Seeing, Listening, Tasting, Smelling, Touching. Am I Missing Something?

[HKHaugan]

That’s a long title I know but are we missing something? Maybe we’re not but a whole heap of people are. It’s just this; reality is two dimensional, physical and spiritual. Everything physical has a spiritual parallel, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse (Rom.1:20).” Paul weighs in with this further decisive statement about reality, “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal (2Cor.4:18).”

This fact of the fullness of reality was so apparent at a friend’s recent birthday celebration at a local restaurant. In the midst of the large gathering with a wonderful dinner, lots of sharing, laughter and fun conversation, the owner, aware that the whole group consisted of believers in Jesus, shared some pictures she had taken recently. They were pictures of cloud formations she saw as portraits of Jesus and of angels. Sure enough when you looked at them that’s exactly what they were. Now the point is this. She is a spiritually aware person. She looks at the world through spiritual eyes. For those who don’t see that way the pictures are just pictures of a cloudy atmosphere. As Paul said, it’s all in how ‘we fix our eyes.’ Now add the introduction in Peter’s first sermon,
“In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams (Acts 2:17).”

So this raises the question for all our senses. As we move about our everyday experience are we fixing our sight, our hearing, our taste, our smell and our touch on what is unseen? Are we peering expectantly, looking ahead to possibilities, opportunities, observing the world in a different context for what we can do, the newness of what might be?

Jesus taught using parables which are really spiritual parallels to physical reality. He was always directing the visible to the invisible, the blood family to the family of God, the earthly communities to His heavenly kingdom, the body to its spiritual counterpart, His Cross to personal faith and sacrifice, from law to Spirit, using night and day as pointers to good and evil, the physical heart and the hurting heart within.

Remember that poignant heart touching moment when a woman pours perfume on His head and He blesses her with words of praise because that act would memorialize her having anointed Him for His coming death (Mk.14:6-9). There is no act, no experience, no behavior that does not have spiritual significance.

What about simple quick examples from Scripture?

Sight
There is more to sight than physical seeing. The whole point of Jesus’ miracles, especially those that involved blindness, were done to give us spiritual sight, to see, believing is seeing for the first time. We talk about ‘in’-sight, seeing with the heart as Paul prays we may do (Eph.1:18). The entire universe points to seeing God as its Creator. When we look at another person we are seeing more than a body. We are seeing an image of God as the Bible tells us. We are seeing an individual with feelings, reasoning and talents. The Bible is the eyes of God looking at us and our eyes seeing God. We see with our minds and our heart and our spirits.

Hearing.
We have talked about sight but what about the other senses? For instance are we listening spiritually? What are people really saying as they talk? Do we tend to just hear words as sounds or are we alert to the themes, the ideas, the root of who they are as persons? How are people really presenting themselves in conversations? “He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God (John 8:47).”

You’ve heard the expressions like when you’re hoping to ‘lift a person’s spirits,’ ‘when life give you lemons you learn to make juice.’ But are we listening to the spiritual condition that lies behind the words we hear? There’s pain, fear, yearning and the words are more than words. They’re aching, hoping for what God can do and only God can do. This is what love is all about, spiritual listening. It’s what the non-believing heart and mind is trapped in that we listen for so that we can extend the Lord to them.

Taste
Have we tasted the heavenly gift, the Holy Spirit (Heb.6:4) the goodness of His words (Heb.6:5) that His words are ‘sweeter than honey (Ps.19:10)?’ Yes, there is spiritual taste that gives us a sense of delectability when His Word clicks in our spirit.

Smell
What about the sense of smell like when we say to a person, “You’ve got to smell the roses,” as a means of encouragement? But the spiritual sense goes much deeper when we realize the meaning of Paul’s defining our presence as the ‘aroma of Christ’ when we are out and about in the world (2Cor.2:15-16).

Touch
Did you ever consider how much physical touching involves heart touching? The simple handshake, a pat on the back, a hug and handholding express one’s inner relational experience. Jesus was constantly touching people for their healing, feeling the wind as a sign of the Spirit and submitting His body to the pain of the Cross to convey His ultimate love for His people. Jesus touched death for us. And, how we are to lay on hands on those who need prayer for healing, for ordination to ministry, His touch when we take part in Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

We are not human beings having spiritual experience; we are spiritual beings having a human experience.