Reed Mueller

If you’ve missed the last five messages in our Life Together series, you’ll get a fair overview of them in the following two quotes…

There are many things which a person can do alone, but being a Christian is not one of them. As the Christian life is, above all things, a state of union with Christ, and of union of his followers with one another, love of the brethren is inseparable from love of God. Resentment toward any human being cannot exist in the same heart with love to God. The personal relation to Christ can only be realized when one has “come to himself” as a member of His Body, the Christian fellowship. – William T. Ham, “Candles of the Lord” (via CQOD)

Let him who cannot be alone beware of community. He will only do harm to himself and to the community. Alone you stood before God when He called you; alone you had to answer that call; alone you had to struggle and pray; and alone you will die and give an account to God. You cannot escape from yourself; for God has singled you out. If you refuse to be alone, you are rejecting Christ’s call to you, and you can have no part in the community of those who are called… Let him who is not in community beware of being alone. Into the community you were called–the call was not meant for you alone; in the community of the called you bear your cross, you struggle, you pray. You are not alone even in death, and on the Last Day you will be only one member of the great congregation of Jesus Christ. If you scorn the fellowship of the brethren, you reject the call of Jesus Christ. – Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945), Life Together

Yesterday my message focused, more or less, on moving in step – or in rhythm – with the Holy Spirit. One of my points was that it is impossible to keep pace with the Spirit if we ignore his functional roles in his life. One such role is that of our instructor. Just so happened that I found the following quote on this today and thought I would pass it on:

The Spirit instructs us through the reading and exposition of the scriptures. The same Spirit who created the holy scriptures as he inspired its writers (2 Peter 1:20-21) illuminates its meaning and significance through its exposition (Romans 7:7; 1 Corinthians 2:12-14). Obviously this includes the meaning of a biblical text in its original context. Limiting his role to textual interpretation ignores two issues. First, any honest student of the scriptures quickly sees that those without the Spirit may reconstruct the literal-grammatical-historical meaning of the text just as well as those with the Spirit can. Secondly, New Testament references to “meat” and “milk” (1 Corinthians 3:1-23; Hebrews 5:11-6:12; 1 Peter 2:1-3) have less to do with the meaning of the scriptures than with their application. These suggest that illumination has more do with application than exegetical understanding. The Spirit directs our acts toward his goals of holiness and unity in community. He convicts us where we fail to live up to what we already possess. He enriches our worship according to his larger design for God’s sanctuary on the earth.

Ralston in The Spirit’s Role in Corporate Worship

I had a unique experience last Friday: I left a “Leadership Summit processing lunch” a very troubled man. I’m not at all used to that because typically I’m flying high after our team discusses what we learned! So why was I so troubled? First, because I didn’t effectively manage that particular meeting. Poor execution really bugs me and there was nobody to blame but myself. Second, because of a theme that emerged from a conversation we had about inviting others to our corporate worship gathering. We as a group of leaders seemed to flounder, even to the point of (apparent) division, over the issue of whether or not every one of us should invite the unchurched to our corporate worship gathering.

As I left the meeting this observation came to mind (an observation that I hold to tentatively and then only to help me think): Many, maybe most, Columbia Ridgers experience little or no impulse to invite the unchurched to weekend worship; some, maybe many, may actually have an impulse not to invite thinking that it isn’t their role or that it may be detrimental because it sends the wrong message. [NOTE: I don't believe that this is because Columbia Ridgers just don't care... I think there are other reasons for this that I'll explore here and in an additional post.] Others will have to assess for themselves the validity of the observation. I won’t argue with any who disagree because I’m only raising it to show how this particular ball got rolling in my mind. True or not, I’m glad I had the thought because it caused me to think more deeply about the entire issue.

As Pastor of this exceptional church family, I am called to pay careful attention to the theology that shapes my own life and our local church, a church I have been called to nurture toward maturity (Acts 20:28; 1 Timothy 4:16; Ephesians 4:11-13). Thus, I reflected… and in reflection this question came to mind:

Have I left us with an inadequate theology of worship?

