Wednesday, December 17

Scripture: Thus says the Lord of hosts: Even though it seems impossible to the remnant of this people in these days, should it also seem impossible to me, says the Lord of hosts? (Zechariah 8:6).

Observation: The Book of Zechariah is one of the youngest books in the Old Testament. Zechariah preached after the exile generation returned from Babylon and resettled Jerusalem. The exiles are now colonists like the pilgrims who settled the first American colonies. They’re rebuilding Jerusalem and making a new society from scratch. Meanwhile, the second Temple in Jerusalem (because the first had been destroyed) remains unfinished; only the altar and the stone foundation exist where the fabulous sanctuary once stood. There are no gates around the city, leaving the colonists exposed to raiders, thieves, and the armies of neighboring nations. The economy is barely hanging on. The GDP of the new Judah, if it existed today, would rank among the lowest of the world, on par with other developing countries. 

Now we can begin to understand why hope for the future feels “impossible.” Of course, it feels impossible! Imagine a teenager in a country like Somalia or Syria, Ukraine or Gaza, a place ripped to rags by war, telling his parents will pure sincerity, “There’s a future for me here. I want to stay here. I want to build a future here.” We’d say the child was naïve at best, delusional at worst. We’d pity the child for being so innocent and short-sighted as to think any hope for an abundant life for him and his future children is possible. No- it’s flat out impossible.

But not from God’s point of view. “Should it also seem impossible to me, says the Lord of hosts?” God leaves it a question. Should what we call impossible be impossible to God? The only truthful response is, “Not necessarily.” God sees further than we can see. God’s love is stronger than we expect it to be. God’s preference to raise new life out of dying things is more stubborn than we think. 

Sure, the circumstances around us seem impossible, but once we drill down a bit further, we find that what we perceive to be impossible is just that, a perception. We say, “Perception is reality.” But that’s not really the case, is it? Merely because we perceive something to be impossible doesn’t make it impossible. A person with faith in God should ask, “What does God perceive in this situation? If I could stand beside God in the heavens and take an angel’s eye view on my situation, what would God perceive?” God would see possibilities that I, limited by my prefrontal cortex, cannot see.

The prophet Zechariah is trying to help the people of God exchange their (and our) perception of a situation with God’s possibilities for a situation. Human perception traded for God’s possibility- that’s gospel. We perceive impossibility, downward trends, fewer resources, unrelenting hurry, everlasting sadness, but perception is not reality. God is alive and at work in this situation, even this situation. That means there are possibilities here, possibilities for renewal, rest, abundance, and joy. “Should it also seem impossible to me?” No way. 

Application: I can’t totally replace my human perception with God’s possibility. I’m limited by my prefrontal cortex like everyone else. But what I can do is take perspective. I can suspend my perception of my situation and take the perspective of the angels. There are possibilities in my situation, as hard, hurried, and desperate at it seems, that I’m not seeing, but I could see them if I took a different perspective. What I call impossible is only impossible because I perceive it to be so. That means the thing that needs to change is my vision: am I looking with perception or possibility? This, in fact, is the difference Christmas makes. God is with me- alive, present, and active alongside me. Imagine the possibilities! Imagine what God might do next!

Prayer:

Wonder-full God, you wired the machinery that keeps

  planets spinning and

  oxygen circulating and

  babies growing.

But why did you give me a brain this short-sighted?

I want to know how my night will become day.

I want to know if there will be enough come tomorrow-

   you say there will be,

   but I want to know.

I want to know if I will accomplish what I need to accomplish

   for the good of the work and humans counting on me

   before I accomplish it,

   so that I know if I am able to accomplish it.

I want to know if the plans I’ve drawn for my life

   down to the millimeter will actually work out. 

But I will not know 

   because I cannot know

   because only you know.

I see in my situations only what I perceive. 

I am limited by perception, but you are not. 

You see possibilities for 

   new life blossoming out of ash,

   dreams replaced by better ones,

   strength of backbone and tenderness of heart.

If I could only take the angel’s perspective,

   Then I would see as you see.

God, I will do what I can do and practice.

I will practice the perspective of possibility over perception.

I will ask, “What are the possibilities in this, even in this?”

I will do less of narrowing my imagination to what 

   This short-sighted mind can perceive. 

Human perception traded for God’s possibilities-

   This is the gospel I need.

   May it be so.