The graciousness of uncertainty - Chambers, Oswald

It is not yet made manifest what we shall be. 1 john 3:2 (rv) we are apt to look upon uncertainty as a bad thing, because we are all too mathematical and common sense. We imagine we have to reach an end; so we have, but a particular end is easily reached, and is not of the nature of spiritual life. The nature of spiritual life is that we are certain in our uncertainty, consequently we do not make our nests anywhere spiritually. Immediately we make a nest out of an organisation or a creed or a belief, we come across the biggest of all calamities, the fact that all certainty brings death. G. K. Chesterton, that insurgent writer, pronounces all certainties dead certainties. Immediately i become certain, something dies. For instance, when i become certain that my baby is no longer a baby but a little girl, the baby is dead. When i become certain that my single life is ended in married life, something is dead that white funeral of the single life.15 in the realm of belief, whenever i become certain of my creeds, i kill the life of god in my soul, because i cease to believe in god and believe in my belief instead. All through the bible the realm of the uncertain is the realm of joy and delight; the certainty of belief brings distress. Certainty of god means uncertainty in life; while certainty in belief makes us uncertain of god. Certainty is the mark of the common-sense life; gracious uncertainty is the mark of the spiritual life, and they must both go together. Mathematics is the rule of reason and common sense, but faith and hope is the rule of the spiritual. It is not yet made manifest what we shall be we are gloriously uncertain of the next step, but we are certain of god. Immediately we abandon to god and do the duty that lies nearest, he packs our lives with surprises all the time; whereas if we become the advocates of a set creed something dies. All certainty brings death to something. When we have a certain belief, we kill god in our lives, because we do not believe him, we believe our beliefs about him and do what jobs friends did bring god and human life to the standard of our beliefs and not to the standard of god. The helplessness of professional religion is that there is no room for surprise, we tie god up in his laws and in denominational doctrines and orders of services, consequently we do not see god at all. The average man is inarticulate about his belief, and the curious thing is he does not connect his belief in good- ness and truth and justice with jesus christ and the churches because the churches have misrepresented jesus christ. We cannot corner god or spiritual life, to think we can is the curse of denominational belief we have all the stock and no one can have it except in our way. Jesus christ says, except ye . . . Become as little children. . . . A little child is certain of its parents, but uncertain about everything else, therefore it lives a perfectly delightful healthy life.

1. The surprise of real life ( john 3:8)

These words convey our lords mind, but we rarely pay any attention to his mind. He states there emphatically that the spirit of god works in incalculable ways; we cannot say that he will work through certain denomi- nations and channels. In times of revival people say they started in answer to prayer, but this is questionable. Revivals start entirely by the sheer surprise of the life of god. The life of god springs out on the right hand and on the left, we cannot calculate over god, and that is the immense joy of christian life. . . . So is everyone that is born of the spirit. To be certain of god means that we are delightfully uncertain in all our ways, we do not know what a day may bring forth. That is gener- ally said with a sigh of sadness, but it should be rather an expression of breathless unexpectedness. It is exactly the state of mind we should be in spiritually, a state of expectant wonder, like a child. When we are certain of god we always live in this delightful uncertainty; whereas if we are certain of our beliefs we become eventenored people who never expect to see god anywhere.

(a) the frontiers of death ( john 6:53)

This is not a sad statement, but a joyful one. When- ever we think we can get the life of god by obedience or prayer or some kind of discipline, we are wrong. We must realise the frontiers of death, that there is no more chance of our entering into the life of god than a mineral has of entering the vegetable kingdom; we can only enter into the kingdom of god if god will stoop down and lift us up. That is exactly what jesus christ promises to do. The bedrock of spiritual life as our lord taught is poverty blessed are the poor in spirit, not, blessed are the strong-willed, or the prayerful or the consecrated, but, blessed is the man who knows he is weak. When we get there the surprise of gods life may come at any time. It does not come by believing, that is a misrepresentation. Belief means committing myself to the uncertainty of god. God may spring forth at any minute in his own way in us. It is a benediction to recognise the frontiers of death to recognise there is nothing at all of the nature of god in ourselves, then the life of god may spring forth at any minute in us. Mathematical common sense makes us think that when we reach the spiritual life we are certain. Up to the time of entering the spiritual life we are certain; afterwards we are gloriously uncertain. We do not know how the life will emerge or what it is going to be. Every now and again god leaves us behind the frontiers of death (see isaiah 50:1011); he deals with us on the death side and the life side all the time. The death side is the most beneficial, for when we realise we are dead and absolutely no use, we are unable to begin to do anything, then the surprise of gods real life comes to us suddenly, and the extraordinary surprise of real life is there.

