2439AFC092724 – Do you see what I see?
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Numbers 11:29 b – Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his spirit on them!
Psalm 19:12 – (GNT) [1]
12 None of us can see our own errors;
deliver me, Lord, from hidden faults!
James 5:5-6 (GNT) 1 5 Your life here on earth has been full of luxury and pleasure. You have made yourselves fat for the day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned and murdered innocent people, and they do not resist you.
Mark 9:42 – (GNT) 1 42 “If anyone should cause one of these little ones to lose faith in me, it would be better for that person to have a large millstone tied around the neck and be thrown into the sea.
E pili mau na pomaika‘i ia ‘oe a me ke akua ho’omaika‘i ‘oe, ʻŌmea! (May blessing always be with you and may God bless you, Beloved!) Here we go again with another topic related to discernment and choosing. How? Let’s get right into this and see!
Do you see the Light coming through the keyhole up there? It makes me wonder. There must be something wonderful behind that door; or, is it just the lock that’s glowing? The light is getting past the key, so it must be coming from the other side of the door. What will happen when the key is turned, and which direction will unlock the door? Do we know if the door is locked or unlocked now? How could we find out? Well, the most obvious answer is to turn the key, but in this image we cannot see a handle or doorknob. The way to test the result of turning the key would be to choose a direction – clockwise or counterclockwise – and pull on the handle. Which direction would you choose? I’d go with counterclockwise. But, what if someone came along and said, “I can tell you which way to turn the key, and what’s on the other side of the door.”? Should we believe that? Suppose everyone we know at work and in our neighborhood told us the same thing. If they all know, why do I not know? What do they see that I cannot see, and how are they seeing it while I am not? The answer is in the sentence we haven’t heard yet. It begins with, “Thus says the Lord, God of Hosts.”
That’s how Prophecy is supposed to begin. Remember, Prophecy is speaking what God commands. If the claim to know about the key, the door, and the what’s-next is just from some random passerby, it would be pretty risky to act on that implied promise. But if that information is given in the form of Prophecy, then it would be pretty risky not to act on that information. And if everyone I know and even some I don’t know are all saying the same thing in the same form, it would be supremely foolish to ignore it. The Key Verse from Numbers is at the point where God is still showing his people the Power of his Deliverance. In this narrative, there are a couple of fellows who go to Moses to tattle on two of the elders who are not part of the assembly, and the Holy Spirit has fallen upon them so that they too are prophesying like the other 70. In the view of those tattlers, Moses is being slighted by the two elders they have cited. I don’t think they saw the whole picture, but Moses opened their eyes.
Moses’ response is a statement we can, and should, make a continuous prayer: Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his spirit on them! What would we see if that happened? Would everyone around us “suddenly” be completely obedient to God, offering up praise and thanksgiving in recognition of his Majesty and Might? I’ll tell you what – I’m with Moses on that! Can you imagine how wonderful it would be if we – and everyone else around us – “suddenly” began to praise, honor, love, and obey God as he expects us to? That would be Heaven on Earth – LITERALLY! Remember that phrase in The Lord’s Prayer – “Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven” – yeah, that. Do we ever pray that so that we believe , even know that it is happening right NOW? What would we see if we have Faith enough to actually believe God would be doing that for and with us right this very minute?
Well, Belovéd, one thing we might be able to see is that we don’t see so well. None of us can see our own errors, but we’re pretty good
at seeing what others are doing, and condemning them for their failures of praising, trusting, loving, and obeying God. With the Psalmist, let us pray deliver me, Lord, from hidden faults! We keep those locked up somewhere, somewhere we believe God won’t see them. Do you think it’s possible that on the other side of that door is the vault where we keep our dark little secrets? Maybe not, because there is light coming from inside that locked-away space.
Maybe that’s the Light of the Holy Spirit cleaning up our hearts so that they are fit tabernacles for the King of kings. We won’t be able to see unless we can open that door. You know, someone might be knocking there. In this image, the door-handle and the lock – if there is one – are hidden from view; but, there is a peek-hole where we could check to see who’s that a-knockin’ at my door. We might look through that and recognize someone who looks familiar … but wait – there are no nail-prints in those hands. Could this really be someone impersonating that man we claim to know so well. What if it’s not HIM? Why would someone else want me to open the door so I can see him? Or worse, so he can see me?!?!
What would Jesus see if he opened that door? What if he turned the key? He’d know for sure which way to turn it, right? – because after all he is God and therefore omniscient. But, that means he’d already know what’s inside, and he still wants to come in. What sort of mess would he find if he came in? And wait a minute! If he’s knocking on the outside of the door, that means the lock we see in the Key Verse image is on the inside of the door! The radiance coming through the keyhole is coming toward the outside of the door! Yes, certainly, throw open that door, and be prepared to cringe when we hear him echo the words of James’ letter: Your life here on earth has been full of luxury and pleasure. You have made yourselves fat for the day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered innocent people, and they do not resist you.
