The Teacher with Her Back to the Class

The Teacher with Her Back to the Class

There was a time when the classroom teacher would stand with her back to the class as she wrote instructions or examples on the blackboard, with chalk. Then came overhead projectors and other devices which allowed her to face the front, none of which makes sense of the phrase, “she has eyes in the back of her head.”

Somehow, even though the teacher had her back to the class, she had a keen awareness of what was going on behind her. She could even call out the offending party, though if most of the class was misbehaving, most any name she called out would have applied. Also, she knew which characters were most likely to be on the “guilty” list.

But the teacher with her back to the class reminds me of God personally involved in Moses’ discipleship as He showed him His glory. The passage is found in Exodus 33. Moses demands to see God’s glory, and God devises a way in which Moses might see some, but not all, of this glory, since mortal men cannot weather the full force. God will place Moses in the cleft of the rock and allow him to “see My back.” I take this to mean that Moses was allowed to see the afterglow of the glory of God, a measure that Moses could endure and appreciate as a mere man.

Though God’s back was toward Moses, God knew Moses intimately, inside and out. He knew where He came from and where He would end up. He knew Moses from eternity past and will know him for all eternity forever and ever. The Teacher with His back to the class faces no loss of knowledge. But what about the student?

What did Moses gain from the experience? I’m sure He was amazed. It was a sight and an experience that He would remember forever. But how was Moses changed by it? What did he actually gain from it?

It seems that the greater, indelible mark on Moses is described in the next chapter, Exodus 34: “The LORD descended in the cloud and stood there with him as he called upon the name of the LORD. Then the LORD passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.”” (Exodus 34:5–7 NAS95)

That is, God reveals Himself most remarkably, not through experiences of the eye gate, but rather through hearing in one’s ears the very Word of God by which we are informed of the mysteries of God, not least that God shows mercy and judgment at the same time. We are led to fear and obedience as we hear His words, for which we are better suited than seeing Him. God’s Word outshines the signs and visions that we seek with our eyes. And so we ask, “What has God said?” rather than “What does God look like?”

Hopeless

Hopeless

Faith, love and hope are to be consistent features of the Christian’s stability, the three-legged stool on which we sit. The funny thing about a three-legged stool is that if you remove but one of its legs, stability evaporates.

So how many Christians have lost hope? How many have become hopeless? Let’s think how this might happen:

The Christian life is to be one of progressive sanctification. We are to become more holy in our practice. We are to become more Christ-like. This involves some rather sticky areas, not necessarily tied to the most notorious sins. One would be the practice of prayer in such a way that it is a primary practice and response in our lives that can easily lay claim to large swaths of time. But in our culture, time is tracked and allotted in very secular ways, often pushing prayer to the edges. Few of us are aligned with Martin Luther who said that he had so much to do in a day, he must get up earlier to pray. Have you become hopeless about ever becoming a prayer warrior? If so, your stool is listing heavily to one side.

There is also the problem of our guilty conscience concerning witness. The solution is not to get rid of the guilty conscience. The solution is that we should actually delight in speaking of Jesus to those who do not now know Him. But we don’t want to offend people. We are afraid. We lack confidence. And the excuses go on. Have you resigned yourself to living for the rest of your life with a guilty conscience regarding boldness for Jesus? That would be an example of living a hopeless life.

And then there is the problem of continued struggle with sin. We know those things that are outside the will of God, unless we are in full delusion. But somehow, we fall back into the same patterns again and again. There is a part of our souls that loves to wallow in that stuff, whether it is an attitude or an action. In the prophet Jeremiah, he informs that people that God is planning calamity on them for their continued sin unless they repent and forsake. This is what they reply: Jer. 18:12 “But they will say, ‘It’s hopeless! For we are going to follow our own plans, and each of us will act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.’” Does that fit your condition? Let’s do something about that!

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we cannot lose hope. Faith, love and hope go together. Even isolated hopelessness, whether in lack of Christian virtues or in the lingering presence of sin, is not an option. Ceasing to struggle in these areas, and others, is a crisis of faith. And so I take heart in Isaiah’s words (the happy prophet, as opposed to anguished Jeremiah). He also faced sin and sinners, but gives this word of hope:

Is. 57:10     “You were tired out by the length of your road,
    Yet you did not say, ‘It is hopeless.’
    You found renewed strength,
    Therefore you did not faint.”

Let Your Light Shine (Matt 5:16)

Let Your Light Shine (Matt 5:16)

I wrote today (Thursday) in the daily email about letting “your light” shine. We seem to have as many questions about this as answers. In reading through the remainder of the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5-7) I believe Jesus gives us plenty of answers. So what about this light?

Flesh and blood doesn’t seem to shine. We say sometimes that a pregnant woman “glows.” It’s not light, but there’s something going on within that is noticeable. There are also features of appearance that are noticeable, but that does not harm the metaphor.

Christians are those with “something going on within” that also has evidences on the outside. Let’s look at the internal reality first. Christians have an “alien righteousness,” that is, a righteousness that is from outside themselves, the righteousness of Jesus Christ. It is not just theoretical or spiritual. It is a real righteousness that is practiced. We march to a different drummer. We see ourselves and the world differently. We are in the world, but not of the world. We are, so to speak, pregnant with the righteousness and life of Jesus. It makes a difference.

What are the differences? Let’s not suppose. Let’s just listen to Jesus. Though He makes use of many word pictures, He also speaks literally. And He speaks of a “surpassing righteousness.” This kind of righteousness is not a righteousness that we ourselves, or any diligent and driven “holy” person, can produce on our own. It is Jesus’ righteousness in us, producing a new kind of person.

It is a righteousness that, as we worship before God, cannot tolerate differences with other brothers and sisters in Christ. Those differences must be resolved if we are to engage in true worship together. Ideas matter. Words matter. And relationships matter (5:23-24).

It is a righteousness that deals ruthlessly with sin (5:29-30). We will discuss tomorrow in the “daily” whether the right eye and hand are metaphors or not. But the point remains the same.

It is a righteousness that loves one’s enemies. There is not much wiggle room here, and if our light isn’t shining, perhaps we are more known by those whom we hate than those whom we love. Jesus demands this righteousness-from-above quality (5:38-47).

Jesus’ righteousness given to us produces a trust that is deeper and more apparent than trust in a political person or party, more fundamental than a trust in a portfolio, more secure than a trust in military might. In God we trust, not just on our coin, but in our hearts and practice (5:6-25-34).

This righteousness that we have received by faith in Jesus is a righteousness that regularly repents (7:3-5); that prays persistently (7:7-8); and that, finally, takes Jesus’ words literally and seriously (7:24-27).

We must ask ourselves in what ways our patterns have left the way of Jesus’ righteous way.