(b) the foundation of discernment ( john 3:3)

Ye must be born again. That is a statement of foundation fact. We cannot be born again of ourselves any more than we can be born naturally. We cannot say we will be born again, we will believe in jesus christ, we will receive the spirit; we simply cannot do it. Jesus says, the wind bloweth where it listeth, . . . So is everyone that is born of the spirit. Immediately we get into the attitude of knowing that we have no life in us, that we cannot re-make ourselves, then god comes in with his surprise of life. The foundation of the spiritual kingdom is, blessed are the poor in spirit. When we are born from above (rv mg) the first characteristic is that we begin to discernexcept a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of god. After we are born again, we

Begin to discern, not in thrilling experiences, but we begin to see differently and the surprise of the spiritual life comes in all around.

(c) the fact of direction (1 john 2:27)

The spirit of god directs us when we remain true to the life of god in us. The danger with all of us is to want to direct one another; we are not certain that young lives ought to be left alone, we do not believe god can manage them. I believe god can direct me, because i am so wise, but you are certain to go wrong; i must instruct you. The fact of direction in spiritual life does not come from any human element at all, it comes entirely in the surprising manner of the life of god.

2. The spontaneity of real love (1 Corinthians 13:48)

Love is spontaneous, that is, not premeditated, it springs up in extraordinary ways. There is nothing mathematically certain in pauls category of love. We cannot say, i am going to think no evil, i am going to believe all things; the characteristic of love is the spontaneity of the whole thing. In everything to do with the life of god in us we never discern its nature till it is past. In looking back we find there was extraordinary disinterestedness in a particular emotion. We do not set in front of us the statements of jesus christ as standards, we receive the life of god and live up to the standard of his teaching without knowing it, and on looking back we are the most amazed beings on earth, which is the evidence of the spontaneity of real love being there.

(a) the springs of love ( john 17:26)

The springs of love are in god, that means love can- not be found anywhere else. It is absurd for us to try and find the love of god in our hearts naturally, it is not there any more than the life of jesus christ is there. Love and life are in god and in jesus christ and in the holy spirit whom god gives to us, not because we merit him, but according to his own particular graciousness. We cannot say in the abstract, i am going to love my enemies, because naturally we hate them; but when we have a real actual enemy if the love of god is in us, we find we do not hate him. The point is that the springs of love are in the holy spirit, not in us. We cannot order the holy spirit to come into us; we believe in god, he does the rest. If i try to engineer ways in which to show i love my wife, it is a certain sign i am beginning not to love her. If we try to show how much we love god it is a sure sign we do not love him; if we love him the evidence is absolutely spontaneous, it does not need to be worked out, it comes naturally, and if asked why we did certain things we cannot say why, they were done spontaneously according to the nature of love. Love can be simulated, we can affect it and pretend we have it; but when love is real it is spontaneous, and so is spirituality. The danger is lest common sense comes in and says, well, now suppose i was in that conditionthen it is all up. We cannot sup- pose ourselves in any condition we have never been in, therefore life is one of splendid uncertainty, we are certain only of god, and in any circumstances we are in the source of all these characteristics is the life of god in us; we cannot work them up by prayer or obedience; they are of the nature of god. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. We have to keep ourselves from being engrossed in the evil of present certainty. There are any number of things in the common-sense life which are apt to overcrowd every- thing else, but in spite of them all the real life of god springs up in this spontaneity of love, the springs of which are in the holy spirit who is given unto us.

