Praise the Lord
for this last Wednesday of January. It will be very mild and rainy here in
the beautiful Southern Tier of New York. We will gather for our Mid-week
gathering this evening at 6 PM with a special meal followed by our study and
sharing, "40 Days of Love" by Rick Warren, followed by choir practice at
7:30 PM .
During my recent
trip to Australia I heard about the Gospel work in Papua, New Guinea , which is
not far from Australia. My son-in law, Jeremy, spent one summer in Papua New
Guinea on a short term Mission. In "More Jesus, Less Religion," author
Steve Arterburn writes: “Some time ago, I read about the work of a Wycliffe
Bible translator in a remote village in Papua New Guinea. When the opening
chapters of Genesis were first translated into the native language, the attitude
toward women in the tribe changed overnight. They had not realized or
understood that the woman had been specially formed out of the side of the man.
Without even hearing this concept developed, these people immediately grasped
the ideas of equality between the sexes and began adjusting their behavior. The
people heard. They believed. They obeyed. They changed. Just like that.
That change doesn’t mean everyone in the tribe immediately came to faith in
Christ, however. While they immediately recognized the respect God has for both
men and women, the members of this tribe had their own hard-to-abandon gods and
superstitions. One of their practices was to spit on the wounds of the sick.
Their medicine men were known as the spitters, and they did not want someone
like Jesus to take away their status in the village. However, the attitude
changed as more of the Bible was translated into the tribe’s dialect. When
translators read the passage where Jesus cured a blind man in a most unusual
way, the medicine men pricked up their ears. The Master spit on the ground,
made a paste of mud, put it on the man’s eyelids, told him to wash it off — and
the man was healed. When these tribesmen heard this story in their own
language, they saw that Jesus was not against them, but for them. They found
one of their own, a Savior who was also a spitter! And they came to the Lord
because of this connection.” These simple people heard the story and
responded."
It is written in John 9 that the Lord Jesus, who is the Light of the world, healed a blind man. When the disciples asked Jesus whether the man’s blindness was caused by his sin or the sin of his parent’s, Jesus replied: “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life” (John 9:3). We usually think of those words in relation to what Jesus is going to do by healing the blind man, but I think Jesus had something greater in mind. The work of God in this man’s life would point to something larger that God was (is) going to do in the world. In this man’s healing there is the promise of the final healing that God will bring to the whole earth. It is the mustard seed planted in the ground. It is the yeast hidden in the dough. It is the treasure hidden in a field. It is what the whole world is moving toward. It is the secret of what God will bring about on the Last Day when he transforms the world and we who are in it.
It is written in John 9 that the Lord Jesus, who is the Light of the world, healed a blind man. When the disciples asked Jesus whether the man’s blindness was caused by his sin or the sin of his parent’s, Jesus replied: “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life” (John 9:3). We usually think of those words in relation to what Jesus is going to do by healing the blind man, but I think Jesus had something greater in mind. The work of God in this man’s life would point to something larger that God was (is) going to do in the world. In this man’s healing there is the promise of the final healing that God will bring to the whole earth. It is the mustard seed planted in the ground. It is the yeast hidden in the dough. It is the treasure hidden in a field. It is what the whole world is moving toward. It is the secret of what God will bring about on the Last Day when he transforms the world and we who are in it.
Within the
fallenness and suffering of the world there is the promise that something new is
about to happen. The healing of the blind man, the raising of Lazarus, and the
forgiveness of the repentant adulterer are all signs of this promise. Above
all, the resurrection of Jesus is the sign that the end of the story has not yet
been told. There is more to come. In the restoration of all things, blindness,
rejection, death and sin will be no more. We will hear a loud voice from the
throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them.
They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He
will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning
or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” And he who is
seated on the throne will say, “I am making everything new!’” (Revelation
21:3-5).
What happens when blindness meets the Light of the World, when sinners meet the Savior, when hunger meets the Bread of life, when thirst meets the Living Water, when lost sheep meet the Good Shepherd, when the rejected meet incarnate Love, and when the dead meet Christ, who is the Resurrection and the Life? The blind receive their sight, the sinful receive forgiveness, the hungry are filled and satisfied, the lame walk, the sick are cured, people are made whole, the disconsolate find hope, prisoners are set free, those who once mourned are filled with joy, the dead are raised and eternal life is inherited. This is the promise of the risen, eternal Christ. Jesus said, “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world’” (Matthew 25:34).
In this present world things do not always work out the way they are supposed to, or the way we want them to. There is hunger, thirst and sickness. The question is whether we will trust God until then, as we go through difficulties and disappointments? Will we live in hope? Will we only see the present circumstances and allow ourselves to sink into bitterness and despair? As surely as sunrise conquers the dark, and Spring triumphs over winter, God’s new day will heal all the wrongs of the world. Weakness will be turned to strength. Rejection will be forgotten in God’s embrace. Joy comes in the morning. Love will conquer hate, good will triumph over evil and Jesus will reign. Jesus said, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).
In Christ,
What happens when blindness meets the Light of the World, when sinners meet the Savior, when hunger meets the Bread of life, when thirst meets the Living Water, when lost sheep meet the Good Shepherd, when the rejected meet incarnate Love, and when the dead meet Christ, who is the Resurrection and the Life? The blind receive their sight, the sinful receive forgiveness, the hungry are filled and satisfied, the lame walk, the sick are cured, people are made whole, the disconsolate find hope, prisoners are set free, those who once mourned are filled with joy, the dead are raised and eternal life is inherited. This is the promise of the risen, eternal Christ. Jesus said, “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world’” (Matthew 25:34).
In this present world things do not always work out the way they are supposed to, or the way we want them to. There is hunger, thirst and sickness. The question is whether we will trust God until then, as we go through difficulties and disappointments? Will we live in hope? Will we only see the present circumstances and allow ourselves to sink into bitterness and despair? As surely as sunrise conquers the dark, and Spring triumphs over winter, God’s new day will heal all the wrongs of the world. Weakness will be turned to strength. Rejection will be forgotten in God’s embrace. Joy comes in the morning. Love will conquer hate, good will triumph over evil and Jesus will reign. Jesus said, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).
In Christ,
“And as He spoke, He no longer looked
to them like a lion; but the things that began to happen after that were so
great and beautiful that I cannot write them. And for us this the end of all the
stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But
for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this
world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title
page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no
one on earth has read: which goes on for ever: in which every chapter is better
than the one before.” ― C.S.
Lewis, The Last Battle
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