Valerie Rae Hanneman
John 12:21 (NIV) “They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.”
Anybody who knows me knows one thing for sure. I love Sondays and in particular, I love Sonday mornings when we gather around the Throne of God to worship Him. Sonday morning is the one day when I never hit the snooze button. I am up and ready to go! Much to the chagrin of my children, Sonday is the only morning when I have my I pod on full blast and am singing praise at the top of my lungs as I get ready to go. Finally, I am in the sanctuary, lifting my hands, my face and my heart to Jesus as I sing to Him. I close my eyes and imagine that I am before His throne, my face and my hands glowing as the light of His glory shines upon me, and I feel the warmth of His love surrounding me. Then I take my seat and pray for God to reveal to me what He would have me learn as Willie begins to preach. I love Sonday mornings – I know exactly who I am as I look into Jesus’ face. Then Monday morning rolls around. Monday is not so exciting, I still have my personal time with God, and I still sing praise – maybe not so lustily – but still praising. I get in my car, already anticipating my first cup of coffee, and drive to work. On the way, I see that woman standing on the corner again. She is there most mornings, just standing there, blank-eyed and shivering (but not from the weather). If you look up the phrase “tore up from the floor up.” in the dictionary, you will see this woman’s picture. Life has been rough for her on multiple levels, there is definitely something wrong with her and to be honest, she creeps me out. So I don’t look at her. I get to my office and the tensions of my workweek begin. I try to be the best witness for Christ that I can be – but it sure is easier on Sonday morning than it is on Monday morning. A lot easier. Sometimes who I am on Monday is not as clear to me as it is on Sonday.
The core disciples had been with Jesus from the beginning of His ministry. They traveled with Him, ate with Him, laughed with Him, watched His miracles, slept on the dirt roads with Him, and told silly jokes around the campfire with Him. But I wonder if they ever looked at Him, if they ever saw Jesus. Now of course, I know that they looked at Him and saw Him with their physical eyes, but they never really saw Him with their spiritual eyes. They thought that they did. They understood that Jesus came from God, and for the most part, they believed that Jesus was Messiah. But they never saw Jesus, the Servant/God. Jesus was certainly up front about it. “The Son of Man came to serve, not to be served.” “The first shall be last and the last shall be first.” are just a few of the things He told them. On His last night on earth, He took the servant’s role and washed their feet. Peter, my impetuous, beloved Peter, wanted Jesus to wash his hands and his face as well, but he only asked that because he did not understand what Jesus wanted Peter so see when he looked at Him. And in just a short time after the Son of God had clearly modeled His servant status – the status He wants for us – the disciples were once again arguing about who would sit at Jesus’ right hand when He came into His kingdom. No matter how hard Jesus tried to get the disciples to really see who He was – Servant/God/Sacrifice/Messiah all that the disciples could see was Jesus as the Conquering King/Messiah/Kicker of the Roman oppressors to the curb. Jesus’ death on the cross was a shock to His followers even though He told them time and time again that He would die. They never saw it coming because although they looked at Jesus, they never saw Jesus as He was and where He was. They only looked and saw what they wanted to see.
It is easy for us to be a little critical of the disciples as we look back on Jesus’ ministry and see clearly all the tings that the disciples did not see. How could they have missed seeing Jesus – he was so transparent with them! Hindsight is always 20/20 – isn’t it? And, to be honest, I do not think we see Jesus any better than they did. We love to see the Jesus of Sonday morning – when it is all about the worship and praise, the preaching and the fellowship. We look at Him on Sonday morning and see Him clearly – we can hardly wait to get back to services the following Sonday so we can see Him again.
But where is Jesus on Monday morning? Do we see Him as He is and where He is? I do not. Oh, I still have my time with Him, and I try to serve Him on my worksite, I try to be His witness, but I do not look at Him and really see Him. Because I refuse to look at that woman who stands on the street corner and see her as Jesus sees her. I chose to allow her to creep me out rather than have a heart of compassion for one of Jesus’ own. I make excuses that there is nothing I can do for her – but how can I know that if I won’t even look at her. Jesus said that when we take care of the least of these, we take care of Him, so if I were to look at this woman, I would see Jesus.
I want to look at Jesus and see Jesus – no matter where He is. I want to see Him seated on His throne, high and exalted above every other thing in creation, when I worship Him on Sonday morning. I want to know who I am in Him on Sonday. But Monday is coming. This Monday, I am going to look at that woman, knowing that I am seeing Jesus when I look at her. Knowing that whatever I can do for her, I am doing for Jesus. I don’t have a clue one of what I can do for her – except pray for her. And I can certainly do that. Who knows, maybe as Jesus works in me to build a heart of compassion towards the least of His, maybe he will show me another way to help her. But I will never know until I look at that woman and see Jesus as He is and where He is. I will never know who I am in Him on Monday until I look and see Him on Monday.
LORD Jesus, Open my eyes and open my heart. I want to see You on Monday as clearly as I see You on Sonday.
Contact Valerie or sign up for the e-ministry of FFBC at Valerie@fresnofirst.org
Posted by Valerie at March 6, 2008 11:50 AM