(b) the strength of life (ephesians 3:1719)

That christ may dwell in your hearts by faith, not by feeling or reckoning, but by faith. The strength of life is not in the certainty that we can do the thing, but in the perfect certainty that god will. We are certain only of the one whom we are trusting. The strength of our life lies in knowing that our strength is in god. And to know the love of christi ts breadth, and length, and depth, and height, we can- not get out of it anywhere. When we know the love of christ, which passeth knowledge, it means that we are free from anxiety, free from carefulness, so that during the twenty-four hours of the day we do what we ought to do all the time, with the strength of life bubbling up with real spontaneous joy. How am i measuring the strength of god in my life? The greatness of gods power to me a saint is measured by the power god manifested when he raised jesus from the dead (ephesians 1:19).

(c) the supremacy of loyalty (1 corinthians 13:13)

Greater than faith, greater than hope, greater than anything we can mention is love (rv), which is the very nature of god, and the test of the reality of our spiritual life is abandon to god, the actual condition of gracious uncertainty. Such a life can be either the most arrant piece of humbug, or the expression of the life of god, consequently a saint and a hypocrite may often look one and the same. In our actual circumstances we are based on the god whom we love, not on our belief in anything. It is significant that jesus christ never says anywhere what modern evangelists say believe certain things about jesus christ. Jesus says, believe also in meleave the whole thing to me, you have nothing to do with anything but your actual life, the Thing that lies nearest. it is gloriously uncertain how i will come in, but i will come. The greatest thing in our lives is to remain loyal to jesus, and this will evidence itself as his love at work in us. 3. The suddenness of real light (luke 24:31) light is the symbol of intuitive discernment both intellectual and spiritual. Immediately we see jesus christ, he becomes a possession of our real life. The inheritance of the saints in light. When once we perceive him by the suddenness of spiritual light, we see him in common-sense things.

(a) the unexpected issues (isaiah 9:15)

The characteristic of this passage is the unexpectedness of the happenings. Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing. We never dreamed that such a thing would happen to us! This attitude of mind frequently comes by the way of a calamity. Many a man has had his soul restored in the valley of the shadow, not in the green pastures. There are clouds we fear to enter, but on the inside of those clouds is the suddenness of real light. We get the evidence of this on the threshold of real sorrow and difficulty, there is the suddenness of real light and a discernment of things that was unsought, which we could get in no other way.

(b) the unrealised interpretations ( job 42:56)

Now mine eye seeth thee, wherefore i abhor my words [rv mg], i. E. I abhor the things i was certain of, i abhor myself for being so obstinately certain that i knew; but now i see. In looking at jobs circumstances the curious thing is, he asks conundrum after conundrum, and instead of their being solved, the providence of god hurls more problems at him, till at last job says, now i see. He did not perceive anything in the logical line, he simply found that the interpretation lay with god. Job discerned that truth is never gained by intellect, but by moral conscientiousness. Truth is always a vision that arises in the basis of the moral nature, never in the intellect. Immediately we are rightly related to god in moral relationships, instantly we perceive. We can always tell the difference between a man with a keen intellectual discernment and the man with moral discernment; the latter always appeals to the conscience, the former simply convinces the mind and adds no power to the moral life.

(c) the unearned increment ( jude 24)

Our lives are enriched with things we never earned. The unearned increment is god, and the popular phrase is right if i do my bit, god will see it is all right. But if the statement is made to mean that god will count it as redemption, it is a devilish lie which no man in his own mind ever thought of. What the average man means is that if we do our bit, god will see to the rest. Of course he will. The basis of things is redemption, which is finished, the point a man has to realise is that god has saved him, and what he has to do is to get into the relationship of actual salvation and be of worth to jesus christ here and now. Men are not going to be redeemed, they are redeemed; redemption is complete. That is a revelation, not something we get at by thinking, and unless we grant that redemption is the basis of human life, we will come up against problems for which we can find no way out. It is god who redeems man; once that realisation dawns, the sense of gratitude springs up; and man becomes of use to god in practical life.