Give me eyes to see

(A reflection on John 1:18 & Ephesians 1:9-10)

No one has ever seen God.

Abraham greeted three strangers in the heat of the day.

Jacob wrestled with a man until the break of day.

Moses stood before a burning bush as he worked through the day.

Elijah met God after a storm in the silence of the day.

But no one has ever seen God.

No one has even seen God.

I have looked into the eyes of a lover.

I have been present to see the birth of a child.

I have beheld the joy and laughter of my children.

I have seen the wisdom in eyes of my elders and mentors.

But no one has ever seen God.

No one has ever seen God.

The waves roll in and crash against the shores.

The bush and desert bloom with life.

The mountains reach towards the sky.

The stars wheel through space putting on nightly show.

But no one has ever seen God.

No one has ever seen God.

This is what John teaches us.

This is his controversy with people.

This is his conviction Jesus came to make God known.

This is his hope for a world gone blind.

No one has ever seen God, but Jesus.

Jesus has seen God, the eternal Word made flesh.

Jesus saw God at the moment of creation.

Jesus saw God as God chose a people for himself.

Jesus saw God as he walked through his life.

Jesus saw God in his death and in his resurrection.

And Jesus sees God now, eternally.

Jesus has made known what he seen to us.

Have we seen God?

Have we known Jesus?

Have we senses the Spirit?

Have we understood God’s love?

God’s invitation is found in the incarnation.

No one has ever seen God.

God, give us eyes to see,

God, give us ears to listen

God, give us hearts to hope.

God, give us minds to know.

Jesus come among us: let us see God.

I was struck this week by the audacious claim of John concerning our inability to see God.  “No one has ever seen God.” And, then alongside this message comes another message which sits in contrast with John’s words. In Paul’s words to the Ephesians, he says, “he has made known to us the mystery of his will.”

To live with faith is to live with tension in your life.  Tension because what we believe and who we follow in Jesus are not a matter of what we can prove.  Faith involves trust and hoping in things we do not see.  We do not see God clearly and neither can we reveal God to others.  Yet, God does not rely on our seeing of God to be God because according to the scriptures God simply is – and this God who is, is within God’s very nature love.

Now it may be that like me you have spent a little time reflecting on what 2016 might hold for you personally and for those whom you love.  Last week I invited people to write a prayer for 2016 - an expression of their hopes.  But as we think to the year ahead now in this moment: 

What joys? What sorrows? What challenges? What gifts?

What mysteries will unfold? What directions is God taking us?

The conviction of Paul writing to the community in Ephesus nearly 2000 years ago was this:

“With all wisdom and insight he has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ, as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.” 

Whatever our personal journey might entail this year the overarching message of Jesus’ presence among us is a future in which all things will be gathered into God’s life – all things, all people.

Paul describes the early church community as the “first to set our hope on Christ” which to me implies that we will not be the last – God will continue to reveal and make known this promised future to others.

Being drawn towards God’s life means that we understand that there are times we have been or are blind to God at work, or that God feels distant and unreal, but that regardless of this God is still drawing us home.

Being drawn toward God’s life means that we understand that there are times that people we know and some we don’t may appear more like enemies than friends but that God is still drawing them home.

Being drawn toward God’s life means that we understand that there are times that we will experience sorrow and suffering, or see it in the world, but we will do so hoping that regardless of this God is still drawing us home.

Faith comes to us as a gift.  But the gift that we receive is not exclusive, we are simply the first recipients. The gift does not mean that our lives will be free of challenges. The gift does not make us better than others.

With this in mind let us face the year ahead with hope as we embrace the gift of faith let us also “live for the praise of his glory” and listen for Jesus who makes God known to us and helps us to see through our blindness.