JC through an experiscope

When the sun rose up this morning, I did not dance. When my children awoke, healthy and laughing, I did not celebrate. When my tummy was filled with bacon and eggs, I did not take a moment to thank God. After all… it was just another typical Sunday morning.

Amazing things happen around me all of the time… most of which I do not notice… or for that matter, find so amazing. And while I take for granted the glory that is God around me… I also find myself putting limits on what God is capable of doing. The word ‘impossible’ is still very much in my vocabulary.

Here’s a question for you: Which of the following is amazing… which is ordinary?

- Seeing someone travel across the surface of water

- Getting cured of cancer just by touching some guys robe

Everyone, I think, views life through the eyes of their own experiences. I view God through that same “experiscope’. Things I’ve seen the Lord do I take for granted. Things I have not seen I consider impossible.

The apostle Thomas is most know for this “I’ll believe it when I see it” attitude, but all of the apostles saw Christ through an experiscope. In the Gospel of Mark, you can see this shift from “amazement” to “expected” within a few lines of text.

In one moment, Jesus walks out across the lake and they disbelieve it – they cry out – they are terrified. The next moment, they are back on shore, and anyone who touches the edge of Jesus’ cloak is healed – ho hum – been there, done that.

OK, maybe it was really cool the first time they saw Jesus heal the sick, but by Mark 6:56 that was already old news. “Oh yeah,” I can hear them saying, “I’ve seen this trick before. Still not quite sure how he does it, but nothing new here.”

Even with Christ in their midst, it was difficult for the apostles to see him objectively. Every word, every action, every miracle was processed through their own experiences and expectations. Their experiscope.

Experiscope is a better word than experiences, I believe. Because while experiences are fixed, I believe we can adjust our experiscope—the same way you can turn knobs on a telescope or periscope. See the marvel in the ordinary. Expect the impossible.

Today is a good day to turn the dial a bit. Let me see God in the blue sky, let me feel him in a cool breeze, let me sense him in the smile of a stranger. Likewise, let me see redemption in the selfish, forgiveness in the wrongdoers, life in death. Help me Lord, to see through your experiscope.