He missed it by that much

“He missed it by that much,” said Maxwell Smart from the old TV show, Get Smart.  He’s commenting on the guy trying to escape by diving out a window onto a truck loaded with mattresses.  And he didn’t miss by a lot — just by “that much,” holding up his hand to signify inches. 

It’s one of those scenes I remember from at least 40 years ago.  We use it in different forms today when talking about someone just missing a home run; an attempt at a world record in track or swimming; the narrow escape you made just yesterday when turning into oncoming traffic barely making it. “Missing it by that much…”

We can be surrounded by something — so close to it — but might as well be a thousand miles away. So close, yet so far.  It’s like finding out your best friend was in town, but you weren’t aware of it until he’s gone. Or when you are traveling, and find out the site you’ve always wanted to see but couldn’t find, was just around one more corner. So close, yet so far.  Jesus talks about this when it comes to the things we understand about Him.

It’s embedded in a now-famous conversation with a teacher that approaches him in the middle of the night.  This teacher is confused by what is being said — it’s all new — and he can’t think in the ways that Jesus is teaching. He was in good company. Right before the 3:16 statement,  Jesus says to him:  “If I tell you things that are as plain as the hand before your face and you don’t believe me, what use is there telling you of things you can’t see, the things of God?”  (MSG) Let that question soak in for a minute.  As plain as the hand in front of your face.  The problem was not understanding, but believing.  In other words, “Come on Nick, you are so close, but yet so far away from my Kingdom.”

But that’s not where he ended the conversation. He goes on to say these hopeful words — words you know well:  “This is how much God loved the world:  He gave his Son, his one and only Son.  And this is why:  so that no one need be destroyed, by believing in Him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life.”  (MSG) 

My prayer for us this week as we move through revival is that we receive and don’t miss; that we move from far to close; that hard hearts are made soft; that God sprinkles clean water on us; and the new heart he longs for us to have is realized.  

This is a message for everyone. Oftentimes, if we’re honest, it is as plain as the hand in front of our faces.  It is what’s behind the message of new hearts. So close. Right here. And yet Nicodemus missed it by “that much.”

Text for the week:  John 3:11-17