It’s been said that a country can be evaluated in various ways: by the way it treats its children, its elderly, its animals and its prisoners. And of course, by the way it treats its people.
Also, insight about a country and its people can be gained by assessing its music.
Morning tea
We had some church friends over for morning tea after the service and on background music came the Bette Midler golden oldie ‘From a Distance’. A good song but reflecting a Biblical world view?
A song from a very different era (1990) with some of its claims lamentably hopeful, but ‘theologically’ (loosely defined) Biblically out-of-sync. They may have been written ‘tongue in cheek’. Whilst the times have obviously changed, the issues have not.
Describing an imperfect world, an imperfect society unlike the perfect world described by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. One day but not yet. Fortunately, and gratefully that perfection is coming as sure as night follows day.
From a distance
The song commences uncontroversially enough:
“From a distance the world looks blue and green
and the snow capped mountains white.
From a distance the oceans meet the stream
and the eagle takes to flight”.
But then hopefully, achingly:
“From a distance there is harmony
and it echoes through the land.
It’s the voice of hope, it’s the voice of peace,
it’s the voice of every man.
From a distance we all have enough, and no-one is in need.
And there are no guns, no bombs and no disease.
If only: we wish.
From a humungous distance out in space the world may have looked that way then, and perhaps does even now. But close up it’s a vastly different picture.
Further into the song Bette sings:
“God is watching us (x3)…..from a distance.
We are marching to a common band
Playing songs of hope, playing songs of peace
they are the songs of every man…
And it’s the hope of hope, it’s the love of loves
it’s the heart of every man”.
In His timing
One day there truly will be peace and harmony throughout the earth…when the Prince of Peace (Jesus) reigns in His righteousness, when His kingdom comes.
What does Jesus teach in the prayer called the LORD’S PRAYER? Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. (Matthew chapter 6 verse 10). What a spectacular time that will be when He reigns as King over all the earth.
Is God only watching us “from a distance”?
Where did the writer get that notion from? Is that true? Is He distant? Not according to His book nor our experience.
The LORD is close to the brokenhearted. (Psalm 34 verse18).
My soul clings to You; Your right hand upholds me. (Psalm 63 verse 8).
He tends His flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart; He gently leads those who have young. (Isaiah chapter 40 verse 11).
Who is he who will devote himself to be close to Me? declares the LORD. So you will be My people and I will be your God. (Jeremiah chapter 30 verses 21/22).
Although these verses appear in the Jewish (Old Testament) scriptures, they also clearly apply to us living in the New Testament (NT) Christian times as His adopted children, and to all NT Jesus-believing Jews as well.
After His spectacular resurrection when the disciples were hiding behind locked doors for fear of the Jews, Jesus breathed on them and said: Receive the Holy Spirit. (John chapter 20 verse 22).
In various places the Bible records that the Holy Spirit is our counsellor, comforter and guide. He is our teacher and reminder, our refuge and our strength, and our
hiding place in times of trouble. He cannot get any closer than as He dwells within us, andwill never leave us.
From a distance? No…as close as close can be.
How does the relationship of the Almighty and His children come about?
Beyond doubt there is no limit to the ways God can reach the individual as He has done throughout world history for both Gentile and Jew alike.
My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways declares the LORD. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah chapter 55 verse s 8/9).
And so we read: You were included in Christ when you heard the gospel [good news]of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit who guarantees our inheritance. (Ephesians chapter 1 verses 13/14), and re ‘pre-Jesus’ Jews note the second sentence above.
But here is this salutary warning. The message they heard was of no value to them because those who heard it did not combine it with faith. (Hebrews chapter 4 verse 2). If you seek the LORD your God you will find Him if you look for Him with all your heart and with all your soul. (Deuteronomy chapter 4 verse 29).
What’s important to Him
God regards the sincerity of searching, seeking and understanding, as limited as that may be in time and/or content as so important that He inserted the following words twice in His book.
The LORD looks down from heaven [which is where God is, not from a distance] on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. (Psalm 14 verse 2 and Psalm 53 verse 2).
What is your takeaway: how far from you is ‘From a Distance’?