Insightful Musings on the Scriptures

by

Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67

Good morning, dear people.

I had a call on my cell phone while trooping up the Short Fellows Road hill with Becki and Max. A fellow that was to come at 9:30am to have me saw up his Port Orford Cedar was calling to reschedule due to his ailing back. So already, plans for the day are altered. But, no problem…I have plenty of other ways to jump. I wonder if one of the ulterior reasons for his cancelling was a fear of my preaching. I stuck on a copy of yesterday’s devotional when I sent him an email message. Actually, I don’t wonder about that very seriously as we seem to enjoy a pretty open honest relationship. He’s pretty heavy into Scientology…whatever that is.

Pause. I just took some time to check out SCIENTOLOGY via the resources of CHRISTIAN RESOURCE INSTITUTE. Interesting. What little I read does nothing to entice me.

This reminds me about a kind of personal revelation/inspiration/illustration that came to me the other morning. I had left the house in the dark to head to the studio…which put me in more direct earshot of the chicken coop. Something had provoked a lot of chaos there…the rooster was crowing, the hens were squawking, and the ducks were quacking…making a loud cacophony of meaningless noise…meaningless to me…even though it may have been kind of meaningful to those participating. So, what’s the big revelation? Well, therein is a very close parallel with the chaotic noise humans make…the cacophony of voices, opinions, and ideologies by those who are out of touch with TRUTH. I don’t have to tell you what I believe to be TRUTH. That being the case, I’m inclined to regard Scientology as just another source of noise amidst chaos that can muffle “the still small voice” of God’s TRUTH.

Whew! I kind of got carried away with this. There’s work to do. Blessings on your day.

Love, Dad/Ray.

All John said was, “Look, the Lamb of God”—while pointing to Jesus. That seems to be all it took to prompt two of John’s disciples to follow Jesus on foot. When Jesus was aware of their presence (implied), He turned and asked what they wanted. They said they wanted to know where He was staying. Jesus’ response was, “Come…and you will see.” I suppose Jesus then led them to the house where He was staying. But I believe His ultimate aim, as they would continue to follow Him, was to show them where He was intending to live. Where is that? In their hearts. He knew that the salvation of men was actually to be determined on that basis—“Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). This is the essence of the New Testament.

Seeing is believing. But physical seeing is not sufficient. Paul insists that we have heart eyes. Listen again to his prayer in Ephesians 1:18-21: “I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.”

What Paul expresses in this prayer has a similarity to what Jesus said to Nathaniel in today’s reading: “You shall SEE heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man” (John 1:51). In so saying, Jesus was actually quoting from the vision (SEEING) experience of Jacob in Genesis 28:10-22. (Check it out.) And that, in other words, was the same as what Jesus said in John 14:6: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes unto the Father except through me.”

Don’t you agree that the main factor that separates a true follower of Christ from the typical unbelieving worldling all boils down to a matter of SEEING? The determiner is appropriately called a BIBLICAL WORLDVIEW. Any other VIEW is an UNBIBLICAL one. God’s Word and His Spirit are revealing and provide a vision and VIEW not experienced by the unbeliever. Isn’t that the essential message Jesus was giving to Nicodemas in John 3?—“…no one can SEE the kingdom of God unless he is born again” (John 3:3). It occurs to me—a kind of “Duh!” moment—one who mounts up with wings as an eagle (Isaiah 40:31-32) is going to SEE a much bigger picture than one who is merely meandering through the forest.