A European railway tunnel under the Alps is just over 35 miles long. Trains zip through it at approx. 120 mph, completing the journey in about 20 minutes. Emerging in the daytime, to bright sunshine, travelers wince as their assaulted pupils attempt to constrict to normal size. A teenager’s mother announces a too-cheery, school morning’s ‘Rise ‘n’ Shine,’ flipping on the lights, at which the prone body reverts to fetal position with head diving under the covers. At the end of a feature film at the theater, with eyes comfortably adjusted to the darkened room, the tech person gleefully snaps on all the lights to a collective, painful groan, thereby communicating, ‘Entertainment’s over – now Go Home!’ (is this their favorite part of the show?)
God, by contrast, always loving, always understanding our weak frame, always gentle, causes sunrise to be a silent, gently evolving drama, turning the sky from charcoal to dark gray to delicate pastels, crimsons, then pinks, then buttery yellows and flashing golds, with the whole sky absorbing, then reflecting these hues. His favorite, I’m convinced, is to watch His handiwork from water’s edge where the spectacle is mirrored across the glassy surface until the surrounding landscape is transformed by broad daylight. It’s such a delight to Him, He never tires of reproducing this miracle every 24 hours!
The in-breaking of God’s Kingdom came, not like the speeding train or the harried mother or the theater’s heh-heh-heh lightshow tech, but like the sunrise, allowing us to perceive gently, gradually, to adapt our thinking, our ways, to the ‘all new’ being introduced. The Apostle Paul states: “For now we can only see a dim and blurry picture of things, as when we stare into polished metal. I realize that everything I know is only part of the big picture. But one day, when Jesus arrives, we will see clearly, face-to-face. In that day, I will fully know just as I have been wholly known by God.” 1 Cor. 13:12 VOICE.
There’s such great news in Paul’s words to the church at Corinth! Did you catch it? Three words that bring such great relief! And they explain a lot! They take the burden of shame and guilt off our shoulders! ‘ . . . when Jesus arrives.’ Until then, there will continue to be puzzlement, mystery, questions.
As we live out our 21st Century discipleship, then, we shouldn’t be surprised about what remains obscure, all that seems ‘above our paygrade’, the things that cause us to stumble in our struggle to grow in holiness much like Paul in Romans 7:15: “I can’t explain my actions. Here’s why: I am not able to do the things I want; and at the same time, I do the things I despise.” I think Paul is saying, in the flesh we will experience growing pains, disappointments in ourselves, chagrin at the need to confess repeated failings, but all the while being confident of the eternal sunrise of God’s unfailing love for us, His chosen ones. (I think He’ll be waiting for us at water’s edge.) Looking forward to seeing all you still-growing loved ones tomorrow, 10 AM, 3 PM UK, 4 PM FR, ES. PD
