Seeing

How do you see the world?  I must admit I have become a bit jaded in my worldview.  It is hard to trust.  It is hard to invest in other people.  It is hard to put aside my pre-conceived view of people I have pigeon-holed into mental compartments that I have carelessly created.  It is hard to see past all the filters I have placed over my eyes.  It is hard to see the world like Jesus did.

Hillsong does a song called "Wonder."  I love the song because it pushes me to see the world differently.  The words go, "I see the world in wonder, I see the world in life, bursting in living color, I see the world Your way ... And I’m walking in the light."  The song reminds me to see the world like Jesus.  When Jesus encountered the woman at the well (John 4) He bucked the popular world view of His time.  The world saw a Samaritan woman, someone that society had dehumanized and placed into the category of human trash.  Even the woman knew this as she told Jesus ... "Why would you ask me for a drink of water?  Jews have nothing to do with Samaritans!"

Here are some things Jesus did to re-humanize the Samaritan woman.

  1. He engaged her in conversation.  Our hearts can be stone when it comes to interacting with those people we have placed below our lofty perch.  We walk on the other side of the road.  We avoid neighborhoods.  We relegate other people to a category of "them."  Jesus reminds us that "they" have value in God's eyes.

  2. He engaged her in normal human activity.  Jesus asked for a drink of water.  He brought her into a common and shared human experience.

  3. He expressed care and concern for her relationships, even though those relationships were not the norm accepted by that society.  He didn't condone ... just acknowledged that those relationships didn't make her less human and less of value to Jesus.

  4. He talked with her about God-things.  He spoke of common ancestry (Jacob).  He spoke about a common longing for the Messiah.  He spoke about a time of common worship when we would all worship in Spirit and truth.

  5. He invited her into ministry.  When she ran to tell the town who she had met, Jesus didn't say "Wait ... you need Seminary training for that!  You need to be certified to be an evangelist!"  Jesus invited her into the work, life and light of being part of a group of people called believers.

I love the words of the song!  "I see the world in grace, I see the world in gospel
I see the world Your way, and I’m walking in the light, I’m walking in the wonder, You’re the wonder in the wild, turning wilderness to wonder."  May Jesus turn the wilderness of our prejudice to the wonder of His light!  Randy