who do we see

Reading through the passages this week I wondered how do we see people.  I know I sometimes hear people talking about the deaf man, or the paraplegic, or the diabetic or the asthmatic. It seems at times we are known by one element of our life. It may not be health related, it may be single parent, or refugee, or plumber, or parent.

If you were describing me to a friend, I can guess you would mention I am female, a minister, what next, I wonder?  Probably not my singing ability.

In the Old testament reading we are told that God does not look on the outside as people do, but on the heart. When we look at the person sitting near us this morning, what do you see…

What are their eyes like? Small, large, round, almond ????

Hair colour?

Clothing style?

Maybe a smile?

Now what do you see of the person, not their outward appearance, but what do you know and value about that person.

……….

I wish I had a mirror to give each of you at the moment, because I want us to do a similar exercise.

When you look at yourself in the mirror, what do you see…

Eye colour?

Hair colour?

Clothing style?

What do you like best about your appearance?

Do you have a smile for yourself?

Now what do you see, not your outward appearance, but what do you know and value about that person in the mirror?

[1 minute]

…

I know these are hard questions, but they are valuable questions.

My guess is many of you are uncomfortable thinking about what you value about yourself. Many of us grew up in a time when we were not encouraged to value ourselves.

As we move toward Easter, we are reminded of how much God thinks we are worth.

David was the youngest son, he was out minding the sheep. When Samuel asked Jesse to get all his sons, David wasn’t called in from the fields, not until none of the others was chosen. No-one was expecting David to be the chosen one, but God chose David.  God saw something in David that other people, even his family, had not recognised.

How do you think God sees you? what does God value about you? it maybe something no one else sees in you.

[1 minute]

…

I know another really hard question. For too long the church has been a place where people are told they are sinners, bad, incomplete, not good enough. Yes, we are all sinners, but that isn’t a label God pins in us to shame us.  

The people travelling with Jesus asked who sinned, the man born blind or his parents.  Here sin is a badge of shame.

Recently I read that we feel guilt when we perceive that we have done something wrong, and we feel shame when we feel we, in our being, is wrong or not good enough.

Well, the gospel tells us that we are made in the image of God, that we are loved, valued and precious to God and that we need not be ashamed of who we are.  I have met too many people who live with shame because of illness or some aspect of their life, often something in their past or their families past.  

We need to cut ourselves some slack. As I said earlier we aren’t perfect, none of us is perfect, but then God does not expect us to be perfect. The call, the challenge of the gospel is to love, to love as God loves us, to live in the way Jesus did – standing with the outcast, eating with the alienated, healing, liberating, knowing who we are in relationship with God.

To love other people, we need to know love, love of God, love of neighbour and, yes, love of self. We cannot value another person, if we don’t value our own life, our own personhood.

The neighbours of the man born blind weren’t sure if it was him after Jesus gave him sight. The focus had been on his blindness, without the blindness they didn’t recognise him as the same person.

How do we see people?

Or maybe that should be do we see, really see, people?

 [silence]

 As we sing our next hymn[1],  I want you to think about how you see yourself, as well as how you see other people.

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[1] “Lord let me see, see more and more”  by Ross Langmead