Know Something

“We don’t have to know everything; we just need to know something!” The thing is that, that “thing” has to be the right “thing”

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As many know, I like Christmas films. They fascinate me for a number of reasons and its rare that you have to turn one off because the language is foul or the content is just awful. (Some would say that the content of all of them is just “awful” and mock me for that reason; but I mean “awful” in the sense of being amoral or too violent or too dark etc.) Last night I settled down to see the first of my 2022 “Christmas quota” and there was a film that I had seen before which told the story of a number of people caught in a power cut on Christmas eve. One of the scenarios was of four people in a hospital caught in a lift.

The group was made up of what I imagine were 2 medical students, a senior surgeon and a senior nurse. There was a patient on a gurney who was under anaesthetic. The patient was a young woman who was a Christian but was a hopeless case from a medical point of view, having an inoperable tumour. It turns out that the patient had asked the surgeon to pray with her before the surgery but he could not, because he didn’t believe in God because he was a “scientist”. The situation prompted a discussion about belief between the nurse (who was a believer) and the surgeon including a short exchange about the origin of the universe.

The nurse shared about an experience that she had, had. The result of the experience was that since the age of 10 she had been convinced that God knew who she was. She concluded by saying that “we don’t have to know everything; we just need to know something”. She was saying that she couldn’t explain how the universe came into being and she couldn’t explain why a young believer had been struck down with a terminal disease, but she could share what had happened to her and knew that it was real and life-changing.

I have also been fascinated to recently listen to some YouTube clips about the universe and what we know about it. The scale is mind boggling! It’s so big that we have to measure distances in “light years”. This is the distance that light will travel in a year. Bearing in mind that light travels 186,000 miles in a second, the distance that light travels in a year is more or less 6 trillion miles. The universe that scientists can “see” from where we are is 93 billion light years across. Light from the sun takes 4 hours to reach Neptune (the most distant of our planets) and 1.5 years to reach the field of comets that mark the outer edge of our solar system. Nevertheless, you could fit 4,550 solar systems between our solar system and the next nearest star! Space is big! (For more fascinating stuff about this try this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2YJ7aR25P0&t=906s).

What am I getting at? What’s the point of this blog? Well coming up to Christmas 2022 I came across this verse in Acts 13:41: ‘Look, you scoffers! Be astonished and die! For what I am doing today is something that you will not believe, even when someone explains it to you!’” This is Saul speaking in Antioch in Pisidia quoting Habakkuk to “Fellow Israelites and all Gentiles here who worship God”. Saul is quoting God’s answer to Habakkuk which was about God’s coming judgement on injustice. Saul quotes this to his listeners as a warning for them to heed news that the world’s saviour and salvation has come. He is quoting Habakkuk saying that it is vital that they believe the message, but there is a chance that like Habakkuk’s hearers, they will not listen nor believe the account that they are given.

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Even so today - God’s message rings out true and clear in every nativity play “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a saviour which is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11). The message is unheard and unbelieved. With the coming of Jesus, the message changed Acts 17:40 says: “God has overlooked the times when people did not know him, but now he commands all of them everywhere to turn away from their evil ways”. Jesus himself starts His famous prayer chapter in John 17:3 with: “… eternal life means to know you, the only true God, and to know Jesus Christ, whom you sent”. To Martha, the person always serving and working, when she complained that Mary was not helping but listening at Jesus’ feet Jesus said: “You are worried and troubled over so many things, but just one is needed. Mary has chosen the right thing, and it will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:41-42).

“We don’t have to know everything; we just need to know something!” The thing is that, that “thing” has to be the right “thing”. Knowing about the universe is fascinating and for those involved, trying to work out what happened at the moment of “creation” is an amazing problem to try and solve – but is it the “right” thing? What do we need God to tell us? When we were talking to some men at a prison the other week, we talked about the need to hear what God is saying to us, who so desperately need His guidance to eternal life. This is what John Wesley said:

“I am a spirit come from God and returning to God; just hovering over the great gulf, till a few moments hence I am no more seen – I drop into an unchangeable eternity! I want to know one thing, the way to heaven – how to land safe on that happy shore. God himself has condescended to teach the way: for this very end he came from heaven. He has written it down in a book. O give me that book! At any price, give me the Book of God”!

Yes! That has been God’s answer – He has written what we need to know – the something that is the “right thing” down in a book! At the moment some of us are fortunate enough to have free access to what God has determined should be written – in Adrian Plass’ words – “A love letter saying “Dear (my name and your name) – the Bible! – Love God”. The word that brings life to all who truly believe. The message of Christmas is a message about a baby in a feeding trough. It is about the God who created a 93 billion light year-wide universe being constrained into a vulnerable human body. It is about the one who created this universe coming, and being subject to human abuse, and unbelievable cruelty, spite and provocation to show us the way to His Father and eternal life. This is THE STORY – there is no other – it’s the something – the right thing that above all else we need to know. God knows who I am – how amazing is that! He cares about me!

Jesus told me not to worry because I am worth a lot to Him… Not just me all of us. His love is the same no matter how many experience it. His salvation is just as powerful no matter how many accept it. His Holy Spirit – the promise to all who believe - is undiluted no matter how many receive Him. His words will last forever. We do not know these things because we understand how the universe was created. When we meet our saviour / creator we learn that there are far more important things to know. “We don’t have to know everything; we just need to know something”. Knowing Jesus is just the start of knowing important things – what does the Lord want to show us next?

Author: Chris Pearson

May God bless and enrich your life

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