Saturday, October 17, 2015

Perspective

October 17, 2015

She was just coming out the door as I pulled in the driveway after picking up Abi and Izzi from swim practice this morning. Decked out in her hooded winter coat and a pair of knit gloves we keep in an old copper boiler by the door, Gemma was ready for the snow that was gently falling. I bent down and said, "Gemma, it's snowing," to which she replied excitedly, "That means Christmas is coming!"

Later in the day a friend posted a Facebook video of her back deck with the comment, "Ugh...first signs of winter. Again I say, Ugh!" It wasn't three posts later that her husband had posted, "Snow--Woo Hoooo!" Made me laugh out loud. It's all in the perspective. Personally, I like winter. As long as I dress for it, I say, "Bring it on!" It helps to have a warm house, and I am very grateful for mine. I fired up the wood stove and later found Alex cozily ensconced in my recliner, soaking it in with a contented smile on her face.

It's all in the perspective. Tonight I had the opportunity to preach at Koinonia Holy Hour. The theme was from Jesus' words, "The harvest is plenty, but the laborers are few." My thoughts went immediately to the story of Jesus and the woman at the well. Most often, if we are to hear a sermon on this text, it deals with the conversation between Jesus and the woman, but I was intrigued by the surrounding circumstances. The disciples had gone into town to buy lunch as Jesus begins his conversation with the woman. She leaves to tell her friends and neighbors about this man and the conversation she had had with him. She and the disciples must have crossed paths as she was headed back to town and they were coming back to Jesus with the groceries. Now all the townspeople are streaming out to see Jesus for themselves, and Jesus sees them and says, "the fields are white, ready to harvest."

His perspective was different from that of his disciples. They saw people as human vending machines who could provide what they wanted. Jesus took the opposite approach. In another place, he said he didn't come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many." There's the difference. Do we see the people around us as being there to serve us, or are we here to serve them? Our perspective determines the opportunities we either see or overlook.  We can look around at the snow and see cold and work, or like little Gemma, we can see the coming of Christ. We can see people who are here to serve us, or people God has brought into our sphere so we can serve them. There's a key to moving from the former to the latter, but that will have to wait till tomorrow. Until then, I am grateful for the opportunities I've been given to be on the serving side. It's much more rewarding than being served.

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