2 Corinthians 4:3-6: The Invisible Gorilla

And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ. - 2 Corinthians 4:3-6

The light is there but we cannot see. There is a term for things which are clearly visible, but which cannot be seen: inattention blindness, which is "a failure to notice unexpected but perceptible stimuli in a visual scene while one's attention is focused on something else in the scene." The most famous example of this was a study done at Harvard University where "six people-three in white shirts and three in black shirts-pass basketballs around. While you watch, you must keep a silent count of the number of passes made by the people in white shirts. At some point, a gorilla strolls into the middle of the action, faces the camera and thumps its chest, and then leaves, spending nine seconds on screen. Would you see the gorilla?" In the study, half of observers did not see the gorilla. It was, effectively, an invisible gorilla.

How could "God's glory displayed in the fact of Christ" not register in an environment of darkness? Isn't God so obvious? These verses attribute this blindness to the "god of this age" (the devil) which prevents us from seeing that which is projected in front of us. But what if the "veil" by which our vision is just a masterful piece of misdirection, a series of subtle or not so subtle ploys to direct our focus--our attention--on something else busy but inconsequential so that when God does appear we are busy trying to get him out of the way so we can count balls being passed. 

Lord, obscure the unimportant and bring Jesus into sharper focus so we can operate on the basis of reality, not on the basis of what draws our easily attracted attention.

Psalm 50:1-6: The Clear View of the Fire's Aftermath

The Mighty One, God, the Lord, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to where it sets. From Zion, perfect in beauty, God shines forth. Our God comes and will not be silent; a fire devours before him, and around him a tempest rages. He summons the heavens above, and the earth, that he may judge his people: “Gather to me this consecrated people, who made a covenant with me by sacrifice.” And the heavens proclaim his righteousness, for he is a God of justice. - Psalm 50:1-6

Around castles and other defensive fortifications, the land would always be cleared up to the distance of a bow shot so that the defenders could have a clear view of anyone who approached.  As cities grew up around castles, the view was no longer clear filled with the livelihood of those people who worked and supported the castle and no one had a way to see when the true situation. 

In this psalm, as God comes to judge his people, he wants a clear view, not for himself, but for others to witness what he has seen all the time. He is not quiet. His fire devours all that has grown up and obscures peoples' clear view.  They claim to be the "consecrated people" and the "covenant" people who pledged themself to him. The fire will show the truth, not to God who has known it all along, but to us and those around us.

Sometimes God does that in our lives. Fire reduces the clutter and we can see the truth. Those around us can see the truth. Then we get a clear view of how we stand with God, we cannot lie anymore or, if we do lie, we do it knowing full well that it is a lie. For a moment, we see what God sees and decide if we will agree with him--that is the test of a soul's confession. Heaven sees that God sees and decides if we are agreeing with him."And the heavens proclaim his righteousness, for he is a God of justice."

2 Kings 2:1-12: Knowing How to Live By The Time I Die

When the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here; the Lord has sent me to Bethel.” But Elisha said, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.”

So they went down to Bethel. The company of the prophets at Bethel came out to Elisha and asked, “Do you know that the Lord is going to take your master from you today?” “Yes, I know,” Elisha replied, “so be quiet.” Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here, Elisha; the Lord has sent me to Jericho.” And he replied, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they went to Jericho.

The company of the prophets at Jericho went up to Elisha and asked him, “Do you know that the Lord is going to take your master from you today?” “Yes, I know,” he replied, “so be quiet.” Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here; the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.” And he replied, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them walked on.

Fifty men from the company of the prophets went and stood at a distance, facing the place where Elijah and Elisha had stopped at the Jordan. Elijah took his cloak, rolled it up and struck the water with it. The water divided to the right and to the left, and the two of them crossed over on dry ground. When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?”

“Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,” Elisha replied. “You have asked a difficult thing,” Elijah said, “yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours—otherwise, it will not.”

As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. Elisha saw this and cried out, “My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!” And Elisha saw him no more. Then he took hold of his garment and tore it in two. - 2 Kings 2:1-12

There is something special about being with someone in their final moments. Everyone could see that the moment was coming for Elijah. Elijah saw it and didn't want to talk about it. Elisha saw it and didn't want to talk about it. The company of prophets in Bethel and Jericho saw it. You can feel Elisha's raw emotion as he watched that moment when Elijah left him, tearing his garment in two in grief.

