal design.

Over the past few weeks we have been studying the book of Ruth at church and it concludes with a genealogy.  While genealogies are typically boring affairs and most of us fly right past them when we come across them in the Bible I think they serve two important purposes...

1- They place the narrative of Scripture in history.  The names mentioned are not just mythology, but traceable individuals and families that point to the reliability and historicity of Scripture.  While they are not always written to be an "exact" account of a family tree, they do not make up people to fill in the gaps. 

2-  Genealogies serve to illustrate the on going story and purpose of human life that extends beyond our finite personal mortal coil.  Dogs do not care who their great grand dog is, nor, do they care who their great grandchild dog is.  Nor do other animals.  Yet humans are intimately aware and find value in such family connections.  For good and bad we see and intrinsically desire an observable place on the timeline of eternity.

If we are indeed made in the image of an eternal God than this is logical.  And, it would be logical for Scripture as a reliable testimony to the character, person and nature of God, to contain elements that point towards these truths. 

If we are nothing more than a pile of accidental DNA than death, lineage, family, etc, would have little influence on our state of emotions.  The only value we would place on life, and ours specifically, would be for personal enjoyment and the impetus to procreate our DNA in some form.  And when those two standards(enjoyment and DNA passage) become limited, or, eliminated, it would be reasonable to no longer value such a life. 

But even at our societal worse we cannot fully embrace such folly. 

As much as we try to deny it we are powerfully affected by things that happen to people out of our sphere of relationship.  Genocide is heartbreaking.  Murder is shocking.  Death is feared.  But in a society that is hell bent to disassociate ourselves from the eternal nature of life we try to philosophically justify evaluating the value of life by subjective standards that diminish the beauty of life as a whole.

I recently wrote about two significant indicators of this cultural "evolution".  Society is trying to have its cake and eat it to.  We intrinsically sense a need to value life objectively, yet we try to justify valuing it subjectively when it suits some limited moment.  This is the fertile soil of a culture of death. 

Either ALL LIFE is of significant value that is not possible to be measured by some sort of "standard"

or

NO LIFE is intrinsically valuable and worthy of protection.  It is only subjectively so as long as the math lines up.....


We cannot know what the future holds because we see through a dimly lit glass.  There is no fool proof formula that proves that it all "works out".  But our internal selves, as affirmed in Scripture, point us towards the truth that life has a value that is impossible to measure.

When Ruth and Boaz got married they didn't do so because they were promised some great future if they would just do something difficult.  They did what was right and what honored God and life.  Through a dimly lit glass they chose life and a future knowing only that moving forward with God was the only way to see what would one day be on the other side.  They never saw what came of their marriage(King David and Jesus), and oftentimes neither will we.

But God does.

Just because you can't see the future, doesn't mean it doesn't exist

When Following Jesus is Hard

Could it be that God is willing to compromise your immediate happiness for something greater? It's called redemption!
        - Paul Tripp

Statistically speaking, you and I will never win the lottery.  You have a better chance of dying in a plane crash.  Yet people buy millions and millions of tickets every year. 

Why?

Because quick and easy money is the dream.  40 years of dedicated work of 40+ hours a week and a job that doesn't fulfill your greatest passions is....NOT easy.  We see the dream of retiring with a nice house, solid income and golfing and we want to get there now.  The vast majority of Americans have less than 5,000 dollars in savings.  Is it because they don't make any money?  Nope.  We buy more and more stuff that we don't need, but want RIGHT NOW. 

Our self-centered and short-sighted lives avoid difficulty and long term planning and focus on the pleasures of right now.  Often at the expense of long term responsibility.  Every work out and diet plan offers us immediate results with little effort.  Try selling a 2 year weight loss plan that includes a lifetime of changed eating habits and daily committed exercise. 

 

 

Our spiritual lives are influenced greatly by this pernicious attitude we have accepted into our mindsets.  We think of religion, faith, Jesus, all as tools to have our "best life now".  If we don't get an immediate payoff in the form of greater "peace", increased "happiness", all of our questions "answered", lots of "fun".  Well.....then it is not for us. 

 

The perception is that Jesus is supposed to be our great Holy Vending Machine in the Sky.  We add Him to our lives and everything should just be worked out.  Whenever we feel challenged or confused, the expectation is we just need to twist and contort Jesus and the Bible to better accommodate our desires so we can keep the good times rolling. 

 

In the Gospel of John, chapter 6, we see this play out.   Not in the privacy of ones own home and mind, but in the midst of fellowship with the Son of God Himself!

 

Jesus has been rocking it with amazing miracles and feeding the people.  The crowds are growing, everyone wants to be a part of this.  It is easy to visualize.  You hear about this guy doing miracles AND handing out free food to everyone.  Of course you would show up for the party! 

 

But then Jesus changes up the tone.  He begins to talk about how He alone is the Bread of Life(directly contrasting with the Jewish understanding of God) and how everyone must partake of His flesh and blood if they are to truly have eternal life....this was somewhat less successful than the miracles and feeding part of the show....

 

⁶⁶ After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.

