Easter and new life ...........................Parables 107

This is Easter, an occasion to celebrate spring with new clothes and stories about rabbits that lay colored eggs, baskets full of the same, plus chocolate bunnies and jelly beans. The reality of the message of Easter is gradually being lost to the candy industry. Unbelievable! If I did not know that someone rose from the dead nearly 2000 years ago, I would not find any clues in today's baskets full of cellophane grass and oval‑shaped sweets.

Maybe no one believes that story anymore. After all, we are a sophisticated society. People do not walk out of tombs after being dead three days. (Is it easier to believe in a rabbit that lays eggs?) The resurrection is not like spring ‑ which happens year after year. The backyard grass and delphiniums look dead, but no matter how cold the winter or how deep the snow, up they come. We are used to that kind of new life, even though it is a bit of a miracle how those things survive.

Anyone who has seen a body finds it obvious that the person who used to live there is gone. It is not like a tulip bulb that is warmed by the sun and nourished by the rain. Bodies don't sprout and put down roots and send up shoots. Human life is much more fragile.

But there was one... fully human, yes, but not like us. We die because of sin. He didn't sin. But He died just the same. He was put on a cross for claiming to be the Son of God. His crucifiers called Him a blasphemer, scarcely considering that He may have been telling the truth.

Jesus knew their ignorance. He said, "Father, forgive them; they don't know what they are doing." More evidence that He was not like us!

Not only were they ignorant of what they were doing, the Jewish Sanhedrin and the Roman soldiers didn't really kill Him. He gave up His own life. That is, when He died, He yielded up His Spirit to His Father. No one took it from Him. A unique death? Yes, very much so.

Jesus Christ did not stay in the grave. How do I know that? First there is the external, objective evidence of an empty tomb. No bones, no body. Then there is the recorded statements of eyewitnesses in the Word of God (over 500 saw Him alive). Many of those eyewitnesses were martyred because they refused to deny what they saw. Add to that the changed lives of thousands who believed in Him since then. That is powerful evidence. I believe it.

Secondly, there is the internal, subjective evidence. (Since experience is a personal verification and very subject to personal desires, it is not always reliable. However, because my "experience" is backed up by the objective evidence already stated, it is worth mentioning.) Before Jesus died, He said that He was going to die, rise again, and then ascend to heaven. When that was accomplished, He would send the Holy Spirit whose task would be to "convince the world of sin (because they believe not in me), of righteousness, and of judgment" (John 16).

That happened to me ‑ just as it has happened to countless other people. I became convinced that because I did not believe in Jesus Christ, and because I was going my own way and not God's way, I was a sinner, without the righteousness of Christ, and headed towards judgment.

It isn't that I wanted to think this way. Who would? My tendency is to think much more highly of myself. Rather, the Spirit of God made it abundantly clear by confronting me with the reality of the Man who rose from the dead. What was I going to do about Him?

Easter is a celebration of new life. Eggs, tulips, and bright colors may say something, but they do not say it all. The empty cross, the empty tomb are the real celebration. They joyfully declare that the grave could not hold Jesus. There is hope for the rest of us. We do not have to face the winter of our life as its end. There is a resurrection on the other side and, for those who place their faith in the Man of Easter, it will be a resurrection to an eternal spring.

Aging? ........................... Parables 106

While celebrating our oldest son's 25th birthday, we wound up in the school playground in Red Deer where his wife played during grade one. We slid down the slides, bounced each other up and down on the teeter‑totter, gave one another under‑ducks on the swings and did gymnastics on the playground equipment. At one point I decided to see if I could still do chin‑ups and discovered to my dismay that my arms are no longer strong enough to pull myself up to the bar.

Later on, my husband (the only one in the group that comes close to sharing such symptoms of growing old) and I discussed how we felt about such discoveries. It would be nice to be young and strong forever, but unfortunately, if I ever want to do chin‑ups again, it will not happen all by itself. Not that chin‑ups are all that important to me, but any reader over 40 will understand what it feels like to suddenly realize that the body is not what it used to be ‑ and never be that again, unless of course we go for an extensive program of exercise, weight lifting, and so on.

