by Pastor Douglas Brauner

…What Cannot be Tasted or Seen.

Along the beach in Brighton, England are these shops that happened to be closed on the day of our visit. I don’t know what these stores sold. I don’t know if they are out of business or thriving. What I noticed was the graffiti, intentional graffiti. The colors are similar from one shop to another, but each declares a different message.

In the messiness of the graffiti, one word sticks out to me. I noticed it when I first viewed this picture. It is the word, “see.” I wonder if the owner is somehow attempting a pun since the shop is by the sea.

I see plenty of stuff in this picture, but I’m not sensing much.

“Taste and see that the LORD is good! How blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.”
Psalm 34:8 New English Translation

The psalmist reminds us that God is good and that we can see, not to mention taste, that the Lord is good. This is a call to discover, to walk along the sidewalk of life and notice that God is good.

We taste and see the goodness of God in the death and resurrection of Jesus.

We taste and see the goodness of God in the promise of our inheritance in heaven.

We taste and see the goodness of God in the church, in the gathering of people who are broken by sin yet forgiven.

Ironically, Peter wrote to exiled Christians that they did not see Jesus, yet they loved him (1 Peter 1:8). How is it that we also do not see Jesus, yet perceive him? Faith that believes what our physical eyes cannot see is how we taste and see God’s goodness. This gift of God’s Spirit is our means of tasting now, of seeing now, that God is indeed good even when what we see in the world is confusing and messy.

My prayer for you today is that you would taste and see, that you would experience that God is indeed good even when the rest of life doesn’t reflect goodness.

Copyright Family of Christ Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado