|
The Rev. Frank
Logue How to Judge a Human Tom felt like he was drifting, upward. His body rocked gently back and forth like a feather falling to the ground, yet Tom wasn’t falling. He was effortlessly moving upward passing through a cloud. Then the soft movement slowed to a stop and the scene came into focus. Before him, two bright beings sat on a cloud. It made no sense at all, but there they were—two men dressed in improbably white robes, their large white wings resting against their backs as they drifted over the earth ensconced on the anvil-like top of a monstrously tall thunderhead. Tom could hear their voices, see them clearly, but a veil remained between the angelic beings and Tom. He was not part of their world. Tom was an observer of this angelic chat, not a participant. He heard them speaking with one another: Angel 1: I’ve spent an eternity in heaven, sheltered from the humans. After seeing them yesterday, I’m not sure how to know which are the ones on our side and who are the ones siding with the Rebellion? How can you judge a human? Angel 2: Ours is not to judge. Angel 1: Yes, I know. But how can we appraise them? How do we know them? God looks on the content of the heart, but we can’t do that. I want to know their beliefs. How do we tell the believers from the rest of them? Angel 2: Pay no attention to their beliefs. Angel 1: Pay no attention to belief. I thought it was beliefs that matter. Don’t humans just need to believe in Jesus and put their trust in him? I thought this was the essence of how humans reestablish their relationship with God. Isn’t this a matter of belief? Of faith? Angel 2: Of course, faith is everything. But how do you know what someone believes? That is the question. Or better, how could you possibly know what a human believes? Think it through for yourself. Angel 1: Beliefs are thoughts. Right? If you think something, you believe it. Angel 2: Ponder that for just a moment. Could everything you think, be a belief in the way you mean it when you talk about a human having faith in Jesus? Isn’t there a difference between the man who says “I believe I will pick up some steaks for supper” and what happens when someone comes to say “I believe Jesus is God in the flesh.” Angel 1: I guess so. That makes sense. The one who comes to know Jesus as God made man is changed by that belief, or should be. But what is the difference? Is it the type of thought? A thought about what someone wants to eat seems different than say their thoughts of love. Is that something like what you mean? Angel 2: Yes. You are the right path. But what is that difference between one type of thought and the other? Angel 1: It’s a matter of intensity. Some thoughts are merely thoughts, but some times humans are so passionate about things. It’s why I mentioned love. But after what I saw yesterday, I think college football might be a better example of passion. Angel 2: How does this connect for you then? What is the difference if you apply it to belief? Angel 1: Belief in the way I mean it with faith is more than a mere thought. The intensity is different. So belief in the way you mean it in believing in Jesus is more deeply felt…more than something one simply agrees is true, right? Angel 2: Right. Belief is something around which you pattern your life. Angel 1: Like believing it will rain, so you take an umbrella with you? Angel 2: More intense, remember. Consider the football game. What did the passion about football reveal to you about humans? Angel 1: They can put their whole body, their very being into someone or something beyond themselves. Well, maybe not beyond, not exactly. They didn’t just want their team to win. They needed their team to win. It was like how the team faired in the match revealed something about the fan watching the game. Those whose teams won were elated. The ones whose teams lost were so dejected, depressed, even angry. Intense is the only word for what I saw. Angel 2: How did you know which humans were in favor of which teams? Angel 1: They wore different colors. The fans in the red and black didn’t seem to like the ones in the orange. Sometimes they yelled things at each other. I didn’t understand what they said, but I knew they were each cheering for different teams to win. I knew the many in orange sometimes made fun of the few in red and black. I also saw how it wasn’t only the players on the field involved, some in the stands seemed even more passionate about the game than the players. Angel 2: So, how did you know which team they wanted to win, if you couldn’t read their minds and see their hearts? Angel 1: I didn’t need to read their minds. I didn’t even need to hear their words, or at least fully understand them. I could have been deaf and still known the orange team won and the fans of the team in red helmets were sad. The fans had taken so much time to be there and spent so much money for the game, I knew that this must be important for them. Their actions were speaking so loudly, I didn’t need to understand their words or read their minds. I could just tell what they believed. [pause, a change of expression as the dawn of recognition breaks over his face] Angel 2: Yes? Angel 1: You tricked me! We weren’t talking about football were we? Not exactly. Angel 2: We were talking about passionately held beliefs and how to know who holds them and who doesn’t. Wasn’t that the nature of our little dialogue? Angel 1: Indeed. So you don’t have to worry about what humans say they believe, you watch their actions. See what they do. Is that it? Angel 2: That has served me well for centuries. Angel 1: But why not concern ourselves with their words? Wouldn’t someone’s words reveal what they believe? Angel 2: Sometimes they do. But sometimes humans lie. They lie to each other and even to themselves. Angel 1: How is this possible? Angel 2: They are not always self-aware. They say things they wished were true or think others want to hear. Angel 1: So I turn down the volume a bit on what they say and notice what they do. That worked at the football game. I could tell their beliefs about the football game by watching their actions. I imagine I could tell their beliefs about God the same way. Is that it? Angel 2: Well, what might you look for if you were watching a human? How could you judge for yourself if he or she is a believer in Jesus? Angel 1: I think there are many ways now that I see the trick. I could see how they spend their time. I could watch their wallets to see how they use the money they have. I could watch what they do when they think no one sees. Angel 2: Much is discovered in that alone. Angel 1: I would see through their actions whether there is any passion behind their words about God. You can’t just say you love God with all your heart, mind and soul. To do that would change your actions. It would transform your life. Soon you would be loving your neighbor as yourself. The one always follows the other. I could watch for how they treat others, and the time and money they devote to God. Then I would know what the humans really believe. Angel 2: Michael was right. You are a quick study. The scene before him softened and Tom began to drift downward. Then Tom was startled as he felt an elbow jabbing sharply into his side. His wife said, “Stand up.” Somewhere in the distance Tom heard the priest say the words, “The Nicene Creed.” He jolted awake, shaking off the strange dream, he stood, and joined the congregation in saying, “We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.” Not quite free from the pull of his dream, Tom wondered, What is it that I believe? Really believe?” He wondered how the two angels would judge his actions? Tom wasn’t so sure he wanted to know. But he was positive that he had some things about his life that were going to need to change. Amen.
|
|
