Good morning. Do you have God all figured out? Have you come to a place where there simply aren’t any more surprises when it comes to the Almighty? No? That’s OK I haven’t figured Him out either and I don’t think it would be true of anyone who has ever lived. Our God is an amazing God!
If we had the ears to hear and the eyes to see, what would we think of these sights and sounds:
There is the sound of stones falling to the ground and the footsteps of men walking away. The woman at Jesus’ feet deserved to die, at least it was permissible, even expected, under the law, to stone her to death. But she remains while her accusers have walked away. Hmm?
There is the sound of laughter and quiet conversation. One person, a young man by the sound of his voice, asks the other if he could have a bit more food for his supper. The other voice, that of an older woman, says “Why of course my son, I am delighted that you have such an appetite!” The woman is the widow of Nain, the young man is her son who was dead. She should be in mourning, and he should be tucked away in a tomb. Now he is asking for seconds. Hmm?
There is the sound of raspy whispers mixed with shouts of joy. It is the sound of 300 men rejoicing as they go through what their enemies have left behind. “Unbelievable!” one man says to another. “I know.” he responds, “This is too incredible to understand.” These two men, and the 298 who are with them, should be dead. After all, they “attacked” an army of over 100,000 men with a group of 300. They not only won, they didn’t suffer so much as a scratch among them. These were men who had volunteered their lives to follow Gideon, a man who had never swung a sword, let alone led an army into a hopeless battle. What was their superior weapon? They blew horns, and oh yeah, they had faith, lots of faith. Hmm?
What is that you see and hear? It is man dancing like a fool while singing as loud as he can. He is not a particularly good dancer or singer, but his enthusiasm is kind of catchy. His songs are the purest songs of praise. His dancing is punctuated by his leaping into the air. It would have been quite comical if it weren’t so amazing. Why is it so amazing? Because only minutes before he was sitting at the temple gate begging as he had done for as long as anyone could remember. He was well known for being lame, unable to walk at all. Now, there he is, laughing, leaping, dancing, and praising God. Hmm?
Wait a minute, there is another guy dancing his heart out. He has taken off his outer garments because he didn’t want anything to restrict the movements of his dance. He is dancing at the head of a procession, and the people are loving every minute of it! Well, all but his wife. She thinks it is very unbecoming for the King of Israel to behave in such a common manner. He doesn’t apologize, but he does try to explain. How can he help but dance in celebration and joy, because on this occasion the people of Israel are bringing the Ark of the Covenant home? She doesn’t get it, he doesn’t care, and God is smiling. Hmm?
What are those words? What is the poor man saying? He is near death with the stones of angry men raining down upon him. His death is nothing short of murder. Those who hurl the stones are savage and contemptable. What is it that he is saying? “Father forgive them, they do not realize what they are doing.” That makes no sense at all! He should be shouting his innocence. He should be crying at the injustice. If he wants to speak to God, he should be asking God to strike the mob down! But no, he prays for them to be forgiven. What could make a person be so forgiving? Hmm?
Do you have God all figured out? Have you come to a place where there simply aren’t any more surprises when it comes to the Almighty? No? That’s OK, I haven’t figured Him out either and I don’t think it would be true of anyone who has ever lived. Our God is an amazing God.
Vern