Just having to ask the question gave me a sinking feeling. I’m not sure that we understand that authentic worship in a healthy church is simultaneously an act of grace for those in Christ and a witness to those who are not. Paul dealt with an issue in the Corinthian church that points to this fact.

²³If, therefore, the whole church comes together and all speak in tongues, and outsiders or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are out of your minds? ²⁴But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all, ²⁵the secrets of his heart are disclosed, and so, falling on his face, he will worship God and declare that God is really among you. ²⁶What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up. 1 Corinthians 14:23-26 (ESV)

Notice several important things here:

1. Paul expects that unbelievers (those opposed the gospel) and outsiders (the uninitiated, not opposed to the gospel, yet not accepting it to that point) will be in attendance at the regular worship gathering of this local church (v23).
2. Paul claims that an unbelievers/outsiders will be drawn toward God if the believers gathered together enter into authentic worship in an orderly, understandable, and orderly manner (v25: “…he will worship God and declare that God is really among you”).
3. Each believer of the body will have a special role in the worship gathering as they share the light that God has given to them (v26). This doesn’t happen exclusively on the platform, it happens as we move with each other in fabric of community before, during and after the ‘service’.
4. The end result of this will satisfy Paul’s command: “Let all things be done for building up” (v26).

Bottom line: We must understand that we are missing out on something remarkable if we rely solely on ourselves to witness to unbelievers: the power of the Holy Spirit moving in the gathered local church. The healthy church, gathering for corporate worship, is perhaps the strongest witness we could offer to someone. Because of this, it may actually be unkind not to do everything we can to bring our unbelieving friends to our weekly gathering (and once there, we can let God be God and do what he will with his word and the fellowship and worship he empowers).

While I can always identify things that I wish we had done with greater excellence during a corporate gathering, I cannot think of any service that I didn’t wish that all of my unbelieving friends were in attendance. I can’t think of a single one because I have seen how God works in and through our congregation when we gather. I can’t think of a single one because the Christian life is a hollow shell apart from the local church, at least for me. I can’t think of one because I believe God’s word doesn’t return void (Isaiah 55:11). I can’t think of a single one because apart from the gift I’ve received in being part of our worship gathering week in and week out I most likely wouldn’t have a living faith at all today.

Together we are, as Peter says in 1 Peter 2:9 “…a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that [we] may proclaim the excellencies of him who called [us] out of darkness into his marvelous light.” With regard to worship is he recalling passages in the Psalms that called believing Israel to gather in worship as a witness to unbelieving nations (e.g., Psalm 105:1-2)? Whether he is or not, we must remember that we have been given an incredible gift in being the Lord’s gathered and gathering people. It is a gift to receive his word and to proclaim his praises in such a way that it glorifies him, builds us up in the faith, and witnesses to the unbeliever.

I’ll have more thoughts that I’ll post soon. Until then I look forward to your comments.

²⁰Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, ²¹to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21

Yesterday in our worship gathering we continued our discussion of truth of the Trinity. In so doing we moved from the fact that has revealed himself as One Being, Three Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, to a study of what this means about who he is in essence. To try to learn something of God’s essence is to sneak a peek into the interior life of the Trinity rather than to observe his work in the world as Trinity. Theologians describe the pursuit of the former as the study of the Ontological (or Immanent) Trinity while the pursuit of the latter is the study of the Economic Trinity. Saying this doesn’t imply there are two Gods; rather, it is just a way for us to develop categories of thought that help us grow in our understanding of Him.

So with that said, what did we learn yesterday at our gathering? In three short words, we learned that God is love (1 John 4:8). If you want to know who God is in his essence – who He has always been even before the creation of time and the world and you and me – you must understand that God is love. How else could love have existed prior to the creation of anything unless the persons of the Trinity were loving one another at that time. Love, as we discussed yesterday, requires another to love to be true. The Trinity, this One Being, Three Persons has always been in a kind of Dance of Love (perichoresis) from eternity past to eternity future. In this dance, there has always been an open, authentic, and serving love beyond the limits of our imagination and before anything that is a thing existed.

