Open your Eyes

Last week at Hope Community Church Pastor Steve spoke about sin. Now, he's currently on a 10- turned 12-week sermon series on sin, so that is not a terribly helpful statement, but you can go on their website and listen to the message if you really want to know the details.

As illustrations, he talked about three guys in the Bible who encountered God: Moses, Isaiah, and Peter, and he talked about how drastically different their lives were after that encounter. His examples were the stories of the burning bush and Moses (which really should be called the non-burning bush, don't you think?), and Isaiah's vision of the throne room of God. Those two make sense; these measly men get their worlds rocked when God defies the laws of nature, time, and space to reveal himself showing how different God is from Man and then calls them to do His will nonetheless.

What got me thinking was not a point he made, albeit they were good, but rather the tangent to which his points sent my brain. This third example was the day Peter and his buddies had struck out fishing, but when Jesus joined them and Peter did what he said they caught so much it almost made two boats sink. For Peter, that encounter with Christ was just as world-rocking as Isaiah's vision of six-winged flaming angels. (Alright, the flaming thing is a guess, but they're called seraphim for crying out loud! They at least had to be really, really bright.) Peter's response to Jesus is very similar to Isaiah's and Moses'. But why? Couldn't it have just been another guy God decided to do a miracle through to show His power? Why did Peter respond so drastically, dropping everything to follow Jesus at that very moment?

Peter's response was so drastic because he was not simply in the presence of another prophet, but God Incarnate. I don't know what in Jesus' being made that fact clear, but it was clearer than anything Peter had ever seen before. He knew he was in the presence of God. Why else would Peter have left everything in that moment?

As I mulled this over in the pew, a question raised in my mind. Do I read the New Testament as though Jesus is just as jaw-dropping as the glory of God in the Old Testament? Do I ponder what it must have been like to see God–fully God–in flesh? Moreover, do I live as though Jesus has just as much power, majesty, and might as God the Father? In my everyday speech and theological conversations I am aware to avoid sounding like Modalism, but when the rubber meets the road, do I live with true belief that Jesus is God and as such has sovereignty over all the situations that bring me fear and doubt?

If I don't, I am not living a life of trust. Worse, I am acting like God is a liar and not who He says He is and not able to do what He says He can do. The truth is that Jesus was, is, and always will be fully God. It could be that I am missing the glory He wants to show of himself to me because I refuse to see him as he is. Does that sound cyclical? Perhaps. Open your eyes and see Jesus for who He is and maybe our jaws will drop too.

Weekend Away

I'm still working on the teach/preach thing, but I realized I forgot to post pics from my grandparents cabin a few weekends ago.

My friends Carrie and Jen came up with me to get away and rest for a few days. Here are the highlights:

We made Monster Cookies,
Played Dominoes, of course,
Looked at the stars from the dock (I don't know what's wrong with me),
Carrie and I took the canoe out to watch the sun rise,
and we went for a freezing cold boat ride.
All in all, it was a much needed getaway for some R&R. Although I hope the next time I go up, it will be warmer than 60 degrees!