Selective blindness

by Charles Bertelsmeier

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If I had not done among them the works no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. As it is, they have seen, and yet they have hated both me and my Father (John 15:24).

Read John 15:18–27

Have you ever watched an illusionist and wondered how they did their tricks? Speaking generally, what the illusionist does is divert your attention to some activity they want you to concentrate on while doing some trickery with their other hand or by their assistant. Because you can only visually concentrate on one thing at a time, you don’t notice the slight activity off to the side. Another aspect of our psychology is that as we switch our visual attention from one object to another some distance away, we don’t see any details of anything between the two objects. Illusionists rely on this, too.

This is related to another truth about our psychology. To understand new information or ideas, we need to fit them into our current frames of reference. Let me give an example. Our current experience is that when we take five loaves of bread, break them into pieces and hand them out to feed people, there will not be enough to feed at least five thousand people, with 12 baskets of leftover scraps. So, when we hear about this happening, we try to fit it into this frame of reference. Which means we think that it didn’t happen as reported. There must have been some sleight of hand or other explanation.

Now, if your frame of reference includes a God who has unlimited power over nature, you don’t have a problem, because this example of the multiplying bread is just a miracle. This implies that the person who performed the miracle is either God himself or acting on God’s behalf.

On the other hand, if someone has embarrassed us and we are very angry with them, when they try to talk to us, we may be so absorbed with trying to justify our anger with anything further they say that we don’t hear the important information they are trying to share with us.

Jesus faced both these situations with the religious leaders of his day. The things Jesus said and did didn’t fit their frame of reference for a religious teacher, and their focus on capturing what he said to use against him prevented them from hearing the good news he wanted to share with them.

Now, we also need to be cautious of people trying to mislead us in our relationship with God, so we must check things against our other frame of reference, the Bible. And the best way to do this is to regularly and prayerfully read the Scriptures.

Heavenly Father, thank you for your word, both the written word in the Bible and the Living Word, Jesus. Please help us to be open to where you are leading us in our daily lives, and please protect us from being deceived by those who want to lead us away from you. Amen.

Charles is a retired engineer who has worked on telecommunications projects for the air force, army and navy. He lives in a retirement village in the outer north-western suburbs of Sydney with his wife, Diane. Together, they have four children and eight grandchildren, all of whom they love spending time with. Charles keeps busy caring for their pot plants and a community vegetable garden, researching his family history and volunteering in the community and at LifeWay Lutheran Church.

How well do you know Holy Spirit?

by Charles Bertelsmeier

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… the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you (John 14:17).

Read John 14:15–21

How well do you know Holy Spirit? Some have commented that Holy Spirit is the forgotten member of the Holy Trinity.

Now you might find it strange that I leave out the definite article ‘the’ in front of Holy Spirit. The strangeness may be because we have rarely heard it omitted, but I have noticed it more often recently.

So, I did some research, and a rule I found applicable is that the definite article is not used with proper nouns – that is, names of people and countries. So, if Holy Spirit is the proper name of the third person of the Holy Trinity, maybe we should not be putting a ‘the’ in front of the name. Beyond that comment, I wouldn’t argue with anyone about it.

For me, putting a ‘the’ in front of Holy Spirit tends to depersonalise him and could be part of the reason why some treat Holy Spirit as the least important member of the heavenly family.

If you have been baptised into the Christian faith, in the name of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, you received the gift of Holy Spirit into you as God’s presence with you. As he is one with the Father and Son, he is working in your life on their behalf, leading and guiding you towards being and becoming the person God is developing you into.

So, if Holy Spirit is living in you and being your guide and tutor, how aware are you of his presence? Are you actively listening to his guidance? Do you talk to him and seek his guidance? Do you treat him as a person or a vague spiritual force?

Your response may be that you talk to God and listen to God throughout your day, but not to Holy Spirit. Or the person you talk to and listen to may be your Heavenly Father or even his Son, Jesus. This is so ripe for a complicated theological discussion, but I don’t want to go there. The point I want to make is that Father, Son and Holy Spirit are the one God, and communicating with any of them individually is communicating with all three.

So, in a sense, it doesn’t matter which member of the Holy Trinity we have in our minds when we talk to God and listen to God. The important thing to remember is that God has decided to take up residence inside us through Holy Spirit, provided we accept his invitation. And he is committed to guiding and growing us the same way Jesus did with his disciples, guiding and growing them in their relationship with him.

Holy Spirit, are you really living in me and guiding me every day of my life? I apologise for ignoring you and your advice. I often like to think that I have the answers to all life throws at me. Thank you for not growing impatient with me and giving up on me. Thank you for still being there with me when I finally give up and ask for your help. Amen.

Charles is a retired engineer who has worked on telecommunications projects for the air force, army and navy. He lives in a retirement village in the outer north-western suburbs of Sydney with his wife, Diane. Together, they have four children and eight grandchildren, all of whom they love spending time with. Charles keeps busy caring for their pot plants and a community vegetable garden, researching his family history and volunteering in the community and at LifeWay Lutheran Church.

A place of abundance

by Linda Macqueen

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Praise be to God, who has not … withheld his love from me! (Psalm 66:20)

Read Psalm 66:8–20

This week’s devotion texts have been ping‑ponging us back and forth across the Scriptures, and I’ll admit, I’m feeling a little dizzy. We began with the disciples trembling in the upper room (John). Then we visited the exiled Judeans in their exhaustion (Isaiah), before joining the early church (Acts) as they tried to understand what it meant to follow a crucified and risen Messiah. We bounced off Paul’s encouragement to two young communities learning how to live faithfully within pagan cultures (2 Corinthians and Ephesians). Yesterday, we reflected on how the Old and New Testament covenants meet in our High Priest, Jesus (Hebrews).

How can all these threads possibly belong to one story?

Thankfully, the psalmists often know how to gather scattered strands together, and today’s Psalm 66 does not disappoint. This is a song rising from the far side of trouble. The hearers are not people unfamiliar with suffering. They have known oppression, bewilderment, fear and the long ache of waiting. Yet the psalm is not a lament – it is a testimony. Standing on the other side of trial and testing, they declare that God has brought them ‘to a place of abundance’.

Across all the readings this week, did you notice the same heartbeat? God’s steadfast love for his people, even when their path leads through fire and water. His protection covered them, whether or not they could feel it. His refining work, his preserving hand, his refusal to abandon those who call on him.

Psalm 66 does not offer easy answers, but it does offer a way of seeing: God’s love is not proven by the absence of struggle but by his faithful presence within it. Like the psalmist, Christians today pray in the dark silences; we cry out, we wrestle – and we discover that God has been listening and loving us all along, leading us steadily toward his abundance.

God of all seasons, as I face the world’s turmoil and my own, I cling to this anchor: you are not withholding your love from me. Your ear is open to my cry. Your presence is steady, holding me close. And you are leading me, even now, toward a place of abundance. Amen.

Linda Macqueen retired in September last year, having served 26 years as editor of The Lutheran and communications manager for the LCANZ. She has rapidly adapted to retirement, happily and energetically bringing her long-neglected home and garden back to life. She lives in the beautiful Adelaide Hills with her husband Mark.