Why does this understanding of the Ontological Trinity matter?

• First, theologians argue that apart from the existence of perfect eternal love, there can be no explanation for love in the world. 1 John 4:7 implies as much in suggesting that the origin of human love is not to be found in any of us, but rather, emanates from God. Thus, if we want to gain ground on our desire to love truly, we must return to the origin of love, the God who revealed himself in the reciprocity of his persons. We cannot and do not produce any love apart from him; where there have been moments of love in our lives, they are built upon the foundation of his love and resulting from it.
• Second, it matters because it gives us that sneak peek we wanted into the essence of God himself. To say that God is love is profound. Love isn’t god, as I mentioned in the sermon; God is love. If we know this about God we know what we need to know to discover freedom from fear, for love isn’t something he does, as if he could stop loving somehow or because of some thing done or not done. Because God is love it is not in his nature to be unloving. Bank on that and the fear of abandonment (1 John 4:9,16) and judgment (1 John 4:10,17-18) will slowly melt away from your life as you grasp the full significance of that truth. To know that God is love is to know the core of his being, inasmuch as we can grasp it (and we will spend eternity coming to discover how deep and wide his love is /Ephesians 3:14-19).

God is love. This is the truth revealed to us not only about what we most desire to give and receive (i.e., love) but also about who God is ontologically, in himself, as Father, Son and Holy Spirit in a dance of love. I can express this important truth no better than Robert Letham, a theologian who suggests the following:

God is a triune communion of persons. Love is intrinsic to who he is. Attributes like grace, mercy, justice, and even holiness are all relative to his creatures… Love, however, belongs to who he is in himself in the undivided communion of the three persons… The reciprocal love of the three persons exists in the unbreakable union of the undivided Trinity. In that we are enabled to be “partakers of the divine nature,” (2 Peter 1:4) “changed from glory to glory” (2 Corinthians 3:18) by the Spirit of the Lord, we are brought into this communion of the love of God. (emphasis mine)

You might be wondering why in the world we would be engaging in a series on the Trinity at Columbia Ridge, let alone spending time studying it. C.S. Lewis in his very popular Mere Christianity provides us with one perspective on why the Trinity is so important:

A good many people nowadays say, “I believe in a God, but not in a personal God.” They feel that the mysterious something which is behind all other things must be more than a person. Now the Christians quite agree. But the Christians are the only people who offer any idea of what a being that is beyond personality could be like. All the other people, though they say that God is beyond personality, really think of Him as something impersonal: that is, as something less than personal. If you are looking for something super-personal, something more than a person, then it is not a question of choosing between the Christian idea and the other ideas. The Christian idea is the only one on the market.

Again, some people think that after this life, or perhaps after several lives, human souls will be “absorbed” into God. But when they try to explain what they mean, they seem to be thinking of our being absorbed into God as one material thing is absorbed into another. They say it is like a drop of water slipping into the sea. But of course that is the end of the drop. If that is what happens to us, then being absorbed is the same as ceasing to exist. It is only the Christians who have any idea of how human souls can be taken into the life of God and yet remain themselves—in fact, be very much more themselves than they were before.

How this happens, how God as one being/three persons, can lead us to love, salvation, and worship will be the focus of the next three messages in this series. If Lewis is right, then we must get serious about our study of the Trinity. And of course, to study the Trinity you’ll need to learn about God. How does this knowledge of God as super-personal, as triune, come into human awareness; even more, how did it come to be a central doctrine of the Christian faith?

It was received through the content of the revelation that the Church has held dear for nearly 2000 years. It wasn’t thought up, but accepted as truth revealed to us in the pages of Scripture. Remember, we know what we know about God in his essence because he reveals it to us (link).

