Seeing things in their true perspective - Midweek Message 12th August 2020

 

Dear Friends,

Oh, magnify the LORD with me and let us exalt his name together (Psalm 34.3 ESV)

I wanted to pick up and develop a further thought on Jesus’ encounter with the rich young man in Mark 10.17ff that we were looking at last Sunday and to begin it by thinking on that word from Psalm 34.3 – magnify.

What does it mean to magnify? Consult a dictionary and you get slightly varying definitions depending on context. It can mean to enlarge something in size or significance. It can mean to laud or extol or to cause something to be held in greater esteem or respect.

We are all aware of instruments such as a magnifying glass or a microscope or a telescope which magnify things in the sense of enlarging them in our sight. In one of his books, John Piper draws a contrast between the way in which a microscope and a telescope operate as they magnify things for us. A microscope takes things that in and of themselves are very small, and enlarges them so that we see them as much bigger than they actually are. On the other hand, a telescope takes things, like a star or a planet, which appear to our naked eye as small and makes them much bigger in our sight, as they actually are. Stars and planets really are vast objects, not small and so a telescope at one level helps us to see them in a manner that corresponds more closely to reality.

Consider that distinction as we think again about this young man Jesus met in Mark 10 and particularly his relationship with his money. As he hears Jesus call to sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me (10.21), Mark informs us of his response: At this the man's face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth. (10.22) This man had been looking at his money, his material possessions, through a microscope so that they had become ‘magnified’ in his sight (really in his heart) out all proportion. So big had they become to him that they obscured from his vision that which was of ultimate significance – namely a restored relationship with his Creator through Jesus and treasure of infinite and eternal value. This young man stands out in the gospel accounts for all the wrong reasons. Many people came to Jesus sad and went away rejoicing, whereas this man came to Jesus outwardly eager and expectant but went away sad and all because he was unable to see things, and therefore hold and  love things, in their proper proportions.

This young man is there in the gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke all record his story) as a red-light reminder that it is all too easy for us to get things out of proportion in our lives and loves. So, our wealth, our health, our jobs, our families, our reputation, our fears, our worries, etc, etc.  loom large and dominant in our sight. It’s as if we are looking at them through a microscope. They, therefore, appear to our heads and hearts as so much bigger and more significant than they actually are. On the other hand when it comes to God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit and all that he is and offers, it’s as if we are looking at them through the eye of a telescope turned round the wrong way. They seem minute by comparison in both substance and significance. But the real problem lies with us, our sight. We are simply not seeing things as they truly are. We are being blinkered, blinded to reality.

It is for that reason, the Bible, the Word of God, is given to us to function as a telescope – to help us to see God, his Son and his Kingdom as they truly are – of infinite value and significance. If, as the Spirit through that Word illuminates our minds our hearts, we begin to see our Triune God  as he truly is other things in our lives and loves will begin to find their proper place and proportion.  There are so many places in Scripture when you can observe God in his great mercy and love through his Word seeking to help his people in this way. The one that comes most readily to my mind as I write this is in Isaiah,  where God’s people, exiled as they are in Babylon and held captive by their Babylonian overlords, have heard the gospel promise through Isaiah the prophet that they are to be released from exile and brought home to God. However, they can’t believe it is possible. They have forgotten what kind of God they have and his power and ability to deliver on his promises. He has become small in their sight and their fears and worries have become overwhelmingly large. So, God speaks though Isaiah in chapter 40. I would encourage you to read the whole chapter but I will simply quote you the climax to it:

"To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?" says the Holy One.  Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.  Why do you say, O Jacob, and complain, O Israel, "My way is hidden from the LORD; my cause is disregarded by my God"?  Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no-one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.  Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.   (Isaiah 40:25-31)

Whatever it is that looms large in your mind and heart, I would encourage you to set it beside this God- the God of Isaiah, the God of the Bible, the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ: which is bigger, which is better which can really help you ?

The psalmist invites us to magnify the LORD meaning to laud and extol him not because we are in any sense making him bigger than he is but because we have caught a  glimpse of just how good and  great he truly is. It’s like coming round a corner and seeing a beautiful summer sunset. What can you do? There’s only one fitting response – oh magnify the LORD with me and let us exalt his name together,

Yours in Him

David