Faith Is Not Absurd
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By Chris Carlson
www.rtochris.com
3/23/2008 Easter Sunday
Faith is like this:
Imagine you are standing in a thick cloud of fog that comes up to your waist. There are no landmarks, no buildings, nothing that tells you where you are. You feel quite lost so you cautiously pick a direction and start walking in that direction. You spend a long time searching and eventually you see two things. The first thing you see is a sign that warns of the edge of a cliff. Then, farther behind the sign, you see Jesus. Your first thought is, How did he get on the other side of the ravine? When you get to the edge of the cliff, as told by the sign, you stop and call out to Jesus, How do I get over there? He responds with, I built a bridge so that you can come over. Ignore the sign because it is false if you trust me. But you hesitate because there is a risk. What if he is lying or wrong about the strength of the bridge. You think to yourself, At least where I am at Im on solid ground. As long I stay here, Im safe. Fear sets in as you begin to doubt the intentions and capability of Jesus. Still, he beckons you to come over. There is something about his presence that seems genuine and true. Yet, the sign creates doubt. Finally, you decide that you are tired of being alone and hope Jesus might have something to offer. So, cautiously, you take a step forward when another sign appears to grow out of the ground. The sign says, Watch your step! Youre about to fall off the edge! In response to this Jesus calls out; See these hands as he raises his hands. They have been pierced with the nails that built this bridge. At that you slowly start to walk toward Jesus. At first you dont notice anything, but before long you begin to sense the fog dissipating. Soon, you begin to notice defined edges on both sides of you. It doesnt take long for you to realize that there is a bridge and that you are indeed on it. Feeling confirmed in your first steps, you soon begin to run. Though at first your running is more of a slight jog, you notice that as you get closer to Jesus the fog disappears more. And the more the fog dissipates the more of the bridge you can see. Feeling more and more confident you run faster and faster until youre running as fast and as hard as you can. You feel exhilarated as you get near the other side of the ravine. You can see that what was a dense fog is now just a slight haze. As you get closer to Jesus you begin to see a lush forest and a beautiful city. When you cross the bridge, in a moment of pure joy, you embrace Jesus. As you embrace Jesus you notice that the fog disappears and you see with perfect clarity. Eventually you look back and see a barren wasteland on the other side of the ravine. You see the rugged bridge and the seemingly absurd sign. You realize that you are no longer lost. You are where you are supposed to be. Youre with Jesus.
Jesus beckons all of us to cross the bridge. Faith is taking those first few steps to cross that bridge towards Jesus. Its a risk, but its better than the alternative. As we move closer and closer to Jesus, we see ourselves and the world around us with increasing clarity. For those of us that are on the bridge, keep moving because it is the sin in our lives that dilutes our clarity. Not until we embrace Jesus for who he is can we gain such clarity. For those of us who have embraced Jesus, do not forget that you were once lost in the fog. For those still standing on the edge of the cliff, if you want evidence that what Jesus says is real, this is the best evidence that exists because you will not be able to deny what Jesus reveals to you. But until you take those first steps, you will have only doubt and loneliness. The fog hides the world around you. That fog is the sin in our lives. Jesus wants to remove the fog of sin that blinds us to where we are really at, a barren wasteland. Go ahead, run!
