AS I SEE IT
2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1
I do not often preach on the epistle. While there is much grist for the mill in the letters of the
New Testament I find that they are often very contextual. They address specific questions and
issues in a particular community at an appointed time. One needs to know what was written
ahead and what follows the periscope to understand the point being made and also have an
understanding of the community to which the letter is being addressed. What were their cultural
influences; how long had they been in Christian community? What was their relationship to the
author of the missive? While there is much theology to ponder within the corpus, I find them to
be less stand -alone than the gospel lessons. So I often preach on the suggested gospel lesson, but
this text from the second letter of Paul to the church at Corinth is one of my favourites.
I have used it at celebrations of life focussing on verse 16, “So we do not lose heart.” There is an
easy application to be made at the funeral of a faithful one as I remind self and assembled
community that suffering can preface glory; and that things that are truly divine are witnessed
less with physical eyes and more with the spiritual eyes of understanding. What can been seen is
temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal. It is foundational to our faith. Do not lose heart
when the way before you becomes steep and perilous.
Do not lose heart when the future is shrouded in mystery; or when you get bad news or when
your earthly life has been bruised by disappointment, ego or embarrassment.
Do not lose heart when you extend your hand in contrite apology only to have it slapped away.
In the wake of heart losing circumstance concentrate more on the unseen than the seen and you
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will be blessed. We need to find the courage to continue to believe in things unseen when the
more obvious and temporal dominates our vision.
Last Sunday I received a telephone call as I was preparing to make my way to Kingsdale
Retirement Home to conduct a service. I knew that there were going to be some hurt feelings in
some households because of bereavement and family wishes in the wake of the loss. My heart
was heavy and rather than slip further into mindful sadness I put a cd in the car stereo of a church
choir that one of my sisters sings in. I pushed the control to get to a particular song and began to
sing along.
As I sang the words of this praise hymn I was infused with faith, hope and love. I began to sing
at the top of my lungs as I made my way from the east end of the city to the west.
Shout to the Lord, all the earth,
Let us sing
Power and majesty, praise to the King;
Mountains bow down and the seas will roar
At the sound of Your name.
I sing for joy at the work of Your hands,
Forever I'll love You, forever I'll stand,
Nothing compares to the promise I have in You.
Over and over I played the song and I sang louder and louder with each verse so that when I
arrived at my destination I was concentrating on the power of God’s grace and not the phone
call.
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It does not always work. Sometimes the thing that is pressing on our hearts, minds and souls is
not so easily forced to the posterior of brain. And in those moments when our souls are
beleaguered, we need to try and find the means to look to the things that are unseen, for they are
of God. More importantly those unseen things can equip us to shout to the heavens, or bend our
heads a little lower in humble response. We do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is
wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed every day. We need to find the courage to
continue to believe in things unseen when the more obvious and temporal dominates our vision.
The story is told of a university professor who asked the students in his class if God created
everything that exists. A student bravely replied that indeed God was the author of all of
creation. The professor then continued, “If God created everything then God created evil since
evil exists, and according to the principal that our works define who we are then God is evil.”
The student became quite silent before such an answer. The professor was quite pleased with his
powers of reason and argument, and boasted to the class that he had proven that Christian faith
was a myth.
Another student in the class raised his hand and asked if he could ask a question of the professor.
The professor agreed and the young man asked if cold existed. The professor responded with
some indignity, “What kind of a question is this? Of course it exists. Have you never been cold?”
The students snickered at the young student, but the young man was undaunted. He replied, “In
fact, sir, cold does not exist. According to the laws of physics what we consider cold is really the
absence of heat. Every body or object is susceptible to study when it has or it transmits energy.
Absolute zero (- 460 degrees Fahrenheit is the total absence of heat; all matter becomes inert and
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incapable of reaction at that temperature. Cold does not exist. We have created this word to
describe how we feel if we have no heat.”
The student continued. “Professor, does darkness exist?” The professor replied, “Of course it
does.” The student replied, “Once again you are wrong sir.” Darkness does not exist either.
Darkness is in reality the absence of light. Light we can study, but not darkness. In fact, we can
use Newton’s prism to break white light into many colours and study the various wavelengths of
each colour. You cannot measure darkness. A simple ray of light can break into a world of
darkness and illuminate it. How can you know how dark a certain place is? You measure the
amount of light present. Isn’t this correct? Darkness is a term used to describe what happens
when there is no light present.”
Finally, the young student asked the professor, “Sir, does evil exist?” Now uncertain, the
professor answered, “Of course as I have already said. We see it every day. It is in the daily
example of man’s inhumanity to man. It is in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in
the world. These manifestations are nothing else but evil.” The student replied, “Evil does not
exist, sir, or at least does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God.
It is just like darkness and cold, a created word to describe the absence of God. God did not
create evil. Evil is not like faith or love that exists just as light and heat. Evil is the result of what
happens when a person does not have God’s love in the heart. It is like the cold that comes when
there is no heat, or darkness that comes when there is no light. The professor sat down .
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I am not sure if this story is true, but at some level of my being I hope that it is. Not simply
because an ego driven person was embarrassed by a student but because thoughtful wisdom
trumped arrogance. Cold is the absence of heat. Darkness is the absence of light and evil is the
absence of God. The evil is temporal and obvious to the naked eye; the more invisible and
unseen requires a keener more discerning eye.
We do not lose heart. In the face of calamity, adversity, mortality and despair the committed
believer is not to lose heart. Or if we do lose heart in the moment and feel compelled to be
defeated by the temporal, then we need to remind ourselves to seek the unseen and try to find a
toe hold.
There is great truth to the adage that there are none so blind as those who will not see. Mark
Barger Elliott, an American pastor in Michigan has contributed this story to my commentary. It
rings of Buddhist thought, although the genesis of the story is not shared and it has an easy
application to the Christian faith. A disciple sked his teacher, “Where shall I find God?” His
teacher answered, “Here.” “Then why can’t I see God?”
“Because you do not look.”
“But what should I look for?” the disciple continued.
“Nothing, just look.” The teacher said.
“But at what?” asked the disciple.
“At anything that your eyes alight upon.” Responded the teacher.
“But must I look in a special kind of way?”
“No the ordinary will do.”
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“But don’t I always look in the ordinary way?”
“No you don’t.” replied the teacher.
“But why ever not?” the disciple pressed.
“Because to look you must be here. You’re mostly somewhere else.”
Sometimes the moment is so frightening, or unexpected that the magnitude of the temporal
blinds us to the powerfully present unseen. In these moments we must not lose heart and collude
with the cold, dark and evil. Cold is the absence of heat; seek out the warmth. Dark is the
absence of light; seek out the pinprick of light in the dark tunnel and allow it to infuse you with
hope. Evil is the absence of God; allow the strength of God’s holy invisibility to transform the
fear and the threat into something that is manageable by God’ grace.
Do not lose heart. Look to things unseen for what can be seen is temporary; but what cannot be
seen is eternal. Thanks be to God! Amen.
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