Jesus – The Deep End of the Pool

Big House

My girls and I took a wonderfully unexpected vacation last week. Our beach house was HUGE! That house made me start thinking about where we will live in Heaven. I hope you take a few minutes to read my thoughts about heaven and God’s Big House.

My girls and I were recently invited by some very generous family members to accompany them to Bonita Beach in Florida for an unexpected vacation. For those of you who haven’t been there, Bonita Beach is on the west side of the peninsula just south of Ft. Myers. This trip was such a gift to us. Because of COVID-19, our previously made plans to travel had been cancelled. We had resigned ourselves to the fact there would be no vacation for us this year. That all changed when we got the call about this opportunity. Imagine our surprise to learn our enormous beach house didn’t just have its own pool, it backed up to our own private private beach area. Take it from me, this is how you quarantine in style!

Arriving at The Biltmore Beach house in Bonita Beach.

When I say the house was enormous, I am not kidding. This house had three stories and an elevator. It had multiple balconies. It had a fourth floor watch tower complete with a telescope for additional star-gazing and long-range viewing of the gulf. When we arrived, we were shown to our own rooms on the second floor. This place was huge! There was room to spread out in our own space, but also to live communally with family. There were movie nights, games, and home-cooked meals at a big, big table. There were days at the pool, walks on the beach, intimate conversations, and lots and lots of laughter. What a week!

I posted a vacation photo on social media on one of the first nights we were there. I captioned the photo with one word: “Heaven”. I used that caption in a metaphorical kind of way. But after I did, I started thinking about Heaven. When I was a kid, I thought heaven sounded boring. My childlike mind envisioned white robes, halos, harps and floating clouds. I couldn’t imagine spending forever in that kind of space. Heaven sounded like the absence of fun.

The Bible has a lot to say about Heaven. These are some of Jesus’ own words in John 14: 2-3. “In my Father’s house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.” This passage used to confuse me. After all, how can there be many mansions IN a house? I know God is big enough that his house COULD contain mansions for all of us. Still, I couldn’t quite reconcile the thought of having my very own mansion IN God’s house.

Several years ago, a vocal group by the name of Audio Adrenaline released a song titled, “Big House.” The song received incredible radio airplay. Everyone who listened to Christian radio knew the song. Do you remember how everyone could sing along to the words to “Don’t worry. Be happy” or “Hakuna Matata” when these songs were released? “Big House” was that kind of song. The words were catchy.

“I don’t know where you lay your head
Or where you call your home
I don’t know where you eat your meals
Or where you talk on the phone
I don’t know if you got a cook
A butler or a maid
I don’t know if you got a yard
With a hammock in the shade

Come and go with me
To my Father’s house
Come and go with me
To my Father’s house

It’s a big, big house
With lots and lots of room
A big, big table
With lots and lots of food
A big, big yard
Where we can play football
A big, big house
It’s my Father’s house

All I know is a big ole house
With rooms for everyone
All I know is lots a land
Where we can play and run
All I know is you need love
And I’ve got a family
All I know is you’re all alone
So why not come with me?”

Songwriters: Kelly Nickels / Mick Cripps / Philip Lewis / Steve Riley / Traci Gunns Big House lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Songtrust Ave

First century Middle Eastern culture was a very patriarchal culture. It was also a very communal culture. When a son (usually around 18 years of age) became betrothed, or engaged, to a very young girl (usually around 11-12 years of age), his father would begin to add a room onto the family home for them to live in. When the room was finally ready and it met all the father’s specifications, he would tell his son to go get his bride. After the wedding, this young woman would leave her home and family and be assimilated as a member of her husband’s family. As additional babies were birthed, or more sons married, more rooms were added to make room for the growing family. They spent their lives in a BIG House that was also a loving, family community.

Jesus understood the culture of the day he was living in. He used an example he knew his disciples would understand. In his example, God represents the Father, Jesus represents the bridegroom, and we are the bride. When our room is finally ready, the Father will let Jesus know. Then he will come and get us so we can live where he lives. Forever home. Forever a family. Life in community. Belonging. Sharing purpose. Sharing laughter. Sharing love.

The newer THE MESSAGE Bible translates John 14:2-3 this way: “There is plenty of room for you in my Father’s home. If that weren’t so, would I have told you that I’m on my way to get a room ready for you? And if I’m on my way to get your room ready, I’ll come back and get you so you can live where I live.”

I still can’t fully understand what Heaven will be like. But I know this. I don’t need a mansion. I just need a room in God’s big house.

Now, where did I put that football?

That’s Amazing!

Have you ever been amazed? I mean really amazed? Have you ever been so taken with amazement you really didn’t have the words to even describe that feeling or emotion?

