Is Seeing Believing Or is Believing Seeing?
Good Morning Friends,
Both Jesus and Paul encountered opposition in ministry work. In fact, all the disciples did as well. Some of the people confronting them probably did not even believe in God, at all, even though they claimed to practice religion. You will likely encounter people like them in your life. Jesus pronounces a series of woes upon these religious hypocrites, for they had experienced the power of the Gospel yet still refused to affirm Jesus. They had no faith. And this sad reality prompts today’s question: Is Seeing Believing Or is Believing Seeing?
Scripture: For I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; as it is written, “The one who is righteous will live by faith.” For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness of those who by their wickedness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. Ever since the creation of the world his eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the things he has made. So they are without excuse; for though they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their senseless minds were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools; and they exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling a mortal human being or birds or four-footed animals or reptiles. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the degrading of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
Romans 1:16-25 (NRSV)
While he was speaking, a Pharisee invited him to dine with him; so he went in and took his place at the table. The Pharisee was amazed to see that he did not first wash before dinner. Then the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. You fools! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? So give for alms those things that are within; and see, everything will be clean for you.
Luke 11:37-41 (NRSV)
Message: Hypocrisy may be defined as the practice of professing standards, beliefs, contrary to one’s real character or actual behavior. And nothing is more hypocritical than for someone to call themselves a Christian when he or she is in fact a spiritual fraud. And if you are ashamed of the Gospel then you too might fall in this category. The back story of today’s Gospel text is that the religious leaders had been demanding a sign from Jesus to show that he was indeed the Son of God and savior of sinners. But what people needed was not some sign, but faith to believe what God said in scripture about the person and work of Jesus. Jesus was giving people plenty of light regarding the gospel, but the blindness of their sin was keeping many from believing the gospel. Thankfully Jesus shows us a different way to live. He teaches us to be faithful in service, to take the lowest place, to give other people credit, to make our sacrifices in secret, and to wait patiently for him to put us in the position where we belong. Jesus teaches us to live this way because it is the way he lived. People assumed that their religious leaders were faithful to God’s truth, and that they could trust them. But their teaching was the way of death and not the way of life. Friends, we are taught in scripture to live… by faith and not by sight. Augustine said, “Faith is to believe what we do not see, and the reward of faith is to see what we believe.” And when we do, the Gospel message shared through us becomes the power of God to save others who begin to believe. So too this same message directs us and holds us together and lights our way to do good things that God has ordained for us to do as acts of faith. Sure we will have doubts, but if the Word of Christ dwells in us, the Holy Spirit will teach us and inspire us in a new way of seeing. So friends, when you confront someone who does not believe, ask them to think about what caused the universe to come into existence. Whatever begins has a cause. It is only rational to conclude that God exists. If they claim they are moral, ask them what is the foundation for objective moral values and duties. Friends, our tacit understanding of things is linked to more than a rumor of angels. Even the vacuum of space has an energy we cannot fathom with human sight. We must believe in something to see.
Pray we watch for hypocrisy in religion. Pray we beware of heartless legalism and vain pride. Pray that we be real, genuine and sincere. Pray we not rely only on what we see but also believe in a vision of what can be. Pray our outward appearances and actions agree with our inner convictions. Pray we are true to Christ from the inside out. Pray we understand and become an example of the righteousness given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. Pray we believe in a God that brings us hope as well as justice. Pray we seek the Kingdom of God. Pray we speak the scriptures and sing the scriptures and apply the power of the scripture as we seek God’s help in doing what we cannot do for ourselves. Pray we believe in the power of God’s love. Pray we believe we too can love and be loved.
Blessings,
John Lawson
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