PRIVILEGE
Nathan Attwood
Pastor, Marianna First United Methodist Church
"To see your face is to see the face of God." Genesis 33:10.
On Wednesday and Sunday evenings, I have the wonderful opportunity to babysit my grandsons while my daughter and son-in-law lead youth group at the church for our teenagers. My younger grandson, Woods, has a tough time getting to sleep. It's my job to give him a bottle and rock him to sleep. Many times, I think he's ready for the crib, but as soon as I set him down, he wakes up and jumps up and reaches for me. Recently, it took three tries before he finally went down for good.
His mother was the same way when she was a baby. I can vividly remember rocking her until she seemed completely asleep, setting her into her crib, and watching her little eyes pop open as soon as she touched the crib. It's been over a quarter century, but it doesn't seem so long ago. These days, my daughter is nearing 30, has a Master's degree, a husband and children, and is an extremely capable pastor. Still, sometimes I look into her eyes and see the same eyes that looked up at me when she would awaken as I set her in her bed.
When I was 23 years old, I must admit I sometimes became a bit frustrated when I couldn't get my baby to sleep. I would wonder if I would ever be able to get some sleep myself. Now, when the grandbaby won't get to sleep, I don't get frustrated at all. I know the days of rocking that baby to sleep are very few. I recognize that each opportunity to hold him is a great privilege, just as it was a great privilege to rock his mother to sleep when she was tiny.
My favorite theologian is a German pastor named Dietrich Bonhoeffer. He was eventually arrested and executed by the Nazis near the end of World War 2. Before his arrest, he led a small underground seminary for pastors who wanted to serve churches without participating in the Nazi-controlled state church. Bonhoeffer wrote a book called "Life Together" about what he learned about Christian community through living with those Christian brothers in close quarters as a Christian fellowship.
He began the book by saying that it is not to be taken for granted that Christians have the PRIVILEGE of gathering together in visible fellowship. He says that, just as Jesus was sent to spread the Gospel among foes, Christians, too, are spread throughout the world to share the good news just as seed is sown for a harvest. So, until we are eventually gathered together in the end-time, anytime we are with other Christians, we experience a great gift.
Often, I have looked back at times I have been in close Christian fellowship with brothers and sisters I loved and yearned for the time we shared. My youth group during my high school days was extremely close and we helped each other come to faith and fall in love with Jesus. I am still in contact with several of those guys. I once was an associate pastor in a large church and the group of clergy who served together were the most wonderful team imaginable. We still see each other often, but we will never have the opportunity to live and work together the way we did then.
I remember teaching a group of college students about "Life Together" years ago. I told them that they would one day look back to this time, this group, the people gathered at the table, and truly appreciate the friendship and community. I told them that they would one day look back and say, "I had such a great group of Christian friends in my college days. I really miss them." I told them, instead of waiting until it was lost, why not appreciate it now? Why not have the same gratitude for the gift of Christian friends now rather than waiting to appreciate it later?
Whoever God has put in your life is a great gift to you, a gift you will not have forever. The young ones will grow up. The old ones will go on. Life changes. Even the people themselves change over time. If you have your parents, be thankful. Pick up the phone and call them. The day will come when they will no longer be on the other end of the line. If you have them, enjoy them. It's a great privilege. Do you have a church family? They may not be perfect, but they are a great gift. I've often considered that because people come and go in churches, because people are always moving, visiting, joining, being born and dying, no two Sundays in the life of any church have the exact same group of people. Whatever the group on any Sunday, the community has unique dynamics, great love, wonderful gifts. Those gifts will never be exactly the same. To enjoy being among them is a great privilege.
After a long separation and bitter conflict, Jacob and Esau reunited in Genesis 33. They said to one another, "To see your face is to see the face of God." The face of God can be seen in the face of any person with whom God has gifted you to share life. What a privilege.