Many of the stories we read in the Bible have lost their effect on us.
As children we were mesmerised by the impossible odds some of our heroes overcame. Yet at some point we became all adult and they reverted just to ‘stories’ we kinda believe are true because they are in the Bible, but don’t really think about in that same way.
Take a moment to consider two of our favourites. But imagine them as real life occurrences (before you know how they end).
THE LIGHTIE AND THE GIANT
David and Goliath. We have heard it so many times that the ridiculousness of it has long since escaped us. An entire army held hostage by one albeit-WWE-type soldier who challenges them to a one-on-one duel every morning.
A non-soldier teenager comes along and takes up the challenge, refusing to wear the provided armour because he can’t carry it and choosing instead to tackle this military machine of a man with his sling and handful of stones.
Once we know the end of the story we can read it with a complete lack of suspense, but if this was true and it really happened, then there was the moment an entire nation was relying on a little kid to defeat a weapon-bearing giant armed with a bit of a toy. Complete insanity.
CATCHING A WAVE
Next up we have the story of Peter walking on the water. He has always gotten a bit of a hard break with that one. He walks on water for just a short while, but then he catches sight of the wind and the waves and starts to sink and Jesus has to rescue him. What a joke.
But once again, pretend the story is a real life event for a minute. There is a moment when this fisherman, who was very well aware of the science of how water works, steps out of a boat and places his foot on top of a lake, and then quickly follows with the rest of his body. All while the other disciples were probably trying to look busy.
He literally stands on water. He takes a few steps. We tend to lose sight of the lunacy involved in that moment. God changes the scientific nature of water so that a human can stand on top of it.
ALL IN
There is a short story in the New Testament which Jesus draws attention to, of a lived out crazy experience of faith. The wealthy in the temple are making a big show of how much they toss in to the offering bowl. Then, quietly and unassuming, a widow steps forward and drops in two tiny coins. And no-one notices. Except Jesus. And He draws attention to it, saying, “They all gave out of their wealth, but she, out of her poverty, put in everything – all she had to live on.” [Mark 12.44]
Moses holds his staff above an ocean, Noah builds a giant boat in the middle of a desert region, Abraham takes his only [promised] son up a mountain to sacrifice him and the disciples start handing out five loaves of bread and two fish to thousands of people. What is interesting, time and time again in the Bible is that people were called to an incredible risk of faith, often an insane one, BEFORE the miracle happened.
There is a moment when if God doesn’t pitch up, they are going to be absolutely embarrassed and in extreme cases people will die.
AND THEN THERE WAS THIS ONE
Perhaps the story to highlight this extreme that God often requires of us is a lesser known one involving the prophet Elisha, which was sneaked into the book of 2 Kings in the Old Testament.
God has already miraculously provided a son for a woman from the town of Shunem through a prophetic word from Elisha. Years later the son dies. She sends for Elisha and when he arrives he does what might have ended up being the dodgiest action a priest ever took (if God had not showed up).
‘When Elisha reached the house, there was the boy lying dead on his couch. He went in, shut the door on the two of them and prayed to the Lord. Then he got on the bed and lay upon the boy mouth to mouth, eyes to eyes, hands to hands. As he stretched himself out upon him, the boy’s body grew warm. Elisha turned away and walked back and forth in the room and then got on the bed and stretched out upon him once more. The boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes. ‘ [4.32-37]
A really great story once we know how it ends, but for Elisha, at that moment when God tells him what he has to do, his faith must have been hugely challenged.
HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND?
We don’t even have to perform some of these strange acts today to have that question leveled at us.
And actually the answer is Yes.
In 1 Corinthians we are told:
27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him.
The way of following Jesus is contrary to what looks like sanity for the rest of the world. In fact we are also told in Romans 12:
2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
But it is not so much losing your mind as having it restored to the way it was meant to be. A mind that has faith and trusts in God will not make sense to anyone else who is focused on themselves as the one their Universe revolves around.
In a world that looks like ours does today, perhaps having a mind that is focused on something else besides myself is one of the sanest things I can do?