I'm gonna talk about Moses shortly, but first, I'm gonna talk a little about Jesus.
One day, Jesus was invited to a banquet at the home of a Pharisee. It was a typical first century banquet, with food meant to impress, lots of wine, guests who tried their hardest to impress their host and one another, and the traditional post-meal symposium, a philosophical conversation or debate. Jesus was often invited to banquets by important people like this pharisee to add a little fire to these post-meal symposiums.
While the banquet was taking place, a woman came in from off the street… just walked in without being invited! She certainly was not on the guest list. And she stood beside Jesus and began weeping uncontrollably. Tears streamed down her face, and fell on Jesus’s feet.
Let’s pause just a moment, and look around the triclinium, the room where this banquet was taking place. What are the looks on people’s faces as they see this strange scene unfolding? What is the look on the host’s face? What about the other guests? What about the host’s slaves, serving the meal?
What about Jesus?
And what is the look upon the face of this seemingly desperate woman who had interrupted their gathering?
This female intruder used the tears that fell from her face to wash Jesus’s feet. Washing feet was a sign of respect and hospitality, but normally, a basin of water was used, not one’s tears!
She washed his feet with her tears, then she dried his feet with her hair. She had nothing else to use, but was determined to honor Jesus in this way.
Are you still taking note of the looks on everyone’s faces?
Finally, she kissed his feet, and anointed his feet with oil.
Probably, the face of the Pharisee was the most contorted. In shock and disbelief, he watched what was happening. His carefully planned meal and symposium had taken a very unexpected turn. He stared at this woman with his mouth open but he couldn’t find the words to speak. :o
He was so horrified that this woman from the street had invited herself in like this. He was embarrassed, because, as host, he should have prevented this from happening… And he was dumbfounded that Jesus said nothing or did nothing to stop this woman, but instead seemed to welcome her intrusion.
The Pharisee said to himself, “I thought Jesus was supposed to be a great prophet. Doesn’t he know what kind of woman this is? She’s worthless. She’s trash. She’s unclean. A real prophet wouldn’t let her touch him like that.” But of course Jesus did know all about this woman. He knew more about her than the Pharisee did. And he also knew exactly what the Pharisee was thinking.
So Jesus said to the Pharisee: “Do you see this woman?”
Well, of course the Pharisee saw that woman. She was right in front of him! He saw her, although he wished he didn't. He saw her, but he just wanted her out of his sight.
But that's not what Jesus meant. The Pharisee saw her, but he didn't really see her. He saw filth and rags, but he didn’t see her. He saw her mistakes, but he didn’t see her. He saw her flaws, but he didn’t see her.
But Jesus did. Jesus saw her. Jesus looked into her eyes, and he saw her.
He saw the image of God that was within her. He saw the beautiful child of God that she was. He saw God’s love that lived in her. He saw her purpose, he saw her mission. He saw her desire to live a better life. He saw her love for him.
And because Jesus saw her - really saw her - we see her, too.
It is an amazing thing to be seen, to be really seen. To have someone look into your eyes, and say: “I see you.” People are desperate to be acknowledged and affirmed that way….
I try to be active on social media - I’m not as active as some people, but I do see that, through social media, a lot of people are crying out to the world: “Look at me! See me! See who I really am! Acknowledge that I exist!”
And a lot of people aren’t getting that attention, that acknowledgement, that affirmation which they so desperately seek.
Because the world isn't looking for the real you. The world doesn’t affirm you for you who are.
The most the world can do is say: “Make yourself better, then I’ll look at you. Go on a diet, then I’ll look at you. Lose some weight. Buy some new clothes (or, take some clothes off). Get some muscles. Put on a smile. Then I’ll look at you.”
That’s what the world says when the world is being nice. Sometimes, what the world says is even worse. Sometimes, the world says: “I don’t want to look at you at all. You disgust me. Just get out of my sight. Your skin is the wrong color, you speak the wrong language, you love the wrong person, you were born in the wrong country. Just go. I don’t want to see you.
“I want you out of my sight.”
The world says that a lot, unfortunately.
If you’ve ever experienced that, please know that Jesus looks at you and says to you: “I see you. I see you, I acknowledge you, I affirm you.”
Jesus says to you: “You are a beloved child of God. You are created in God’s own image. You are beautiful just as you are. And you were created for a reason.”
Jesus says to you: “Yes, you may have made mistakes. I know you're not perfect. I don't expect you to be perfect. I know you have regrets... But your love - and my love for you - can overcome all that. I see you. I forgive you. I’m going to take all the broken pieces of you and put you back together. I’m going to make you whole again.”
That’s what love does. And it all starts with seeing.
I don’t know what happened to that Pharisee. Did he learn to see people the way Jesus saw them? I don’t know. A lot of people then and now have a hard time seeing.
Long before Jesus this woman washed Jesus's feet with her tears, ...there was another woman who longed to be seen. Her name was Hagar.
Hagar was a slave, which means she wasn’t seen for who she was. She was only seen for what she could do for her mistress… And her mistress just so happened to be a prominent woman named Sarah.
One day Sarah came to Hagar and ordered Hagar to go in to Sarah's husband, Abraham, and let Abraham have sex with her. And since Hagar was a slave, she did what she was told. Hagar had no say in the matter.
From this encounter, Hagar ended up getting pregnant.
