Dear Rose Park,
I’ve been spending time reading through the miraculous stories of the bible. For some of us we remember hearing these stories in golden boxes from Sunday School. We can envision the Red Sea parting as Moses led the Israelites to the wilderness. We can imagine the sights and sounds of Daniel in the lions den. We can picture the crowd gathering to receive the multiplied fish and loaves. We dream of what it must have been like to see Jesus in the flesh three days after He hung on the cross. Needless to say, the bible is certainly filled with miraculous stories.
However, I worry we view these stories as just that, stories and tall tales. I worry we read these stories as if they are ancient history and held captive by time. If we do, then we cheapen the power of God’s Word. The true power of Scripture lies in the fact that it is timeless; the book of Hebrews tells us that scripture is alive and active. Meaning it is not held to just the pages of ancient history, instead it is alive and active today, tomorrow, and forevermore.
I wouldn’t consider myself an art aficionado, however there is one piece of art I love in particular. It’s a sculpture and it’s entitled “Book with Wings” by Anselm Kiefer. You can see it in the picture above, but it is just as it sounds: a book with massive wings. Scripture is one of the books; it is not meant to be held and tamed to a particular time or place, rather it is meant to fly and bring its’ truth, hope, grace, and love to all times and places.
Recently I heard a song that spoke of the timeless love and power of God. Its’ lyrics went like this: Did He move every mountain? Did He part every sea? Yes He did, so yes He can. Did He defeat the darkness? De He deliver me? Yes He did, so yes He can. The power of God is not merely limited to the past, it is alive and well by the power of the Holy Spirit today. It is not caged, instead it flies freely to our current moment of history and it will continue to fly beyond us as well. So, the miraculous power of God is still alive and active today. We might not see it in the moving of a mountain, but rather in the softening of the heart in a friend or loved one.
I hope and pray we have eyes to see and ears to hear of God’s timeless love and power because it is not limited to just the past, instead it flies throughout all time and space. In perhaps simpler language: Yes He Did, So Yes He Can.
Grace & Peace,
Pastor Mark