“The disciples came and said to
Him, ‘Why do You speak to them in parables?’ He answered and said to them, ‘Because
it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to
them it has not been given. For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he
will have abundance, but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken
away from him. Therefore I speak to them in parables because seeing they do not
see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand’” (Matthew 13:10-13)
We were in New York, this week,
attending a Memorial Service for my wife Genevieve’s Uncle Nick, at a church
in Selden, on Long Island. We were
picked up at JFK Airport by cousin Joan, and spent the night at her co-op in
Rockville Centre. Then off we went the next day, east on Long Island, past
township after township, their names going past as a blur, arriving at the
service in the Selden vicinity with minutes to spare. Joan, who confidently drove us out
there, returned in the afternoon, but we elected to stay for the night with
cousin Barbara’s family. We would return to Joannie’s by train the next day.
Everything was wonderfully uneventful during that
return. We got to the westbound train to Jamaica on time because Barbara drove us to the train station and walked us first to the
ticket counter and then to the train. Train schedule and tickets in hand, we got
off at Jamaica Station and switched trains, traveling east once more,
but this time on the train that would take us along the southern part of Long
Island. The switch went well – we missed the first train, but then, with the
help of a man in a ticket booth, we were at the right track at the right time
for the next one. And then we were back at Rockville Centre, where a cab driver
got us to Joannie’s for the evening get together with other family members,
where we once more met in honor of the memory of Uncle Nick.
It can be difficult when we need to go somewhere and we're in a place we don’t know much about. Maps
are very important, a
“GPS” (Global Positioning System) is terrific, but it's good to also have the
help of friends. Jesus is “the way” (John 14:6)
directing His disciples to the “kingdom
of heaven,” the place they needed to go. Through the disciples, the
writers of the Gospels, He has mapped the way for you and me. We’ve been given the Bible,
which is not unlike a GPS map, in that it takes the recorded experiences of
those who have been on the journey, and makes what they learned available to us.
It can be hard to relate what’s on the screen or map to the places
that are racing past in life, and to have a Friend along who will guide you, is
very important.
Genevieve’s cousin Joan gave us a lot of information,
and so did cousin Barbara and her husband, Gary, who went into his computer and
obtained information about train departure times. And
that’s the kind of help we need. The Bible can be hard to understand –
life zips by, and even when we know where we are supposed to go, it can be tough
to know how to get there. And that’s a key reason why we are given God’s Holy
Spirit – He comes beside us and relates the “map” to the events of our
lives. Initially, He leads us to Jesus, the Messiah, who changes us, so we can begin to understand the languages of the
"maps"
leading to the “kingdom
of heaven.” God’s Holy Spirit is very much like a “GPS” installed
inside your heart and mine. He “will guide
you into all truth” (John 16:13). When He is given to us, we are
like travelers who now have the right equipment, but may still lack the knowledge to
effectively use it. And so we are also given each another. You have abilities in one
area and I might know something in another – we were always intended to help
each other on life’s journey.
The disciples of Jesus often did not understand fully
what He said, and they missed the point many times. The GPS may have said, “turn
here,” but events happened quickly, in ways they did not expect, and they would
miss the “turn.” But don't underestimate those who became the “disciples”
(students, learners) of Jesus – When they heard His command to “Follow
Me,” they “immediately left their fishing nets and
followed Him” (Matthew 4:19-20). They risked their families, their
incomes, their very lives to say “yes” to the Son of God. All but one of them gave
themselves unconditionally. Those who
say “yes” to the Lord in that way are given more than the world can understand.
To accept Christ is to receive the Holy Spirit of God. We "see" what we couldn't
"see" before. God enables us to begin to know what
can NOT be known through merely eyes, ears and intellect. In a world of the
blind, we start to “see” the “maps” we have been given. In this place of the
deaf, we begin to hear. Best of all – we understand, which comes through the
extraordinary mechanism of “faith.” And faith itself is not what we expected.
One time I heard it defined, by a pastor, of all people, as “believing
what you know is not true.” That’s not faith. The reality is that we
believe in Jesus because we KNOW He IS “the truth”
(John 14:6). True faith is something created within us and
faith itself is incredibly a “substance... the
EVIDENCE of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). The “blind” in heart can begin
to "see."
I remember, years ago, when I began to understand
that music had more meaning than I previously thought. Music is
poetry of the soul, in which images and emotions are presented to those who
hear. Western “Classical” music often portrays something of
life. “Clair de Lune” was an
attempt by the composer Debussy, to portray in music how he felt when he saw
moonlight filtering through trees. The musician Smetana, wrote a piece
called the “Moldau” about a river in Europe;
portraying its places of calm, the rapids and its beauty – through music. In the “1812
Overture,” by Tchaikovsky, the composer wove
together the French and Russian national anthems, conveying the desperate war
between Napoleon and the armies of Russia. “Rock and Roll”
communicated the lust for personal freedom of one generation, and “rap”
music reveals the anger of another.
God the Holy Spirit has been communicating to the people
of this earth since the beginning, reaching out in parable form, but also
conveying meanings to those who are willing to "know." The Bible contains a record of
many of the times God reached out to people and that Book
is a living reality for us today. Those who come unconditionally to the Lord,
like the disciples did, are given God’s “GPS,” His Holy Spirit and can begin to
understand, but those who don’t want the Lord, don’t “know
the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven,” for “to
them it has not been given” (Matthew 13:10-11).
Here’s a question: Do you WANT to understand life? What
it is? What it means? What it's all about? The answer to all parables, all
mysteries, is simply this: He who “knew no sin” became “sin
on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2
Corinthians 5:21). In Jesus we see it all. Our part is to believe in Him; to have
faith in
His character, His honor, His love – We come to God through HIM and
what He did.
Dear Lord, You are what life is all about. The
meaning of each mystery, every parable is in You. Please forgive my unbelief. I
believe and trust in You now. In Jesus Name. Amen.
