Point of View
See on YouTube
Point of View
1 Samuel 15:34-16:13
Psalm 92:1-4, 12-15
2 Corinthians 5:6-17
Mark 4:26-34
In our Gospel scripture for today Jesus shares the parable of the mustard seed. Who would believe that the tiniest of seeds would carry all of the information needed to grow a tree 15-20 ft tall and 30 feet if under good conditions? If we would never have seen a mustard tree before then who would believe that this seed would produce anything more than maybe a small flower? It all depends on one’s point of view. God’s point of view says that little things can produce great big things. It seems that throughout history God has taken the little things and little people of the world to make big changes for his creation. He did so with Mary the mother of Jesus. He did so with Moses a little baby in a basket lined with pitch. He did so with an old man named Abraham and built a large nation through one child. He did so with Gideon and defeated a large army with only 300 men. God’s perspective is different from what might seem normal or what might make sense in the world.
In our passage from 1 Samuel, God sends Samuel to seek out and anoint the new king of Israel. God originally chose a man from the smallest tribe to lead Israel as king and Saul did do great things. However, Saul changed his view point from God’s view point to that of his own view, which was a view that the world sees. He disobeyed God’s command and he allowed the enemy enter into his life. Therefore, God chose a new king. Samuel new that the new king would be chosen from the sons of Jesse so that was where he looked. There were several of Jesse’s sons that looked like they would be fine choices for a king. They were strong and good looking. However, from man’s view point they older sons seemed like the right choice. However, God had a different view point. God chose the smallest and the youngest. For what he lacked in size and stature he made up in bravery and faith in God. This therefore made David the perfect fit a size for what God was looking for in a new king. Through this small and scrawny looking child God did great things and accomplished many things through him. From David’s line he brought his own son into the world as the rightful heir to the throne of Israel and the throne of the earth. God took a small young boy and used his size to point to his own greatness and vastness.
As time passes and we grow closer to the end of time for this world I believe it becomes more apparent that we will someday soon face judgement. As believers Paul tells us that as long as we are at home in the body then we are away from the Lord. Our home and final destiny is not to be in the body but with the Lord. Therefore, we should prefer to be away from our body and be with the Lord. However, to do that we must seek to please Him and not ourselves. We must seek His point of view instead of our own. Yet for some reason it seems that many in the church decided to stick with their own point of view instead of God’s point of view therefore they will end up facing God’s judgment alone when the day comes.
Around our world today there are those who create their own ideas in what God would and should accept in the world instead of letting God’s word to speak for itself. In essence these people try to play the role of God themselves. When some one says God does not like this or that, or God would never judge people on this or that, such people are interpreting God through their own view point and trying to fit God in their own box of what they want God to be. You can know this because when they say these things, they never use his actual word to back up what they are saying. However, when someone says God does not like this or that and here is what it says in his word to back it up this is generally someone who is judging by God’s point of view instead of their own. However, we still must be careful and look to the word ourselves because there are those who will say that they are quoting scripture to prove their point but when you look it up it is not there.
Samuel was looking at Jesse’s sons still with his own view point in what he thought would be a good king for Israel. He originally thought that the oldest son was the perfect specimen for a new king. However, regardless of his own view point Samuel was still obedient to God and understood that God’s view was more important than his own view and desire. Sometimes we have to live life that way. There will be things in the world that we want to do and will want to justify as being ok but will have to choose whether to follow our own view and desire or follow God’s view and desire. Our view might be of only that mustard seed and that will be all that we see and maybe that will be all that we want to see. However, God sees that great big tree that moves beyond the Mustard Seed. Our view of what heaven should be may be small just like that seed in comparison to God’s vision which is much larger than we could ever imagine.
In our world today there is unfortunately a movement of a human view point that is infecting the culture of the world and the culture of the church. This movement has been termed “woke culture.” Unfortunately, this view point has made its way through pastors and church leaders here and there in just about every denomination of the Christian faith. This view point states that if the pigment of your skin is white or on the lighter side then you are a racist and have been so from birth and that you must acknowledge and be shameful of yourself. Their cure for this is to teach critical race theory in the work place and in the schools. The result of this view point results in more hatred and more racism. However, God’s view point is that we are meant to be children of the king and we are sinful from birth due to the original sin of our first parents long ago. It doesn’t matter what color or pigment of your skin that you are we are all sinful and in need of a savior. The cure is Jesus Christ being tortured for our sinfulness and taking all of our sins upon himself on the cross and through his death and our faith in him we can be saved and enter the kingdom of God.
This woke culture also has the view point that you cannot know if you are a boy or girl when you are born because as you get older you might actually be someone else and they even say that God even created you to be this way. You know I just learned this week that Similac, a company that produces baby formula has produced and is selling a baby formula that contains hormone blockers so that if parents don’t get the child they want, then they can give them this formula and transition their gender from infancy. This is man’s view point. However, God’s view point is that marriage is between one man and one woman joining together in holy matrimony. In God’s view this is a marriage that is to be holy and all others are unholy. God’s view is that you were fearfully and wonderfully made. God’s view is that he knit you together in your mother’s womb. He made you exactly who you are supposed to be. If you come out of the womb as a girl then he made you to be a girl and if you came out as a boy then he made you to be a boy. The sickness is sin in the world that tells us that we choose who and what we want to be. The sickness says that we are not a living soul until we come out of the womb and if we are removed from that womb before we are fully developed and ready to come out then we are just some bodily tissues or like a tumor or parasite of some sort. God again says that he knew us and has had great plans for us since we were in our mother’s womb.
Man’s cure is transgenderism and or homosexuality. God’s cure again is his son Jesus Christ dying upon a dirty cross so that we can be forgiven and cured of our own view points and begin to see ourselves and the world through his eyes instead of our own. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:16-17, “So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” God’s view is of a new creation through our faith in Jesus Christ. The sad thing is that there are so many who call themselves believers and yet want to still hold on to their old view point and their old way of life as if they might be missing something if they let go of that. This is exactly what Satan tried to tell Eve when he tempted her in the garden. He led her to believe that God was causing her to miss out on some of the pleasures of life. He continues to do this even today. However, the truth is that if we continue with this view point then the only thing that we are missing out on is a life of holiness and a life of eternity with the Lord.
In the view point of the world everything that I am saying to you write now should be considered hate speech and I should be silenced or should face criminal charges for such rhetoric. However, the true hateful thing would to be silent and not speak the truth and never share the word of God or the view point of God. The hateful thing would be to not warn you of consequences of sin and to tell you that there is a way to escape your fate of eternal death and suffering. The hateful thing would be to never tell you the truth about the love a grace of Jesus Christ and about the sacrifice that he made for the entire world by suffering and dying on that cross. Biting my tongue would be true hate speech.
We have all have a choice to make in this every changing and radical culture of ours. We can remain silent and do nothing and say nothing. We can try to hold on to some of the old things and old ways of our life when we were being crushed by our sinfulness. Or we can look at the world through the lens of scripture and see the world through God’s eyes and show the world a different way of life that doesn’t include racism or hate, that doesn’t include theft or murder, that doesn’t include sexual immorality. We can show them God’s word as it is plain to see and untainted by man’s views or desires. What view point will you choose today? Will you see the mustard seed or will you see the bigger picture, the great big tree?