"Transformed Reality:
Ain't Nothin' Like The Real Thing"
Brad Hamm
August 7/8, 2004
On July 16, 1999, John F Kennedy Jr., along with his wife Carolyn and her sister Lauren Bessette set out in Kennedy's single-engine Piper Saratoga from Fairfield New Jersey. They were flying to Martha's Vineyard - a short distance over the Atlantic - when the small plane went off the radar screen. Everyone's worst fears were confirmed - the small plane crashed into the stormy Atlantic ocean and the crash proved fatal for all three on board. I can remember the immediate speculation in the media around the cause of the crash. "The weather was too severe"; "JFK Jr. was too inexperienced to be flying at night"; the plane wasn't working properly".
Based on the trajectory of the plane as seen on radar, experts soon chimed in confirming the most likely scenario: a scenario that was all too common in plane crashes. Eric Nolte, Airline Captain for a major carrier explains it this way.
In the last few minutes before Kennedy's little single-engine airplane went into the heavy seas off Martha's Vineyard, its radar track showed all the evidence of a mind wobbling in the tortured confusion called vertigo. This confusion steered Kennedy down a horrifying spiral to his death on that hot and hazy night in July.
Vertigo. Vertigo is a condition which alters a pilots perception of reality. Nolte continues his explanation:
The kind of bafflement and panic that killed Kennedy arises in a mind as it struggles with the contradictory signals of its inner ear and its rational faculty. Reason and emotion are at war. The inner ear measures one's movement in relation to the fixed sensation of gravity. Gravity always acts as a vector pointing straight down to the center of the earth. The inner ear is equipped with tubes of liquid that shift in response to any movement while the mind compares these signals against this fixed sensation of gravity. This balancing apparatus signals the pilot's mind and says, "You are strapped into a seat that is now as level as if you were sitting squarely at your kitchen table."
By contrast, at the same moment that he was feeling perfectly right-side-up, the aircraft instruments, when correctly interpreted, conveyed the message, "Your wings are tilted steeply to the right of level, the nose of this airplane is pointing way down, and your airspeed is already howling past the red line."
The airplane's flight path creates forces that confuse one's awareness of earth's gravity. To judge by the sensations in the seat of your pants, you literally can't tell up from down, left from right. You are helpless to move out of this danger.
And here is the crux of the matter: the pilot's perception of reality drowned out the flight instruments' story about banking and diving at high speed, and his perception screamed out, "No way! It can't be! I'm actually flying straight and level! I know it! It must be true!" But for JFK Jr., his misperception of reality cost him and his passengers their lives.
Reality isn't always as it seems.
Dallas Willard shares a similar story, describing a jet pilot practicing maneuvers. In the late 90's this pilot was practicing high-speed maneuvers in a jet fighter. She turned the controls for what she thought was a steep ascent - and flew straight into the ground. She was unaware that she had been flying upside down.
Do you ever wonder about your perception of reality? Or, even about humanity's perception of reality? What if things really aren't as they seem? Does it ever cross your mind. does the possibility enter your mind that you might not be flying right-side-up? What is real? What is really real?
Today I'm starting a 4-part series based on Jesus' most famous teaching: The Sermon on the Mount. It is acclaimed by those in the church and those outside the church. It is very possibly the most famous piece of literature in history.
E. Stanley Jones said: "The greatest need of modern Christianity is the rediscovery of the Sermon on the Mount as the only practical way to live."
G.K. Chesterton said: "The first time you read it, it feels impossible. The second time you feel like nothing else is possible."
Clarence Bauman said: "The Sermon on the Mount is the most important and most controversial biblical text."
So what is this sermon? What's all the fuss?
- Dale Brunner calls it the The State of the Universe address.a talk made by the ruler of the universe about the reality of the universe.
- JI Packer calls it The Royal Family Code - containing the essentials of life in the divine realm.
- After living through WWII and standing before a bombed out Germany, Helmut Theilicke called it, "Life can begin again."
