Seeing the Big Picture

Seeing the Big Picture

Intro

Pray

Seeing the big picture is so important. It is so much more than just having some perspective. Seeing the big picture, if we are being honest, is the only way to get the real message of anything in life.

I think we know that. We argue with those we disagree with along those lines. We explain some position out in the hopes that this other person will better understand now that they see our point of view.

Unfortunately, we have become a people that can’t see beyond ourselves. We think we see the big picture, but we don’t. We see the picture we want to see and try to convince others that they should see it too!

[weird 3d pictures]

This is in no way a perfect metaphor, but it still serves its purpose. Do you remember those pictures in the malls back in the early ’90s? They looked like a jumbled mess, but if you stared at them long enough, you would eventually see the thing you were supposed to see.

And, at least where I lived, you would see people standing there staring, never able to see the truth! Never able to see the picture that lay in all those patterns! Never able to understand what the big picture was all about.

And church, that happens to all of us sometimes. We stare at these same old stories and try to find something - maybe try to find what we want to see - but we never can.

Still, others do see something! Maybe they see something that changes them. Maybe they are disappointed with what they see. Maybe they see something wildly different than what was intended!

So what do we do? How do we get to the point that we see what was intended to see?

We clear our minds. Take away our expectations. See in our moments only what is there, and not look too much into the things that we see. And most importantly, we need to lay aside what we think other people need to see so that we can then see what God needs us to see.

[patriarchs]

To get there, we need to start with the difficult stuff. For all of us, myself included. Think for a moment about all the stories you know from the Bible. I don’t mean ones you have just heard of, or have a passing knowledge of. I mean the stories that you really know.

And to make my point more appropriate for our text, think of stories only from the Old Testament.

If you are like most people, the stories you know come from the first 12 or so chapters of Genesis, 5 or 6 stories from Exodus, the 5th chapter of Deuteronomy, The first 5 chapters of Joshua, , scattered parts of 1st and 2nd Samuel, the end of 1st Kings going into the beginning of 2nd Kings, a couple prophecies from Isaiah, and an overview of the book of Daniel.

Now understand, I mean no offense to anyone here for that - well apart from the offense to myself and other pastors. But that is what we know. And test yourself in this, do you even know that you know it? Can you follow and know generally the stories I am speaking of just by the references?

I hope so. But if you can’t, don’t be worried. As I have said many times, every moment is a chance to begin again.

But that is us, generally speaking. We know a few stories about God and His people, and we expect, in some way, that we then understand God and God’s ways!

It turns out, that isn’t unlike the Jewish people. People who knew the Patriarchs, who knew the story of Exodus, and of Joshua, and David, but didn’t understand God really. They didn’t see the big picture, and would even encourage others to have the same myopic view of what God is and what He wants!

And that is where we find our text today picking up.

Micah 6:1–5 ESV

Hear what the Lord says: Arise, plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice. Hear, you mountains, the indictment of the Lord, and you enduring foundations of the earth, for the Lord has an indictment against his people, and he will contend with Israel. “O my people, what have I done to you? How have I wearied you? Answer me! For I brought you up from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery, and I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. O my people, remember what Balak king of Moab devised, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him, and what happened from Shittim to Gilgal, that you may know the righteous acts of the Lord.”

[read]

A couple of things stand out to me right off the bat here. First, I want us to understand what Micah is saying here. Micah has this vision that God has taken issue with the way humans are acting. He feels slighted in some way. So what does God do? God brings all of creation to hear His case!

The mountains, the hills, the very foundations of the earth! God brings in all creation to bear witness to our misunderstanding.

What does that tell us? I think it tells us that we miss the big picture. We are so concerned with ourselves, our ways of life, our comforts, that we refuse to see outside of ourselves! We can’t see all those things that God has created for us!

[pic of pretty sunset]

All those moments when we had a bad day and lose sight of the blessings we have. All those times when we want something so bad, but don’t consider how what we want affects other people. All the opportunities to love, to help, to nurture, thrown away by our worry of what people will think, or what we want in our hearts - even if it isn’t something that will make things better for another.

God has a bone to pick, Micah tells us, and just as in any actual trial, He brings in witnesses to attest to our failure to see the big picture.

What have I done? How have I wearied you? God says. I brought you out of bondage. Guided you through the desert. I have relented my will to allow you to chase after foolish desires. I forgave. Relented again. Forgave again. On and on I have been here waiting for you to see the big picture! Waiting for you to understand that what you think is real - what you think is important - is only an illusion!

I want to relay to you a discussion I had this past week that speaks to that idea. I was having a talk - well a debate really - with an Evangelist this past week. We were talking about what being a Christian is all about. And while we agreed on most things, to drive home his point, while completely ignoring mine I would point out, he hit me with these 9 questions. And I want us all to digest them a bit.

"Do you believe that when you die you will go to Heaven because you have confessed your sins and have accepted Jesus Christ as your savior?"

"Is your faith very important in your life today?"

"Do you have a personal responsibility to share your religious beliefs about Christ with non-Christians?"

"Does Satan exist?"

"Is eternal salvation possible only through grace, not works?"

"Did Jesus Christ live a sinless life on earth?"

"Is the Bible accurate in all that it teaches?"

"Is God the all-knowing, all-powerful, perfect deity who created the universe and still rules it today?"]

I want to relay to you a discussion I had this past week that speaks to that idea. I was having a talk - well a debate really - with an Evangelist this past week. We were talking about what being a Christian is all about. And while we agreed on most things, to drive home his point, while completely ignoring mine I would point out, he hit me with these 9 questions. And I want us all to digest them a bit.

