Some Standing Here ...

What happens when your expectations are far disconnected from your reality?  For most of us, including me, my mind answers this question running towards the negative.  Life in this world has taught me, through repetition mostly, that when expectations and reality do not match up – disappointment is the next likely destination.  When I was quite young, I was fascinated by the Corvette car.  The 1975/1976 model in cherry red was a body molding type and color I just could never seem to get out of my head.  I asked my mom to buy me one.  And she did.  It was of course about 4 inches long with only a few features; opening doors, a removable hard top, and turning wheels.  I don’t quite know how I would have expected a fully working model of this car.  It cost a fortune even then.  And I had no ability to drive it at all.  So I swore, when I grew up, I would buy a real one and cherish it forever.  Nope.  A married man with several kids has little use for a Corvette (even if you have the money).  And a guy who is well over 6 feet tall can scarcely fit in one anyway without laying down and feeling miserable.  So much for my corvette dream.

But I had other expectations that developed over time.  I always imagined what it must be like to swim in the pristine ocean waters off Waikiki beach in Hawaii.  At least on this score, I never expected I would ever experience it.  In fact, my wife and I (back then my girlfriend and subsequent fiancée, then wife) used to joke about how we would “never” get there.  Neither of us had the money.  Our parents were not in a position to send us.  So that pipe dream was going to remain a pipe dream until, well until, Jesus came back and remade the whole thing in heaven.  But surprise, surprise, for our wedding gift, my father gifted us a 2-week vacation in Hawaii at two different islands, ending on, you guessed it, Waikiki beach.  We were beyond excited, and grateful.  We made it there, and all my imaginations were suddenly thrown sideways with the reality of how those Hawaiian Islands came to be.  You see volcanos made the islands.  When lava rock flows downhill, it eventually dries out, and forms what look like tiny little black volcano shapes in the ground.  Each tiny volcano is jagged, and sharp enough to cut your feet without some kind of water shoes we did not know we needed.  The sand in the water moves around, and when it does, it reveals the sharp jagged lava rock underbelly, and that makes walking on it, even in water, miserable for the naked feet.  After this trip, good old Daytona / New Smyrna beach, looked miles better to me than Hawaii ever would again.

My expectations were disconnected with the facts, with reality.  Mostly to a disappointing result.  But that has more to do with what I imagine or expect than with what reality truly is.  Knowing the facts about how things might be, would better prepare you for what to expect.  And it would allow you to better align your expectations with what truth is.  When that happens, much less disappointment, much more enjoyment is possible.  This is particularly true for me about one verse in scripture.  Luke recalls it in his gospel letter in chapter nine in verse 27 saying … “But I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God.”  Imagine the level of disconnect here.  Most of us read this and instantly associate the “Kingdom of God” with heaven itself.  We assume that this saying from Jesus Himself meant that at least a few of the disciples would remain alive until the second coming occurred.  That would have meant Jesus would returned in around 50-60-70 AD at most.  He didn’t.  So the truth of what Jesus meant by this is wildly different than our inherent expectations naturally fall victim to.

But knowing Jesus is the defacto Truth made incarnate.  We know Jesus was not lying to us, or them.  So then the truth is different than what we suppose it to be.  There are a few possibilities.  Perhaps the kingdom of God is not what we suppose that to be, meaning, not synonymous with heaven itself.  Or perhaps the kingdom of God is not just heaven, but more than that.  Fortunately, we don’t have to search the gospels or scripture to find the answer.  The very next few texts should serve as an answer for our disconnect.  It begins right after in verse 28 saying … “And it came to pass about an eight days after these sayings, he took Peter and John and James, and went up into a mountain to pray. [verse 29] And as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was white and glistering.”  The personage of Jesus was altered on that mountaintop, from the humble servant we know Him to be, to the majesty of the God He truly is.  His clothing disappeared in a robe of white light, glistening as if sprinkled with starlight from many suns.  His face glowed.  This was not a full revelation of who He was, as the full revelation of that love would have consumed this sinful world on the spot.  But even the partial revelation of Jesus as He truly is was more than any human living here had ever imagined or expected.

