Signals

So Jesus said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. – John 5:19

In response to a comment Rick made a couple of days ago, I said I have found that, though I theoretically believe the miraculous is possible, I don’t necessarily give it much thought on a practical basis.  Perhaps what I should have said is that I don’t depend on miracles most of the time.  Other people seem to have a different approach. 

Though I think the miraculous is really all around us, we cannot necessarily get a demonstration on demand.  Herod thought, as a ruler, he could command Jesus to perform some sign:  When Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad, for he had long desired to see him, because he had heard about him, and he was hoping to see some sign done by him (Luke 23:8).  I recall this scene depicted perhaps in Jesus Christ, Superstar with Herod saying something like, “Jesus prove that you’re no fool.   Walk across my swimming pool.”  Herod was disappointed. 

A lot of us are disappointed when our loved ones aren’t healed, when evil seems to triumph, when our lives fall apart in various ways despite our fervent prayers and our professions of trust and confidence in God.  Any time there is a tragedy of any sort it seems someone demands to know where God was. 

Football season is over, and I’m glad.  We can now move on to real sports like ice-dancing.  In football, the most important man on the field is usually the quarterback, the signal caller, the field general.  While a team can have the best, most accurate passer who ever lived, if there is no one to catch the pass, or if the receivers are inept, in the wrong place, playing as if they were wearing oven mitts, all the quarterback’s efforts are for naught.  You have to have a receiver who knows what the quarterback is going to do, who goes where he is supposed to go, runs his route, gets open and catches the ball. 

That’s where God is.  He’s calling the signals.  Sometimes He calls an audible on the line of scrimmage on fourth down.  He needs somebody out here to get open, somebody to run the route and make the catch.  There is the Giver, and there is the receiver. 

Jesus said, I only do what I see My Father doing.  I do not run around down here with no purpose or direction.  I’m not out of place or running up and down the sidelines waving and yelling.  I don’t need to do that.  I have been in the huddle.  I have heard the call.  I know what I’m supposed to do, and I do it.  Miracles happen.  There is a supernatural reception. 

So, I would say, first, I’m not going to ask for a miracle based on selfish motives.  This is not about me.  God will give me what He wants me to have.  But, if I see someone who is bound up and needs to be set free, I need to get in touch with my Father.  I need to get the play.  I know already the general idea that God is Good, and He will do good for all who are oppressed by the devil (Acts 10:38).  But I need to find out how He wants to do it, what route He wants me to run. 

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.” (Luke 4:18-19)

The purpose of the miraculous is liberation – liberation from spiritual, psychological, and physical bondage, spiritual poverty and blindness.  God blesses us in many ways, but only the supernatural can set us free.

 

Finally, I may not be the intended receiver.  I may just be called on to run my pattern to set someone else up, to open up the defense. 

I’ve told this story before, but it seems applicable.  A long time ago, I used to work with convicts in a prison, and I got along with most all of them pretty well.  It was a great opportunity to witness to people both by words and actions.  I was talking to one man who wanted to study theology and the Bible, not that uncommon a thing in prison.  A lot of people become penitent in the penitentiary.  He asked me if I knew any way to get him a couple of resources, a Bible dictionary and another book or two.  I told him I knew some people who would probably help and that I would contact them.  The next day, before I could call anyone, I was in the shower.  I don’t want to say “God spoke to me”.  What happened was that I suddenly knew something that I did not know before.  I knew that someone else was going to provide my prisoner friend with all the resources he needed.  The next time I saw him, that’s what I told him. 

As you might imagine, he thought I was just trying to get out of helping him.  I understood that, but I insisted that we had to let God do it His way.  A couple of days later, the prisoner came up to me, grinning and said, “You won’t believe what just happened.”  Someone had visited the prison chapel and brought in, not only the books the man had requested, but books he would never have thought of asking for.  That person was the intended receiver.  My job was to help set things up.

If you need a miracle, or more precisely, if someone you know needs to be released from oppression and bondage, see what your Father is doing. 

Hidden from Plain Sight

Therefore, don’t be afraid of them, since there is nothing covered that won’t be uncovered, and nothing hidden that won’t be made known – Matthew 10:26

The context here is that of Jesus warning His disciples that things may not always go smoothly for them. If people call your teacher a devil, what do you expect they’ll say about you? There is, however, no reason to be afraid of them since you do not have to answer to them. They may kill us, but they cannot damn us. They cannot by their hatred, their sin or malice separate us from Him. God will see to it that things come out the way they should. There’s no need, He says, to be defensive.

I was watching a few minutes of the Giants-Eagles game yesterday around the end of the third quarter when Philadelphia started to wrap it up. It is rarely a good idea to play defensively, even if you’re on the defense.

Defensiveness comes naturally to us psychologically. When someone attacks us, or when things go wrong, we want to speak up, defend ourselves and justify our actions. I’ll admit there are times when self-justification seems acceptable. Where a reasonable person opposes you and simply does not have all the facts, you may be able to enlighten them and clear things up. Even then you are ahead if you can avoid sounding like you’re defending yourself. I suppose I really want to be understood so I try to explain why I am following a particular course of action. Still, I see that I could have saved myself a lot of time and trouble -- not to mention some legal entanglements -- by being content to allow other people to think of me what they chose to think (a key point).

If I could be satisfied with simply doing right I would be much more at peace, and that is the point of the instructions Jesus gave us here. Too often I want to do right and get credit for it as well. I want people to recognize how I have solved the problem or how much I have sacrificed to do the right thing. I certainly don’t want to be castigated because those around me are too shallow, too blinded by self-interest, or just too stupid to understand that I did what needed to be done.

The Lord knows this feeling all too well. I don’t know about anyone else, but I sometimes get to thinking that I could do a better job of running things if it were left in my hands. God needs a better PR agency. He needs to advertise His achievements, game the system a little to get some awards and some public recognition. I know there’s a lot going “behind the scenes”. What’s wrong with bring it out front and getting a little exposure? The problem is God seems to get only bad press. Did you ever hear of a hurricane blowing itself out in the mid-Atlantic being called an “act of God”? Are earthquakes that never occur “acts of God”? The Lord needs to get some of those Hollywood agents on His payroll and do a little self-promotion, right?

OK, maybe not. Maybe I should be more like Him – less concerned for credit than for purity, truth, and righteousness. Perhaps I should be willing to trust the One who “sees in secret” to expose things when they need to be revealed. We don’t expect a painter or a sculptor to unveil a half-finished project (sometimes it’s hard to tell). I have to recognize that I have not reached the point in the story where the “reveal” makes sense. The chapter isn’t finished. The book isn’t finished.

Consider this: a funny short guy found a magic ring which he gave to his nephew who threw it into a volcano and saved the world. Is that The Lord of the Rings? Does it seem like something is missing?

I think today I’ll worry less about what those with limited vision think about me and see if I can’t do what pleases the Lord. I’ll trust Him to justify me instead of trying to justify myself. I’ll leave the hidden things alone to be revealed in their time. I might even try to do more that’s just between me and my Father.