Underlying and assumed in some of the imagery arising in the Men's Bible Study each week are hints at what kind of kingdom and connection to God each person has and why that matters. Another way of putting this exercise at trying out "x-ray vision" to look at the metaphors is for the purpose of glimpsing "the nature of personal relationship (knowing) to God" and all of creation.
<> The place of sin. On the one hand we learn that Jesus as sacrificial lamb of God has paid for everyone's sins (past, present, future). So how should we identify and respond to sin still today? METAPHOR: each person steers their own sailboat on the sea with prevailing wind direction dictating how to trim the sail. By adjusting sail and rudder, your path can be straight and true. Sin is the buffeting distraction that takes a person off course. Therefore, while grace generously accepts a person with imperfections and failings included, the sins and temptations and distractions do not stop. Instead, the person seeking to be righteous in God's way must be vigilant and readjust, moment by moment to avoid steering off track.
<>Result versus process. Too often a person evaluates their worth in God's eyes according to quantifiable results. Some lives can achieve more on Earth than others, as judged externally. Likewise, humans readily rank some sins as being larger or smaller than others, despite the teaching that all sins are equal in God's eyes. ANALOGY: Just as all sins are equal (not 'fair' in secular thinking), perhaps all accomplishments are equal in God's eyes, too (not 'right' in secular thinking). The reason for sins being equal is that anything big or small that takes a person's focus off God, gives the same separation of self from Creator. The reasoning for accomplishments being equal is that God's measuring stick is for one's heart; the intention one strives for. The actual performance may vary, but what is in the person's heart is what counts; not the external condition achieved. The story of the "widow's mite" showcases the primary attention to what is in the heart, not the size of a person's coins. And the story of the workers harvesting grapes joining at different hours of the day, but being paid the very same wage (not 'fair' in secular logic) also illustrates how God measures things differently to humans' way of seeing things.
<>Free will versus God's time-vision. One way of seeing God's nature is the matter of time. Short-lived creatures like people separate past from present and future. But others have pointed out that infinite power and presence of God, and eternity puts past-present-future as co-existing, rather than the linear experience of human life. According to human logic it seems at first contradictory that God allows human choice and voluntary response to the offer of grace given, but at the same time knowing all the hairs on a person's head & numbering all the days of one's life. Foreknowledge differs from preordaining or predestination, of course. But perhaps this METAPHOR shows this intersection of omniscience and free will. Imagine a river flowing (God's plan) from point A to B with each person in a small boat afloat and padding as much or little as they wish (free will). The individual has the power to move sideways, go upstream, stop all together, collide or avoid obstacles - each course of action has consequences, but the river does not cease or does not separate itself from the vessel that the person is powering. The result is that God is always with the person, no matter the choices (or lack or thinking and effort made) by each soul.
<>Active participation in God's kingdom versus not. While grace is given to all and redemption has been paid for all, not everyone has heard the Good News. Others have heard, but reject or are in disbelief, or worse, are indifferent. And yet, it has been said that God makes use of all things. Apparently even Lucifer has a place in the scheme of things. Certainly, evil, malevolence, burdens, abuses, and all sorts of terrible things go on. Similarly, God accomplishes his will despite or in spite (or to spite?) the obstacles that humans fixate upon. METAPHOR: medicines contain ingredients listed on the label as "active" ingredients (corresponds to God's people who actively seek His Will, 'feed his sheep', and love both friends and enemies). But the same medicine also contains "inactive" ingredients, and possibly some necessary catalyst that may introduce bad side-effects. This mix of active, inactive, and maybe even harmful elements in the social landscape is a kind of illustration of how God works with all, whether the person is active or inactive (inert).
<>Wanting to understand God's way, God's will. It is natural for eager followers of Jesus' model and readers of God's Word to want to progress and see their understanding differ to earlier stages of knowing God. But by definition a finite being cannot encompass or understand an infinite Creator. That does not mean one should give up or stop the attempt to dig deeper and wider, or to apply something learned to new settings. METAPHOR: basketball players use a "head fake" to cause the opponent to go in the direction the player's head appears to lead, but in fact the player moves in the opposite direction. In other words attention and awareness can easily hold onto the wrong thing. When it comes to understanding God's way and God's will, much like the 5 blind men in the South Asian folklore, we each hold onto a different part of God's truth, thinking that we have a firm and complete understanding. And yet others seem equally convinced of their own, very different, view of things. In sum, from our limited capacity to grasp truly big and complicated things, we can slip from righteous to being self-righteous. And the fact that our knowledge and experience is incomplete is not the part that matters (even though that is what we fixate on). The part that matters is (a) the attention paid and effort spent to seek even more understanding, and (b) not letting go of the little piece that we are grabbing onto - while admitting humbly that our grip is far from the whole picture.
<>Striving to sin less versus striving to love (loving-kindness) more. It seems logical that getting closer to God can be improved by sinning less often (keeping on track; in touch; tuned in) or alternatively by loving (agape love of one another; neighbor equally to self) more. METAPHOR: sin is part of the earth atmosphere, like nitrogen or oxygen (or seasonal flu virus, oceans of rhinovirus in common colds, or now Covid-19). So mitigating risk is the strategy; not eradicating it. We do live with sin, but we can minimize transmission and serious reactions. Showing God's love to friend, stranger, and even one's enemy perhaps is a related strategy of displacing the available locations for sin to arise and grow. In other words, rather than obsess about lists of things NOT TO DO, it may be far more effective to emphasize things, yes, to do: not worry over admonitions but instead pursue positive steps. These two standpoints are connected. They are not either/or approaches.
Looking back at these figurative ways to grapple with some of the prominent characteristics of God's ways and God's kingdom, what is the overall picture that emerges from the assumptions baked into these images and metaphors? First is that God's logic is far from human logic. Anybody who wants to get to know God from the episodes written in Old and New Testaments should notice and find value in purposes that seem alien or unfamiliar to normal habits of seeing and thinking of 2022. Next is that God's love for his creation and its creatures is abiding; any separation from God comes from the human side, not from the rest of the creatures; not from those who actively seek out his presence. As well, people best know God by getting over themselves; listening and watching more than talking and striving (ego, pride, self-righteousness). This includes the over-reliance on verbal skills of reading, debating, analysis. Those are sharp tools, but God is much bigger than all that. We can confuse goals with processes and vice versa. We may judge a failure when God sees an opportunity. Doubtless there are more metaphors that serve as data points to uncover some of the underlying features and functions inherent to God's being, presence, way, and will. But the ones above make some good starters.
