Believing then seeing
Commentary
Believing and seeing are intricately wrapped up with one another. Whether it is the old axiom, "Seeing is believing," or the assertion that the most important things in life are hidden from the eye and can be seen only with the heart, the two of them seem to be Siamese twins, even if they appear to be in conflict with one another on occasion.
The conflict is one to which God does not always give an unvarying clue to help us sort out the crux of the issues involved. Often the Lord gives us the visual as the firm ground on which to base a conviction, or assertion, about who he is, what he is up to in our lives or in this situation or that, where we are to base our trust for the moment or for eternity. He actually shows up! He takes on a form that our senses can capture as evidence, at least to us, that we are not being deluded by our imaginations. But on other occasions there are no outward signs that he is anywhere nearby. It is then that our senses, sight excluded, kick in and we have to trust them if a link-up between God and us is to be completed. The dilemma can be lined out in either case ... "Is seeing believing?" or "Do you need to believe in order to see?" even with the "inner eye?"
That is the question involved in these lessons. In Genesis 18:1-10 the Lord approaches Abraham as he is seated at the door of his tent. And what he sees are three men, who to the physical eye are off-the-desert human beings that he invites to lunch. What he is later to learn is that the trio that dropped by his camp actually were two angels and God! And at the time neither Abraham nor Sarah recognized them, although both of them were "believers."
In Colossians 1:24-28 Paul relates how Christ, who came to him as a voice when Saul was still an unbeliever in Jesus as Messiah, was the "mystery" ... "hidden for ages and generations...," was unveiled, "made manifest," to his saints, i.e. those who believed.
Then in Luke's account of the event, 10:38-42, in the home they occupied with their brother Lazarus, Mary and Martha have Jesus approach them both in the same time frame. But each responds to the "appearance" in a different way. Mary sits at Jesus' feet, totally absorbed by his nearness, "listening to his teaching." Martha responds to Jesus' proximity by "doing for" him, and complaining that her sister was gold-bricking and should get off the floor and dig in to help with the work! Was one more aware of Who it was in the house than the other? Or was it a matter of two believers dealing with the appearance of the Divine in ways in which they were capable, given their different personalities and situations in life? Perhaps those differences in the ones to whom he draws near is the reason that God must use what one theologian calls his "masks," each one designed to catch the attention of that person, in that situation!
OUTLINE I
Promises! Promises!
Genesis 18:1-10
A. vv. 1-2. The visitors that walked up to Abraham as he was whiling away the day at the opening of his tent, probably at the hottest part of the day when everyone sought some place in the shade to beat the sun, apparently roused no sense in him that they were extra-human beings! That may come as a surprise to those of us who have been taught that angels have wings and God is an anglo-saxon elder with white flowing hair and beard, and sporting a halo around his head. But in the Old Testament God usually appears in ways that do not frighten the persons he approaches, though Moses has God hide him in a cleft of a rock while he "passes" by, obviously not showing halos or a complexion different from their own. And angels, Hebrew, malach, "messengers, envoys," are beings sent from God, seemingly having no discerning marks, such as wings, to set them apart from ordinary human beings. That is why they usually are not appreciated for what they are until they deliver their messages and identify themselves. Does this mean that we at times may have "entertained angels unaware" ... or even God?
B. vv. 2-8. Abraham gets busy to welcome the guests, and stays close by so that when they are ready to speak he is ready to listen.
C. vv. 9-10. The celestial visitors came to deliver a message and leave a blessing. Blessings, in Hebrew, baracah, almost always include something tangible. This time what was promised was something very material ... a baby! It is not an immediate "drop-off!" In the fullness of time it will be delivered. It is the kind of sequence that God usually employs when he makes contact with his hand-made creatures ... first the promise ... then the wait ... then the delivery. Even for those who "believe" the wait at times can be excruciating. But trusting the promise of the Giver, what is excruciating is the anticipation of its arrival, not the fear that it will never come at all.
OUTLINE II
Messengers, angelic and otherwise
Colossians 1:24-28
A. v. 24. The true messengers of God always are chosen by the Lord, not by committees, and certainly not by the messenger unilaterally! In the Bible the false prophets were those who did their speaking without God having given them either the message or the mission (cf. Jeremiah 14:13-16).
B. v. 25. The true messenger, angelic or human, proclaims what God wants disclosed, not what he/she "cooks up," or what those around them think is in tune with the times and in vogue with the latest polls on current trends and attitudes. That can be loaded with conflict, criticism, or ridicule. Or it can be the most thrilling and fulfilling cast a life can take. The question for every messenger is, "Who do you want to please and serve the most?"
C. vv. 26-28. The message faithfully delivered has enormous benefits for those who hear and hold fast to it ... being presented to the Sender of the message, Christ himself, "mature," Greek teleion, "perfect, fully grown." What a thrill to both the Giver of the gift as well as the recipient!
OUTLINE III
In one way or another!
Luke 10:38-42
A. v. 38. When the Divine visit is made, it is God who decides both the time and place. How much more effective it can be when the Lord finds a welcome on arrival.
B. vv. 39-40. The responses to God's presence varies with the person approached. Because the response of "that one" does match up with our script about what God-responses should look like, they can irritate us or make us skeptical that those "other ones" ever really had a visit in the first place ... or are worthy of one!
C. vv. 41-42. God is more tolerant of our interactions with him than most human onlookers tend to be. "One thing is needful" for them to bear fruit. And though Jesus does not tell us specifically what that one thing is, and which Mary has chosen, I suspect it is this ... to pay more attention to the approach of the Visitor than to the items on the agenda which pull us away from what is really important in what may well be a non-repeatable moment.
The conflict is one to which God does not always give an unvarying clue to help us sort out the crux of the issues involved. Often the Lord gives us the visual as the firm ground on which to base a conviction, or assertion, about who he is, what he is up to in our lives or in this situation or that, where we are to base our trust for the moment or for eternity. He actually shows up! He takes on a form that our senses can capture as evidence, at least to us, that we are not being deluded by our imaginations. But on other occasions there are no outward signs that he is anywhere nearby. It is then that our senses, sight excluded, kick in and we have to trust them if a link-up between God and us is to be completed. The dilemma can be lined out in either case ... "Is seeing believing?" or "Do you need to believe in order to see?" even with the "inner eye?"
That is the question involved in these lessons. In Genesis 18:1-10 the Lord approaches Abraham as he is seated at the door of his tent. And what he sees are three men, who to the physical eye are off-the-desert human beings that he invites to lunch. What he is later to learn is that the trio that dropped by his camp actually were two angels and God! And at the time neither Abraham nor Sarah recognized them, although both of them were "believers."
In Colossians 1:24-28 Paul relates how Christ, who came to him as a voice when Saul was still an unbeliever in Jesus as Messiah, was the "mystery" ... "hidden for ages and generations...," was unveiled, "made manifest," to his saints, i.e. those who believed.
Then in Luke's account of the event, 10:38-42, in the home they occupied with their brother Lazarus, Mary and Martha have Jesus approach them both in the same time frame. But each responds to the "appearance" in a different way. Mary sits at Jesus' feet, totally absorbed by his nearness, "listening to his teaching." Martha responds to Jesus' proximity by "doing for" him, and complaining that her sister was gold-bricking and should get off the floor and dig in to help with the work! Was one more aware of Who it was in the house than the other? Or was it a matter of two believers dealing with the appearance of the Divine in ways in which they were capable, given their different personalities and situations in life? Perhaps those differences in the ones to whom he draws near is the reason that God must use what one theologian calls his "masks," each one designed to catch the attention of that person, in that situation!
OUTLINE I
Promises! Promises!
Genesis 18:1-10
A. vv. 1-2. The visitors that walked up to Abraham as he was whiling away the day at the opening of his tent, probably at the hottest part of the day when everyone sought some place in the shade to beat the sun, apparently roused no sense in him that they were extra-human beings! That may come as a surprise to those of us who have been taught that angels have wings and God is an anglo-saxon elder with white flowing hair and beard, and sporting a halo around his head. But in the Old Testament God usually appears in ways that do not frighten the persons he approaches, though Moses has God hide him in a cleft of a rock while he "passes" by, obviously not showing halos or a complexion different from their own. And angels, Hebrew, malach, "messengers, envoys," are beings sent from God, seemingly having no discerning marks, such as wings, to set them apart from ordinary human beings. That is why they usually are not appreciated for what they are until they deliver their messages and identify themselves. Does this mean that we at times may have "entertained angels unaware" ... or even God?
B. vv. 2-8. Abraham gets busy to welcome the guests, and stays close by so that when they are ready to speak he is ready to listen.
C. vv. 9-10. The celestial visitors came to deliver a message and leave a blessing. Blessings, in Hebrew, baracah, almost always include something tangible. This time what was promised was something very material ... a baby! It is not an immediate "drop-off!" In the fullness of time it will be delivered. It is the kind of sequence that God usually employs when he makes contact with his hand-made creatures ... first the promise ... then the wait ... then the delivery. Even for those who "believe" the wait at times can be excruciating. But trusting the promise of the Giver, what is excruciating is the anticipation of its arrival, not the fear that it will never come at all.
OUTLINE II
Messengers, angelic and otherwise
Colossians 1:24-28
A. v. 24. The true messengers of God always are chosen by the Lord, not by committees, and certainly not by the messenger unilaterally! In the Bible the false prophets were those who did their speaking without God having given them either the message or the mission (cf. Jeremiah 14:13-16).
B. v. 25. The true messenger, angelic or human, proclaims what God wants disclosed, not what he/she "cooks up," or what those around them think is in tune with the times and in vogue with the latest polls on current trends and attitudes. That can be loaded with conflict, criticism, or ridicule. Or it can be the most thrilling and fulfilling cast a life can take. The question for every messenger is, "Who do you want to please and serve the most?"
C. vv. 26-28. The message faithfully delivered has enormous benefits for those who hear and hold fast to it ... being presented to the Sender of the message, Christ himself, "mature," Greek teleion, "perfect, fully grown." What a thrill to both the Giver of the gift as well as the recipient!
OUTLINE III
In one way or another!
Luke 10:38-42
A. v. 38. When the Divine visit is made, it is God who decides both the time and place. How much more effective it can be when the Lord finds a welcome on arrival.
B. vv. 39-40. The responses to God's presence varies with the person approached. Because the response of "that one" does match up with our script about what God-responses should look like, they can irritate us or make us skeptical that those "other ones" ever really had a visit in the first place ... or are worthy of one!
C. vv. 41-42. God is more tolerant of our interactions with him than most human onlookers tend to be. "One thing is needful" for them to bear fruit. And though Jesus does not tell us specifically what that one thing is, and which Mary has chosen, I suspect it is this ... to pay more attention to the approach of the Visitor than to the items on the agenda which pull us away from what is really important in what may well be a non-repeatable moment.