Is it worth it? The Word of God says, "Bodily exercise profits for a little while..." (1 Timothy 1:8). How long? Maybe a lifetime of vigor and good health? That would be profit, yet the clock is never turned back and eventually this temporary dwelling place gets worn out, wrinkled, and quits. The only people who say they look forward to it have not yet felt the stiffness and heard the creaks that herald its oncoming!

Paul wrote to the Corinthians about the universal reality of aging. He had preached the gospel and was persecuted to the point of extreme distress and even loss of life (2 Corinthians 4:8). But he said he was not distressed or in despair. He realized that death was not avoidable, that our "outward man" will indeed perish, but he saw beyond this life.

Paul's message was not a gloomy one. He had a hope that erased the fears and concerns of life ending too soon and of life withering with age. He knew that as his feeble human life faded, the inner life that he had through faith in Jesus Christ was being renewed day by day. In fact, that inner life would never grow old and die ‑ because it is eternal.

He proclaimed, "We also believe, and therefore we speak; we know that He which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise us up also by Jesus.." Paul was confident that death is not the end. Jesus' resurrection proved it.

He went on, "Therefore we do not lose heart; though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. for our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen (including the wrinkles and feebleness), but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." With that, Paul encouraged an eternal perspective.

No one escapes the aging process (unless they die young) but faith in Jesus Christ brings assurance of knowing there is more. "Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house not built by human hands..." Paul, with all believers, looked forward with indescribable yearning to an eternal dwelling place.

Bodily exercise may "profit for a little time" so I am going to continue long walks, swimming and cycling, but I agree with Paul; "Godliness has value for all things, holding promise both for the present life and the life to come..." Therefore, the priority is direct towards the eternal ‑ with enough moderate exercise to produce the strength and energy needed to do other things, things that, by His grace, will last forever.

Knowing God .............................. Parables 105

"Oh, I know him... I met him last year at a convention... haven't seen him since though."

"I know her so well that I can almost finish her sentences when she talks to me."

"Dear, we have been married 12 years and I sometimes feel as if I don't really know you at all."

Obviously, the degree of 'knowing' someone varies anywhere from a brief encounter to deep intimacy. We know the American president, at least we know who he is and would be able to say his name and shake his hand if he came to our door. We also know the neighbors, perhaps just by sight or perhaps well enough to discuss world affairs and Alberta weather as we chat across the fence, leaning on our garden shovels.

We also know our family, more intimately of course. We know what they like to eat, what clothes they wear, and who leaves their dirty socks under the bed. We know their deepest desires, their hopes and dreams.

Knowing God is the same, yet it is different. We do not see His image on television. If He came knocking on our door, we may not respond by sight the same way we would to a well‑known celebrity. We could also know many facts about God yet never have met Him in a personal way.

Yet God is not a person anyone could meet in a casual manner and walk away from the encounter without any further interaction. True knowledge of God never starts and ends with an introduction because when anyone meets the Living God, things are changed...

Their FOCUS OF TRUST is changed: "I know in whom I believe, and I am convinced that He is able..." (2 Timothy 1). True knowledge of God goes hand in hand with trusting Him. But this kind of faith is far more than a passive "Sure, I believe..." or an intellectual agreeing that God exists. Even the devil believes that!

ETERNAL DESTINY is changed: "And this is life eternal, that they might know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent" (J0hn 17:3). The devil knows who God is and knows all about Him, but the devil will not spend eternity in heaven with God. True knowledge of God results in eternal life. Therefore, it is a relationship worth seeking.

BEHAVIOR is changed: "We know that we have come to know Him if we obey His commands." True knowledge of God results in a lifestyle of obedience. Lack of knowing Him will show up in a person's life because the Bible says that anyone without God is also without the ability or the desire to obey Him. James affirmed it this way: "Faith without action is useless." Daniel 11:32 says, "They who know their God will be strong and take action."

