The vision-caster

Imagine it. Jesus, the Messiah, has returned. Folks are coming from all around. New York, Colorado Springs, San Francisco, Denver, Boise, Miami, St. Louis, you name it. And, you’re still stunned because Jesus just chose – you. You dropped everything and followed, but now…

Of course, Jesus wants a break, so you understand when He heads for the nearest climb, but such a big mountain? It reminds you of the mountain they say Moses climbed a long time ago. And, Jesus has that “look” on His face – the look tells you, “Listen up! Pay attention!”

So, you follow. He sits down, so you sit down, too. You wait, knowing somehow He’s about to tell you what it’s all about, this radical call to follow Him, the Messiah.

Then He says, this? “You are blessed when you are at the end of your rope. With less of you, there is more of God and His rule.” (The Message Version)

What does it mean? What does He expect you to do? He’s not exactly giving detailed directions, you know, the “how-to,” “how-to-fix-the-world” game plan. It all sounds so, well, to be honest, weird. Not at all how you know the world really works. I mean, really, what did being poor, at the end of your rope, or dependent ever get you?

What Jesus is doing is casting a vision. An eternal God-vision. Jesus is preaching about being – get this – the church. How do we follow Jesus as what and who He is – the Christ? We must catch the vision.

The people of Jesus’ day had their own vision of what the Messiah would be when He came – mighty warrior, big armies, doing away with all their enemies, restoring them to power. But, they were wrong.

We have our visions, too. Independence. Self-sufficiency. Knowledge is power. Power, yes, power. The truth is, the more we know, well, the more we know. God is still God. And God’s vision is still God’s vision.

Listen to God’s vision-caster, Jesus. He’s not saying that our knowledge or our sense of capability is a bad thing. But, underneath it all, what matters? If you lost it all, what would you still have?

My friends, if you lost it all, God would still be with you. You would be God’s son or daughter, and God would still be in your corner. Realizing that opens our eyes to God’s kingdom. We are not all there is. Our power, our wealth, our sense of independence – no. Not the God-vision. Not at all.

This seems a difficult task. If we lean only on the illusion of our complete self-sufficiency. But, what if we remind ourselves; what if we listen to Jesus, the vision-caster?

If we live as a people whose foundation is a bone-deep reliance on God, then we’ll know that what we see and have here and now, well, if that’s all there is, then we’re the poorest of the poor. This realization makes us both poor – and eternally rich.

Listen again.

“With less of you, there is more of God and His rule.”

Less of us and more of God.

Where else could being poor make us rich?

Where else but in God’s kingdom?

I’m learning to stay in the light of the vision-caster. There’s room for you here, too.