Even though it was Sarah’s idea, and even though Sarah had hoped that Hagar would get pregnant by Abraham, Sarah had mixed feelings about this.
Because of these conflicted feelings, Sarah treated Hagar harshly. Sarah probably didn’t even think twice about treating Hagar this way, because slave owners rarely see their slaves as human. They refuse to see their humanity. Otherwise, how could they keep them captive?
Sarah didn't see Hagar, didn't see Hagar's humanity, and treated Hagar with cruelty. She was so cruel, in fact, that Hagar feared for the life of her unborn child.
So Hagar ran away.
She ran away. Her heart was crying out for justice, for compassion, for life, so she ran away. And while she was on the run, she was met by a messenger from God. This messenger saw her, and assured her that God also saw her. The messenger promised Hagar that her son would live, and would have countless descendants.
Hagar was so grateful, that she did something quite bold: she gave the Lord a new name. She named the Lord “Elroi,” a name that means “the God Who Sees.”
God had seen Hagar. God had seen her suffering and her misery. And not only did God see; God also heard. God heard the cry of Hagar’s heart.
When her child was born, Hagar named him Ishmael - a name that means “God hears" - because God had both seen and heard Hagar, and had responded.
And because God saw Hagar, even though she was just a slave, we see her too. We see her, all these many years later. Because God saw her and heard her cry for justice, her cry for compassion, we see her and hear her cry for justice and compassion as well.
And now we come to Moses. Moses is an important figure not only for Christians, but also for Jews and Muslims. In fact, in the Quran, Moses is mentioned more than any other person.
In the Christian Bible, Moses is the third-most-mentioned person, after Jesus and King David.
And Moses needed to learn to see.
One day, Moses encountered a bush that was on fire, yet the leaves and the branches were not burning up.
It was God.
From that burning bush, God told Moses “I have seen the misery of my people… I have heard their cry… I know their sufferings…”
Since I know this story so well, I’m tempted to skip over this part. I want to get to the good stuff! I want to see sticks turn into snakes! I want to see frogs and locusts! I want to see the sea parted!
But this right here is also good stuff; perhaps, even, the best stuff.
God tells Moses that God sees the misery of his people; God hears their cry; God knows their suffering.
That’s why all of this happened! That’s why God rescued God’s people from slavery!
Because God saw them. God really saw them. God saw their misery. God heard them - really heard them. God heard their cry. And because of that, God knew intimately their suffering.
Moses grew up in the Egyptian palace, in the house of Pharaoh. One day Moses saw one of Pharaoh’s soldiers mistreating one of the Hebrews. No big deal; the Hebrews were slaves…. Except something stirred within Moses. Perhaps it was the Spirit, opening Moses’s eyes. Perhaps it was his own past, since he was born to a Hebrew woman before being adopted by Pharaoh.
Whatever it was, Moses saw the Hebrew being mistreated, he saw the injustice, and so Moses put a stop to it by killing the Egyptian soldier.
We can talk later about whether or not that killing was justified.
Then Moses ran away.
The Bible says that Moses fled because Pharaoh was angry and wanted to kill Moses in retaliation for Moses killing his soldier. But I also think Moses fled because he had seen enough. He had seen the Hebrew people - really seen them - perhaps for the first time. He had been trained by Pharaoh to see the Hebrews as nothing more than slaves, but now he saw them differently. He saw himself in them. He saw them as his own brothers and sisters. He saw that their suffering was his suffering.
And it was too much.
Moses didn’t want to see. So he fled far, far away.
But it was too late. He had seen his people, and even though he tried, he couldn’t unsee them.
And then he saw God at the burning bush. And God, of course, saw Moses, and God saw the suffering of the Hebrews.
And this seeing led to love, and love led to freedom.
Because God saw the suffering of the Hebrews, we see their suffering as well. Because God heard their cry for justice and compassion, we also hear the cry for justice and compassion…
Can we say the same thing for today? Are we able to really see the people around us - our neighbors - and especially those who suffer?
When I consider the world today, I think the world has a vision problem.
I know about vision problems. I wear glasses. I see floaters. The optometrist says I have blepharitis. The optometrist says I might develop glaucoma once day, so we need to keep an eye out for that.
But there are a lot of people today with perfect vision - 20/20 - people who have no need for an optometrist or an ophthalmologist, people who don’t need glasses or contact lenses - who have a very serious vision problem.
They aren't seeing people for who they are. They aren't hearing their cry for justice and compassion.
They're seeing them as they want to see them. But they're not seeing them.
They're seeing them through the labels they apply to them. But they're not seeing them.
But because we follow God, we learn to see as God sees. We learn to hear as God hears. God does not see as humans see. So we need to work on seeing as God sees. We need to work on our God-vision.
Because God sees. God sees who people really are. God sees, and what a blessing it is to be seen. What a blessing it is to be noticed.
Even Eeyore agrees. That sad little donkey who is friends with Winnie-the-Pooh - what does he always say? “Thanks for noticing me.”
That's what people need. People need to be noticed. People need to be acknowledged. People need to be affirmed - affirmed for who they are.
People need someone to notice how hard they are working, how hard they're trying. People need someone to say: I see you. I see what you're going through. I see the struggles you are facing.
We need this.
The good news is that God sees.
God sees you. And because God sees you, God says to you:
“You are precious in my sight, beautiful to behold, and I love you.”
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