What we observe in the biblical record is that God has revealed a little more of himself to us at the threshold of every major covenant or promise that he made to humankind. At his covenant with Abraham, he revealed himself not as God-Almighty (Genesis 17:1). At the covenant with the people of Israel, he names himself “I am” or YHWH (Exodus 3:14; Exodus 6:3). When the Christ comes to this earth to initiate God’s promise of salvation for all, his very name reveals God as the “The Lord Who Saves” (Matthew 1:21). And then, at the apex of God’s work of redemption in the world, at the very peak of his faithful promise-giving, the pattern remains consistent. God reveals himself to us further as the new covenant is offered to us, and he reveals to us his name: ¹⁸Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Matthew 28:18-19 (NIV)[1]

The… “phrasing is…remarkable. It does not say, “In the names (plural) of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost”; nor yet (what might be taken to be equivalent to that), “In the name of the Father, and in the name of the Son, and in the name of the Holy Ghost,” as if we had to deal with three separate Beings. Nor, on the other hand does it say, “In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost,” as if “the Father, Son and Holy Ghost” might be taken as merely three designations of a single person. With stately impressiveness it asserts the unity of the three by combining them all within the bounds of the single Name; and then throws up into emphasis the distinctness of each by introducing them in turn with the repeated article: “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost (the King James Version). These three, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost, each stand in some clear sense over against the others in distinct personality: these three, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost, all unite in some profound sense in the common participation of the one Name.[2]

Outside of the manner in which God names himself, the Lord has also revealed several other truths about his essence:

• First, God has revealed himself as One and only One God.
  
  Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Deuteronomy 6:4 (NIV) This verse is the beginning of one of the most important prayers in the Jewish faith, the Shema, which grounds them, and us, in the belief that the they have a special relationship with their God, YHWH, and that he is One, rather than many gods, as the nations around them believed. Essentially, both Jews and Christians look to this verse, among many, and find in it the declaration that God is One. Interestingly, the word echad in Hebrew can imply a unity in diversity (the word for one and only one, i.e., unique, is more often rendered as yachid).^[1]

  Then in Isaiah 43:10, the Lord says this of himself (and his people): ¹⁰“You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me. ¹¹I, even I, am the Lord, and apart from me there is no savior.

  And finally, consider again in Isaiah what he says: ⁵I am the Lord, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God. I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me, Isaiah 45:5 (NIV)

  So what does this mean? What do these verses, which are simply a few examples from Scripture, say? This: To believe in God as he has revealed himself to the world through his word is to be a monotheist, believing in one God, not two or three or thousands. There is one God and only one God. Anything else goes against God’s self-revelation, the sharing of his knowledge of himself with us.

• Second, the One God, who is One Being, has revealed himself as Three Persons who are all co-equally and co-eternally God.That God has revealed himself as the Father, is evident throughout the new testament. In fact, the phrase, God the Father, occurs in the New Testament 18 times. For example, Jesus himself calls God the Father in ²⁷Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.” John 6:27 (NIV)

  But the Father isn’t the only one who is called God. Jesus is also. You see this in Thomas’ confession in John 20 where he falls before Jesus and calls him “my Lord and my God.” But perhaps most clearly we see that Jesus is God in John 1:1,14, where he is referred to as the Word in the passage: ¹In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… ¹⁴The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:1,14 (NIV)

  So we see so far from just a few verses that God is revealing something to us. He is revealing that he is one God and that he is God the Father and God the Son. And beyond that, God reveals to us that the Holy Spirit is God as well.  See if you can pick up the implication here in this account from Acts where someone lied: ³Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? ⁴Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing?” Now where does that say that the Holy Spirit is God? So far, it doesn’t. But I stopped short, didn’t I? Because Peter continues: You have not lied to men but to God.” Acts 5:3-4 (NIV)

  Taken together, these passages reveal to us a God who says he is one being, indivisible, eternal and that there are no other gods, and that this one God, this one being above all, is three persons, Father, Son and Spirit. Not one or the other, but all three.

