I used to think Jesus was clever ....

I used to think Jesus was clever because of the way he could take every day things and use them to illustrate the spiritual. The saying I used the other day “We reap what we sow” is an example of this. There is more to this saying that the simple implication that our actions have consequences. For example if you plant one potato in the spring, how many do expect to get when you dig up in the fall? Well yes many (some 30 fold, some 60 some 100). This works both positively and negatively, and we can rejoice in the abundant harvest of the good, and weep for the overwhelming harvest of the bad.

The “s” word (sin) has virtually gone out of our vocabulary in this “anything goes” culture in which we live. But you can be sure of one thing (or you will be eventually) that the things the Scriptures call sin all have unwanted consequences. In terms of reaping what we sow one preacher put it this way: “Sin takes us further than we want to go, keeps us longer than we want to stay and costs us more than we want to pay.”

So I used to think that Jesus was clever, but in the end I realized that He is far more clever than I ever imagined. I came to realize that He designed creation to be a living parable of the spiritual. So there are both weeds and wheat, joy and sorrow. Spring is a parable of resurrection, fall reminds us that all things come to an end. And as we can see the beauty of the fall in the fall colours, so we can learn to grow old gracefully and appreciate the finer things of life. Or (as I used to do in our all too short summers) resent the fact that the weather is getting colder, and the days shorter. After the fall, if we have eyes to see and patience to wait, we can see that it's not always winter. So when we go through the seasons of barrenness, when it looks like everything is dead, through our experience of the seasons we can see that God is at work even in that time preparing for the new birth and the new growth of spring.

Jesus is widely regarded as the best teacher the world ever had. Both His words and His creation can instruct us in the way that we should go. And if we are listening we will reap the good fruit of listening. If we are not we will reap the harvest of not doing so. In particular we cut ourselves off from the source of all real love and joy and peace and hope. The Lord is speaking to us in creation, in the stars as the heavens declare the Glory of God. He is speaking to me in my gardening as am gardening for the first time in years (more to come). The question then is this “Are we listening, are you, am I?”

You think you're misunderstood!

Not that long ago, I was complaining to the Good Lord that I feel misunderstood. His tongue in cheek reply to me boiled down to “You think you're misunderstood? Buddy you ain't seen nothing. What about all those obnoxious religious types who say they represent me but don't? What about all the self righteous hypocrites who claim to speak for me but don't even know me? What about all the blame, all the bad mouthing I get when things go wrong, all the false accusations all the nasty things people say and think about me? You think you have a problem. My son, you ain't seen nothing.”

Jesus tells us that there is a thief, that he has an agenda and it is to kill steal and destroy. He is also a liar and the father of lies. He seems to have two strategies: In the West he seems to want to persuade us that he does not exist. Our African brothers and sisters on the other hand, know well that he does, and that he likes to display his power both to fascinate and to induce fear!

His strategies seem to be very effective. When things go wrong we need someone to blame. In the West it is either God or those who believe in Him, or it's the other buddy. Don't get me wrong, we are by and large far from guiltless. As I pointed out the other day, the default is to blame anyone but ourselves. Part of this is that we listen to the father of lies, are deceived by him and so unconsciously do his bidding. And part this, is our widespread rejection of the guidance that God has given us in the Book He inspired.

There is a Biblical principle that we reap what we sow. If we plant potatoes we don't get carrots. Our rejection of the moral laws of the Universe have unwanted consequences, and God, in His love, wants to use the pain of these consequences to bring us back to Himself. This is how I found Him. When the School of hard knocks finally brought me to the place where I stopped blaming others, I could start to see that His ways are good and right and proper. I turned to Him and found peace and joy and hope and strength to do what without Him I could not, and cannot do. I too had misunderstood God, I hadn't thought He cared. When I turned to Him I discovered relationship with the nicest person in the universe. It's not rocket science “God good, Devil bad.” Who will/do you follow? Whether we know it or not, one way or the other we follow him or Him! Don't agree? If you don't and I am right, you are deceived. Perhaps its me who is deceived, but then I do have peace and joy, and I am a lot more patient than I was. Sounds like God to me :)!