20240114 Seeing and Being Seen¶
Welcome¶
Good morning, my name is Clifton Bartholomew, and I am a local preacher here at UMC.
It is always so good to share with you all. Welcome again to any visitors and to all our online guests as well.
I always like to say before I preach that I am a teacher by training and so I am very used to being interrupted. If anyone is brave enough to raise their hand and ask a question or give an input, it is warmly welcomed.
Introduction¶
Jab 1 - A dogs loving gaze¶
I am a dog lover. Does anyone else love dogs?
This is why I love dogs show video.
Unbounded happiness. It is like a dogs owner thinks that they are the greatest human being to have ever lived. Who do our dogs think we are? What do they see in us? No matter what happens in our day, we are greeted with love at the door.
I have four dogs and one of my joys is taking them for beach walks every other day. Our one dog Luna (SHOW PICTURE) is such a friendly dog. EVERY beach walk she makes best friends with everyone always putting a smile on peoples faces the way she explodes with joy in the interaction. I can't remember the last time I made people feel like that.
Jab 2 - Are we blinder than dogs?¶
Imagine we triggered this response in each other. Seeing each other through dog eyes. Picture yourself greeting your wife like this? Or going to a braai like this?
But our perceptions of each other can be lot more bleak aren't they. And these perceptions actually shape who we become. The more my wife sees me as lazy and someone who does not pack the dishwasher, the more that I become lazy and do not pack the dishwasher. Well that's my excuse...
Jab 3 - Teachers view of children¶
There is actually a name for this effect. The Pygmalion effect. Robert Rosenthal, a well known clinical psychologist states:
He discovered this in a really interesting study conducted in schools.
Emphasize low expectations
This is insane. Expectations form reality. It is like magic.
Right Hook - What are our expectations?¶
We are in the season of Epiphany, a season about seeing and being seen. And today I wanted to look at what our expectations are in our experience with God. What do we expect of God? What do we believe God expects of us? How do we see God? What are expectations for how God sees us?
Do we expect God to judge us or to open his arms towards us? Do we expect God sees us and just wants the best for us? Does God have dog vision? Is God a good teacher?
These expectations creates the framework that we fill out in our lives. The can create a negative self-fulfilling prophecy or give us the drive to live up to the people God knows us to be.
Expectations form reality. It is like magic.
Our readings today reveal a lot about the expectations that Nathanael and Samuel have about God. Let us see how their reactions might teach us something of ourselves.
Explanation¶
The context for our first reading is around the time that John the Baptist baptizes Jesus and Jesus is just starting his ministry. He has already called a few disciples to follow him and we enter into the story with Jesus having met the first disciple Philip and Philip runs to Nathanael to break the glorious news, "We have found him, the one who Moses spoke of!"
Our second reading is from the early years of the prophet Samuel (this is the prophet who anointed King David) and his first encounter with the word of the Lord.
As we look at their responses in the readings, consider your own response to God in the recent past, have you responded to God more like Nathanael or have you responded more like Samuel?
Teaching Point 1 - low expectation of God showing up¶
When told by Philip that "We have found the one Moses spoke of!" Nathanael's response is: "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" He doesn't say "Woooooo! Let's go and meet him!" He holds his friends statement at a distance, letting his prejudice and negative past experience get in the way. He has little expectation of God actually showing up.
Whereas on the other hand, when Samuel gets his name called by God he responds with "Here I am!" Even though he mistook Gods voice with the voice of Eli, he still responds in the positive. And on the third time that this happens, Eli knows what is now going on. He has really high expectations that God will show up.
We love hearing stories of other peoples experience with God. Do we hold high expectations that God will show up in our lives? Do we expect God to be present in our lives? Have we been hurt too much or gone through too much pain to even consider that God is with us? Are we allowing our prejudice and negative past experience lower our expectations?
Teaching Point 2 - low expectation of God's care¶
After Jesus greets Nathanael, Nathanael responds with: "How do you know me?" He gets this warm sense that Jesus knows him deeply and he is surprised by this, it is an unexpected thing. Why would the Messiah know me? Why would God know me?
When Eli told Samuel that God is talking to him, Samuel was not surprised. He was obedient, he anticipated a relationship with God. This is what he was growing up into. He welcomed God's advances. Here I am Lord, speak, for your servant is listening.
Do we expect that God deeply knows us? Even if we have been sitting far away from him under the fig tree? Do we anticipate Gods call? Do we echo Nathanael's response of why would God know me?
Teaching Point 3 - low expectation of what God will do in our lives¶
The last response of Nathanael is after Jesus explains how he knows Nathanael. Jesus says "I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you". This is obviously something Nathanael feels that no-one else could know and it convinces him. He give Jesus the highest title, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God, you are the King of Israel."
And Jesus is surprised by this, he says, "Is that all it took? I have come to shake your life and the life of every person on this planet up, you ain't seen nothing yet." Jesus want's Nathanael to know that he has come to great things not only in the world, but in Nathanael's life as well. He has great plans for how Nathanael can grow and serve.
The way that Samuel and Eli respond, show that they have a deep sense of calling and duty, that God will use them in meaningful ways. They know that this is only the beginning of a long journey.
Do we expect God to know things about us at a distance? Do we expect God will get intimately involved with our journey? Do we stop at the glory of God and remain content praising him without inviting him closer? If we have low expectations of what God will do in our lives, then nothing will happen.
Application¶
Ozzy spoke last week about limiting what God does in our lives, that he doesn't lack supply, but we lack capacity. We can do all things.
I want to add to that. I want to speak about limiting our beliefs about our relationship with God and how God sees us. Are we limiting our relationship with God through limiting beliefs? How big or small are our expectations for God and from God?
Expectations form reality. If we can change our expectations, we can change reality. And here we must not confuse setting expectations with wishful thinking. This is not actual magic where we envision this in our minds and poof it manifests. This is about alignment and slow incremental change over time. Our expectations are like a deep rudder. Think back to the study done with the teacher and the students. Forming us over time.
Maybe you can help add to this, but here are some ways in which we can reset our expectations.
Action 1 - Identify and break old beliefs¶
How do you picture God's vision of you? Because God sees you, no matter how far you feel from him. Picture how excited a dog is when greeting you when you come home. Uncontainable joy, excitement and love. How much more will God be with you?
I have been wrestling with trying to be more proactive in my career and I feel that every time I put something forward, my enthusiasm is squashed by the bureaucracy of the every day. It gets me frustrated and resentful. And when Oz spoke last week the one message that came through for me was "Work for me, not for man." One of my expectations is that I can do it on my strength, by myself.
God WILL show up. God WILL love you. God WILL use you.
Action 2 - Be vulnerable with others¶
What is clear in our readings is that other people are involved in our faith journey. It is impossible to do it by ourselves. Samuel would not have been able to decipher what God was saying without Eli. Nathanael would not have met Christ without Philip. We feed each others understanding of God and the expectations we place on God and God on us through each other. The more we share our faith, the more we grow.
Action 3 - Know your seasons¶
Our relationship with God changes over the years.
We are sometimes like Philip, having met Christ we bring others to God. We are sometimes like Nathanael, reluctant but willing to come along. We are sometimes like Samuel, unaware that the work we see in our lives is actually from God.
Which season are you in at the moment? Know that it is okay.
One Liner¶
Expectations form reality. Change your expectations, change reality.