        - John 6

 

When Jesus was spoon feeding them and showing them a good time, they were all about it.  When he started challenging them and inviting them to participate in something a lot more difficult than sitting around and being served, people hightailed it out of there.

 

Jesus than turns to Peter and says, "Will you leave too?" 

 

Here is the moment where each of us have to be ferociously honest with our lives and heart.  We want so much for God to just give us stuff, to make life make sense, to have everything work out in our favor RIGHT NOW!  Many of us will turn away when the bells and whistles are no longer entertaining us.  And Jesus says, "Will YOU turn away as well now that the show is no longer rocking for your personal enjoyment?"

 

⁶⁸ Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life"

         - John 6

 

This world will throw you lots of baubles and immediately gratifying gifts.  The distractions can be without number.  And, let's be honest.  Following Jesus is rarely the formula for having a bunch of fun right now.

 

But here is what Peter gets, that we desperately need to understand.  Everything in life can be a distraction from the truth.  The truth that everything is going to burn and be found wanting.  The fun you have today at the expense of tomorrow will break your heart.  And even if following Jesus can seem hard, it is the ONLY place where true life LIVES. 

 

All the things we do to distract and fill ourselves up with are lies that set us up for the ever increasing sense of emptiness that will take over our hearts. 

 

Following Jesus can be hard.  But it is ultimately harder when we do not. 

 

When you compromise to get something now, you will always lose it later

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why I am Not Satisfied

John 4:15
"The woman said to him, 'Sir, give me this water so I won't get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.' "

My stomach is an amazing feat of genetic engineering.  No, not just the rippling 6 pack that rests behind a soft cushion of unreleased energy, but the fact that it processes food every day.  Without fail, no matter how much, or what, I ate the day before, I am hungry again.  Doing a bit of simple math I estimate that I have consumed approximately 35,000 pounds of food in my entire life.  Nearly 18 tons!!!!!

No matter how much I eat.  Every day I am hungry again.  It never stops.  You would think after like 20,000 pounds we could at least take a few year break.....

Our whole lives are driven by this truth.  What we consume to satisfy our appetites is burned up by that desire and we must return for more. 

Not just food.  Relationships.  Entertainment.  Sleep.  There is nothing that doesn't fall into that endless cycle.

What is worse is that while some ways we satisfy our appetites is relatively benign(such as eating), we often fill our felt needs with resources that are in the long run significantly more destructive than fulfilling.

Take for instance the individual consumed by drug addiction.  In some cases we know that the altered brain chemistry creates a real "need" for the drug.  But each successive use destroys the user, and leaves them needing more and more. 

Or the person driven by sexual compulsion.  Either in physical acts or pornography.  Recent studies show that brain function is radically affected by sexual promiscuity.  And while it at first meets a legitimate felt need(intimacy) it ultimately destroys the ability to experience intimacy. 

Sadly, in one degree or another, most of us can attest to compelling needs that drive our existence.  And rarely do they bring ultimate satisfaction.  They leave us feeling more empty then before.  And yet when the need screams out, we go right back.

There is so much going on with this "woman at the well".  Jesus is offering her a living water that will keep her from ever being thirsty again.  Which of course is His reference to eternal life.  What does she immediately think about?  No longer walking all the way down to the well each and every day.  She says, give me some of that endless water so I can save myself some daily inconvenience.

She has a real need.  She is thirsty.  And when Jesus comes into her life, she has trouble seeing out of that lens. 

We do this so often.  We look at the needs(legitimate and otherwise) in our lives and say, "Jesus, get in here and fix this problem....this SPECIFIC problem that is very inconvenient". 

We don't want Jesus if we are honest with ourselves.  We want stuff.  Better relationships, more money, less being sick.....Jesus comes to offer Himself.  The only source of absolute and eternal hope and we cry out for finite toys.

Jesus was offering to satisfy the woman at the wells deepest needs.  The ones that being thirsty are pale reflections of.  And that is what He is offering you as well.

Our struggles with a lack of satisfaction are what drive unhealthy and destructive behaviors.  We are desperate to feel satisfied.  So we run after our appetites hoping that this "meal" will be the answer.  It never is.

It is normal to be hungry.  Like me, you have consumed thousands of pounds of food in your life.  There is nothing wrong with eating.  But why do some people eat in damaging and unhealthy ways while others easily make healthy choices?

Satisfaction.

We treat food as a source of making us feel better.  And so we eat, not to fuel our body, but to get an emotional high.  I don't physically need a donut and a box of chocolates.  I emotionally "need" them.  Have you ever ate just because you are bored?  Than you know what I am talking about.   And as long as I allow my satisfaction to be determined by "food" I will abuse it, and, be abused by it. 

How about you?  What are the things in your life that you abuse and abuse you in turn in the name of satisfying a need?  Is it a relationship?  Money?  Sex?  A hobby? 

Christ comes to you at that very well and says, "Stop exhausting yourself for water that will never satisfy" 

Are you ready to experience a true satisfaction that frees you from the cycle of consumption and starvation?  Drink the Water that is offered freely.

No big theological point here.  Just thought it was funny....