A10 Thursday, January A10 Thursday, January 23, 23, 2014 2014
Faith Today BY VERN TOMPKE Vineyard Community Church
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ecently I went to see the Hobbit in 3D with my family for our annual Christmas movie outing. I noticed that I wasn’t the only one who was taking the special glasses on and off to see what the movie looked like without the glasses on. Needless to say, I discovered along with the rest of the movie patrons that without the glasses, the picture looked distorted, out of focus, and barely recognizable. I find it interesting that when I speak to people who are struggling to make sense of the world, they usually ask their question in two dimensions only. If they are open to spiritual things, they wrestle with God questions such as “Why are my prayers not quickly answered if God is as real as you say?”, or “Why would a good God allow so much suffering in the world
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Seeing the world in 3D around us?” In their musings, they wear their 2D glasses and can’t make sense of what appears to be a distorted or confusing picture of life on this earth and the stubborn refusal of things to play out as they “should.” The book of Job is a great example. Job goes through a considerable time of suffering which causes him and those around him to wrestle with the nature of God and the suffering he is experiencing. At the same time, however, the reader is given a larger picture at the beginning of the book where we see that Satan is actually the source of Job’s suffering. In this book, we are given a rare glimpse behind the curtain where we see the larger spiritual contest that is playing
out in one unique individual’s life. The sixth chapter of Ephesians tells us that our struggle is not with flesh and blood (2D understanding) but we are actually a part of a larger drama playing out that includes larger powers of evil (3D understanding). As I look around the world, I see that despite our institutions and educational efforts, there remains tremendous suffering and injustice. There are more human slaves today than there ever was in the time of African Slave trade. Just this morning I heard about the pictures of 11,000 people in Syria who have died at the hand of torture. On a more local level, the forces of lust, greed, addictive struggles and interpersonal conflicts
You Crown the Year
continue to destabilize any efforts we make to attempt to build bonds of lasting community and family relationships. I have always been surprised at people’s willingness to readily believe in God and angels that are “good,” yet dismiss the idea of there being a force of evil as a medieval superstition. As I look at the facts on the ground, I see at least as many evidences of evil than I do of good. Now some become so overwhelmed by this that they switch their 2D glasses for a different pair. If our focus becomes only on ourselves and the forces of evil arrayed against us, we end up with an even more disabling handicap than when we wear
the first set of glasses. People who are so focused on the evil around them become almost magical in their quest to pray the right incantations to protect themselves and their families. Scriptures don’t lend themselves to this kind of disabling fear. We are told that light overcomes darkness and that greater is the God who is willing to indwell us and walk with us than any “gods who control this world.” Despite what we see on the ground, we are told that by the end of the “trilogy,” God will firmly be in control. Take that Smaug. So folks, here’s to nothing less than a robust confidence as we go into this world. Here’s to living in the 3D movie playing out around us. ◗ Vern Tompke pastors at the Vineyard Community Church and welcomes comments/questions at vtompke@shaw.ca.