Could that have been it?  Could just seeing Jesus as He truly is define seeing the Kingdom of God?  If so, then verses 28 and 29 answer the promise of verse 27 already.  But the story does not end there.  Luke continues this revelation in verse 30 saying … “And, behold, there talked with him two men, which were Moses and Elias: [verse 31] Who appeared in glory, and spake of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem.”  Jesus needed encouragement.  Jesus was on a march towards death that was to be very miserable to say the least.  Even Jesus needed the encouragement He found there.  He was to get it from two examples of mankind now truly living in heaven.  Moses would represent all of mankind who died and was resurrected by the power of life that Jesus was.  Elijah would represent all of mankind that was translated to heaven without ever having tasted death.  Both of them were in heaven, and able to come to earth and talk with Jesus because of the sacrifice Jesus was about to endure.  Without Jesus paying our penalty neither of them could be where they were.  Without Jesus, none of us could be saved.  And so both Moses and Elijah spoke with Jesus about what He was about to endure for us.  Why it was so important.  Why we needed Him so much.

This offers us another possibility.  Was the sight of Moses and Elijah and what they represented about mankind, and what they spoke of to encourage Jesus, also a definition of what the Kingdom of God was?  Imagine it.  If so, this would mean the Kingdom of God is not just a place, but an expression of love and encouragement for those who need it.  Even when it is our God who needs it.  Peter, James, and John were there to witness these events.  But again memories are fogged by human frailty.  Luke continues in verse 32 saying … “But Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep: and when they were awake, they saw his glory, and the two men that stood with him. [verse 33] And it came to pass, as they departed from him, Peter said unto Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias: not knowing what he said.”  Peter believes they should erect three churches, or three tabernacles, one for Jesus, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.  This was Peter saying something, when he was not sure even what he was saying.  In truth what Peter suggested was that Moses and Elijah were in some way equal to Jesus and just as deserving as Jesus.

The first church of Israel would have supported Peter’s idea.  The first church had strayed away from how salvation was to come, and had instead venerated the saints of the past, such as Moses, and Elijah.  Those men were but servants of God, not gods in any way.  But they were worshipped by the first church and reverenced by the first church to unhealthy levels.  It is hardly different in our day.  We reverence the great pastors of our day, and days gone by.  We reverence the “founding fathers” of our various denominations, instead of seeing these men and women for what they were – servants of God.  None of them perfect.  None of them right about everything.  Imperfect tools, that were willing to be used by a perfect God.  That is the state of mankind, imperfect, but God still sees the potential in each of us.  And if we let Him, He could use each of us in a manner just as important as Moses, or Elijah, or Luther, or Ellen White.  Perhaps the scope of our audience we serve may be smaller.  But it is no less important to God.  Each soul of infinite value to Him.  And could this not be a further definition or expansion of our definition of what the Kingdom of God means?  Could it be that the Kingdom of God is made up of servants of God, who work in concert to point others to Jesus.  We stop looking at the people who serve.  And only look at the Jesus they point us to.

But God the Father was not content to let Peter or the others believe Jesus was merely equal.  He was not.  He was more.  So Luke continues in verse 34 saying … “While he thus spake, there came a cloud, and overshadowed them: and they feared as they entered into the cloud. [verse 35] And there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him. [verse 36] And when the voice was past, Jesus was found alone. And they kept it close, and told no man in those days any of those things which they had seen.”  God the Father recognized Jesus as His only Son.  Jesus was more.  Jesus was special.  God did not descend to these disciples in a cloud upon this mountain to simply outline the accomplishments of Moses and Elijah and tell the disciples to go back and read the word of God to figure out what the Law said and how to obey it.  He could have.  He didn’t.  Jesus was all of that rolled up into one living being, the Son of the Living God.  Jesus was the word of God.  Jesus was love.  Jesus was the Law.  He is our creator.  There are no inconsistencies in the life of Jesus Christ, because Jesus is our salvation.  The only means of it, we will ever have.  Without the sacrifice of Jesus there is no salvation for Moses, Elijah or you and I.

