The Eye of a Needle

Posted on March 22, 2014 by Suzanne Montgomery

Recently I went with several friends from my Women’s Bible Study Group on a girl’s night out for dinner and a movie. We went to see “Son of God.” It was wonderful. For what appeared to be a very familiar subject, the producers were able to add details not often included in movies dealing with the life and ministry of Jesus. I saw more personal portrayals of the disciple Matthew, Mary Magdalene, and Pontius Pilate than I have seen before. I was particularly taken by the characterization of one of the pharisees, Nicodemus. He was only one of two religious authorities along with Joseph of Arimathea, that we know became followers of Jesus. As the story unfolds, we see that he is in close contact with the High Priest, Caiaphas. Nicodemus was a member of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish high court. This is the same court that met at night to put Jesus on trial for blasphemy and then turned him over to the Romans to be crucified. Prior to this fateful night, Nicodemus had numerous opportunities to observe the teaching and the miracles of Jesus. While doing so he perceived that Jesus was no ordinary man. And he sought Him out in the secrecy of night to speak with Him. It is to Nicodemus that Jesus revealed God’s great plan, “For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” When Jesus was condemned by the court and was sent to Pontius Pilate, Nicodemus tried to put a stop to it. But there were too many other voices against Jesus that night for Nicodemus to be heard. Later we see Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea in the group laying Jesus to rest in the tomb. The Bible doesn’t really say what happened with Nicodemus after the resurrection but I would surmise that his life was never the same again.

You would think that more of the religious folk of the time would have recognized Jesus but there were very few. For most, He was a threat, not an answer to their prayers for a deliverer. He didn’t meet their expectations. He didn’t come to make Himself a political king as they had hoped. But He came to become the King of their hearts. Unfortunately most of their hearts were too hardened to let Him in. But not Nicodemus’ heart. His heart was warmed by Jesus and he sought to learn more about Him. His decision to do so must have cost him dearly.

The great majority of people who thronged to Jesus were ordinary folk. Many were quite poor and few were of any influence. They had little or no material possessions. They had everything to gain and very little to lose from a worldly viewpoint. When a rich young ruler came to Jesus to ask what he could do to gain eternal life, Jesus told him there was one thing he lacked. He should sell his wealth, give it to the poor and follow Him. The young man couldn’t let go of his material wealth in order to gain a treasure that could not be bought. Maybe this was why Jesus said it was easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God. But he also added that anything is possible with God. Thank goodness for grace because otherwise I would be lost. I see myself in Nicodemus. By the world’s standards I am in the top 1% in material wealth, education and status along with many others in the United States. I don’t believe Jesus begrudges wealth when it is used to bless others. But it can be a stumbling block. When amassing material possessions becomes our goal, then that is our idol. We are told in the Ten Commandments to not worship idols. When we worship money rather than use it for good, we place it above God.

After Nicodemus chose to follow Jesus, I am sure he lost his position on the High Court and the prestige it brought him. Most of his friends and acquaintances would have seen him as foolish. His new friends would have been the motley crew of Jesus’ followers who were from all walks of life and social station. I wonder if his family believed with him or if Jesus became a divide between them. Nicodemus had much to give up. It would have been a cataclysmic change for him. But Jesus told him that he must be born again the night of their meeting. With the Spirit’s power he was a changed man never to be the same again.

I have not been asked to give up much for Jesus. If situations occurred in which I was asked to give up everything, could I? Would I be like the rich young ruler and walk away or would I boldly let go of it all as did Nicodemus? I understand how difficult it is to go through the eye of a needle. I count on Jesus’ words: “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.” So I will depend on God’s Spirit to move through me as it did with Nicodemus, no matter what the future holds.

Open My Eyes

Posted on March 15, 2014 by Suzanne Montgomery

When I was in the 4th grade you might say that I discovered I needed glasses by happenstance. That year my teacher, Miss Owen arranged the seating in her classroom in alphabetical order. I am by nature a front row kind of person but since my name started with a “V”, I was relegated to the back row. I found very quickly that I couldn’t see what was written on the blackboard. Even though I made a legitimate case for being moved back to the front row, Miss Owen was not going to have any part of it. This necessitated a quick trip to the eye doctor to find that I was very near sighted. When I put on my new glasses for the first time, they made me a bit dizzy. I was amazed on our drive back home that I could actually see the leaves on the trees. Before I put on my glasses, I never realized what I was missing. A new world opened up to me.

How we see the world, very much depends on how we look at the world. My story is about physical vision but in her poem, “Aurora Leigh”, Elizabeth Barrett Browning describes what it is to have spiritual vision. She writes… “Earth’s crammed with heaven, And every common bush afire with God: But only he who sees takes off his shoes, The rest sit around it, and pluck blackberries, And daub their natural faces unaware…”

I often feel like the one unaware, too busy picking blackberries to notice the evidence of the Holy all around me. It’s not until I purposely slow down that I am able to look at what is right in front of me. It’s when I look back over my life that I then can see the fingerprints of God all through it. Being aware has become much more important to me. Awareness followed by action releases the power of God if we allow ourselves to be attentive to the Spirit. This is repeated over and over throughout the Bible. One of my favorite accounts of new found vision involves the conversion of the apostle Paul.

