Of Mount Everest and Mauna Kea
It’s quiz time folks! Name the tallest mountain peak in the World. A no brainer really… for some folks (including yours truly, till recently)…pat would come the response from them…Mount Everest! No, that’s not the right answer. Pat yourself on your back, if your answer was Mauna Kea. Boy, Mauna Kea off the Hawaiian coast “towers” over the rest. It’s height is 33,000 feet vis-a-vis its nearest competitor Mount Everest whose height as most of us know is 29,000 feet. The only problem with Mauna Kea is that nearly 54% of it is submerged below the Pacific Ocean and hence not immediately visible to the naked eye.
Action: Display of comparative chart of the heights of Mount Everest and Mauna Kea
What is that about human tendency which at once goes only for THE VISIBLE AND THE OBVIOUS? Did it not all begin with the luscious-looking forbidden fruit (Genesis 3:6) in the Garden of Eden for which our Grandparents fell, when far more nourishing, but perhaps in effect “not-so-attractive” fruits were abounding in the “little Heaven on Earth”? The answer is OBVIOUS. Talk of transmission of traits from the parents to their offspring…
In this message, I am inspired to share with my committed readership about our Heavenly Father’s perspective which is not quite as same as ours (Isaiah 55:8-9). There are atleast 4 instances in the Blessed Scripture where we perceive His vision going beyond what meets the eye.
SHEPHERD…
Display of pictures of
a) Jesse of Bethlehem parading His sons' before Prophet Samuel
b) Prophet Samuel anointing Shepherd boy David
When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, “Surely the LORD’s anointed stands here before the LORD.”
But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD LOOKS AT THE HEART.”-1 Samuel 16:6-7
Welcome virtually to the men ramp show of 1000 BC, the contestants being the sons of Jesse of Bethlehem and the Prize:Throne of Kingdom of Israel. Lo and behold the winner is NOT the most handsome or strongest or the most intelligent of them all but the boyish, earthy last son of Jesse (1 Sam 16:1-13) who tended his father’s sheep. Now this Shepherd boy in his “incomparable CV” had a heart that was at all times subservient to the Lord’s will (Acts 13:22). No wonder, the Lord saw in shepherd boy David the potential to accomplish a mission for His chosen Nation, which amongst others included control of the Promised Land from “from the desert(southern border) to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Mediterranean Sea in the west.”- Joshua 1:4. Now the conquest that resembled “Mission impossible” during the 400 years reign of 12 Judges turned into “Mission possible” in the mere 40 year reign of one Shepherd boy turned King- David.
Implicit obedience of David was bound to court success, hence it was not all surprising that wherever David went in his crusades, the Lord crowned all his efforts with success (2 Sam 8:14).
Action: Display of maps' of
a) King David's military campaigns
b) His overall Empire, including places from where collected taxes by placing his army garrisons.
His all round success in military campaigns aside, King David barring a blip here or a blip there was to leave a lasting legacy of obedience to the Almighty (II Chronicles 17:3/ 28:1/ 34:2) who graciously gave him the throne when he was a nobody in the Jewish society , more so in his own family. The good Lord spotted “a Mauna Kea of potential” in him which his own family members were not cognizant of.
STAMMER…
Action: Display of the picture of Moses before the burning bush
Talking of mountains, nearly 500 years before the advent of David, we see yet another Biblical hero-again a shepherd at that-in his mountaintop conversation (Mount Horeb to be precise) with the Almighty (who appeared to him in a burning bush) grossly underestimating his own potential and dishing out one excuse after another (Exodus 3-4:13) for not undertaking a Divine responsibility.
Yes, you guessed it right. I am speaking of Moses, who simply did not want to shoulder the onerous responsibility of being the Ambassador of the Lord before the powerful Pharoah (World super power at that time) seeking deliverance of the 2.5 million Jewish slaves from Egyptian bondage, especially in view of his own hasty departure from Egypt 40 years earlier with “bloodied hands” (Exodus 2:11-15). Was the good Lord in a mood to let Moses go, listening to his many excuses which amongst others included a serious speech impediment (Exodus 4:10)? NO WAY!!!