This effectively kills the ideas of many pathways to God.  There is only one.  His name is Jesus Christ.  For He is both God and our Savior.  But again could this expand our definition for what the Kingdom of God is, to hear the literal voice of God Himself proclaiming Jesus His Son, as “who” we should listen to?  All of this was witnessed by Peter, James, and John right after the words of Jesus that some would not taste of death until they saw the Kingdom of God.  So imagine what the Kingdom of God may well be.  More than just a place like heaven.  It may be seeing Jesus for who He truly is.  It may be seeing love and encouragement in action by mankind towards God, even when God needs it.  It may be seeing the effects of salvation on both kinds of men, those raised, and those who were and are to be translated.  It may be hearing the literal voice of God.  It may be directing all our attention to Jesus Christ alone for our salvation for He indeed is the ONLY path to God.  All of these ideas and perhaps considerably more might comprise aspects of the Kingdom of God that are far more than a place we call heaven.  It might also explain for us what Jesus means when He continues to say the Kingdom of God is come, its here, its was in front of them.  That does not imply a future state, it implies a state in the here and now.

So, was this a huge disappointment to the disciples who witnessed it?  I very much doubt it.  It was rather a huge encouragement to their faith, and to ours.  Just because we are not in heaven, does not mean we cannot learn to experience the Kingdom of God in this world, right now, in the here and now.  Living in the now as God would have us live is life altering.  Loving like we will in heaven and for all eternity is both liberating and exhilarating.  We who are alive now, need not regret misaligned expectations, we need to align our truth with His Truth and see what is possible today.  Salvation is not just about future state.  It is about the freedom that can be experienced in this time and place.  It is about becoming more than who you are today, unbound by your past, and disconnected to the wickedness that plagues your motives and desires.  Jesus can free you from all of that.  Jesus can replace all of what was, with what He intends you to be, to the benefit of your life now, that nothing else can touch or diminish.  That is the power of the Kingdom of God.  That is what becoming like a toddler can see you enter into today.  This is the whole good news message of the Gospel.  It can effect change in you, that you could not achieve.  Relax.  Find the humility to come to our Father God, through Jesus, and watch what submission can bring to your life.  You will bear His fruit in doing so.  You won’t be able to help it.  His love is infectious.

 

Hindsight is 20:20 - More like 20:4000 ...

It was explained to me some time ago by an optician that my eyesight was legally blind (without correction).  I had 20:4000 vision back then.  For me it was like looking through a microscope to try to see things far away.  I could see things you probably couldn’t very close up.  But stuff at a distance, like the big letter “E” on the eye chart was a pure blur to me.  This means what you can see at 4000 feet away, I have to be 20 feet away to see as well.  So I have worn contacts or glasses pretty much as far back as I can remember.  Each year my vision would get just a little bit worse.  But fortunately, technology would get a little bit better, and there seems to have always been a pair of lens that would correct my vision back to normal.  But where it comes to hindsight (that is, looking back at the past and learning from it), most of us think we see that very clearly and could have avoided past mistakes.  But we didn’t.  And what’s worse, we seem to repeat those very same mistakes over and over.  If I were the metaphorical optician, I would have to surmise we may all have collective 20:4000 vision where it comes to hindsight too.

Applying this cautionary advice to how you live in the real world seems easy enough.  We just begin to think maybe we don’t know everything, and that perhaps history lessons are not quite enough to keep us from repeating them.  Ok, so I am not as smart as I thought I was.  But applying this idea within the church has an entirely more upsetting result for most.  We all have the Bible, the entire Bible, from which we can read about what happened a long time ago.  We know how the stories end (or at least we think we do).  So when we read about what Jesus says about Himself, and how He had come to die to save us from our sins and ourselves.  We get it, right?  The disciples may not have understood.  But that is because they had different expectations for what God was supposed to do.  Different entirely from what God actually did.  A disconnect of epic proportions.  And so we determine that “we” get it; while “they” never did until after the fact.  Well the second part of that may be true.  But the first part of that deserves a little more scrutiny.

