Mysteries; Sin is a Swamp
As I continued my journey, I came upon a stream of water. As it was quite a long stream of water, I couldn’t make out its beginning, its source. Its beauty was such that I could not stop myself from peering over the ledge and gazing into the quietly flowing waters. It seemed so pure, so unnaturally pure, at least compared to any other “clean” water that I had been exposed to prior [James 3:11]; so clean and so reflective that one could see his face. I must have been traveling for a long time because up ahead I could make out the figures of all types and colors and sorts of people [Psalm 67:2; Psalm 117:1; Mark 13:10; Revelation 7:9; Revelation 15:4]. Some were singing, some were laughing, and some were drinking the water; some were weeping, some were face down, and some were actually wading around in the water [John 12:13; Psalm 126:2; John 7:37; Luke 7:38; Philippians 2:10; Acts 8:36-38]. It was quite a spectacle to behold, especially for one who had been traveling for so long with very little to see or hear. I had been walking nearly all my life, but the monotony of my trip left me yawning with very little hope for anything otherwise. I was more or less alone, occasionally passing someone and exchanging a courteous “Hello, how are you today?” or being passed and receiving the same politeness. But what was finally within view now was completely unlike my mostly uneventful trip. There were people singing and laughing and crying and bowing, but what struck me as unusual were those drinking the water and those who were submerging themselves in the water. I continued to enjoy this nice change of pace and watched excitedly as another quietly, and with a rather distraught looking face, slipped into the pure water. She was filthy. She was completely covered in a slimy mud-like substance, leeches clung to the few clean parts of her body, seaweed hung lifelessly from her shoulders, and the dried mud was so thick in her long hair that it stuck straight out instead of falling naturally down her back and in front of her shoulders. She was slouching, and her knees never once straightened as she walked; her eyes were bloodshot and her cheeks were sagging as if from a tragedy greater than a mother losing her child. She was a miserable wreck of a human being, and yet walked with such purpose (as much purpose as one in that condition could muster) towards the pure, inviting waters of this stream that appeared to have an unattainable source [Luke 15:18-21; Revelation 21:6].
I quickly glanced around at the others in the water with her, and they too seemed to be in more or less the same state as she. At this moment I recalled with a sense of childlike wonder just a few steps earlier when I had first noticed the intense blue of the pure water, and wondered how it stayed so clean downstream from individuals such as these [Matthew 18:3-4]. I grimaced when I realized that some of those who were drinking the water were actually downstream from them too! I made a great effort in trying to understand what could have been so mysteriously great that would make some bathe in the water, and others drink from the very same [Acts 2:38; John 4:14; John 7:37].
I looked left and discovered where all of these disgusting human creatures were coming from. Some distance away was yet another very different spectacle to behold (I noticed later how easily and quickly and with such subtleness this new place grabbed my attention [Proverbs 1:10; Proverbs 9:14-16a]). As with the stream, there were people here, too: there were people singing and laughing and drinking the water and wading in the water (which was more like sludge than water) like at the stream [Luke 15:11-13]; but those here who were face down and crying were also throwing up [Proverbs 26:11]. This second group of individuals also seemed very different than the rest of those who were singing and laughing and drinking and wading; they seemed different in the sense of not belonging. Pity rose up in me and I wondered why this second group was even here. Upon closer inspection, they resembled those who I remembered from the stream more than those who were in the sludge. I had just about gained enough courage to go over and help those who belonged to the second group when I noticed a steady progression of those who belonged at the stream making their way over [Luke 10:2-3]. They spoke very few words, and the words they did speak were quiet so only the one who should receive them did. Their words were spoken with confidence and purpose, but with a face of undeniable compassion [Luke 15:20; Deuteronomy 32:26]. As this intense yet quiet scene was taking place, any sense of calm that had come over me was suddenly halted when one from the stream, who had one from the second group on his arm, shouted loudly with the same confidence and purpose, and with the same face of compassion, these words [Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 1:8]: “Any of you who are weary, do not dismay or lose heart, for there is a stream of everlasting water not far from here [John 16:33]. This is the water of life, and the one who drinks it will never thirst again, but be continually satisfied [John 4:14]. Here you will find hope and purpose and joy and life [John 10:10]. Follow me and I will show you that this is true! The one who drinks this water [sludge] will thirst again, and he will always fail to find true happiness and fulfillment [John 4:13]. You must believe me! Please, come with me [Luke 9:23]!” [1 Corinthians 2:7] His words were so convicting that I felt almost no hesitation in following him and discovering this great fountain for myself. But just as I had turned my head and before I had even taken one step, those in the sludge said in eerily disorganized unison (as they laughed mockingly) [Psalm 22:7], “Such a place does not exist. You speak of this stream as a child speaks of fairies and unicorns. For a child, these imaginary things make her happy and fill her mind with wonder. But it is a very sad thing when she carries these same fantasies with her into adulthood, for everyone knows that fairies and unicorns are nonsense and do not exist. You speak of a life that does not exist and that cannot exist. We have even heard rumors that this stream you speak of has an unattainable source! This is an amazing thing, a stream without a source! But you will say that the source is only unattainable here and now, and that one day you will be united with its maker [John 7:37-39; Revelation 21:6]. How is this different than the girl who has grown into a woman still in search of her fairies and unicorns? We want nothing to do with you or your stream!” [Psalm 10:4; 14:1; 53:1; Romans 1:26-32] And they pronounced curses and made offensive gestures as the two walked away. I was deeply saddened by this, but what they said seemed to have some weight to it. I turned to the two who had patiently waited for the group who had been in the sludge to finish to see if they were also saddened by this and if they thought their response was at least partially valid. They were neither sad nor swayed. As a matter of fact the one who had first initiated the invitation responded with, “I’m sorry to hear that you won’t be joining us, but please remember that there’s always room for more!”