"Have you made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that is still important in your life today?"

"Do you believe that when you die you will go to Heaven because you have confessed your sins and have accepted Jesus Christ as your savior?"

"Is your faith very important in your life today?"

"Do you have a personal responsibility to share your religious beliefs about Christ with non-Christians?"

"Does Satan exist?"

"Is eternal salvation possible only through grace, not works?"

"Did Jesus Christ live a sinless life on earth?"

"Is the Bible accurate in all that it teaches?"

"Is God the all-knowing, all-powerful, perfect deity who created the universe and still rules it today?"

Now according to Him, if you could answer Yes to all those questions you are an Evangelical Christian. Moreover, if you answer yes to those you are good to go! No need to change anything else! No need to explore what God is saying or doing in this world or in your life!

Those, he claimed, were the requirement for faith. But surely that isn’t all there is to faith.

Micah 6:6–8 ESV

“With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

I am afraid, like us sometimes, he missed the big picture. He missed all those other books with stories in them! Like us, he majored in the minors of faith - those stories that we hold so tightly to - and forgot the other 27 books in the Old Testament alone, not to mention the story of the very Son of God!

Those questions, just like all those other stories, can be very important. But if those stories or those questions are the whole picture to you, you have missed EVERYTHING God wants you to see! You are staring at those 3d pictures, almost unable to see the very thing that God desperately wants us all to see!

What does God require of you? What is the one thing He wants from you? What is - above all other things - the function of a believer of God in this world?

Is it toeing a party line? Is it fitting in? Is it answering some questions? Is it knowing some stories? Is it acting as if what we want is always the Holy Spirit guiding us to what He wants?

Should we come to God with those things? With our firstborn? With rivers of oil? With thousands of rams or calves? With all the burnt offerings we could ever offer?

NONE OF IT! NOT THAT THOSE THINGS ARE BAD, BUT THEY AREN’T WHAT IS REQUIRED! God makes His case to us all perfectly clear! THE ONLY THING HE REQUIRES OF US IS THAT WE ACT JUSTLY! WHICH MEANS WE THINK OF OTHERS, AND OF GOD MORE THAN OURSELVES! WE LAY DOWN WHAT WE THINK SHOULD HAPPEN FOR WHAT JUSTICE REQUIRES!

AND WHAT DOES JUSTICE DO? IT LOVES MERCY! IT DOESN’T HOLD GRUDGES OR DEMAND IT’S OWN WAY! MERCY CALLS US TO UNDERSTAND THAT GOD LOVES ALL PEOPLE, SO WE HAVE NO EXCUSE NOT TO DO THE SAME!

Finally, God wants us to walk humbly with Him. To stop acting like we have cornered the market on His will, or His Spirit. To understand that the only thing that matters is Him! Not us. Not what we want or what we think. To see the big picture, we must walk humbly with God, allowing Him to guide us to the reality that He intends for this world.

What does that look like? There was once an old Chinese farmer who lived in ancient times. He was the envy of his rather small village because unlike most of the other farmers, he possessed a horse. One day, however, his horse ran away and his neighbors who soon heard of his misfortune were quick to offer him words of consolation. “What a shame that you’ve lost your horse; how sad.” The old farmer responded. “Perhaps it’s a bad thing; perhaps not. Who knows?” Then a week after the horse ran away, it returned to the old man’s farm accompanied by another horse. Now the farmer had two horses. “How fortunate you are,” said his neighbors. “Now you have not one but two horses.” “Perhaps I am fortunate, perhaps not. Who knows?” said the farmer. Three days later, the farmer’s only son was thrown from the horse while trying to steady it and his arm was badly broken. What a shame” his neighbors chorused once again. “Well maybe, but maybe not, said the farmer. Who knows?”The next day, the emperor’s army passed through the village looking for conscripts to serve and fight in a war that had recently been declared with a neighboring province. The old man’s son was passed over because of his injury while the other young men from the village were forced to join the other soldiers.

[waitingonGod]

Church, seeing the big picture means waiting on God. It means not forcing your opinion on others, or painting a situation as blessing or curse. Seeing the big picture, is just simply being. Staying in the moment while being sure to love all those around you more than yourself.

I short, it looks a lot like Jesus. It looks like being poor in Spirit. It looks like being meek. It looks like being merciful! IT LOOKS LIKE BEING A PEACEMAKER! IT IS BEING PURE IN HEART ENOUGH TO FIND THE GOOD IN ALL THINGS! BLESSED ARE THOSE PEOPLE! BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO SEE THE BIG PICTURE! THOSE WHO HUNGER AND THIRST SO MUCH FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS - GOD’S RIGHTEOUSNESS AND NOT THEIR OWN - THAT THEY WALK HUMBLY WITH GOD EVERY DAY, HELPING TO BRING JUSTICE TO THE OPPRESSED! FOOD TO THE POOR! COMFORT FOR THOSE IMPRISONED - BY THE LAW AND BY SOCIAL NORMS OF THIS TIME IN WHICH WE LIVE! WHO BRING JUSTICE TO GOD’S OWN CREATION BY LAYING DOWN RIDICULOUS, SELFISH DESIRES, AND HEARING THE WITNESS OF SCRIPTURE! THE TESTIMONY OF THE MOUNTAINS, THE HILLS, AND THE VERY FOUNDATIONS OF THE EARTH!

BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO ACT JUSTLY, LOVE MERCY, AND WALK HUMBLY WITH GOD.

Blessed are those who see the big picture.

[COMMUNION]