To assume “we” get it, just because we are looking back at events that already occurred, misses the fundamental premise our disciple forefathers fell victim to.  We think we “know” what God is supposed to do just as much as they did.  We may have different ideas about it than they might have.  But we are just as sure today as they were back in the past.  So whose hindsight do we take as right?  If you think this is silly, how would you feel about it, if it challenged one of the key beliefs you hold about God.  Take as an example the popular idea of a rapture of the saints near the time of Jesus returning.  Many hold that interpretations of scripture and prophecy describe a bit of this, one taken, the other left, kind of thing.  But the Bible never spells out the use of the word “rapture”, that is just a modern nomenclature for this idea.  Nor does the Bible spell out in detail the idea of this event.  So while half the Christian world is walking around believing this kind of event will “definitely” precede the second coming of Jesus; what if it doesn’t? 

What if, instead of a coming rapture, all you got was a second coming of Jesus.  Sounds better right?  But that is not what God is supposed to do (for those who believe in this idea).  Would you be mad at God because He decides not to hold one?  You might.  Think about it.  The rapture offers those who were not quite right with Jesus, a second chance to become right with Jesus, before everything is decided once and for all.  I guess technically it is a third chance for mankind, once at Eden, once at Calvary, and now once at the rapture.  But if the rapture never occurs, then there is no third chance at all.  If you were not right with Jesus, and He just shows up in the clouds to take home those that are right with Him – that leaves you going to the bad place.  No additional chances.  We cling to ideas like the rapture because they provide yet another chance to get right with God before it is too late.  But what if now is too late?  What if God does NOT do, what we fully expect God to do?  The disciples were in this boat the first time.  Are we in it now with them?

It is a real phenomenon to examine.  The gospel letter of Luke to his friend Theophilus outlines it back in chapter nine, picking up in verse 18 saying … “And it came to pass, as he was alone praying, his disciples were with him: and he asked them, saying, Whom say the people that I am? [verse 19] They answering said, John the Baptist; but some say, Elias; and others say, that one of the old prophets is risen again.”  This question was about how the people of the day identified Jesus (who we know was the Son of God).  We have the benefit of hindsight.  They didn’t.  The list includes John the Baptist, Elijah, or another great prophet back from the dead.  It is the same list of possibilities that caught the ear of king Herod (the son) and caused him to want to see Jesus for himself to figure out if any of it was true.  Especially the idea that it could be John the Baptist who Herod beheaded now back from the dead.  But Jesus was Jesus, not John as we know, and as I imagine the disciples already knew as well.  After all some of them belonged to John, before they were sent to belong to Jesus.  So that idea was out, at least in the minds of the disciples.

Luke continues in verse 20 saying … “He said unto them, But whom say ye that I am? Peter answering said, The Christ of God. [verse 21] And he straitly charged them, and commanded them to tell no man that thing; [verse 22] Saying, The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be slain, and be raised the third day.”  And there you go; God does something none of us expect God to do.  But He does it despite our expectations.  First Jesus expressly asks His own disciples to NOT tell people that He was indeed the Son of the living God.  Think about that for a minute folks.  The whole idea of the gospel centers around that very idea.  To NOT say it, seems to run against everything we know or would expect God to do.  If getting the word out is the primary goal, then talking about who Jesus is, would seem to be job number one.  It wasn’t.  Spreading the word may not actually be job one.  There may be a question of timing as well.  “When” someone is able or ready to hear what God knows may be as important as what God knows and longs to share with us.  But that idea runs counter to nearly every Christian church’s ideas about spreading the word today.  We don’t care about when, and ready, we only care about sharing and spewing our ideas about what scripture says.  But Jesus cared about when.  Here is a perfect example of God saying or doing something we think our hindsight gives us better wisdom about.  It doesn’t.

Then to continue, Jesus tells His disciples that instead of being the king David type Messiah everyone is waiting for to throw off Roman oppression – He is going to die instead.  And by the way, He is going to be rejected by the entire church leadership before He is put to death by them.  Nobody believed Messiah was going to die.  God was not supposed to do that.  Everybody knew it.  In fact, if you died, you were considered to be a false Messiah.  Church leadership was longing for the king David type Messiah just like the people were.  They would not have rejected that type of Messiah.  Because that type of Messiah was what they believed God should do.  But God did not do what they expected, so they rejected Him for it.  Then they set about figuring out how to kill God for not doing what they expected Him to do.  De-ja-vu?  Should there be no rapture, those caught on the wrong side of being right with Jesus, will set about trying to make war with heaven before fire is finally rained down to consume all of evil, then death itself.  These folks will be angry with God that God did not do what they expected Him to do.  They believed they had a third chance, when the chance we are given today, may be the only one we ever get.  And frankly the rapture may have nothing even to do with that little fact of life.  Run away buses, cancer, and falling of cliffs can cut short what you thought was an endless stream of chances each day, long before the second coming ever occurs.  What we choose matters, when we choose it matters.  And we should not rely upon any belief that offers us a false hope of getting another chance in the “future”.  For anyone alive now, the future is now.

