Recently my
older son showed me a sketch of a group of people looking out a series of
airplane windows. Most of the seats were filled with children. Only the one
window in the middle held an adult. The kids were screaming and pointing at the
dragon outside flying by. The adult saw only a white cloud.
Several
years ago Matthew West came out with a song entitled “My Own Little World”. In
one set of lyrics he wonders how many times he had passed a homeless widow on
the street never before having noticed her.
Jesus had
Sabbath dinner one day with a Pharisee, and in the midst of the meal he looked
at a woman who had been washing his feet with her tears and drying them with
her hair. He turned back to Simon the Pharisee and asked one of the most
profound questions in the Bible, “Do you see this woman”. (Luke 7)
What do you
see when you look out an airplane window at 30,000 feet or at a busy
intersection of a city or the people who cross your path each day?
As children
our minds are not as cluttered with reality as they become when we are more
mature (we think). As Christians we tend to restrict our circle of
acquaintances so that we do not see the “down and outs” or recognize the “up
and outs”. As maintainers of the holy tradition, we look past or outright
reject what does not fit into our categories of acceptability.
Our
blindness can cause us to miss the scenes into which Jesus placed himself. He
made himself available to the Pharisee Nicodemus. (John 3) He took the
initiative to speak to the Samaritan woman. (John 4) He placed himself between
the angry mob and the woman caught in adultery. (John 8) He interrupted his
discussion with adults to take a child up into his arms. (Mark 10:13-16) He
touched the blind men who were outcast from the temple proper and invited them
to follow. (Matthew 20:29-34) He confronted the demon possessed (Mark 5:1-20)
and had dinner with Roman collaborators. (Matthew 9:10) Jesus looked around him
and saw a spiritual harvest for the Kingdom of his Father. (Matthew 9:36-38)
Jesus “saw” everyone.
Where can we
“see” people the way Jesus saw them? People don’t go to a doctor’s office to
find the right social circle. When we are sitting waiting to be called, God is
asking us to see the sick people around us as needing our prayers. When we are
sitting at the auto repair business, God is asking us to see the people around
us facing another inconvenience or financial disaster ready to disrupt their
lives. They need our prayers.
When we hear
the wail of the siren, a responder needs our prayers. A person in trouble needs
our prayers. A family or circle of friends needs our prayers. When we hear the
report of another unit being sent to a war zone, soldiers and the families they
leave behind need our prayers.
It’s called
the mid-week prayer service. It’s an event on the church calendar. It’s an
opportunity to join in corporate prayer for those we “see” everyday. God waits
there every week and listens to us talk about what we have seen. He would also
like to listen to us pray.
Prayer is
the first step. Jesus touched the blind, deaf, lame, and sick. His touch
brought healing and relief. We can turn our prayers into touches of relief, as
individuals and as churches. Jesus offered comfort to the struggling and
lonely. We can turn our prayers into words of comfort and encouragement. Jesus
met those whom society had deemed hopeless and offered them love, hope, and a
relationship that would extend through eternity. We always have the time to
offer hope and love and the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ.
All we have
to do is see people the way Jesus saw people. All we have to do is see people
the way Jesus sees us. Jesus always sees us.