- Darrell Johnson calls it "Living right-side-up in an up-side-down world.
But we're not gonna get into the guts of the Sermon today because Jesus didn't just go into the sermon - he said something crucial to his listeners before he could get into the guts of it. He started the bigger sermon with a mini-sermon. He said something radical, something that must be understood before any of the sermon on the Mount makes sense. He said something so off-the-charts that it would have shaken their understanding of reality. In fact, he said something that actually altered reality.
Do you remember around 10 years ago when Magiceye pictures were everywhere? Magiceye - they were those pictures that looked messy but if you were able to adjust your eyes properly and carefully, you could see a hidden image come out of them. Those pictures drove me nuts.
I remember first encountering one at a kiosk in a mall. There was a crowd around these awful looking pictures. I didn't get it but obviously a lot of people where captivated by them. So I took a closer look and began to hear the people around me talking. "Oh, I see it now! That's amazing! I can remember asking the guy working there what the deal was. He explained the picture hidden in the picture, advising me that if I could relax my eyes the hidden image would just pop out and I would know what everyone else was experiencing. After the initial frustration of trying to relax my eyes while everyone else was seeing what I wasn't seeing, the image finally popped out at me.
My perception of the picture was forced to change because I was now seeing the real picture within the picture. Reality isn't always as it seems.
When Jesus said this radical thing, he testified to a different reality. one that would break open the dimensions of our world and open up a new quality of life.
I'll back up a few verses and then read his statement:
Matthew 4: 12-17/ Mark 1:14-15
This last verse is the one that rocked their worlds. "Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near." Here are a couple different ways to translate this verse:
"Repent (turn around), for life in the Kingdom of the heavens is now one of your options."
"Turn your lives around because here comes the Kingdom of Heaven."
This is how Mark records Jesus' first mini-sermon:
"The time has come, the Kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news."
Again, this could be translated, "The Kingdom of God has come near, turn around and put your weight on this good news.
This statement of Jesus carries the same urgency and importance as someone saying, "Turn around, there's a tornado coming." To those listening, it would have been pointing them to a massive shift in reality. To those listening it would have told them, "You thought you were living in the light of day but you were actually in the dark. Here, this is light." Or, "Hey, you've actually been flying up-side-down. This is right-side-up.. You thought you were looking at a messy picture. here's the picture within the picture. this is reality. this is the really real."
The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. The meaning of this phrase has been debated but it is clear that Jesus is announcing something that is happening, that is taking place in him and around him in this moment.
What is this Kingdom of Heaven? Kingdom means: Sphere of activity - a realm or area of activity in which a particular thing is thought to rule - in our case, the realm where God rules. The term Kingdom is repeated 122 times in the first 4 books of the New Testament - 90 times from Jesus' own lips.
Heaven is generally thought of as a place we'll go after we die if we can get past Peter at the Pearly gates. Especially in recent history we've assumed Heaven is only a future reality. So what's Jesus doing here? He's talking to these people and he's saying Heaven is at hand - Did he mean they were going to die? Did he mean the world was coming to an end?
Heaven is a lot of things to a lot of people. But primarily, Heaven is the place where God reigns and there is no question about that. Heaven is the place where God is right there with us and there is nothing in the way of that. Heaven is God at his most accessible and us at our best - fulfilled and complete.
If you're familiar with the creation story, you'll recognize that aspects of Heaven sound a lot like the conditions in the Garden of Eden. And this is true.
In the beginning of our story God was with us and there were no barriers. We were innocent and God walked with us - our vision of reality was unhindered. The plan was that we would continue to walk with God until we were not only innocent but mature and complete. But, that fruit tree happened. Our will took over and we became greedy - we thought we saw a way to rival the reign of God and we corrupted our innocence. The result:
We fell.
we became alienated from God
we became alienated from each other
we became alienated from creation
we became alienated from ourselves.
And we entered darkness - and we began living up-side-down.and our vision of reality changed - it became short-sighted and incomplete. and our quality of life plummeted.
And that's the way we've lived until God intervened and became one of us.
