If We Could See

Last week I stopped to have lunch at Panera Bread. I found a corner to have my bowl of soup and sandwich and work on my sermon for Sunday. Focused on the task at hand, I didn't notice the man who stopped in front of me immediately. When I looked up, the distinguished man wearing a suit and tie said, "I just wanted to let you know how much I like your t-shirt." At first, I thought it was odd that this well-dressed man would be complementing me on my casual attire. Then I had to think, "What about my t-shirt? What shirt am I wearing today?" I had to glance down and see that what I had on for the day was my "Lutheran Aerobics" t-shirt.

He was not the last one to comment on my shirt that day. We talked for a few minutes, and I came to find out that he is an Episcopal priest, and he could relate to the shirt as well!

T-shirts have a way of conveying messages about us to others. When we headed to camp last week, most of the Epiphany crowd had green "Epiphany Goes To Camp" shirts on. Many of us bought shirts at the camp and will wear them to promote the camps and as a reminder of our great week there. We wear shirts that promote our favorite teams, our alma maters, even our political opinions.

In some ways, shirts help us to know something about the people we meet along life's way. But so often, we hide behind the clothes or the masks we put on. The reality is there are many shirts we could wear that would tell others our hopes, our dreams, our pains and our sorrows. To wear a shirt like that would leave us exposed more than covered up, wouldn't it?

The Gospel lesson for this coming weekend is the story of Jesus feeding the five thousand with a meager meal of a few small fish and a couple of bread loaves. We call it a miracle. And that it is! But so often our view of this story ends there. We just see the surface of it, and focus on what Jesus did. If we go a bit deeper, we see WHY Jesus did this - because the people were hungry, and Jesus had compassion on them.

Jesus models for us compassion. Caring for the other. He looks beyond the surface and reaches to our hearts and souls and lets us know that he cares. He does not abandon us, but walks with us on the mountaintops and in the deepest valleys. And he calls us to do the same.

This video was produced by the Cleveland Clinic. What would it be like of we could see the heart of our neighbor?



Open our eyes, Lord. Help us to see!

Peace,

Pastor Charlie