In other words, if there are no changes, no action as a result of a supposed "knowing" of God, it is not the right kind of knowledge. That person is either lying or deceived.

Real knowledge also makes us want to know Him more. Paul, after meeting the Lord (Acts 9), spent several years with Him in private getting to know Him (Galatians 1). Later on, he wrote Philippians and said his only desire was "that I MAY KNOW HIM, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings..."

God did not allow Paul to be content with an introduction only. He had a desire to deepen his relationship with the One who had changed him so dramatically.

This deeper knowing is not reserved for apostles. It is God's desire that all know HIm... then all increase the intimacy of that relationship. He wants us to discuss every detail of our lives with Him, hear our deepest desires, our hopes and dreams. He wants us to consciously be aware of His presence, to intimately know His mind. Our God is a knowable God, willing to reveal Himself to those who search for Him with their whole heart.

Issues of right and wrong ....................... Parables 104

We live in an age of issues. Canadians are wrestling over everything from zoning laws to abortion rights. These issues are dividing people, drawing them to opposite sides in political, moral, religious and social wars. As angry words are hurled across various battlefields, few are left in the middle without opinions. It is “get on a band wagon” or get slaughtered by the cross fire.

There is much talk about rights in these issues, but should the focus be limited to rights? In concern for personal life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, have people cried “I want my rights” so often that they have lost the ability to want or even ask, “What IS right?”

Why have we stopped asking that question? Is it because we have lost the sense of any standard of right? Has modern philosophy, in all its sophistication, become so “me-first” oriented that we don’t even care what is right anymore? Are we only interested in what is comfortable?

It that is so, Jesus Christ encountered similar people. They wanted religious and political rights and the right to do whatever they pleased. But He told them that this life is but a breath of smoke, a short preparation for eternity. He told them that He was the eternal God and that He came, not to judge them, but to save them from wasting their short lives on sin, sin that at best offers only temporary pleasure. He said, “The words that I speak to you . . .  are life” (John 6:63).

Jesus said that His Word brings life to those who heed it, separation from God to those who reject it. He warned that ignorance of His Word or neglect offers no permanent escape.

The people didn’t want to hear that. They were caught up in their secular philosophies, no different from today’s attitudes: “This life is all there is . . .  I will give it my best shot . . .  eat, drink, enjoy myself . . .  when you’re dead, you’re dead . . .  what is right for me is right for me and no one is going to interfere with my rights . . .  least of all God.”

Jesus saw people like sheep without a shepherd, wandering away from the values that would guide them into decisions that bring eternal blessing. He was filled with compassion. He cried out to them. He performed miracles. He healed the sick. He cast out demons. He walked on water. He raised the dead. He told them to follow Him and He would not only give them abundant life, He would give them eternal life.

Even a casual reading of the New Testament reveals that the life of Jesus is a perfect example, worthy of possessing. Furthermore, by His standard we can evaluate the quality of our life. But what happens if He is rejected? We are left with our sin-tainted human values, lacking in clarity, unity and objectivity; left with conflicting standards that are so very subject to the “I-wants” of whoever is setting them.

Most of the people Jesus challenged didn’t want eternal life or abundant life. They would have settled for an earthly king who would bring them comfort, but when He wouldn’t do that, they decided to kill Him; “We will not have this man rule over us.” They didn’t like the divine measurement of His sinless life.

Jesus warned them of the consequences: “There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day . . . “ (John 12:48-50).

We may say, “What is right for me is right for me . . .  I make up my own rules . . . “ but God is outside our systems of philosophy. Psalm 2 says that he laughs over the puny efforts of self-centered man grasping for his “rights” and one day His Word will prevail. In other words, Jesus said those who reject His Standard will some day stand before Him and be judged by the Word they rejected.

It’s never too late to dust it off and see what it says.

Walking in Light .................... Parables 103

Trixie, from the cartoon strip Hi and Lois, sits in the light of her friend the sunbeam and says, “Hey, Sunshine, can you turn it down a little? Mom just cleaned in here and you’re making her look bad!”