- When God entered humanity in Jesus, darkness saw that it's time was up. The reign of God invaded from above. As Matthew 4:16 says, "the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned."
In 1993 my friend and I were back-packing through Europe and one of our stops was Cologne, Germany. When we got off the train it was pouring rain. As had been our habit, we just wondered off anticipating that we'd find somewhere to stay for the night - a hostel or a cheap hotel - we were a couple of guys, why would we ask for directions?
Well, I think our sharp instincts for direction were dulled by the pouring rain and before we knew it we were well off the beaten trail. We made our way through some industrial neighborhoods... I know what you're thinking. but going back would have been admitting failure.
So, after a while we came upon an open Pub and I told my friend I'd go in and ask for directions. I just kind of stumbled in from the rain and made my way to the counter without really taking notice of my environment. But the first thing I noticed was that this Pub was packed with women - all women - which was ok with me. I went to the counter to ask for directions and as I was about to say, "Ma'am, where is the nearest hostel?" I looked closer and I thought, "Sir?" And then I decided to take a second look at the customers and realized that they weren't all women - they were all men - and that wasn't really ok with me.
We were all guys in there but I was the only one dressed like one and I stuck out like a sore thumb. a frightened, naïve kind of sore thumb. Reality isn't always what it seems. And contrast always sheds light on reality.
The only way we'll ever know that we're in the dark is if we see a greater light. The only way we'll ever know we're living up-side-down is if we encounter someone living right-side-up. There was a reason Jesus had enormous crowds following him - he stuck out like a sore thumb.
When you look at how the people of Jesus' day anticipated Heaven, you can see why they followed him. When you realize that they saw Heaven happening wherever he went you realize their excitement and confusion. In his own words, Jesus not only forgave sin but he gave the blind sight, he made those who could not walk, walk again, those with diseases were cured, the deaf gained their hearing and the good news of this Kingdom was being brought to the poor. These were all things that were supposed to happen at the end of the age when God set up his rule on earth.
It turns out, Heaven wasn't and isn't only a far off future event, God was and is setting up his rule on earth. The things of the future Kingdom were and are invading the present and turning things right-side-up.
What Jesus was doing was pointing it out for us. This is the true apocalypse. Apocalypse doesn't mean what our 21 st century culture often takes it to mean. We've had some Christian writers use it differently and there was a poorly named cult movie that leads us to believe it means, "Oh, no! Something bad is gonna happen."
Apocalypse, according to Darrell Johnson, actually means "unveiling or breaking through from hidden-ness - lifting the cover". And that's what Jesus is doing as he announces the Kingdom of Heaven and its present reality. He's pulling back the veil and saying, "Look, here's Heaven - it's at hand - and it's an alternative for you. an alternative to living up-side-down."
Darrell Johnson introduced me to the pictures on these slides. I wish these images and the story behind them was core curriculum for every history class in school and every political science course.
Jesus was establishing the future Kingdom of Heaven on earth in the present but when we listen to his words, it seems that experiencing the reality of this Kingdom - this unseen realm of God - hinged on this turning action he commanded - there was a connection. He says, "turn around" or "repent." What was he getting at and why does one have to turn around to see and experience the Kingdom of Heaven?
The word used for "turn around" here simply means change. Jesus doesn't say exactly what we should turn from or how we should change but the emphasis is on turning from our goods (like money or reputation or status) and from sin - and turning toward God. As Dale Brunner said, "Whatever keeps one from turning toward the Kingdom is that from which one should turn." If something is keeping us from turning to God, then that is what we should turn from. The fact that Jesus does not specify what one should turn from says that this is a simple, but urgent move. Instead of, "Turn around, a tornado is coming and you could die" it's "Turn around, the Kingdom is coming and you could live."
The essential quality of the person who lives in the Kingdom of Heaven on earth has everything to do with where they place their stock - where they ultimately place their trust. Where do we go when we want to increase the quality of our lives? Where do we go concerning information to live our real lives? Going to Jesus or not going to Jesus for these things is our best indicator of where or who or what we really have our confidence in.
Our own Claudio and Deb Priolo are great examples of this turning around, this change. They were confronted with this while living in Connecticut 3 years ago. While taking in a comfortable 6 figure income and leading a thriving business they decided to turn from these things that they found themselves trusting in - and if you know them, you know they hold loosely to their goods and hold tightly to the Kingdom. I'm not saying we all need to turn from a well paying job or a nice home but Jesus was getting at something when he said it was harder for a rich man to enter the Kingdom than for a Camel to pass through the eye of a needle. Sometimes the things we are blessed with become our biggest hindrances.
Father John Powell is the author of a book called, "Fully Human, Fully Alive: A new life through a new vision"
He argued that it is generally agreed that full and true living is based on 3 things:
1) Interpersonal Relationships
2) Intrapersonal Dynamics
3) Frame of reference
When he says frame of reference, he means our view of the world, our vision of reality.
Our vision of reality is unique to each individual and each of us has been conditioned to see the world in a certain way. The influences we have that shape our view of reality are given to us by our parents and friends; our teachers and our school system; our childhood experiences as well our work environment; our culture and media - the news, the magazines, the songs we hear and the films we experience. Our emotional interaction with these things - our joys and sorrows - all of these things determine how we view the world, reality.
The Matrix films, the Harry Potter books, CS Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia were written counting on the possibility that we don't trust our view of reality to be as full or complete as it could be. Millions of dollars have been generated out of our pockets because there's something inside us that says, "This couldn't be all there is. something's missing. there must be more to it." If you were here last week you'd have heard Serge LeClerc say that this anticipation of there being more to life was what kept him alive when he was alone in prison and things looked bleak.
The dimensions and clarity of this vision of the world are what determine the dimensions of our world and the quality of our lives.
To the degree that we have a distorted reality, our lives and happiness have been diminished. If we are to change and grow, there must be a change of vision.
And that change of vision is what Jesus is offering: "The time has come. The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand! Turn around and put your weight on this good news."
As Johnson said, "Heaven is another dimension of reality which is right here, close at hand, all around us, intersecting the dimensions we can know with our mind and emotions". It is not way out there, it is close at hand - it's closer than our breathing.
Before I conclude, I feel like I have to acknowledge a tension that exists in Jesus' teaching. While it's clear from his words and his life that Heaven is a present reality open for us here and now, it is also clear from our own experience that Heaven seems pretty far off in the world and in many of our lives.
Oscar Cullman expressed this tension in a powerful way. He used the example of WWII, when the Allied forces decided on disembarkment day (D-Day) to counter-attack the German forces in Europe and planned for the final victory (V-Day) but without knowing its exact date. Since Jesus revealed the Kingdom, we live between D-Day and V-Day, the present unseen Kingdom and the future Kingdom.
Conclusion:
When John F. Kennedy Jr. was spiraling downward into the Atlantic Ocean, he was in the middle of a battle between two different perceptions of reality. His senses told him that he was flying right-side-up while his control panel was telling him that he was anything but. His fatal mistake was trusting his own perception of reality against the really real as indicated on his gages.
When Jesus announced the good news that the Kingdom of God was at hand and available to us to live in, he was acknowledging the really real. He was telling an up-side-down world about another way... the only way to live.
Our vision of reality determines the dimension of our world and the quality of our lives. All it takes is our creators' word to open up reality to us. By his word he created the earth and by his word he announces and establishes Heaven on earth.
What is the good news? The good news Jesus announced is that God reigns - his Kingdom is not only a future reality but a present reality open to all.It is not just about saving souls or personal salvation or being incorporated into the church so that someday we'll go to heaven, rather it is a kingdom that is all-encompassing, here and now. "It embraces all dimensions of human life: physical, personal, interpersonal, communal and societal, historical and eternal. And it encompasses all relationships: with each other, with creation, with ourselves and with God."
The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. Turn, and put your weight on this good news.
