The Mission of Jesus

Stephen Terry

 

Commentary for the May 23, 2015 Sabbath School Lesson

 

“For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.  But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Matthew 6:32-33, NIV

Our lesson this week perhaps implies that seeking is done primarily by our heavenly Father. This may be the case in some situations, especially if what is being sought has no understanding that it is lost. However, Jesus encouraged us to seek out God and His kingdom as well. God, then, is not the only seeker. It is part of our nature to seek not only for lost things but for understanding and knowledge.

As a child, back before pervasive light pollution, I would look up into the night sky and see myriad stars forming the Milky Way and marvel at the magnificence of the heavens. My heart would thrill at such vastness and glory. I could feel the pull of something greater than myself, and I yearned to reach out and be united with that sparkling universe. I could feel the presence of the Creator through His creation. No doubt many others have felt this too. Perhaps that is why mankind feels drawn to the stars.

The Bible tells us that the heavens speak of the glory of God in a language that is understandable by all. King David wrote, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.”[i] In spite of such a glorious spectacle declaring the majesty of God, many, instead of looking upward, turned their gaze to lesser things and found themselves pre-occupied with the creations of mankind.

Now, we still find ourselves focusing on what man is doing. We dwell on conspiracies. We inundate ourselves with news online and from the media twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Then in an effort to distract ourselves we pursue games where we construct artificial worlds in fantasy universes to replace the real ones we are ignoring. In such pursuits, hours, days, weeks, months, and years of our lives go by until we are suddenly old and perhaps still not able to realize where we got off track and why those years vanished so quickly. It is then that we may come to understand that we are and have been lost without being aware of it.

Jesus understood this distraction from things that really matter. He realized that the daily need we feel to pursue material things to enable our lifestyle of distraction could prevent us from discovering what life was supposed to be about. Perhaps this is why He prioritized our need to seek God and His kingdom first. But we are like the monkey caught in a monkey trap, a coconut hollowed out with a hole in its side. Within the coconut is a small treat for the monkey. Once the monkey reaches inside and grasps the treat, he discovers that the hole that easily let his hand enter will not let his hand out once it has enlarged by grasping the treat. Reluctant to let go of the treat, though it might cost him his life, the monkey is caught. His focus is on the treat and nothing else. In the same way, our focus can be so much on material acquisitions that we are as effectively trapped as that monkey.

The situation might seem hopeless, but that is why, when we are not even aware we are caught in such a trap, God stepped into our world to free us. In spite of our plight, He seeks us and left all of heaven behind to do so. He seeks us even when we willingly wander away from safety. We may be enticed by something attractive, like the monkey, or we may have gotten lost fleeing a danger, either real or perceived. In our fear we may have fled into greater danger, or so far into unfamiliar territory that we no longer know the way back.

We may even have no understanding that we are lost. We may be like a crab in the stewpot that is gradually warmed until the animal is cooked, never realizing the salted water was a danger to it. We may consume tubs of ice cream, bags of chips, and dozens of burgers never realizing, like the crab, that the pleasure we enjoyed was only building to stroke, diabetes, or heart attack, until the danger became irreversible. Whether monkey, crab, or human, we may, in our entrapment, not realize our need of salvation. The call to seek God’s kingdom may no longer even be discernable from where we are, due to our distraction.

This does not mean that the call no longer comes. The same Savior, who transcended the universe to incarnate on our backwater planet on the outer rim of our galaxy, brings the call home to us. First through the spoken words of God, who became man and walked among us for over three decades. Then, through the sublime urgings of the Holy Spirit, and all of those who have found that they were lost and were restored. These last, now with the guidance of that same Holy Spirit, walk the far flung corners of the Earth, seeking the lost, and retrieving those who are willing to be saved. Is there any hole so dark, prison so secure, poverty or disease so hopeless that the light of that message cannot penetrate? Omniscience, omnipresence and omnipotence would argue that there is not.

One might question then that anyone should be lost considering such omnipotence, but therein lays the quandary of a universe where we are free to exercise our choice to love God or turn from Him. He may trail us to the ends of the Earth, and even, as on Calvary, offer His life to save us, but ultimately, we are allowed to choose to reject, instead of receive, the proffered salvation.

Some might question why such a powerful being would allow mankind to get lost in darkness in the first place. Perhaps it is because His universe is built on the principle of love. In spite of the perceptions of even some of the Bible writers,[ii] love cannot be commanded. No successful marital relationship is based on one spouse ordering the other to love them. It also does not work to force love through coercion or extortion. Love is not a matter of wrestling an opponent to the ground until they cry “Uncle,” or “I love you.” True love only grows in a garden sown with love.

God’s gift of salvation was sown in such a garden. Love was the motivating force of that gift.[iii] Because of love, salvation cannot be forced upon anyone, but it is freely made available to all. It is a gift.[iv] To receive that gift we only need to stop running from God and turn to walk toward Him. That is called repentance, where we recognize we have been running in the wrong direction and turn about.[v] We are not left to stumble in darkness while trying to find our way to God. Once we turn about, we are promised the light of the Holy Spirit to guide us. We are also commissioned by that same Holy Spirit to bring the light to others. Perhaps that is why we often signify our change of direction with a public baptism. It is a declaration that we have found a better way, and simultaneously an invitation to others to consider their direction and a possible change.

Because of His omnipotence, God could certainly reach everyone with the message of salvation on His own. But it is a privilege that he grants to mankind to have a part in this great work of love. Perhaps this is because no one can tell of the love of God better than one who has experienced that love and has turned from the darkness toward the light.

It is possibly the quandary of modern Christianity that we have lost sight of that great calling. We have perhaps become too focused on the intricacies of biblical exegesis, failing to realize that our role is simply to share what we have experienced. All the theological books ever written cannot trump one experience. Prophetic charts, diagrams and pictures cannot replace the simple testimony of one who was lost, but now is found.

When I look at the internet, apart from the many pictures of cute animals, there are wedding pictures, birth announcements, and graduations. Every life event seems to be well documented. It seems to be a forum for much of what goes on in life. There are also many Bible verses and inspirational sayings, but one thing is notable by its absence. I cannot recall reading the story of anyone’s personal testimony of how they were lost and became found. Perhaps that is something we should consider.

 

 



[i] Psalm 19:1-4, NIV

[ii] Deuteronomy 6:5-6

[iii] John 3:16

[iv] Romans 6:23

[v] Acts 2:38

 

 

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