In Moses, the good Lord saw a leader who would shepherd His people all the way from Egypt to the borders of the Promised Land. History bears witness to the fact as to how patiently and perseveringly, this once reluctant leader led the people in an arduous journey which would last for 40 long years. There would be very few great leaders like Moses in entire Biblical history. His speech impediment? Well, the good Lord, who transforms the weaknesses’ of His Chosen ones’ into their strengths (Heb 11:34/2 Cor 12:10) made this “stutterer” give the longest recorded sermon in the Bible. We would see Moses’ farewell message spanning 33 chapters of the Book of Deuteronomy. HALLELUJAH!!!
SCARED…
Action: Display of the picture of Angel speaking to Gideon, when he was threshing wheat in the wine press
“When the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, “The LORD is with you, mighty warrior.”-Judges 6:12
For the uninitiated, the above Scripture verse could well make them imagine Gideon as a Mr. Universe contestant flexing his bulging biceps before an admiring global audience but one has to go back by just one verse, to see how Gideon saw himself for what he was…
“…one day the Angel of the Lord came and sat beneath the oak tree at Ophrah, on the farm of Joash the Abiezrite. Joash’s son, Gideon, had been threshing wheat by hand in the bottom of a grape press—a pit where grapes were pressed to make wine—for he was hiding from the Midianites.” –Judges 6:11(TLB)
A quick recap is warranted here. The Book of Judges describing the period of Israeli history after the departure of that great leader Joshua gives us a cyclical pattern in the matter of obedience, disobedience, chastisement, repentance and again obedience of the people of Israel.
Whenever, the Lord’s chosen people due to sheer ingratitude despite inheriting a “Land flowing with milk and honey” (without as much as raising a finger in labour) would desert the paths of obedience to their Redeemer God, He would use their neighboring enemies as “whipping rods” to bring them back into the right track (Heb 12:5-13). Once they would come “to their senses” like the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-20), He would raise a leader to deliver them. Now our unlikely hero Gideon was used by the good Lord to “save” the repentant lot from the Midianites (the Lord’s temporary chastening rod) who had harassed them for seven years (Judges 6:1-10). But it is the introductory account of Gideon in the Scriptures which is at once arresting. Here is the cowardly man threshing his wheat in a winepress afraid of the Midianites but the angel under the Almighty’s orders is addressing him as a “Mighty soldier”. Obviously, the good Lord was seeing in Gideon a potential not visible to the naked eye. Once, Gideon trusted the Lord and responded to the Divine call, the rest was as they history….rather the Midianites became history when challenged by Gideon with a “puny army” of not more than 300 men carrying on one hand a flaming torch and in the other a horn (Boy, no weapons to start with!!!)-Judges 7:16-25
Action: Display of pictures of
a) Gideon's soldiers blowing a trumpet with a flaming torch on another hand
b) Map of the Battle scene
SOLECESTIC…
Action: Display of the picture of Peter and John testifying before the Council
When the Council saw the boldness of Peter and John and could see that they were obviously uneducated non-professionals, they were AMAZED and realized what being WITH JESUS had done for them!-Acts 4:13
The men who turned the World upside down in the First century (Acts 17:6-KJV) never rode on their majestic horses’ nor did they carry any gleaming swords with them quite unlike Roman army which held sway over much of the then known World at that time but they were ordinary, men next door. The only difference was that they had been trained by their incomparable Master for three and half years and were now indwelt by His Spirit (Acts 2). No wonder, they were “on fire” speaking with courage and authority which can come only when you are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, which their Master promised before His ascension (Acts 1:8).
Action: Display of picture of the Call of some of the disciples beside the Sea of Galilee
Now let’s hit the rewind button and go visiting the banks of Sea of Galilee three and half years earlier when the Saviour called these ordinary, unschooled fishermen to be His disciples and “FISHERS OF MEN” (Matt 4:18-21)
What did Jesus see in these men, which the World did not? Amazing potential waiting to be tapped...one that would acquire the shape of unbridled devotion to the Master’s Cause willing even to take martyrdom in its stride...all without ever seeking any self-glory!!!
Fellow sojourner, cheer up if the unchanging Jesus (Heb 13:7) has selected you. He is not the one who would leave any work half done. Claim the promise of Philippians 1:6 in your life…
“God who began the good work within you will keep right on HELPING YOU GROW in his grace until his task within you is finally finished on that day when Jesus Christ returns”
Hey, he is crafting you into “a Mauna Kea”…whether the World is able to see that or not. HALLELUJAH!!!
Suresh Manoharan
An Unprofitable servant
PS: This message replete with pictures/graphics is available on the following URL also...
http://www.jandsmministries.com/message_oct15_13.asp
