Legally Blind

I remember seeing one specific poster in school. I saw this poster many times in various classes, offices, and hallways from grade school to high school. The poster pictures a little gray kitten sitting tangled up in a large pile of yarn. A very sad kitten face is looking up to the camera. The caption on the poster reads: “How come no one notices when I do things right, but someone always sees when I do something wrong?” As a young child I used to think of how this was so true. I never got recognition for doing something good, but always got in trouble for something bad I did. How often do we find ourselves doing this very same thing today? How often do we recognize our children’s failures or those of our spouse, parents, friends, or colleagues? How often do we notice their accomplishments? How often do we approach our relationship with God from the perspective of recognizing failure?

This type of problematic approach is not something Christians have developed in recent years. This situation has been around as long as there have been disciples of Christ. Jesus addresses this issue in Luke 12:49-56. Picture if you will, you are part of the multitudes following Jesus around witnessing His ministry, maybe you’re even one of His closest disciples. Jesus is speaking:

I’ve come to start a fire on this earth--how I wish it were blazing right now! I’ve come to change everything, turn everything rightside up--how I long for it to be finished! Do you think I came to smooth things over and make everything nice? Not so. I’ve come to disrupt and confront! From now on, when you find five in a house, it will be—

Three against two,
and two against three;
Father against son,
and son against father;
Mother against daughter,
and daughter against mother.
Mother-in-law against bride,
and bride against mother-in-law.

. . . When you see clouds coming from the west, you say, ‘Storm’s coming’--and you’re right. And when the wind comes out of the south, you say, ‘This’ll be a hot one’--and you’re right. Frauds! You know how to tell a change in the weather, so don’t tell me you can’t tell a change in the season, the God-season we’re in right now.

This translation comes from The Message Bible and while this translation uses the word “frauds” many other translations use the harsher word of “hypocrites.” Here you are, someone who has been following Jesus for days, clinging to His every word. You’re waiting, expecting Jesus to change things, to start the ball rolling to bring His kingdom here and rid you of the oppressing Romans. When Jesus starts to speak it seems the time is now and what you have been waiting for is upon you. He states He is here to change everything, to turn things right side-up, which is actually upside-down to the way things are now. He is here to disrupt and confront instead of smooth things over. Oh, how your heart is rejoicing at this news! Even when He speaks of father verses son and mother against daughter, it makes sense to you, because you know many people have become so accustomed to the Romans they choose to support them. You know many people feel things aren’t so bad under the Roman Empire. These people may even want to keep things the same--at least they know what to expect and the unknown is such a scary place to live. Since you understand people may feel this way, you think you understand when Jesus speaks of the division among the closest of people. The day of reckoning is upon the Romans!

But as your heart is leaping with joy and excitement Jesus turns to the crowd and to you, and calls you a fraud, a hypocrite. According to Him you can’t see the kingdom of God right under your nose. You feel utterly betrayed! How can Jesus, call you a hypocrite? How can He say the kingdom of God is here with you, when the Romans oppress you so strictly? The Romans take so much from you, your friends, and your family barely survive on what is left. How can God be with you and stand idly by as you go through these struggles?

Christians today struggle with the very same questions. Many of us have our own struggles before we even become Christians. This can be a major stumbling block for the young Christian--especially those who found Christianity later in life or those who walked away from the Lord and returned later. Many young Christians have struggled with problems on their own without having the opportunity to cling to Christ through the hard times, problems such as addictions, wrong choices, or loss. These young Christians sometimes come to church expecting to find the kingdom of God, expecting Jesus to evict these problems from their lives, expecting the oppression from the pain and hurting to be immediately lifted. Many of these young Christians feel betrayed when they still hurt from their encounters. They still feel the calling from their addictions and wonder what the point of life is. They cannot see the kingdom of God around them.

It’s not just young Christians who can feel as if God has somehow betrayed them. Many of us either have experienced the loss of someone close or know someone who has, despite prayers for healing and safety. Sometimes Christians have hard times dealing with such personal disasters. They feel betrayed by God in their hour of need. They blame God for the troubles they face, never once seeing the kingdom of God around them.

Let’s look back at the group Jesus spoke to. He spoke of coming to start a fire--a passion for God. He is also speaking of His own upcoming crucifixion, because He knows this is the only way to kindle the fire. Even as He speaks to the people, He knows He will painfully give His life for these people--who can not even see the kingdom of God around them. He has not come to make peace with sin; He has come to confront it. He has come to disrupt the ways of Satan and the wages of sin. He knows people will be divided over what they believe He was. He knows some will believe Him to be the Son of God and some will believe Him not to be. Yet, He knows His crucifixion is the only thing to open their eyes to see the kingdom of God around them. The people who followed Him, even His closest friends, were blind to the kingdom of God in their midst. He still chose to die for their sins. Israel, like us, would enjoy good times and then they would lose sight of the kingdom of God. The nation would suffer some sort of devastation, and amidst the struggles they would realize their need for God and cry out. God would take pity on them and save them from their struggles. Then the nation of Israel would prosper and lose sight of the kingdom of God once more. The nation of Israel repeated this cycle many times, and Jesus was about to bring them into the next stage of the cycle, the God-season. Even after the many times Israel forgot about God, forgot how to see His kingdom, Jesus still chose to give his life for them. Even if they could not see the kingdom of God around them, He chose to pay the penalty of death for their sins. This is who Jesus was, this is who Jesus is, and this is who Jesus will always be.

Have you ever noticed after a disaster how many people call out to God? Take the events of 9-11 for example; after this tragedy churches all over the nation saw a drastic increase in the numbers in attendance. Many areas hit by natural disasters like hurricane Katrina will also have a resulting increase in church attendance. “Why?” you might ask. It’s because we can’t see the kingdom of God around us. When a tragedy like September 11th or hurricane Katrina happens we seek out God in search of His kingdom, in search of an answer. I’m telling you right now, the kingdom of God is around us, and this is the God-season. A teenager wraps a car around a tree, but lives to talk about it and we say the kid is lucky to be alive. A husband who is struggling to make ends meet, finds a great paying job just in time to save his family’s house, and we say that he was lucky to find the job. A woman breaks her leg, the doctor finds a cancerous tumor, removes it before it spreads, and we say she is lucky to have a broken leg. A mother-to-be is pregnant, but the doctors detect problems early. The church members pray, but the baby dies shortly after birth. Do we say it was just bad luck? Instead of attributing all this to luck, many times we turn to God and ask, “Why? Why did you let this happen?” So often we don’t see the kingdom of God around us, we don’t see God working in our lives. Many times we don’t see the blessings for what they are, but we almost always question God for the struggles we go through. Sometimes we are like the group of people back in Luke 12. We think we have God’s plan all figured out. We think God will not only smooth the rough spots of our lives over, but confront them and disrupt them, making life smooth sailing for us. Many times we feel betrayed when we have to bear burdens that appear unbearable. This is the God-season, even when we feel that we have been betrayed, we don’t understand God’s plan, we can’t see the kingdom of God around us, we can rest assured Jesus has paid the penalty for our sins.

It doesn’t matter how many times we have walked away from God, blamed Him for our struggles, or lost sight of the kingdom of God. Like the people following Jesus, we are frauds every time we doubt God’s ways, question His plans, lose sight of the kingdom of God. We don’t deserve the sacrifice Jesus gave, but He chose to give it anyway. Jesus loves His people so much He chose to die to pay our price for sin, our penalty of death.