Peripatetics: The Art of Walking
Monday, September 26, 2005
Two Different Worlds
"How did I get here?"
That's the thought that ran through my mind seconds before I preached my first sermon in Holland in 2000.
The moment was quick. I had work to do: Giving a sermon in English and waiting for the translation into Dutch. But that thought ran through my brain while standing behind the podium.
There wasn't much to suggest that I'd ever do something like that. I mean, I was an average kid from an average suburb who made average grades in high school. It didn't change much in college, either. I was in an average fraternity and made average grades while we followed an average football team.
I never rose to the top of my chosen profession. I still haven't. I'm simply a youth pastor in an average suburb in average America.
Yet, there I was...about to be the first in my family and the first from my church to preach a sermon--tell others about the reality of Jesus Christ--in Europe. It was a pure life moment for me. There were others at my church more qualified to do it. There were others in my Bible study from college more qualified. There were others in ministry from my high school more qualified. But I was the one doing it.
God's funny that way.
And that must've been the perspective of the guy in Luke 10: 25, from The Message:
"Just then a religion scholar stood up with a question to test Jesus, 'Teacher what do I need to do to get eternal life?'
He answered, 'What's written in God's Law? How do you interpret it?'"
From strict observation there are two people in the story...and they are vastly contrasted.
First, we have a "religion scholar." The NASB calls him a "lawyer." The reality is that he is highly educated. An expert in the ins and outs of the Mosaic Law. He'd dedicated his life to the study of those words.
Keep in mind that in those days, the highly educated likely came from privilige. Their families had the resources to get them the best educations and the best teachers and they had every possible advantage. The class system was alive and well and worked for him.
It didn't work for the other player in the drama, Jesus. A carpenter by trade. With humble beginnings from humble parents from the poor section of town. Hung out with the riff raff. Any advantage Jesus gained was due to overcoming his circumstances, not benefitting from them.
A tradesman had developed quite a following around town. So the religion scholar is going to find out some information...which we'll look at in detail tomorrow.
But for today, how are we affected by other people's station in life? Do we pre-judge others based on superficial criteria? If so, what are some examples you see of it? How do you overcome the judging a book by it's cover syndrome?
Brent 6:53 AM
Comments:
Judging a book by its cover, eh? That's very hard to overcome for many people. I sometimes don't even have to see the person. I just play an Internet game or see some e-mail adress or simply see a driver on the road and judge them from that. The best way I try to overcome that is by thinking as many possibilites why they could be doing that aside from negative responses. For example: A speeding driver. Well, he might not know the speed limit, he may have a newborn baby, he could be in an emergency, or simply needs to use the bathroom real quick.
Beside the point, sometimes my family will take turns thinking of different positive possibilities, but I get your point about the lawyer judging Jesus the way he did.
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Beside the point, sometimes my family will take turns thinking of different positive possibilities, but I get your point about the lawyer judging Jesus the way he did.
