4 June 2013 - vision test

4 June 2013 - vision test

“Whose image and inscription is this?”
They replied to him, “Caesar’s.”

And whose image and likeness is Caesar?  He is made in the image and likeness of God, of course.  There are not separate religious and social spheres with different sets of obligations.  The LORD is the LORD of all.  Yet Caesar does have a God-given role to play.

"Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar

Because Caesar is providing order to society by his government it is appropriate to give him stewardship over God's gift of money.  This is true even though he doesn't use it perfectly.  Even though some of the money may go to pay for pagan temples, sacrifices, and such, it is still a more important thing to support the social order.

These muddy situations can be difficult to navigate.  That is why we must trust in the LORD rather than ourselves.  We can't hold every variable in mind and weigh them accurately.  We must recognize the good to which the LORD calls us and act.  If we hold fast to him he will use our efforts for his glory.

The heart of the just one is firm, trusting in the Lord.

One problem that can arise from trusting in ourselves is getting used to a certain presence or absence of blessings.  Once Tobit begins to suffer he has trouble accepting any blessings from the LORD.  He doesn't completely fail.  His heart is set on giving.  But it is set on it so much as to exclude receiving from the LORD.

I called to my wife and said: “Where did this goat come from? 
Perhaps it was stolen! Give it back to its owners; 
we have no right to eat stolen food!”

The LORD wants much more trust from Tobit.  Even though the LORD permits Tobit to suffer cataracts he still wants to provide for him.  Tobit's real blindness isn't from the cataracts, but rather from a failure to see the image of God in his wife as God uses her to provide for him in his time of trial.  Like the Pharisees he can only see the temporal aspect of things and so has trouble accepting that the larger purpose of God is at work.

They were utterly amazed at him.

May the words of Jesus shake us out of our old ways of looking at things.  May we see that they all belong to God.  May we accept the myriad ways in which he uses them to build his kingdom.  Whether for blessing or apparent curse, even if he works through the abilities of pagans, the LORD can build his kingdom if we just make room and allow him to do so.  So let us trust him more since we believe him when he tells us that he will work all things for our good.

An evil report he shall not fear;
his heart is firm, trusting in the LORD.