For This Reason 25

[HKHaugan]

I know I’ve mentioned this before but have you ever been in a conversation and a tough question was asked and you didn’t have a ready answer? Perhaps you were trying to explain why you believed in Jesus but they just wanted to put you on the defensive so they could arouse your emotions to prove that you were wrong. Or maybe they were just feeling you out by the question. They had another deeper question about their own spirituality that was lurking in the background but really probing you to see if you were someone they could trust to share with? Perhaps you feel intimidated when you think the questioner is smarter than you. It really brings our personal attitude into question doesn’t it? This is why we need to see the gifts we have been given to secure us in every next moment.

We may seem to be repetitive about reason, awareness and sensitivity but the subject of accuracy in living in the unseen is exactly what we need to understand as we try to get the most out of the gifts we have been given. Scripture is the ground for our ability to apprehend from one moment to the next what is taking place around us. It is not how direct the words are to the situation in which we find ourselves. It is the work of the Spirit through them that spiritually sensitizes us to the reality of what is happening around us from one moment to the next.

Getting the most out of who and what we are is the Lord’s intention for each of us. It is the gift of faith in Jesus that brings all three in concert for every next moment. It is the Holy Spirit whose wisdom through the Word adjusts them to meet the moment. Sometimes you need more reason. Sometimes it’s more awareness and sometimes it’s more sensitivity.

In Jesus we see this adjustment perfected through faith in the will of His Father. When confronted by religious authorities Jesus replies with an intellect sharpened by Scriptural reason. Take for instance His reply when the Sadducees ask Him about marriage at the Resurrection (Mt.22:23-32). They try a ‘smoke and mirrors’ end run hypothesizing about which of seven brothers would be the husband of a former dead brother’s wife since a living brother was required by law to take her on but each in turn died. So whose wife would she be in the Resurrection which by the way, Sadducees didn’t believe in?

Now if I was asked this question I would have probably said, “That’s a really interesting thought. Hmmm, which one? How about letting me get back to you on that?” Not Jesus. He was immediately aware of their spiritual heart condition with its hostile attitude. He was sensitive to their fear based strategy of using a numbers maze to confuse Him and, with His perfect Scripturized reason, replied without hesitation, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God. At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. But about the resurrection of the dead—have you not read what God said to you, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead but of the living.”

Don’t we all wish we had that kind of ability to be instant answerers? The thing to remember here is that while we might wish that, we also must be aware that these same authorities were still not convinced and later were in on His crucifixion.

What we need to be aware of here is that it was His witness that made a deep impression on the others present. “When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at His teaching (vs.33).” So, it is our willingness to answer in faith as Jesus did that is our calling. Whether or not others respond the way you’d like is not the issue. It is the spiritual reality of faith, the truth of faith in Jesus and His Word that others pick up. It’s not you to whom they are responding. It is the Lord. We are not measured by how good, bright and efficient we are. We are measured by our willingness to be faithful. Those other qualities will follow through the Holy Spirit maturing us as we go.