• Finally, we see that these three persons are distinct, not just different appearances or manifestations of the same God changing costumes. We can see this in Jesus’ call for us to be baptized into the Name of the true God: Father, Son and Spirit (Matthew 28:18-19). It would be silly to do so if they were simply masks that the real God behind the name wore. It would also be silly for Paul to write what he does in 2 Corinthians 13:14 if God was simply changing masks instead of one real being and three real persons: ¹⁴May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

  One more example is from Matthew 3:16-17 where we can see all three working in harmony in the baptism of God the Son: ¹⁶As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. ¹⁷And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

• The Doctrine of the Trinity
  
  When taken altogether, these (and many other biblical) observations have led the Church across the ages to the doctrine of the Trinity and the proclamation that God has revealed himself as the Holy Trinity: one Being who eternally exists as three distinct persons—Father, Son, and Spirit—who are each eternally, fully and equally God.

  This, as we’ll come to see in the rest of the series, is the very foundation of love, salvation, the Christian life, and worship.

[1] Letham, Robert. (2004). The Holy Trinity in Scripture, History, Theology, and Worship, p. 411.

[2] Orr, J., M.A., D.D. (1999). The International standard Bible encyclopedia (J. Orr, Ed.). Albany, OR: Ages Software.

^[3]In the famous Shema of Deut 6:4, “Hear, O Israel … the LORD is one,” the question of diversity within unity has theological implications. Some scholars have felt that, though “one” is singular, the usage of the word allows for the doctrine of the Trinity.  Harris, R. L., Harris, R. L., Archer, G. L., & Waltke, B. K. (1999, c1980). Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed.) (030). Chicago: Moody Press.

As we entered into our four week series on the Trinity, a central doctrine of the Christian faith (a doctrine, in fact, without which our salvation, worship, and fellowship might simply crumble into dust) I felt it important to bring into focus both how the knowledge of God arises in us as well as what we might understand of God once such knowledge is received.

With regard to the basic knowledge of God, it is important for us to consider two facts. First, it seems evident that for some a review of nature and its wonder, the universe and is awesome magnitude, that is, taking in the whole of creation insofar as we able to do so, points toward the plausibility of a creator. For sure, the bible suggests that the heavens declare the glory of the Lord and therefore can point us to this fact (Psalm 19:1). However, it seems that there is a limit to what such “natural” revelation might lead us to discover. Whereas we might ascertain that there is a creator, we do not know from our knowledge of the universe whether that creator is even still present let alone whether such a being would be good and loving in character and action. To know such things, and even deeper things such as the very essence of God, rather than his nature or actions, would require some other form of knowledge that we might receive elsewhere.

That being the case, from a Christian perspective, if we are to know God’s character and essence it is important that we supplement our own observations of the universe with what God might reveal about himself to us apart from such natural observations. To many theologians…

[our knowledge of God] …is not predicated upon any human capacity or mode of thinking, but upon the initiative of God in making himself known to us and reconciling the world to himself.” Murray Rae in Trinitarian Soundings in Systematic Theology

In this regard, Rae calls us to consider what Paul implies in 1 Corinthians 12:3 when Paul writes “…no one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit.” While anyone with vocal chords produce the vocalization “Jesus is Lord” the point is that no one can truly know who Jesus really is, Lord above all, apart from the intervention of the Holy Spirit in our lives prior to or in support of that knowledge (see also Matthew 16:16-17). My contention in the message I preached on Sunday was this: The direction of deep knowledge about God must flow primarily from him to us, not us to him. This basic point seems to be a necessary foundation from which to begin the study of the doctrine of the Trinity. If we are to know who God really is, we will need to supplement what we can perceive of him in general and our own understanding what is possible and logical with what he has revealed of himself through his word, according to his desire.

This being said, I have some questions for you to consider before we move on later this week to specific scriptural references that bring us to the doctrine of the Trinity.

1. Can you know God’s essential nature and essence only through ‘natural revelation’? Does Romans 1:18-20 suggest that you can?
2. What role does scripture play in revealing the very nature or essence of God beyond such natural revelation?

These are the questions we’ll begin with as we study the Trinity together as a congregation… let the discussion begin (and if you’re reading this on email log on to my blog at reed.teammueller.com and post your responses there so we all can benefit from the discussion).