The dictionary describes being amazed as being “surprised” or “astonished.” I remember being amazed the first time I saw the Grand Canyon. The sheer size and scope of that incredibly majestic and beautiful landmark totally caught me off guard. Pictures of the canyon are pretty. But there is absolutely no way you can grasp even a small idea of the beauty and vastness of that famous landmark until you see it in person with your own eyes.

*Viewing sunset from Mather Point on the South Rim of the park. NPS/M.Quinn*

I also experienced amazement at the arrival of my three children. When my two home-grown kids arrived, it almost felt unbelievable to me this belly bump I had been sporting for 9 months resulted in the arrival of a tiny person. A tiny person who had grown inside of me! I didn’t carry my third child in my belly. I carried her in my heart as she was born in China. But her arrival was no less amazing. In a flag-lined government office in Nanning, I watched with amazement as a young woman, her nanny at the orphanage, walked in and placed this darling 11 month old baby in my arms to be mine forever. One moment an orphan. The very next moment a beloved daughter and sister. That office became my birthing room and that baby was mine before I ever touched foot on Chinese soil.

The Bible says Jesus was amazed…twice! Let’s stop right here for a minute. Does it amaze you to know that Jesus was amazed? If you are at all like me, you will find that simple fact, well, simply amazing.

First, Jesus was amazed by the faith of the Roman Centurion in Luke 7:1-10. In ancient Rome, the term, Centurion, meant Captain of 100+ soldiers. This Centurion had a servant he greatly valued who had become ill and was potentially on his deathbed. After consulting with some Jewish leaders about this Jesus he had heard about, he asked them to speak with Jesus about healing his servant. Because of the favor this Centurion had shown the Jewish people, the leaders did as he asked. As a result, Jesus headed towards the home of the Centurion.

The Bible says, “When he (Jesus) was still quite far from the house, the Centurion sent friends to tell him, “Master, you don’t have to go to all this trouble. I’m not that good a person, you know. I’d be embarrassed for you to come to my house, even embarrassed to come to you in person. Just give the order and my servant will get well. I’m a man under orders; I also give orders. I tell one soldier, ‘Go,’ and he goes; another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

“When Jesus heard this, HE WAS AMAZED. Turning to the crowd that was following Him, He said, ‘I tell you, I haven’t seen faith like this in all Israel!’ And when the officer’s friends returned to his house, they found the slave completely healed.”

The second time Jesus was amazed is found in Mark 6:1-6. Jesus returned to his home town of Nazareth and began teaching in the synagogue there. While a few people who heard him were impressed, most who heard him were offended. They started saying things like, “Isn’t this the carpenter who used to work here?” Isn’t this Mary’s son?” Isn’t this the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon?” “We know his sisters for Pete’s sake!” Who does his think he is?

The Bible says, “Then Jesus told them, “A prophet is honored everywhere except in his own hometown and among his relatives and his own family.” And because of their unbelief, he couldn’t do any miracles among them except to place his hands on a few sick people and heal them. And HE WAS AMAZED at their unbelief.”

So, now we know. The two things that amazed Jesus in the Bible were 1.) The incredible faith of the Roman Centurion and 2.) The lack of faith of the people of Jesus’ hometown of Nazareth.

My takeaway from these two stories is if Jesus is going to be amazed by me (and I hope he is), I want it to be for my deep, incredible faith and not because of my lack of faith.

During the many seasons of my life, the truth is he has probably been amazed at me for both reasons. Maybe the same is true for you. During this 2020 season of hard, I am trying to be intentional by leaning into my faith.

Here’s an idea. Why don’t we work on this together? Let’s make it a practice to ask God to enlarge our faith DESPITE what our eyes see or our ears hear. Let’s not form our theology based on what the news says, our friends say, or what social media says. Let’s base our faith on what God says. If there is one thing I know, it is God is a promise keeper. If he says it, he is going to do it. He won’t lie to me. He won’t lie to you. We can count on him to keep his promises to us. That knowledge boosts our confidence and will allow us to amaze God for the right reason…..our incredible faith.

Do you have 20/20 vision in 2020?

I got new glasses this week. I knew it was time to schedule another annual vision exam because of the tell-tale signs. Blurry vision, tired eyes and headaches had started to plague my senses. It became much harder to see clearly in the dark. After my exam, my optometrist dialed my new eye prescription into his fancy contraption. Then he asked me to read the familiar letters on the wall. As I looked through the lenses, the letters that had just been blurry could now be read with no problem at all. The doctor happily exclaimed, “With this new prescription, your vision is 20/20 again.”