As Saul of Tarsus was making his way to Damascus with warrants for the arrest of the followers of Jesus living there, he was struck down by a bright light and was blinded. He heard the voice of Christ asking him why he was persecuting Him. He remained blind for 3 days until he was visited by a believer named Ananias. While Ananias was praying, he had a vision in which he was instructed by the Lord specifically to go to a certain location and lay his hands on Saul to heal him of his blindness. Ananias knew who Saul was and feared him. He questioned the Lord by telling Him that this man Saul, had been persecuting HIs followers. But the Lord again instructed Ananias by saying, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.” Ananias obeyed the Lord and went in to Saul telling him, “Brother Saul, The Lord-Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here-has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” Immediately Saul was able to see again, was baptized and began preaching about Jesus who had turned his life around. Soon his name was changed to Paul and instead of persecuting the followers of Jesus, he became one of the most vocal of His disciples.

Paul was not only given the gift of his physical sight but the even greater gift of spiritual sight-the Holy Spirit. This Holy Spirit had already been given to the other apostles and believers on Pentecost. It came as a holy fire and caused them to speak in other languages so that everyone who heard them could understand. For quite a long time, I held on to the belief that the Spirit only worked in dramatic ways as it did on Pentecost. Surely this only happened in the times of the early church and didn’t happen in modern times. However, I have come to know through my own experience that the Spirit most often works in very subtle ways. The Spirit is the nudge that encourages, the still small voice that instructs, and the warming of the heart that instills compassion. The Spirit opens our eyes to all that God has prepared for us. This is the holiness seen in every bush described by Elizabeth Barrett Browning. But it also is the holiness seen in each person, no matter their age, race or social status. The Spirit opens our eyes to see like Jesus. When we begin to see the world as Jesus sees it, it changes us forever. Oh yes, we can try to shut off the promptings of the Spirit, but it pursues us in the colors of every spectacular sunset, in the joy of every child’s laughter, and in the beauty of every sacred song. We begin to see the fingerprints of God in everything. And when our eyes are opened, we cannot nor want to go back to the way we were seeing the world before.

Just as I could not imagine seeing the world without my glasses, I can’t imagine not allowing the Spirit to open my eyes daily to the world God has set before me. My vision is faulty. But the Lord is working always to perfect it, just as His vision is perfect. As in the old hymn, I ask, “Be thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart; Naught be all else to me, save that thou art; Thou my best thought, by day or by night, Waking or sleeping, thy presence my Light.”

Dreaming in Color

Posted on March 1, 2014 by Suzanne Montgomery

March is coming in like a lion with more snow and cold temperatures in the forecast. This year has been dubbed “Snowmageddon” since it has been one of the snowiest in recorded Indiana history. The last time I remember a season like this was the winter we experienced “The Blizzard of ’78”. Over the years, it has taken on legendary significance. Even with our improved snow removal, I believe a storm of that severity would shut Indianapolis down today as it did then. This winter has been quite a challenge too. We have had so many repeat storms dropping up to 10″ of snow at a time, that most Hoosiers are groaning and just saying, “Not again”!

The dark days and the bland landscape of browns, greys and white can tend to drag us down. Don’t get me wrong though. After a snowstorm clears out and the sky is a crystal clear blue, the carpet of pure white is beautiful. The trees at times shimmer with their icy coating in the sun. The problem is this beauty doesn’t last. The snow gets dirty and just plain yucky as we trudge to and from work in our multi-layered apparel, praying that we don’t get stuck or slide off the slippery roads. It just gets old.

So as we storm into March, I’m dreaming in color. My soul is longing for spring. Even though we can barely see it yet, things are changing. The days are slowly getting longer and the pollen counts are actually going up. We’re seeing more and more Robins at the bird feeders. It never ceases to amaze me that the trees and the birds are getting ready for spring long before we humans see it coming. The promise of spring is one of rebirth and of resurrection. The things that appear now to be dead, come alive again in glorious rainbow colors all around us.

I remember the first winter that Shadrach was with us. I think he was always cold that year even with the large down coat we had purchased for him. He had not experienced anything like this in equatorial Liberia. He worried about the trees since they all appeared to be dead. I reassured him that spring would come at last and he would be amazed how everything survived the long, cold Indiana winter.

It is no coincidence that Easter falls in the spring. God’s promise of rebirth and resurrection is reenacted every year when the grass turns a brilliant emerald green and flowers pop up in shades of amethyst, ruby red and gold. No wonder that the apostle John in the last pages of Revelation describes the new Jerusalem as the colors of precious gems with streets of gold. When the new heaven and the new earth arrive, their colors will be more spectacular than anything our eyes have beheld before. John had trouble describing their beauty so he compared them to things he knew. The foundations of the Holy City were decorated with jasper, sapphire, agate, emerald, onyx, ruby, chrysolite, beryl, topaz, turquoise, jacinth and amethyst. The gates were pearls and the streets were gold transparent as glass. There was light everywhere shining from the glory of God. Can you picture it? It’s a rainbow of colors shining for all to enjoy forever.

In “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” written by CS Lewis, when the lion, Aslan returned, the long continuous winter imposed by the witch came to an end. The snow began to melt, birds began to sing and the flowers to bloom. The promised return of the King arrived with the spring. The witch’s control over Narnia was over.

It may not look like it but spring is coming. Soon the snow will begin to melt, the birds will sing and the flowers start to bloom. We can count on it, just as we can count on Jesus’ promise that He will return. Evil will be no more and we will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.