My feeble mind again joined back to the side of the two who were now headed back to the stream, and I followed them at a distance [Galatians 6:2]. As soon as we arrived back at the stream, which appeared to reflect the sun brighter than when I had first seen it, the two embraced [Numbers 6:25; Matthew 5:14; John 8:12; 1 Thessalonians 5:26]. Then the one who did the talking began to sing and shout praises to the invisible one who “provides the source // of the everlasting waters,” [Revelation 4:11] while the one who was carried back from the sludge slipped into the stream much like the woman who I had witnessed earlier. The man began to clean himself as if in a bath of all the mud and sludge that had so thickly covered his whole body. When he was finished, I watched his calm change to great concern, almost as if he were scared about what he thought he might see. As he pivoted his body and looked down at the water flowing past him, his frightened concern changed again to a look of surprised shock. The water behind him was not murky, as one would imagine a pool full of pigs to be—the water behind him was just as clear as the water flowing towards him [Luke 15:15-16; John 8:10]. At this discovery, his face changed again, but this time with a look identical to the one who had carried him back. He climbed out of the water, but stayed close (as everyone there did) and again embraced the man who had such compassion on him. And the two, once again joined together, began to sing a new song about “giving thanks to the one // the one who washed me clean again!” [Revelation 15:3].
Joy such as theirs seemed to be contagious, and I sat down and watched as a tremendous peace, a peace so mysterious that I cannot describe it, began to fill me as if from a vaccine—it filled me completely [Philippians 4:7]. After the two had finished singing many joyful songs, the one who had carried the other man made eye contact with me, walked over and sat down next to me. He began to describe to me the same things that he was describing to those in the sludge, but unlike them I was listening and thought very little about arguing. He talked for what may have been hours about the stream, the source, the sludge and the meaning of it all. Then, just like he had encouraged those in the sludge, he said, “Please, come with me!” And I did [Matthew 4:19-20; Matthew 9:9]. He motioned for me to slip into the stream much like the others I had seen, but to my surprise he came in after me. After saying what seemed like a prayer of dedication, I was instructed to completely submerge myself in the stream [Acts 8:36-38]. I did, and the moment I broke the surface the peace that I failed to describe before increased a thousand times, and with it came love, joy, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control [Matthew 3:11; Galatians 5:22]. We both came out of the water, embraced, and then rejoiced with the one who was carried back. And we all sang “glory in the highest // to the everlasting source // to the one who is able // to reveal the mysteries” [Luke 2:14; Revelation 21:6] until we could sing no more, and we drank of the water of the stream together [Luke 22:20]. Then the three of us looked at each other and, without saying a word and yet united in the same purpose, we walked back to the sludge to carry as many back as would come [John 17:21; Ephesians 4:3-4; Philippians 2:2; 1 Peter 3:8; James 5:19-20]. Few came back with us, but for every one who came back and was lifted out of that stream, our rejoicing was louder than the first time we three sang together [Matthew 7:14; Luke 15:7].
How much time passed from the first time we sang together, I cannot recall. But when the time had ended, the mystery had been revealed, and we were finally united with the once-unattainable source of the pure, everlasting stream of life [Ephesians 3:3-6, 9-12, 14-19].
“…how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already, by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ), which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets: that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel… and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ; to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places, according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him…. For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with the might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with the fullness of God.”
Ephesians 3:3-6, 9-12, 14-19, NKJV