Every homemaker knows what happens when the sun shines brightly through a window; every little speck of dirt is exposed, no matter how thorough the cleaning.  Full sunshine has the power to make all our cleaning products look like bad purchases. Whatever dusting and scrubbing was done looks like a waste of time. Sometimes we have to decide which we want most: sunshine or our reputation as efficient homemakers!

Some hang up sheer curtains that soften and diffuse the bright light. Most of us just ignore the dust with, “That’s clean enough!” I don’t know of anyone who is so bothered by the effects of sunshine that they board up the windows.  Besides, who wants to walk around in the dark, fumbling and tripping, hurting themselves and unable to see whatever is in the way?

Yet, when it comes to spiritual things, the Bible says that all walk in darkness.  This darkness is not an outer darkness as in “lights out” but an inner one, as in “blindness” and when it comes to finding the way to God, mere human “light” is insufficient. In other words, we need our eyes opened and the lights turned on for us.

Jesus Christ claims to be the light from God that we need. He is able to make us see, able to illumine our life. He said, “Behold, I am the light of the world: he that follows me shall not walk in darkness but have the light of life” (John 8:12).

The Bible also says that Jesus shines His light on every person in the world.  So our lives, like the rooms of a house, are at some point invaded by bright “Sonshine.”  This light is far more penetrating than Trixie’s sunbeam. Jesus shines with such power that darkness cannot overcome His light. So, whatever the depth of a person’s blindness, the Son-shine is sufficient to banish their darkness forever.

But why do so few respond to that light? Again, Jesus gives the answer, “ . . . light is come into the world, and mane loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were eve.  For everyone that does evil hates the light, neither comes to the light, in case his deeds are exposed” (John 3:19,20).

Like bright sunshine, the Light of God exposes . . .  not only the gross and obvious but the smallest hidden rebellion. Nothing escapes and nothing in us looks clean when exposed to the Light of Christ.

But light also purifies. The Light from God cleanses the sinner from his sin, purges his unbelief and purifies his life. Yet first this Light must reveal sin for what it is. There is no other way out of spiritual darkness.

The tragedy of those who stay in their inner darkness, preferring it rather than Christ, is that on the day of judgment when God opens the books, those who are not found in His book of life will be cast into “outer darkness” where the Bible says there will be “wailing and gnashing of teeth.” This is a far worse kind of darkness than the unbelief of this life; it is separation . . .  from the Sonshine . . .  forever!

Reality ............. Parables 102

A five-year-old said, “Wonder Woman is a real person - and she really does all those things on television.”  When questioned about his philosophy of reality, he strongly insisted that he “knew” his heroine was very real.

Philosophy is simply the pursuit of wisdom.  One aspect of this pursuit is understanding what is real, what actually exists.  Whether a philosopher teaches at a university, or just sits in front of a TV set, most (over 5) agree that Wonder Woman exists only on film in television studios.  But what about other things?  How do we know what is real?

Back in the days of Aristotle, the “realists” said reality is found in what we can see, hear, touch, taste and smell.  In other words, if a thing could not be somehow perceived by the senses, it is mere illusion or imagination.  The extreme realist denies the value of reasoning and logic as he searches for wisdom and truth.

In contrast, Plato, another philosopher, said truth is found only in the mind of men; that man through intellectual reasoning could reach an understanding of what is real and true.  He believed discernible matter only confused the issue.  Of course the extreme “idealist” denies the value of sensory experience and the reality of the physical world.

There are, of course, oversimplifications of complex philosophical ideas.  However, both Plate and Aristotle expressed ideas about reality that are common today.  They especially become evident when the subject of God and faith is raised.

On these subjects, the philosophy of the ordinary realist sounds something like this, “I won’t believe in anything I can’t see!”  He demands visible, material proof of the existence of God.  Evidence exists but this is rejected and the realist proclaims himself to be an atheist or agnostic.