Every once in a while life slows down enough to create a real opportunity for rest. That is exactly what happened to me on vacation last month, but not in the way you might imagine. I’m not physically rested at all. We traveled a lot, saw a lot of new sites, and got less sleep than we probably should have. Yet, I had time to rest my soul through this annual change in my schedule and by being out in God’s imaginative and beautiful creation for an extended period of time. It was in this gift of spiritual rest that I was reminded in various ways about one of the most important things I’ve ever come to understand about God. I pass it on to you, just in case you’ve forgotten or haven’t rested in a while.

The first reminder came through the simple enjoyment of being with my family. Ever had those moments when your relationships just seemed 100% right? I enjoyed that this vacation. I loved seeing my kids play in the sand, hike in the woods, and play Kick the Can. I loved seeing my wife enjoy the peace of a small lake in the North Woods. I loved exploring new places together as a family. All of this was part of resting, part of knowing one of the most important things that can ever be known about God. Because of that knowledge, the joy was better and I was more grateful.

As many of you know, I used to deal with considerable flight anxiety. Against that history, the second reminder came to me in the form of a joyful smile moving across my lips as I deplaned for the first time on our vacation. I didn’t smile because the flight was over and I was again on terra firma; rather, I smiled because I realized that I no longer worry at all when flying. The reason is simple: I now know one of the most important things that can ever be known about God and because of that, the fear is gone.

The final reminder came to me as I read a novel (which is rare for me): The Shack. The main character, Mackenzie, is a father who has his worst fears come true (I won’t give away any more). As the story unfolds, the reader observes God’s loving encounter with this hurt and angry man…

“The real underlying flaw in your life, Mackenzie, is that you don’t think that I am good. If you knew I was good and that everything – the means, the ends, and all the processes of individual lives – is all covered by my goodness, then while you might not always understand what I am doing, you would trust me. But you don’t.”

Time with my family, a smile upon deplaning, and a small section of a story all pointed me to one of the most important things I’ve ever known about God. It is something I have come back to again and again across the years. I come to it when I don’t understand some loss or hurt occurring in my life. I come to it when I don’t understand why God works in the world as he does (especially when I think he should work differently). I come to it when I work with those who are going through their worst fears. Finally, I come to it when I struggle with the more difficult and less popular truths that God has revealed about himself.

So I again remembered a fundamental truth and this is where I found – where we can always find – rest: God is completely good, better than we can imagine in every way, he always has been and always will be. He is good in the great times and just as good in the dark times. It is in God’s goodness that we can find rest in and through all the fear, the anger, and the sadness of life. It is in God’s goodness that we can enjoy the blessings even more. It is in God’s goodness that we see him for who he is and can trust and worship:

He is the Rock; his deeds are perfect. Everything he does is just and fair. He is a faithful God who does no wrong; how just and upright he is! Deuteronomy 32:4 (NLT)

Who will not fear you, Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous deeds have been revealed.” Revelation 15:4 (NLT)

In the end, all will come to realize this. All will see how good our God is. But why wait? Rest in who he is now as you remember, no matter what, that he is good!

Ever had to reconsider the wisdom of a common saying? I had to when I read John 9:6-11, an account of one of Jesus’ miraculous healings, recently:

6…Jesus spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man’s eyes with the mud 7and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing. 8 The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” 9 Some said, “It is he.” Others said, “No, but he is like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.” 10 So they said to him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” 11 He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed and received my sight.”

“Seeing is believing” is an old saying that I’ve never really questioned. Yet, after reading this account I reconsidered it and came to the conclusion that in certain cases it’s 180 degrees wrong. According to John, this blind man found sight because he believed Jesus, trusting him enough to do something that must have seemed quite silly, before he could physically see him. And what happened when he trusted Jesus’ lead? He found that he could see… and see Jesus no less! In his case, believing preceded seeing.

Sometimes seeing, and more spectacularly seeing Christ, requires of us to grope toward the place he calls us. We may not understand – and certainly this man did not – yet, if we move after truly hearing the call of Christ, then our eyes are opened even if ever so slightly at first. So maybe when it comes to ultimate matters, matters of faith, a more appropriate saying would be this: “Believing is seeing!” That is, taking a step of faith leads us to see God in a new and deeper way; he reveals himself to us as we trust him.