Yet still, God did what no one expected God to do, with or without the benefit of hindsight.  Then it went really sideways.  Luke continues in verse 23 as Jesus continues saying … “And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.”  OK all you fabulous hindsighter’s, please explain to me what “taking up your cross daily” means, and how you accomplish it each day?  The idea of taking up your cross is disconnected from self-denial.  Self-denial precedes that idea.  So if you have already denied yourself, what does taking up your cross have to do with anything.  Doubt it is a reference to costume jewelry most Christians are fond of wearing.  Doubt it is advocation to carry literal crosses as they would make mobility nearly impossible, if not direct our minds fully into the morbid, not the “good news” of the Gospel.  This must have sounded like Jesus started speaking in a foreign language at this point for the poor disciples.  This message was so far off track for what they had been taught their entire lives by the one true religion – now in direct contrast with the Truth incarnate.

Jesus continues in verse 24 saying … “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. [verse 25] For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?”  This sounds on the surface as advocation for Christians to defy death, or the danger of death, without fear – but only for the sake of Jesus Christ.  Indeed it is.  Jesus follows up by asking what is your life worth, if all you measure your existence by is the life you lead on earth, are you not losing the eternal life which is of infinitely more value?  Why would you delay coming to Jesus?  Why would you believe that whatever you are doing now, is for any reason better, or more fun?  Its not.  Everything this world has to offer, including your present life, is not worth as much as the life God has in store for you without end.  So live without fear.  Don’t let fear hold you back against things that Jesus would have you do.  Love without fear.  Love without limit.  Love without pre-conditions.  Just like God does.  Living that way is dangerous.  The world does not like it when you choose to love others, and never love yourself.  The world hates that kind of thing.  But Jesus asks, what does the world know about it?

Jesus concludes this lesson in verse 26 saying … “For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels.”  Hindsight begins to crumble.  Take a second look at this idea.  When we are ashamed of Jesus and to be associated with Jesus; we make our Savior ashamed.  Just like Peter would do.  Just like Judas would do.  Just like you and I have done at one point or another in our lives.  Does that mean we are no longer saved?  Does Peter’s failure define him?  He is remembered for it, among other things.  But he was directly forgiven by Jesus for it as well.  Do you think that ended the shame of Peter when he remembered his own failure?  I doubt it.  Will your memory of your failures make you ashamed, especially in front of our God.  You bet it will.  It makes me ashamed of what I have done, despite my supposed 20:20 hindsight.  It makes me even more miserable when I consider I have failed far more than once at the same failure.  Requiring forgiveness, requiring His blood for me again and again.  But does that end my ability to be saved?  If salvation was based on what I deserve, I would be lucky to see heaven even at a distance.  Salvation is based on His grace which has nothing to do with what I deserve.  This text however, is a cautionary advice for us.

The more we disconnect from Jesus, or show we have other priorities than the love of Jesus for others, the more we will have shame for ourselves when His love is finally fully revealed in saving us.  The more we will regret not doing more, not saying more, not loving more – when love was all that was needed.  We, the church, are so sure we “know” what God will do.  We “know” how God will save us.  We “know” how to spread the word.  We “know” how it all ends.  And we are pretty sure we still have time to worry about all this stuff later.  It is based on our certainty of what God will do.  But the disciples and the entire first church was wrong about all of that.  So are we.  It is our certainty about what God will do, and how we should talk about it, that impedes real faith.  The only thing I have come to know about my own hindsight, is that it is just as stunted as my actual vision.  It turns out, I will need to have my blinded eyes opened by Jesus to understand His words, just as much as to read the big letter “E” on the eye charts.  I wonder, has that been your experience as well? …