Optical Instruments
Originally scheduled for January 18
It is hard to conceive today, but
most of the history of mankind was without any form of optical instrument.
Today we have telescopes which cost billions of dollars – and can see to great
distances, producing pictures which inspire awe at God’s creation. We have
microscopes which can scan down to the level of individual atoms, revealing
order in even the smallest of things. More mundane, but more common, are the
glasses on your nose – which reveal the chaos that is rush hour traffic.
But none of these instruments is
suitable for the greatest of vision: to see God. For that, our Lord tells us,
you need a very different instrument: the pure heart. Blessed are the pure in
heart, Christ tells us, for they shall see God. How do you obtain such an
instrument? Repent and be baptized. More importantly, how do you keep it
working? Only by repentance; for this reason we are taught that we should
examine ourselves before taking the Lord’s Supper.
Therefore, let us come to
Communion with pure hearts, and see what can be seen in purity:
·
We shall see God, and know both his righteousness and his love.
Righteousness, for the Cross paid the penalty for your sins and mine. Love,
for it was God’s Son who paid that price.
·
We shall see the sacrifice of God. The ancient Hebrews were
taught to sacrifice to God. This is in imitation of Christ himself, the God
who sacrifices for us.
·
We shall see his salvation, for this meal commemorates the gift
that gives us eternal life.
The telescope and the microscope show us the glory of
God’s creation; the pure heart shows us God Himself.
