What Kind Of Sceptic Are You?
Good Morning Friends,
Today’s lectionary scripture from John reminds me of Jacob’s ladder and the passage from Revelation of a clock face and the history of all time connected to the future of Jerusalem. Perhaps you share some of the same thoughts. They are not necessary to being a Christian. Of course, some scripture is more difficult to grasp. Doubt creeps in on the issue of interpretation and frankly, the dogma can blind us. This is, after all, part of how it all works and sometimes does not work when it comes to our faith and our belief in God. Life gets messy and occasionally we feel it hard to believe in a God that loves us as individuals and has our best interest at heart. We wonder what the future will bring. We wonder about meeting Jesus. What Kind Of Sceptic Are You?
Scripture: Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” And in the spirit he carried me away to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God. It has the glory of God and a radiance like a very rare jewel, like jasper, clear as crystal. It has a great, high wall with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates are inscribed the names of the twelve tribes of the Israelites; on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. And the wall of the city has twelve foundations, and on them are the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
Revelation 21:9b-14 (NRSV)
Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.” Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, “Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!” Nathanael asked him, “Where did you get to know me?” Jesus answered, “I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.” Nathanael replied, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” Jesus answered, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these.” And he said to him, “Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”
John 1:45-51 (NRSV)
Message: “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” That is what Nathanael was saying about Jesus. He knew the place well. It was unimpressive. Now some reading this devotional will have very different doubts about God and have no clue why people were disparaging this small, backwoods community north of Jerusalem. We just do not have the facts. We are ignorant really. But Nathanael knew about Nazareth. It was an Immokalee of sorts. The problem was not that Nathanael was ignorant about Nazareth but about Jesus. Our bias can be misleading too. But Nathanael opened his mind to the possibility of Jesus for he knew Jesus was a teacher and taught the word of God. Nathanael had studied scripture under the fig tree and was a seeker and that Jesus had chosen to seek him out too opened his heart and mind. He was not such a bad fellow, but he did not know Jesus. You see, the world is filled with different kinds of doubters that are not all hard-core disbelievers. Some of them in the Bible had the benefit of Jesus living in the flesh with them but still found believing difficult. Thomas, is perhaps the most famous of the cynics. He was governed by his senses and was stubborn of nature, wanting first hand proof about Jesus. He had a kind of melancholy but was honest about his distrust of others. He questioned the claims of others wanting to see for himself. Other people in the Bible that questioned Jesus though were entangled in the evil of the world. Consider Pilot. He had no moral depth. He was guided by a wicked heart that prompted his disbelief and this resulted in his ruin. And then other doubters are filled with self-conceit and a lack of due consideration and respect for others and their opinions. I do not know what kind of doubter you are, but imagine you have some qualms about religion. Perhaps you are like Nathanael, a sincere, relatively honest and religious person that we might even call good. If so, come and see what scripture and other believers offer. Approach your doubts with wisdom. Wrestle with your doubts. Test your faith and let Jesus open your eyes to a relationship that is more rational than the world.
Pray we look around and realize how lucky the disciples were to be alive in the History of the world when Jesus walked the earth. Pray we realize how lucky we are to be living the dream today. Pray when we encounter sceptics we invite them to come and see. Pray we get the facts and help others get the facts too. Pray we encounter Jesus with our fears and have them relieved. Pray we approach our doubts with wisdom and a heart that seeks the truth.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 