There are people who think like Plato too.  They presume that ultimate reality is only found in the mind.  Therefore, the evidence for God is rejected in favor of looking inside their own minds.  Unfortunately, the mind of man cannot rise any higher than himself so they stop there.  The best they can do is shape a god of their own imagination, one made in their own image - and that is the god they choose - usually to their disappointment.

The Christian has a philosophy of reality too.  We believe that ultimate reality can only be found in God.  We don’t find it a problem that He is Spirit and cannot be seen.  Nor do we rely on what can be seen in His creation to be a complete statement of what He is like.  Instead, we draw our understanding of the reality of God from His revelation of Himself through His written Word, the Bible, and through His living Word, Jesus Christ.

That revelation does not mean Christians reject the value of the human mind or of the senses.  Reasoning has importance and so does sensory experience, but our reasoning and perceptions are inaccurate because of sin and the fact that we are finite.

Proverbs tells us not to “lean on our own understanding, but in all our ways acknowledge Him” . . .  “There is a way that seems right to a man but the end of it is the way of death.”  We don’t know everything.

Hebrews 11 says “ . . . the things that are seen were not made of things which appear . . . “  We can’t see everything.

God transcends both our minds and what we see . . .  He created both.

Human vision is too narrow, the mind too small.  The philosophers of this world look in vain for that which cannot be seen through observation, and reason in vain about that which cannot be perceived through reasoning.

Instead, the Bible says that wisdom and understanding begin with “the fear of the LORD.”  Obviously, before we can fear Him and find wisdom, we must believe that He exists.  To know Him through faith in His revelation of Himself opens us to a wisdom that sees reality through His eyes and a philosophy that understands it through His thoughts.

Solution hurts more than the problem ............. Parables 101

“Don’t limp . . .  if you do, the limp will be more difficult to correct than the problem you have with your foot.”

With that advice in mind, I left the podiatrist, trying not to limp.  I soon found out that it didn’t make any difference to the pain level; the foot hurt whether I limped or not.

In a few weeks, I was called back to be fitted with some special shaped contraptions that go inside my shoes.  The doctor said they will alleviate the pain.  But when I tried them, to my dismay my foot hurt far more than it did without them.  Surely this was a clear case of the “cure being worse than the ailment.”

How I wanted to just toss those expensive arch supports in the trash can.  But my Scottish ancestry balked and, in a stubborn streak of pragmatism, I began to wear them - and limped, and complained, and found my whole body being thrown into a different posture.

Now, for the most part, the “things” (the most polite name I could give them) don’t bother me at all, at least for normal walking.  Furthermore, a hip problem that had affected me for years seems to be clearing up.  My posture is different - straighter, more comfortable.  My husband says I even look slimmer.  (He paid for the “things” so that benefit could be questioned!)

In a nutshell, the cure, even though it is not pleasant, is changing my foot, making it work properly, and giving some fringe benefits besides.

How vividly this relates to another area of life that sometimes gets out of joint . . .  it is my obedience to God.  Sin is the offending limb - and whether it shows up in an outward limp or I hide it behind a smile, it affects the rest of my life and even the life of the church (called the body of Christ in scripture, of which I am only a small part.)

God is in the business of healing His “body,” making whole those who limp with the effects of sin.  Sometimes the cure comes through chastening circumstances that are designed to alter our Christian walk . . .  and they hurt.  Yet, like surgery to remove cancer, or orthodontic devices to correct problem feet, God’s chastening has eventual good in mind, even though the process may not be very comfortable.

Of all the passages of scripture concerning the Lord’s work in my life, none has become more vivid than this section of Hebrews 12: “...He disciplines us for our good, that we may share His holiness.  All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.  Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble, and make straight paths for your feet, so that the limb which is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed.”

Because of this problem foot, God’s work to heal me in other ways is not so hard to take.  My responsibility is to see His healing purpose in uncomfortable circumstances, yield under His correction, and wait for the results.  He has some good things in mind!

The “things” are still in my sneakers.  They, and a sore foot, serve as excellent reminders to not resist God’s correction.