Reflections on God's travel guide to my journey back home.

Thursday, February 1, 2018

Permanent

I’m easily distracted by buildings. I like to look at hundred-year-old houses. The magnificent architecture surrounding the Mall in Washington DC are one of the best parts of any visit. And the variation in cities from London to Paris to Seoul to Baku are a key point of interest in my travels.

One of the things I think about those beautiful buildings is this: God put those materials in the earth, and engineered this world to obey the laws of physics. Then he made us with inquisitive, learning minds and a drive to create, so that in the end, amazing architecture is to me as much a revelation of God as any other part of creation.

All of that came to mind when I read Matthew 24, especially the first two verses: “Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings.’Do you see all these things?’ he asked.’Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.’”

Jesus, I’m sure, noticed the most magnificent buildings in Jerusalem, but they weren’t important to him. His response to his awed disciples communicates a pointed message: even the grandest works of man will fail.

That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t build - this creative drive is part and parcel of what it means to be an image-bearer of God. It does mean, though, that we should never give human accomplishments the same weight as the works of God.

That’s what humanists do: they elevate human accomplishment and potential to the level of a religion. It’s what religious people do when they start following a person - you know this is happening when they say, “Dr. So-and-So says” instead of “the Bible says.”

This passage challenges me to stand in awe of the works of God. As I watch elite athletes do amazing things in the Olympics, as I admire the amazing building where the Super Bowl will be played, as I put my hopes in programs designed by politicians, I want to also see the super blue blood moon and the greening of spring and the development of my grandchildren. The God revealed in the splendor of his creation is the only truly permanent thing in this world.

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