1John 1:5, "... that God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all."
I can't remember where I read it, but I read that a rainbow is a look inside of light. Kind of cool if you think about it. Incredible how when red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet all combine in light it gives us a white light.
Letting imagination run wild I ask how does this describe God, who is light. Certainly depending on perspective everyone sees God a little different. Some might see Him as figuratively blue, while others see him as figuratively red. But light is some much more than the visible colors of the rainbow. What of the invisible colors like those in the scale of infrared or ultraviolet.
Think of it, God shines His ultraviolet light (the light used by CSI to find trace evidence) into the unsaved. Visible to their soul are the dust particles and evidence of the sinful life. Conviction, Repentance, Salvation... the Christian begins to play in the rainbow of the now visible God. He runs here and there looking for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. He describes the rainbow. He loves the rainbow. But there is more... There is the infrared component of life.
What can we do with infrared? We can see in the dark! We can see things we could have never seen without it. The infrared part of God becomes visible after surrender. The infrared is the kingdom of God come alive in the Christian to give Him vision and clarity.
One last thing about light. I don't know when Science discovered that darkness is the absence of light just as cold is the absence of heat, but according to scripture God knew it all along. "In Him there is no darkness." Well duh!
2 Timothy 2:7, "Consider what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything."
Most Christians of all denominations and faith acknowledge the Holy Spirit to one degree or another. They accept that He is our helper and guide, and know that sometimes our thoughts are not our own, but placed there by the Holy Spirit. This gives us a counter voice to the voice of the world. What I would propose is that if the Holy Spirit is our facilitator to hearing God, then the kingdom of God is our facilitator to seeing.
Sounds a bit like herasy, but follow me on this one. God is light. Light is energy and mass. God is, and His light emits from Him. Where that light goes is His kingdom. The Holy Spirit operates not only in the kingdom, but beyond it's borders to call people out of the darkness. Darkness is the absense of light, and thus to be outside the kingdom of God. With me so far?
Now scripture can be read with the help of the Holy Spirit. Take for example the parable of the talents. The master gives the slaves talents (6000 days wages) expecting them to invest the money. Upon the master's return he comes to collect. The ones who grew the talents were rewarded. The ones who did nothing had it taken away. With the Holy Spirit we know talents are not just money. With the Holy Spirit we know that the master is the Master, namely Jesus Christ. Now let's open our eyes. Let's look at the scripture from inside the kingdom.
Inside the kingdom we know everything is spiritual. Therefore we know that the talents are nothing earthly. The talent may be mercy, patience, giving, comforting, understanding... anything that is a character of God, or anything that God can imagine. It is not money, education, intellect. For me, God has said my talent is shameless surrender. Therefore it is my obligation, under the kingdom principle to not only use that talent, but use it in such a way that it grows. That others learn or recognize it in themselves.
Don't believe me? Look at Matthew 19:24. Jesus says, "Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." Again, with kingdom Eyes... where is the rich man going? To the kingdom of God... not a place in the future, but a place here and now. A place that fills us as we enter. And again because the kingdom of God is spiritual we know that a rich person is not only monetary wealth. Riches are anything in abundance that we rely on more than God. Again it can be intellect, education, training... anything. You see the eye of a needle was a physical place. It was in the gate of a khan at Nazareth. It was intended for foot traffic, but for a camel to go through it must be unpacked of its load. So too a man that relies on the earthy treasures must be unpacked before entering and understanding this kingdom of God principle. The more education you have, the harder it is to unpack. The more money you have the harder it is to unpack.Once on the other side the camel maybe reloaded. God may have us pick up and use the natural talents and gifts, but only after them being laid down. Just like Abraham laid down Isaac.
I have a lot of financial training. I am in a financial crisis because God is helping me unpack all that physical training and education so that I can enter through the eye of the needle into the kingdom of God where I will see and understand Him as my Provider and Provision.
I will close with something from my sight coach Jim Spivey, "What I “see,” thanks to Him, I can sometimes have a hard time convincing other people of, because it is not readily “apparent.” The only “place” from which I will desperately struggle to do so is the place that has lost touch with His vision. Clear and in direct contact, there is no drama, for the answer He gave one, He gave all, and it is not my job to manipulate, force, or control access. It is my job to simply point to the door and invite entry."
Luke 8:17, "For nothing is hidden that will not become evident, nor anything secret that will not be known and come to the light."
In the past couple of weeks I've heard a mother's pain as she discussed the incarceration of her son for the murder of his daughter, the shame of a brother molested as a child, and heard the confusion of a pastor burning out. I have listened to the honor of the cruelest of childhood abuses and the resulting life out of control. I have met people trying to escape a sinful past, yet somehow wanted to keep the statuesque. I met a stranger estranged by her family. I met a mother at her wits end, busy running the wheel in the rat cage. Can't forget the stranger enraged with life, fully entwined in the lie that the world is against them. Why? Why share with me? What relief comes from exposing their secrets and shame?
Simply, secrets come to the light. It's not my ability to empathize or understand, but rather a lack of judgment that makes me a light. A lack of judging that I've learned in sharing my own secrets and shames with others. Others who responded in love and without bias of judgment.
In Jim's blog on Saturday He quoted Richard Rohr, in The Naked Now. Richard says, "Remember, Jesus never said, 'This is my commandment: thou shalt be right about what's wrong (especially with another).' But that is the only way that both the ego self-image and the dualistic monkey-mind know how to frame reality - something must be wrong, and it’s not me. But it’s not really working so well, is it? Why? Because it is a fatally flawed paradigm and perspective. It is an amazing arrogance that allows immature Christians to so readily believe that their limited mental understanding of things is anywhere close to the full understanding of Jesus. Jesus said, 'I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life' (John 14:6). I think the intended effect of that often misused line is this: If Jesus is the Truth, and you're not filled with Him to overflowing, then you probably aren't the truth (especially if you’re arguing 'against' someone), not even a little bit."
Point is that in those moments when these people choose to share and open up with me, I am, at least momentarily, walking in the truth that is Jesus Christ. The second I start trying to fix, diagnose, point out what's wrong, condemn, quote scriptural solutions... that is the moment the other shuts down. That is the moment the light stops shinning, the love stops flowing, and the work of God begins to be my work.
Even when we are the ones that seek the advice, that vent our frustrations, and confess our frailties and failures solutions are not what we need. We want them. We beg for someone, anyone to give us a practical step, a plan of action to get us out of the mire. But what we really need is for someone to stand with us as a light so that we can see how to get out ourselves. In getting out ourselves, we can avoid falling into the trap again. In getting out ourselves that evil in us that took us there in the first place dies, and the good of Christ is resurrected in it's place. Being a light is giving a hug when someone is crying. It is asking questions when someone is confused. It is walking away when someone rejects it. It is jumping in when someone asks.
Secrets come to the light. Be a light of love to those in your world.
