Tag: Love

Come, Follow Me

What do you see when you see people?

What we look like often says something about us. How we dress, how we walk or stand, how we smile or frown, they say that body language is 80% of your personal communication. You can learn a lot about someone from how they look. But not everything, oftentimes we are usually lacking contextual knowledge and we can’t see inside their soul. The upside of this: people can surprise us – there is more to people than meets the eye.

We see this in an early story of the gospel in Mark,the-gospel-of-mark when Jesus first meets Simon Peter and his brother Andrew, and their fellow fisherman down the Sea of Galilee coast, James and John, the sons of Zebedee. Jesus, the intriguing and powerful prophet approaches four gritty fisherman to become his disciples. This is outrageous and unheard of!!! What did Jesus see in them?

Maybe Jesus saw in them betrayal and pettiness, bravado and posturing, pride and prejudice, vengefulness and racism, envy and sloth. He probably saw that in most everybody he met. Probably still does. But maybe Jesus also saw in Peter and Andrew, James and John, you and I, a spirit, mind and body open to God’s renewing work in the world. Maybe Jesus saw the real them and decided it was worth the invitation: “Come, follow me.”

Jesus sees you, and when he sees you, he invites you to “Come, follow me.” Not because you are without sin, not because you are better than other people, nor because you’re special. He calls you because he knows you’re open to the life he has for you – a life of blessing the world in Christ’s name through your flaws and talents.

The messy you is the one he is calling, like those Galilee guys, and if he can put up with their shenanigans, by the power of the Holy Spirit he can bring good out of yours too.

So what’s keeping you from seeing yourself with the eyes of Jesus? What’s keeping you from seeing others with that Christ-vision? What if, instead of looking down or away from others, we looked into them, by the Spirit of Christ, past their appearances, with a prayerful spirit: “Lord, help me to see what you see”

rd_acpp_FishersOfMen_28x20_750When Jesus called the fishermen, he said, “Come, follow me, and I will send you out to fish for people.” The story says that “at once they left their nets and followed him.” Wow! What was it about Jesus that compelled them to go with him? It must have been an amazing moment.

Jesus wants to have that amazing moment with you. And he wants to create those amazing moments in others through you. He wants to use you, in your “fishy” life to send you out to others to really see them, speak hope into them, to help them join in with Jesus. Just as Jesus opened your eyes to him and to others in a new and beautiful way, Jesus wants to take that new vision of yours and help open up the eyes of others to new possibilities, new faith, a new community with God’s people.

FollowMeWhat if we all could see each other with the eyes of Christ? That would be a great start for some amazing changes in our community, wouldn’t it?

“Lord, help us to see others with your eyes. Send us with your vision and your invitation, with your words of love and hope.”

With You I Am Well Pleased

What are you motivated by? A lot of us are motivated by praise. We want to know that we’ll be appreciated and that our diligent work will be acknowledged. In general, people like to be thanked and honored. Whether you are a leader, a co-worker, a parent, a friend – we’ve learned that people get braver when when love gets expressed.

Jesus was no exception. In reading the gospel according to Mark, we find in the beginning a brief account of Jesus being baptized by his cousin John the Baptist. It was a significant act that honored John and fulfilled the work he came to do: “prepare the way for the Lord.” God honored them both as John raised Jesus up out of the water by speaking over them saying, “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

Who are people that you need to speak into today? Who needs encouragement in your home? Who should be honored at work? Who of your friends do you need to affirm and appreciate? This is more than just being nice. This is the kind of stuff that sustains life and gets us through the tough times.

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The very next story in the gospel of Mark has the Spirit of God sending Jesus out into the wilderness. The same Spirit that descended upon Jesus at the baptism, bringing with it words of love and affirmation was the same Spirit that sent Jesus out among the wild animals and the satan to be tested and tempted for forty days.

The Father knew that his Son needed to be strengthened with encouraging words because a very difficult test was coming. John also will soon face a terrible test. While Jesus was out in the depths of the wilderness, I imagine the words of his Father echoed deep in his heart: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

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Most people are under-encouraged. And most people are going through a tougher time than you imagine. So take time to notice. Make space to be present and pay attention. Don’t just throw out empty platitudes. Give a gift of speaking into someone’s life, noticing them and giving honor and kindness. Words can heal, embolden, and sustain.

It may be that the tough times people are going through are designed by God as part of their mission in life; it could be the tough times are just because life is rough; and sometimes tough times come from our folly and sins. But all of it can be used by God for good, if we let him. And sometimes that gets spurred by our diligent work of speaking words of kindness and hope into the those around us enduring tough times.

A lot of life is preparation for what is next. And a lot of times what is next is going to be hard – especially if you are a leader, and are one who is being sent to bring healing and reconciliation to our world through Jesus. So as followers of Jesus, we know that tough times are ahead, testing is part of our path, we must endure temptation – but it’s for a purpose.

In the midst of your wilderness, remember these words of honor and love from your Father in heaven: “You are my Daughter, You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” Now go, and do likewise.