Want to see him in your life? Then follow his lead by responding to his word and his still small voice… and just see what happens… for believing leads to seeing.

I can’t remember for sure, but I think I must have been around six or so when I got my first real bicycle. Of course I’d had a hand-me-down, training-wheeled bike before I got this one (I was the youngest child in my family after all) but this was different. It came shiny, new and never before ridden from the store and it was all mine! I was so excited and proud to have it and I remember thinking how cool it was and how cool I would be riding it. It had high handle bars and a banana seat and I was sure I’d look like those guys I’d seen riding Harleys, without the scruffy beard that is.

While I was truly grateful for my parent’s gift, I quickly discovered that I had a problem: I didn’t know how to ride it. It had no training wheels, was much bigger than the little bike I’d been riding, and I was afraid. Enter my dad who, on a cool and cloudy Oregon morning, walked me and my new bike out to the dead end road on which we lived.

“Go ahead, get on.” he said.

“But I’m a little scared, dad.” I replied.

“It’s okay, Reed, I’ll be here holding on until you get your balance.”

With that promise from my dad to give me courage, I went for it. I struggled onto that banana seat, struggled to find the peddles, and then struggled to get that bike moving forward. And I was successful! It felt great knowing that I was moving forward and even better knowing that dad was keeping that bike from tipping over.

He was faithful to his word to me that day. I don’t know how long he ran along beside me, except to say that he was there holding on as long as I needed him too. And then, when I was ready, he let go and ran along beside me as I balanced on my own, gaining confidence with every revolution of the peddles. My dad was there that morning. He was there holding on when I couldn’t balance on my own and he was there right beside as I continued to ride under my own power.

In thinking back on that day, I remember feeling grateful for my new bike; that thing I’d just received was my focus as a little kid. Now, some 34 years later, I’m still grateful, but for something else. That new bike is now old and abandoned long ago to time and the elements. So I’m not grateful for that it (I’d look pretty silly riding it now). Rather, I’m grateful that my dad was there that morning. I’m grateful that he sustained my balance. I’m grateful that he ran beside me when I was ready. That morning represents one of the best memories I have from childhood!

17Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty, 18yet I will rejoice in the Lord! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation! 19The Sovereign Lord is my strength! He makes me as surefooted as a deer, able to tread upon the heights. (For the choir director: This prayer is to be accompanied by stringed instruments.) Habakkuk 3:17-19 (NLT)

Sometimes in life we become grateful for, and find security in, the wrong things – the stuff we have, the paychecks we receive, that status we’ve attained. Don’t get me wrong, they are gifts for sure, but to be grateful in only the gifts, rather than the one who gives them is missing the point and missing the true joy.

Just like time with my dad was the true and lasting gift of that morning so long ago, so our God, who helps us balance every day if we ask him and who runs beside us our whole lives, is our true gift every day. All the stuff we think we can rely on will one day either let us down or be abandoned by us along the way. But in the end, though everything else will go away, He will still be there with us!

Be glad today not because you have stuff, no matter how shiny it is, but because your God, the gift beyond all circumstances, has you!

Chelsea Reardon (left) and Chris Spanjer (right) serving meals in Mhlosheni

Just a quick post so you can save the date. Our 2009 Mhlosheni “Go Team” has returned from Africa and will be sharing their experiences with the church on July 12th, 10:30am (here). You won’t want to miss the message they’ll bring to us about God and his work in Mhlosheni, Swaziland.

I really respect the eight individuals who gave of their time and financial resources to go share hope and friendship with the people of Swaziland. Not only that, I respect their families for making the sacrifice of having them so far away for a period of time. And it goes without saying that none of this would have happened without those who supported our team financially and through prayer. So thanks one and all.

Can’t wait to have the team over to our house this Friday. Should be a lot of fun to hear the stories shared as we look through the pictures they’ve all taken. Hope I BBQ well for them!