It is doubly true when the person who is leaving is someone you have grown to respect and whose example you hope you can live up to. You wonder if there's enough in you to even live like that at all. You hope so, but you're not sure. So you ask God, even if you never chanced to ask them, if he can make you the sort of person they were. Or, if you are bold like Elisha, you ask for a double portion of his spirit. I think that Elijah was hesitant, saying it was difficult, because he knew truly what kind of person he was and what God had to bring him though to become the person standing beside Elisha. Character is not instant, it is hard earned. Maybe I'll know how to live by the time I die, God willing. 

1 Corinthians 8:1-13: The Idolatry of the Thing Denied

Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that “We all possess knowledge.” But knowledge puffs up while love builds up. Those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know. But whoever loves God is known by God.

So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that “An idol is nothing at all in the world” and that “There is no God but one.” For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”), yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.

But not everyone possesses this knowledge. Some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat sacrificial food they think of it as having been sacrificed to a god, and since their conscience is weak, it is defiled. But food does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do.

Be careful, however, that the exercise of your rights does not become a stumbling block to the weak. For if someone with a weak conscience sees you, with all your knowledge, eating in an idol’s temple, won’t that person be emboldened to eat what is sacrificed to idols? So this weak brother or sister, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. When you sin against them in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother or sister to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause them to fall. - 1 Corinthians 8:1-13

We all have a history of sinning. There are triggers which lead us down patterns of behavior that we know are sinful yet seem unavoidable and distress us as reminders of our weakness. Those triggers are specific to our past. Only those closest to us may know us well enough to recognize the cause, only the effect.

Those who aren't close to us, may unintentionally stumble on something that triggers us and that can't be helped. And it isn't their fault. It is our relationship with God, after all. But if they know of something-something innocent in and of itself-something that they know is a problem and yet they still choose a that path, what is that? Is it not an abuse of the freedom we have? 

The hardest part of not choosing to exercise my rights is when "not choosing" happens over and over again. It is when my freedom is effectively denied by your repeated weakness. That is really frustrating. But if we focus on the one thing we are denied then we will forever be robbed of the joy of the ten thousand things are permitted. If our joy is tied to that thing, it has become an idol--a sad substitute for all of the generosity of God and a barrier between us and our neighbor. The one thing denied may be a way of God showing me more of himself and more of the beauty he has placed around me. 

 

 

Psalm 111: Sysadmin for 28 Decillion Organisms

Praise the Lord. I will extol the Lord with all my heart in the council of the upright and in the assembly.

Great are the works of the Lord; they are pondered by all who delight in them. Glorious and majestic are his deeds, and his righteousness endures forever. He has caused his wonders to be remembered; the Lord is gracious and compassionate. He provides food for those who fear him; he remembers his covenant forever.

He has shown his people the power of his works, giving them the lands of other nations. The works of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy. They are established for ever and ever, enacted in faithfulness and uprightness. He provided redemption for his people; he ordained his covenant forever—holy and awesome is his name.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise. - Psalm 111

It does not take me very long to be amazed by what God does. Really. As a computer programmer, I know how difficult it is to even to create even a relatively simple system running--and the universe is not a simple system. God does that effortlessly, like a sysadmin of an IT network who monitors and watches all things to keep them humming. "They are pondered by all who delight in them."

One of the ways that people try to understand God is to insist that his scope is narrow, as if he focuses on just a person, a people or a geographical scope. God does sharpen his vision sometimes, picking out a people from among the peoples. But that focus doesn't mean he has forgotten all of the rest or loses track of a nation, lets a clan drift away or let a family slip through the cracks. Focus is not a survival strategy for God--it is not of a way to conserve mental energy or to have enough headspace to track all of the ongoing checklist items.  No, his focus is a focus of favor not necessity--an intense regard for those he has chosen. That regard can be so intense that the people of Israel asked him to back off, as we saw in Deuteronomy.

God as sysadmin for 8 billion people and 28 decillion living organisms on earth (1 followed by 33 zeroes, 51.8% animal cited in the Science Journal, April 1992). "To him belong eternal praise."