Wake Up And Look Around

October 1, 2014

Wake Up And Look Around

But I say, wake up and look around. The fields are already ripe for harvest.

John 4:35b

A church was offering an ‘open Communion service’ on Good Friday. As the pastor sat quietly in the Chapel, he was surprised to see a woman, her head covered with a scarf, enter the Chapel. He recognized her as a Muslim woman who had visited a few of the services at the church. He was surprised to see her come and kneel at the Altar in preparation for receiving Communion. The pastor felt compelled to make sure the woman understood the significance of the sacrament of Holy Communion. She listen to the pastor then replied, “I admit I understand very little of your Christian teachings. But this I do understand. This bread and wine signify that Jesus died for me. I know that Allah would never die for me.” With great reverence and humility the pastor served her the Eucharistic bread and wine.

I thought of that incident recently when someone pointed out that the long history of cultural differences within the area of Scotland would have been a huge hindrance to nation-building had Scotland voted for independence. I thought about that incident also when a recent Sixty Minutes broadcast talked about the chaos in Iraq caused by sectarian fighting. I also remember that story when I think of the divisions that exist in our own society.

Jesus chose not to be governed by all the social taboos of his culture. He wouldn’t let social norms tell him who he could be with, who he could dine with, or who we could call friend. He chose not to participate in an exclusive culture, and offered all people an invitation to come into the inclusive Kingdom of God. Jesus modeled this with the woman at the well in John 4, and told his disciples, “wake up and look around. The fields are already ripe for harvest.” When we wake up, we can see how delightful, how fresh, is the Good News of Jesus Christ. This Good News opened the eyes of the pastor’s Muslim friend. How many eyes can we open, how many divisions can we heal, by offering to others the hope we have in our God who loved us and gave himself for us?

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188.