Seeing What You Can’t See

6-9-24

Hoonah-Hadley

2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1

Call to Worship Psalm 138

Daily Verse 2 Cor. 4:18

“For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” This is God’s word. An unknown author put it this way, “Things eternal are much more considerable than things temporal.” Normally our sermon titles come directly from scripture.  Often church signs have “catchy” phrases to make you think.  We pray for the Lord’s mercy should our creativity get in the way of the truth. The New Geneva Study Bible has titles for chapters and paragraphs that are brief statements that summarize those verses. The particular title given verse’s 16-18 “Seeing the Invisible”. The title could be any number of things. Maybe “Temporary vs. Eternal” would be prudent. But at the end of the day, maybe one of the things God wants us to see in our lesson today, is what we can’t see. On the cover of John Berger’s “Ways Of Seeing”, is this quote: “Seeing comes before words. The child looks and recognizes before it can speak.” In fact, most of us have heard the often-used quote, “I’ll have to see it to believe it”, or “Seeing is believing”. But God’s word often goes against our nature. We want physical evidence, while God sets before us, often, things to high, we cannot attain them. (Psalm 139:6) We have the famous “Doubting Thomas”, which in truth, is more of a “Conditional Thomas”. Jesus gives him physical evidence, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands…Do not be unbelieving but believing.” Question, do we need physical evidence that Christ is among us, do we need to see His hands?

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Jesus of course, knowing our thoughts, our hearts, concludes the lesson in John 20 on “seeing” with vs. 29 “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” What is at stake here, not only in our lesson for today, but in our lives, is our ability to see things that can’t be seen, namely, things eternal. Not being able to see a thing requires faith to believe it. That’s why God gives us His word, so we can see things that are invisible. Listen if you will with your eyes the last verse in John 20 “but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.” Yes, these things are written that we may believe, but even more so that we may have life in His name. A temporary, physical life, sure, but God takes us higher, He always takes us higher. John 6:40 “And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life…” These are words to live by and words to die with. God’s word is forever setting before us the seen and unseen, the temporary and eternal. The penman for our lesson sets the stage with verses 16 and 17. “We do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.” This chapter may be called the “We” chapter. In the first verse alone, he uses it 3 times. The “we” here is you and me. Vs. 15 “For all things are for your sakes…” You youngster’s may not “see” it, but as you get older aging can be discouraging for various reasons. What he is saying is there is a negative and positive to aging, don’t look at the negative, it’s temporary, look at the positive, it’s eternal. While the outward flame is growing dim, the light within grows brighter and brighter with every passing day. Praise God!

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Not just aging but in general life affords us blessings and curses, victories and defeats, honor and dishonor, popularity, and hatred. The apostle knew this all to well, gives us a list of his sufferings and shame. Imprisoned, shipwrecked, stoned, starved, he was cast down but not destroyed, troubled but not distressed. He said: “But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear to me.” No matter his station in life, poverty or riches, entertained in high places or chained in a dark, damp prison, he basically said, “so what”. He could care less, in fact, he rejoiced in his suffering for Christ’s sake. How does he do this, how does he live this way and how might we? He brings us along with vs. 17 “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” It’s all a matter of perspective. The apostle suffered greatly, over and over, there are few if any save Christ that have endured such a long list of hardships than Paul. He considers being stoned, shipwrecked and imprisoned “light affliction.” We stub our toe, we put it on Facebook, call 9-11, expect to be life flighted, given pain medication and spend the rest of our lives on disability. He sees his major thing as a little thing, and we see our little thing as a major thing. He intentionally put himself in harms way for the gospel’s sake, we intentionally hide in the basement to avoid any kind of suffering for any reason whatsoever. This is not a sermon on suffering, but research it and “see” that it is part of the program. Matthew 10:38-39 “And those who do not take up their cross and follow after Me are not worthy of Me. He who finds their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for My sake will find it.”  The apostle said, “I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live…” Crucifixion = suffering.

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The way of the cross leads home. If the apostle saw his affliction as “light”, which in truth was seriously “great”, how should we view our affliction, whatever it may be? He helps us with his thinking when he says, “which is but for a moment.” Psalm 103:15-16 “As for man, his days are like grass…” (See also Isaiah 40:6-8, James 1:10-11, and 1 Peter 1:24) Paul is painting the picture for us here. He’s kind of saying, “lighten up”, your suffering, your trouble, your problems, they’re temporary, passing, brief, “for a moment”. Vs. 17 continues, “…is working for us a far more exceeding weight of glory.” Did you “see” that? Your affliction, your suffering is working, let it work.  Oswald says we pray that God will remove the very thing He is using to save us. Paul’s letter to the Romans and James say almost the same thing, “consider it all joy when you encounter various trials…”  Listen to Oswald on the matter. “Most of us collapse at the first grip of pain. We sit down at the door of God’s purpose and enter a slow death through self-pity. And all the so-called Christian sympathy of others helps us to our deathbed…If God can accomplish His purpose in this world through a broken heart, then why not thank Him for breaking yours?”  Our “affliction” is “working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” Let it do its work. Vs.18 “For we do not look at the things which are seen…” My friend Chris Butke would say, “knock it off!” The apostle is saying don’t look at them, so what, who cares, they’re temporary, light, for a moment. Joy, sorrow, poverty, riches, all brief, passing, light, do not look at them, there is a far greater weight to consider. Eternal glory outweighs them all, look at it. “…but the things which are not seen are eternal.” 

Things eternal are much more considerable than things temporal, see them.

Amen.