For those who aren’t quite sure what 20/20 vision means, below is how the internet defines this term:

“Normal” vision is 20/20. This means the people having their eyes tested can see the same line of letters at 20 feet that a person with normal vision can see at 20 feet. 20/40 vision means a person can see at 20 feet what a person with normal vision can see at 40 feet.

With my new glasses, I can see clearly again. Having 20/20 vision is a wonderful thing!

But what about the vision we all had at the beginning of this year? I am not talking about our eyesight this time. I am referring to our hopes and dreams for the actual year of 2020. I remember December 31, 2019…New Year’s Eve. Our house was full of teenagers. Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve was playing on the TV. There was laughter and sparkling grape juice in fancy glasses. There was the countdown to midnight, noise makers, and silly hats. There were photos and people loudly yelling “Happy New Year!”

2020 was supposed to be a big year in our family. It was supposed to be momentous. One of my children is graduating from high school. There was an international mission trip with a youth group planned. The tennis team at the high school showed great promise for an incredible season. There was cheerleading tryouts scheduled and a senior prom to attend. There was a LIVE May graduation set to occur, and graduations parties to schedule. There were college choices to make and a long-awaited pilgrimage to Israel to take.

Then the world came to a screeching halt when the novel coronavirus became a global pandemic. Fear gripped our world as we all began living in unprecedented times that included state-mandated quarantine and toilet paper shortages. Life became dark and the days became monotonous as one day blurred into the next. The stock market crashed. Our eyes grew tired from increasing screen time and burned from the occasional tears that were shed as we contemplated the life that we once took for granted but was no more, at least for this season. The world grew darker. With each passing news cycle, the news worsened. Death counts rose.

Racial injustices occurred. Lives were lost. Families were left grieving with no answers. There were riots, looting, and cries for justice. The world continued to grow darker as hopelessness, despair, anger and bitterness fed our need for change.

But other things happened, too. Beautiful things. Things that brought hope and connection. Gifts began arriving for our high school senior from her church community, from family, and from friends. We explored new ways to connect via technology that has kept our small group community engaged and involved. We’ve learned to play games with people in other locations via video conferencing. My husband and I did not lose our jobs and have continued to be able to work. Cheer leading was rescheduled. So was graduation, to allow for a LIVE graduation later in the summer. Our youngest began driving. There was a home-grown prom that took place with our girl and a few of her school friends. I began leading a virtual women’s study online, allowing women from a few states and time zones to attend and learn together. Our college-aged son moved back home, meaning our family is all back under one roof again. We celebrated our wedding anniversary and I celebrated both my birthday and Mother’s Day while in quarantine. You know what? These were some of the sweetest, most meaningful celebrations we have had in years. The world has been dark. Life has been hard. But there has been light and mercy visible in every single day.

I am the Light of the world
Jesus

The darkness of our current situation has drudged up a memory from my college years…a time, just for a moment, when I experienced literal, physical darkness. I had travelled with several friends to a camp named Ridgecrest in North Carolina. One night we decided as a group to get up very early the next morning, while it was still dark, and climb up to the top of a mountain to watch the sunrise.

I had no idea what I had signed up for. I was completely unaware of how difficult the climb would be. We started off together as a group, but some of us were slower and less adept at climbing, so soon we found ourselves lagging behind the faster climbers. To make matters worse, none of us in the slower group had flashlights. We were walking blind, in the pitch-blackness, up a mountain. Our saving grace was that occasional beam of light seen from a flashlight carried by the group that had gone ahead of us. Our group was not aware of the potential danger because our eyes were focused on the light. Those beams of light, flashing across the sky like a light saber in the Star Wars franchise, served as a beacon to keep us on the trail and to allow us to reach the top of the mountain in one piece.

It wasn’t until we began our descent back down the mountain, as the sun rose in the sky above us, that I realized how potentially precarious our climb had been. The downed trees, mountain crevices and rock outcroppings we had not seen during our climb because of the early morning darkness were now in full view. The revelation of the presence of these potentially dangerous barriers was eye-opening and made me even more grateful for the morning light. It was this light that made the path clear and kept us safe on our way back to camp.

The Bible talks a lot about light. That’s because light brings clarity. Light brings perspective. Light brings direction. Light brings salvation. So, it should come as no surprise to hear Jesus say, in the gospel of John 8:17, “I am the light of the world.” He goes on to say, “If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.”

Some people are offended when Jesus speaks of being the light of the world. This Jesus girl isn’t one of those people. Because once you have experienced darkness, both literally (Remember that mountain?) and figuratively (Hello, 2020!), you begin to realize how precious that light is. It doesn’t just bring life. It provides perspective. It makes the blurry things crystal clear.

So, how do we achieve 20/20 vision in 2020? We get to know the Light of the world. He doesn’t promise an easy journey. But His light will provide perspective and direction every step of the way.