The power of being seen

As human beings we all need to be seen. It's been nice to have people notice my new glasses, the first pair in 4 years. It's a simple example of the blessing of being noticed!

We all have a need to be heard and accepted and known.

We've all experienced being ignored or worse dismissed. We've been on the receiving end, and if we're honest we've been on the giving end too. We've failed to "see" people , welcome them, recognise their holy presence and listen properly.

Being seen is important for our community to be healthy - feeling isolated can lead us kinds of problems. it's also important in our mission. We cannot make disciples and work for justice without "seeing" our neighbour.

People are not projects; people are image bearers, we're all broken and distorted by sin.

So, lets have a look at what the scriptures can teach us on how we can grow in seeing one another.

But, here's the bad news (followed by the good news). There are limits to being seen by other human beings. Even our nearest and dearest will not fill the need to be seen in the way that God alone provides. The reality is we will not always be seen by one another but we will always be seen by God.

In Matthew 3 in the story of Jesus’ baptism we hear of how heaven is opened and we get an inside take on God as Trinity.

The Father sees the Son, and declares he is pleased. The Spirit sees the Son and descends upon him giving him the assurance of the Father's Presence and the Son receives the Father's gaze ,and his approving words. He is then sent in the power of the Spirit into the wilderness.

This is the pattern of your life. Affirmation of the Father, filling of the Spirit and sending into the world to be tested. Life is a test, being seen starts with the assurance that our Father sees us. In the wilderness we discover if God's word is enough. There has to be a kind of loneliness in life that draws us to God.

Are you aware of God's undistracted, attentive presence? Have you learnt to go to God in prayer and sit in his presence? Does God's presence strengthen you?

All through out the Apostle Paul's letters he has a shorthand term for what church life is meant to be like. It is "one another"

Love one another, forgive one another, stop passing judgement on one another, be merciful to one another, wash one another's feet, have equal concern for one another, submit to one another in reverence to Christ, there are 56 statements guiding us to our new life in Christ.

These one another statements are behaviours, they're not abstract, they're very practical. As the Journey we want to see one another, these scriptures are a brilliant guide for us. How about looking at them yourself, and ask the Lord to show you how to implement them in the journey. What could our community look like if we took these statements as our calling in life?

so, in our baptism we are assured that we share in the divine life, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and in the church, we are learning to see one another, see our neighbours and also see ourselves.

My coaching work is often about helping people see themselves, grow in self awareness and accept their Christ-centred identity while also recognise their blind spots.

Sin is very real, none of us is immune from its impact. Seeing where we trip up is crucial. Where are your wounds? where do you go for comfort? Do you accept yourself or judge yourself harshly? Do you take responsibility for your sin and mess or blame others?

It's important to own what we see in ourselves - the good the bad and the ugly. Let's not wear masks or play religious games. We all want authentic relationships, God only knows the real you, not the projected version, it's important to be brave and show the real you.

So can we be assured that God sees us?

John 1 :4

4 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

We know we are seen by God because we have seen God in Christ. This is the astounding claim of the gospels, that we can see God when we see Christ. God is absolutely beyond our imagination but in Christ we see him - God is nothing more or less than Christ.

The way Christ is in the world, is the way God is within himself as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. God is not different to Christ, He is the total revelation of who God is. The love within the Trinity is the same love that indwells us as church and the same love to be shared with the world.

Christ sees the sinner, the leper, the tax collector, the phairsee, the sevrant, the child, the woman, the adulter, the violent solder, the hated ruler, he sees everyone of them. He exposes their humanity in all it's brilliance and falleness.

Let's deepen our meditation of the scriptures because they bear witness to God in Christ.

We see because he first has seen us.

When we see God in Christ, we can start to see the image of God in one another.

Let us commit to seeing one another as a family in Christ as we become a visible signpost to God.