You’ll see a different looking Rector on Sunday morning, because on Thursday I got a new pair of glasses. And because old age is creeping up on me, they are a pair of vari-focals.
It’s taken me a while to get used to them – and I’m not quite there yet. If I turn my head too quickly everything wobbles and moves and I start to feel rather seasick. Fortunately that feeling is getting less and less as my brain and eyes adjust to the new lenses, but it’s a strange feeling nevertheless.
Getting used to seeing things in a different way is something that we all have to do as we follow Jesus. Being a disciple of Jesus means taking on God’s view of the world, adopting God’s values, and living by his pattern rather than by the pattern of the world.
At first this can feel rather strange – rather like my new glasses! But since we are unable, through our fallen human nature, to see things clearly on our own, we need to take on board the perfect truth that we see revealed in the Scriptures and in the person of Jesus Christ. CS Lewis explained it this way: “I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.” I think that sums it up very well. As we grow in faith we see everything else as it truly is.
Changing the way we think, seeing the world in its true light, valuing what God values is never easy. But since this is God’s world, and since He is good and true and faithful, it is key to being a faithful disciple.
So as we start to work through more of Matthew’s gospel, and see Jesus at work and hear his teaching, let’s pray that God will help us to see truly, because only then can we begin to live rightly as his disciples.