Seeing Eyes & Hearing Ears: Getting in the Story
Matt Candler - 03/08/08 Page 4
I. Intorduction: Jesus is an author
A. Did you know that Jesus is an Author (Heb. 12:2)? He is both an Author and Illustrator of the grandest Story ever imagined. This is a Story of colossal and epic proportions. So great and grand is this Story that it was insufficient for Jesus to remain Author, He became Actor as well, inserting Himself into the Story starring Himself (no acting will He do). Unfortunately, the Story that He has authored is what we too often casually and disappointedly call “life.”
B. What is on my heart today is to remind us of the glory of getting into the epic Story, discovering that the Author is not outside but inside of it, inviting us to hear His words (of the Story) and behold His illustrations (of the Story).
II. the power of “story”
A. Story in its most basic form includes setting, plot, conflict, and characters. Eugene Peterson picturesquely describes the centrality of story to the fabric of humankind.
Story is the primary way in which the revelation of God is given to us. The Holy Spirit’s literary genre of choice is story…From beginning to end, our Scriptures are primarily written in the form of story. The biblical story comprises other literary forms – sermons and genealogies, prayers, and letters, poems and proverbs – but story carries them all in its capacious and organically intricate plot. Moses told stories; Jesus told stories; the four gospel writers presented their good news in the form of stories. And the Holy Spirit weaves all this storytelling into the vast and holy literary architecture that reveals God to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in the way that he chooses to make himself known. Story. To get this revelation right, we enter the story…The reason that story is so basic to us is that life itself has a narrative shape – a beginning and end, plot and characters, conflict and resolution.[1]
B. The bible, from Genesis to Revelation, is far more than a collection of commands, moral principles, spiritual guidelines, theological comparisons, examples of obedience, or targets to ‘shoot’ for. The sacred Scripture is a sacred Story, that we are invited into participate.
C. The key to connecting to the Scriptures is to find ourselves in the greatest story of all stories. We are not only included in the sacred story, our lives actually shape the story. Our lives are not a disconnected existential afterthought of God in which all He merely asks of us is to ‘give it our best shot.” Rather we are a critical part that really participates in a very real story. The bible is not an encyclopedia but mountains and rivers. The bible is not an encyclopedia to be understood and memorized, but very real mountains where He met with people, rivers that He helped them cross, and stars He hung to guide and comfort.
D. The bible is God’s inspired, authoritative, and infallible account that He has planted Himself within our story and is glad about it. Peterson continues, “And what becomes abundantly evident …is that God’s way is to immerse himself in history and invite men and women to freely participate in his ways. God doesn’t stand outside the story and hurl thunderbolts into it.”[2]
E. The testimony of those who were in the Story with Jesus declared Hs words living, astonishing, amazing, marveling, I too often read these testimonials of Jesus’ life and words, and think really?
F. If the story is so awesomely epic, why does it seems oftentimes seem so boring, like a fine print pictureless book in another language? We will look at 2 basic reasons:
III. The need to see & Hear: THe one thing needed
6 Before the throne there was a sea of glass, like crystal. And in the midst of the throne, and around the throne, were four living creatures full of eyes in front and in back. 8 The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying: “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!” (Re 4:6, 8)
16 do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, 18 the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling (Jesus is the Star of the Story), what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, (Eph 1:16-18)
A. Over and over the Scriptural witness is for us to be seers & hearers, lookers & listeners, gazers & inquirers of His word. Why? So that we might see and hear the Story we are in right now!.
B. It is this posture of hearing His words seeing His illustrations that enables us to become a voice within the Story of what we have seen and heard, “for we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:20; Acts 22:15; Is. 66:8; Lk. 2:20, 7:22, 10:24; Jn. 3:22, 1 Cor. 2:9; 1 Jn. 1:1, 3).
C. Seeing and hearing go hand in hand, before Jesus Who is both spoken Word to our ears(Jn. 1:1) and the Light to our eyes of the knowledge of glory of God (2 Cor. 4:4-6). We must bring our eyes to look (gaze) upon Jesus, the Incarnate (seen) Word (heard), drawing near to hear as ones who listen. Jesus beckons us to become those who listen and behold. The Father leaned over the balcony of heaven commanding us to “Hear Him!” (Matt 17:5; Mk. 9:7; Lk. 9:35) The weight and light of revelation crashes in upon us as we are imaginatively earthed in the story.
D. In essence, this is synonymous with the “one thing” that is needed (Lk. 10:42). Jesus told Martha that one thing was needed, sitting and hearing Jesus’ words. Or as David said, “one thing” he desired, “to behold the beauty of the Lord.” (Ps. 27:4).
“To come to the Lord beholding and hearing is not synonymous with a “radical” lifestyle of obedience. That is simply Christianity, for the Bible does not envision any other response to Christ but absolute wholeheartedness. Nor is it being in full-time ministry and filling your days with service. This is admirable and we are to serve diligently and selflessly, but that is not the call to one thing either. Yet neither is it simply personal prayer and supplication in which we make our requests known to God and ask for His help and intervention. Such a practice is important and dear to the Lord’s heart but cannot be equated with gazing on His beauty. Furthermore, in our own context, it is not simply going to the prayer room and even engaging in the ministry of intercession. Standing in the gap before the Lord is one of our highest privileges and we are called to it, but it is not the Biblical call to sit at His feet and hear His word.” Stephen Van Venable, Mystical Life of Communion 2008; Forerunner School of Ministry
E. The one needful thing is drawing nigh to the Author of our faith seeing Him wide-eyed and hearing Him with wide-eyes whisper “once upon a time” soon after realizing the epic story has ever-continued encompassing our days and lives.
F. It is this that puts Christianity into the proper relational perspective. This is NOT about thinking on His words, as mere concepts, principles, or commands but His words as Story.
G. If we don’t let Jesus script the Story for us we will let the spirit of this age will script the story; filling our eyes with grandeur of self, greed, and lust and our ears with the music that enflames and emboldens our passions to act on what we have seen. Since YouTube’s inception in 2005, the total time spent watching videos in only 1 year was equivalent to 9,305 years! About 70% of its registered users were American and roughly half are under 20 years of age. There are 10-65,000 videos added every day.
IV. David sees and hears
A. The life of David is the most extensively narrated story in the whole bible. It is not an accident that there is more scripture on David than any other besides Jesus.
B. In David’s early years trained him to be a seer and hearer of God’s perpetual revelation.
V. Ps. 19:1-4: the heavens silent proclamation
The heavens (aerial, solar, starry) declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork. 2 Day unto day utters speech, And night unto night reveals knowledge. 3 There is no spee...
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