Those words cut me to the quick. Last week we looked at what Jesus has said about those off-the-cuff remarks, the little put-downs, and even curses we mutter against ourselves or others: Matthew 12:36-37 – 36 “I tell you, on the day of judgment you will have to give an account for every careless word you utter; 37 for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” That’s the sort of stuff we keep locked up where “God won’t notice these.” ← Famous last words – and words of condemnation if we hang onto them, coveting the power we feel when we use those put-downs. And that’s only the small-kine stuff! We’re more willing, it seems, to confess to lying, or to ignoring God, or to cheating on our taxes or loved ones. Those are the things that really count. We can trace them to the Ten Commandments.
Little things like flipping off and shouting deletable expletives at a driver who startled us? Why, God doesn’t care about that sort of talk – HA! Jesus says he does, and that scares me; how about you? If Jesus really did open the door and come into your place or mine, would he appreciate how lavishly we have redecorated the heart that his Father gave us? Or might he say, as he said to the man who asked what he must do “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money] to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” (See Matthew 19:21) Who among us could “suddenly” do that? And why does Jesus say “If you wish to be perfect”? Only God is perfect.
The word used here for “perfect” is teleios. We have heard about this previously in studying then Jesus proclaimed “It is finished.” In Greek, this is Τετέλεσται, (Tetélestai) {teh-TEH-les-tie}. Some translations read, “It is consummated,” which is another appropriate translation of the word Τετέλεσται. This expression comes from a Greek word τελέω teléō {tel-eh’-o}, which also means consummation, or to complete a process all the way through the final step which means everything that needed to be done has been done. Every step was made in the right order, in the right way, at the right time, with the right result. It is the flawless completion of maturation. It is a fully-completed, made-to-order, exactly-right process concluded properly and correctly in every possible way. Whatever can or needs to come next can succeed because the perfect preparation for it has been completed. In the Bible’s account, the “rich young man” had asked Jesus, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” Jesus essentially told him “Grow up and then follow me.” Many are the days when we should hear – and heed – that command! As we often hear, “ignorance is no excuse.” Around this place we say, “Ignorance is curable. Stupidity is fatal.” Someone who commits sin may be ignorant of the consequences, as in those casual, off-the-cuff remarks we described. Stupidity is getting someone else to do the same or worse.
We are told – quite plainly in fact – that when we cause someone else to stumble, that is, to get tripped into sin – it would be better for us if we were to be cast into the sea with a millstone around our neck. There it is as appearing in the Gospel according to Luke.
We can also find it in Matthew 18:6, and Luke 17:2. The word here translated as “stumble” is a Greek word which is the root of our modern word “scandalize” and in this context it is comparable to setting a trap for someone to “trip them up,” and make them doubt what they have held as Faith. It is setting an example which generates distrust of someone who is Trustworthy in all things and therefore should be obeyed, not disrespected through disobedience. If we consider this image to the right, the “bait” is the temptation to draw someone into the trap. The box is what closes the deal because the bait is so
attractive, the box and the stick are overlooked. The name of the stick in Greek is skandalon. It is the device that makes the bait appear to be safe. The trap is closed when the skandalon is pulled away – the prey is “scandalized” by being caught in the trap. The same kind of narrative goes with falling into a pit like we often see in adventure movies. What Jesus is telling us, then, is if we’re the ones who dug the pit or set up the snare which cut off a person from her/his faith, then a suitable punishment would be this:
And so, Belovéd, I ask again, “Do you see what I see?” Do we together see that what we might think is only “slightly offensive” to another is actually quite offensive to God? Together do we see that Christ’s Law of Love explicitly condemns being careless about what we do or say because it might cause someone else to commit an offense? “… I have greatly sinned, in my thoughts, and in my words, in what I have done, and what I have failed to do.” Do we all see that God takes it seriously when we say those things, even if we don’t take them seriously?
“Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors,” (Matthew 6:12); or “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” (Matthew 6:12-15) – those are REAL PRAYERS, and God hears them every time we say them even if we don’t PRAY them! Remember, we “will have to give an account for every careless word you utter.” Do we see that prayer that is empty of Love, speech that is empty of Love, deeds that are empty of Love are all parts of our lives for which “on the day of judgment [we] will have to give an account”? Do we see that Jesus is the Greatest Prophet and that he spoke about Hell mor than any other subject in his lessons? Here is one example: Mark 9:43 – 43 If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to Hell, * to the unquenchable fire. * Greek geenna – Gehenna, a place of final judgment for the ungodly, also called Hades, and Hell. do we see that as a possibility for some (most?) of the people around us? Do you see what I see, the utter indifference to the Absolutely Perfect Plan?
I see things that frighten me. I see young people choosing whatever is stupid because they ignore the cure for their ignorance. I see leaders of nations choosing to lead their citizens deeper, and deeper into the idolatry of selfishness. I see parents passing their children over for death because it is convenient. I see the leaders of religious groups abusing their devotees, oppressing their followers, and claiming it is the will of their gods. I see wars and rumors of wars, nation against nation, children against parents and parents against children. I see signs that are cringe-worthy. I see this image of the cliffs of Hell. I hope that, at the worst, I may see a millstone in my future rather than Gehenna’s front porch. Do you see what I see?
Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever —
at your service, Belovéd!
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Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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