It’s all a matter of perspective. There is value when we look beyond the crowded scene of the moment to the wide sweeping vista of the horizon, it can bring clarity and direction.
Here and now is important; life is to be lived in the present, responsive to the tasks at hand but sometimes we can get stuck in the moment. Seeing the bigger picture helps us know what is really going on. Looking beyond our situation reminds us that God is still in control and there is a bigger purpose at hand than we could imagine. Scanning the horizon reveals the truth of God’s grace and assistance over many years through all sorts of challenges and celebrations. Our help does come from the Lord. Our lives are a testimony to the many moments we have been helped, challenged, loved, pushed and embraced into opportunities for growth.
As we look beyond our lives and consider the life of Jesus, we also see a bigger perspective.
Each individual moment appears to combine as we scan his whole life; we find clarity in how all his actions fitted together as a picture of trust and obedience.
Nicodemus was a wise teacher who knew the truth of God in his life, yet he was lost in the realities of the moment. He struggled to see the whole picture that God revealed through Jesus.
Jesus offered Nicodemus a broader outlook as they discussed the truth that life is from God and to God. We move from birth to death, to birth to death again and again. Each day is a new beginning and every night an end. Throughout our lives we have opportunities to start afresh and we have times when we leave things behind; God is in and over all things. We are to respond to our lives with the innocence of a child trusting that God will show up again and again and again.
The life of Jesus reveals to us the persistent grace of God showing up regardless of the situation. We can see the individual moments with clarity as we view the whole landscape of his life in God. We too can live like this, let us look to a wider view of God’s grace in our lives.
Rev Malcolm Rawlings – You are welcome to hear the rest of the message at our Worship this Sunday.