Unity is a community of people who seek to…
Embrace The Mystery
The mystery is that Christ lives in you, and he is your hope of sharing in God’s glory.
-Colossians 1:27
I love a good mystery.
I thoroughly enjoy reading mystery novels because they keep you guessing. The novel twists and turns as the plot is slowly revealed. The items that seemed to be random in the beginning of the book are shown to be essential by the end of the book. By the last chapter, I am on the edge of my seat as I wait to see in the grand reveal how all of the pieces are connected.
Faith shares some similarities with a good mystery novel.
In faith, we don’t have all the answers. Sometimes God keeps us guessing through the twists and turns of life. At times it may seem that we have more questions than answers.
Yet I believe that the parts of life that seem random now will be shown to be connected in the end.
I have always been suspicious of people who appear to have God all figured out.
To me, there will always be mystery in God. God cannot be fully comprehended by human minds. We do the best we can while understanding that our picture of God will always be incomplete.
You may have heard the proverb about five blind men discovering an elephant.
The first man touches the trunk of an elephant and exclaims “An elephant is like snake!” The second man touches the feet and says, “No, an elephant is like a tree trunk.” The third man touches the ears and believes that the elephant is more like a fan. The fourth man feels the body of the elephant and thinks “The elephant is a bit like a wall.” The fifth man touches the elephant’s tusk and believes that the elephant is strong and smooth like a spear.
Which man is correct?
All of them.
All five of the men accurately describe different characteristics of an elephant.
Which man is incorrect?
All of them- at least partially.
None of the men were able to fully describe the numerous characteristics of an elephant.
In faith, we are a bit like the blind men attempting to understand God.
We are able to accurately describe some of the characteristics of the nature of God. God has chosen to reveal quite a bit through Scripture and the work of the Spirit. For example, through Scripture we learn about the character of God. Story after story reveals to us what God is like and the things that God cares about. In these stories we see God’s intention for the world and God’s reason for creating humanity. Through Jesus Christ, we experience God in the flesh: the invisible God is made visible. Through Christ’s death and resurrection we see God’s redemptive plan for all of humanity.
God has actually revealed a lot about God’s self.
But even with all we know, faith is still like describing an elephant simply by touching its tusk.
There will always be a profound amount of mystery surrounding God. This is one reason why we continue to have many questions about God. We don’t know everything yet! And that’s ok. We’re not supposed to.
Faith is an exploration process. Each day we make it our goal to journey deeper into exploring the presence of God in our lives.
I encourage you to embrace the mystery of God. Enjoy the exploration process! Don’t shy away from the questions you have about God.
You may be tempted to eliminate the mystery. Not knowing- the root of all mystery- is a deeply uncomfortable feeling. We tend to be a lot happier when we have all the facts and know what is going to happen next. If we’re not careful, this is how we will begin to treat God.
We may seek to eliminate the questions we have about God. We may replace our questions with stock answers and superficial solutions.
At Unity, I encourage this congregation to be ok with not having all the answers. You do not need to have faith all figured out to be a part of this community. Instead, we will explore faith together as we seek to embrace the mystery of God in our daily lives.
This Sunday we will conclude our series on Experiencing God.
“See” you on Sunday!
-Pastor David
