Believing What You See

“If I am not doing the works of my Father,

then do not believe me,  but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is me and I am in the Father.”

John 10:38

          “Actions speak louder than words.”  Almost everyone sees the truth in that, because we’ve all known people who are all talk and no follow-through.  They make promises they will not keep, and spout ideals they do not live by; and no one is persuaded by “do what I say and not what I do” rhetoric.  This is especially true for those who claim to speak for God.

          When Jesus made that declaration “the Father is in me “and I am in the Father”, his life was put under a microscope.  Since there was no National Enquirer at that time, some of the Pharisees took on this dig-up-the-dirt role.  Every time Jesus preached they were there, notebook in hand, writing down what he said and did, sniffing for a whiff of scandal that might discredit him in the eyes of the people.  Time and again they walked away empty-handed and disappointed.

          One day Jesus finally had enough of this and said, “If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me, but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works.”  Seeing is believing. Faith is not blind.  It sees the hand of God in actions not recognized by others.  Preconceived assumptions prompt them to ignore evidence of a divine hand.

          It did for those Pharisees because after Jesus made this common sense observation about believing what you see, they tried to arrest him again, but he escaped from their hands. From that day to this some see Christ in small acts of grace and others miss him entirely. Some see God in a new born baby and others just see an infant.  Opening your eyes to recognize God in your world requires both faith and reason.  It is about seeing to believe and believing in order to see.

Lord, open the eyes of my heart so I may catch a glimpse of You every day in miracles great and small. Amen.

Going Through the Motions

“Holding the form of religion, but denying the power of it.”

2 Timothy 3:5

          All religion is laden with rituals.  These customs express outwardly what people experience inwardly.  They are created to be a physical reminder of a spiritual encounter.  Marriage ceremonies and Baptisms, Holy Communion and Christmas Eve candlelight services call us to remember and relive that moment when God transformed our lives.

          In his second letter to his protégé Timothy, the Apostle Paul warned of a time when people would practice the form of religion, but deny its power.  They will go through the motions but the meaning will have faded.  They will settle for the rituals of lifeless worship and empty prayer.

          Now, that can’t appeal to anyone, so why would anyone be content with such anemic faith.  There are many reasons I suppose, but I think many of them will boil down to control.  We can control the rituals, but we cannot control the power of God they point to.  It is the same reason the children of Israel shaped a golden calf in the shadow of Sinai.  While the idol could not feed them manna in the wilderness, neither could it make any demands nor require any real change.  So, they practiced the form of religion while denying its power and as a result wandered aimlessly for the next forty years, seeing but never quite arriving at the Promised Land.

          Paul said when that happens you’re in the end times, the last days.  Though the world may still spin on it axis, and life still goes on, the Spirit of God that gives life color will be washed out. You can see, but never quite arrive at the Promised Land.  Rituals are an important outward expression, but they can never replace the inward power of God.

Faith Changes

“I see people, but they look like trees walking.”

Mark 8:24

          It is the only two stage healing found in scripture.  A blind man was brought to Jesus. Perhaps for dramatic purposes, Jesus spit into some dirt and formed a paste of mud and placed it on the eyes of the man.  He then asked him, “Can you see anything?”  This is the first and only time Jesus asked, as a physician might, about the success of his treatment. The man replied, “I see people, but they look like trees walking.”  Jesus laid his hands upon him again, and the healing was complete.

          This miracle raises two questions:  1) Was Jesus unsure of his power to heal? Why else would he ask the question, “Can you see?” 2) Was his power to heal limited? Why did he need to try twice?

Maybe there is a reason.  Read the next few verses. Immediately after this miracle, Jesus asked his disciples, “When you look at me, what do you see?”  Do you see a prophet, a wise man, or the Messiah, the Christ?  This kind of vision or perception sometimes comes gradually.  Some people look at Jesus and immediately recognize the Son of God, while others need more time.  Their faith grows in stages.

          Jesus often used illustrations that you can see and touch to reveal the truth about things you can’t see and touch.  This miracle may have served that purpose. We look at that blind man who can now see, and remember that it didn’t happen all at once. For some people faith explodes like the Fourth of July and for others it grows more slowly like August corn.  What matters is not the time it takes, but that it comes at all.  So, if Jesus needs to take a little more time with you then that’s alright.  Give him the time and maybe you’ll see things a little more clearly.

Gen50 Seckman.wmv

Rev21Heaven Seckman.wmv

Rowing into the Wind 

“When he saw they were distressed in their rowing,

for the wind was against them…he came to them.”

Mark 6:48

          It had been a great day!  Jesus’ disciples had seen him pull out all the stops when he fed five thousand people with a few loaves of bread and fish.  Everybody was feeling good.  They knew they had hitched their wagon to the right horse.  But, no sooner had the cheers been raised for Jesus by these five thousand satisfied customers than he directed his disciples to get in a boat and cross the Sea of Galilee.

          Maybe he didn’t want their heads turned by the ovation of the crowd, because he knew how fickle the crowd could be.  Perhaps he did not want them to be distracted from the main mission, which had more to do with the spirit than the flesh.  For whatever reason Jesus told them to shove off and he would meet them later.

          The weather changed though, and these disciples quickly found themselves floundering in the rough seas.  They were pulling against the oars with all their strength, but the wind as stronger.  The Gospel says that Jesus saw them in their distress and came to them in the middle of this storm.

          How he saw them and how he got there remains a mystery and can only be explained by the word “miracle”.  What is clear is that when Jesus sees you pulling against the storm for all your worth and still not making any progress; he comes to meet you where you are.

          We all know the against-the-wind feeling of trying as hard as we might and still not getting where we want to be.  What we need to remember is that Jesus will meet us there as well.

Lord, when we grow weak and weary and heavy you call us to come to you, but sometimes even that seems beyond our reach.  We thank you for those moments when you came to us when we were feeling down and lifted us up once more on eagle’s wings.  Amen

Let the Walls Come Down

“For He Himself is our peace,

who made both groups one,

and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall.”

Ephesians 2:15

          There’s an old saying, “Good fences make good neighbors.”  The theory behind that is that walls mark boundaries, which offer protection and security.  You know where you stand.  There is no confusion about who is in and who is out so conflicts are diminished.

While fences can limit fighting they can also reduce fellowship.  That’s what happened in the country of Jesus’ birth.  A wall was built between the children of Abraham and nearly everyone else.  This wall was not built with brick and stone, but was constructed with an intricate set of rigid religious rules and cultural expectations.  It allowed “birds of a feather to flock together”, but effectively held them in a cage into which no other type of bird could enter.

This strict separation led to misunderstanding and often mistrust of others who were seen as strangers. Bridging the gap and bringing strangers together requires a special kind of leader.  The Apostle Paul saw Jesus as being that kind of mediator.  He wrote, “He is our peace and has broken down the dividing wall.”

So, those who claim his name must also be in the business of breaking down the dividing walls of hostility and helping to bring about peace.  This requires understanding of those who might be different, and that understanding may demand a little courage and some effort.  Whenever you extend your hand there is a danger that someone may cut it off.  But, Jesus took that risk and so should we for that is how we really become the people of God.

Prince of Peace, we turn to you when we find ourselves in disagreement and even conflict.  Break down the dividing walls we pray so that we may fulfill your prayer – that we may be one.  Amen.