Message: A change in perspective
If I were to say certain names, you would have a certain perspective on who these people and their possible behaviours or interactions. If we know something about someone, there is an expectation of who they are and who they are becoming in situations. We at times limit who people are becoming based on their past and their characteristics that we have heard about them or know of them.
Queen Elisabeth
Greta Thunberg
Trump
Zelensky
Merkel
Putin
Marie Curie
Mother Teresa
Apostle Paul
King Saul
Queen Esther
Mary Magdeline
Simon Peter
CS Lewis
Corrie Ten Boom
Pope Francis
While not just their names hold meaning because often it is their past actions and character influences, the stories we know of individuals colour our perspective of them. We associate names and people with who they are, what they are capable of, and how their lives will affect ours and the world.
‘Your reputation precedes you’ is a common phrase when we make assumptions and set expectations about people even before we maybe meet them face to face. Accounts of their past actions and words colour our perspective of what an interaction with them might be – for good or for ill. And within the wisdom literature of the bible in Ecclesiastes and Proverbs we hear of the value of a good name, reputation and character for life:
Proverbs 22:1 “Choose a good reputation over great riches; being held in high esteem is better than silver or gold.” ...
Ecclesiastes 7:1 “A good reputation is more valuable than costly perfume.”
The honest truth is that we are not in full control of what others believe of us nor are we in control of the impact of our words and actions on how others see us because each perspective is different and changing, affected by moods, past experiences, influenced by others, but also changing over time.
Imagine what it must have been like for those early followers of Jesus to be so changed by encountering Jesus that their whole countenance, perspective and lives changed that their communities noticed. Everyday people changed and influenced people in power to react. Saul would not have been so ruthless if the early followers of the Way had not been so changed from their expected ordinary ways. Christians would not have been seen as a threat to the establishment if they weren’t truly influencing change in others. Their reputation preceded them and was a threat to others who did not wholly understand their change in perspective. It wasn’t that they were in seats of power or had all the followers (while there were crowds at times), but not everyone followed or changed.
Nowadays when the name Christian is uttered, it does not associate with Jesus Christ so much as with an established church or certain set of people who may not always embody Jesus’s Way in the world. Two thousand years removed from those early days has added much to the story and character of what the world experiences of Christians. Churches, like the Church of Scotland or Roman Catholic Church or Baptist churches, are very different in so many ways from those early gatherings the apostles like Simon Peter, Thomas, James, and Mary Magdalene were a part of as well as the communities like Ananias’s who were enabled and inspired by the first followers of Jesus. Much has changed in our perspective and life as those who join their lives to Jesus’s Way. The world is different, the gatherings are different, however the Holy Spirit and Jesus are unchanged yet changing us and our perspectives of life with Christ.
We live in a world where influence can be bought and sold, influencing on social media is a career aspiration of many young people, where image may or may not align with authentic life and character. Which means that Jesus’s interaction with Peter beside the lakeside and Saul/Paul’s change of perspective matter so much in who we are becoming as people of faith. Whether we have been here decades or feel we are just new to this way, Jesus invites us to be changed by the gift of the Holy Spirit, walk in the Way of Christ, not to be flashy and go viral in the world’s sight but to be guided by his life and teachings even when they are counter cultural to what the world and even sometimes the church holds up as success and influence.
This week, I have a challenge for you or an invitation: consider someone God might be encouraging you to know beyond what you already know of them, pray that God would guide you to someone in your life who could influence you to follow Jesus more nearly or you could influence to know Jesus more clearly (maybe even growing together), and open your heart to the transformation and change that God’s spirit can influence in your life as you grow as a follower of Jesus’s Way – as a Christian. I have this last week and will again.
The fishermen, like Simon and Andrew, changed their perspective from being disciples following Jesus listening to him teach to following Jesus by sharing the Good News with others – they became ones proclaiming Christ as they followed Jesus’s Way. Many came to faith because they again left their nets and spoke out in their communities, healed and were inspired through the Holy Spirit. And a staunch persecutor like Saul, encountered Jesus and his followers and became a emboldened teacher of Christ to the nations through travels and letters. None of us may be like Peter or Paul or Mary, were in their days, yet we are called to be ourselves who are guided by faith, inspired by the Holy Spirit, and shown grace to humbly encounter others out of Jesus’s love we have known. May the Holy Spirit strengthen you as you follow Jesus to show God’s love and way to others.
The world is filled with change and changing perspectives, may we as a community of faith be encouraged to follow Jesus and be changed to become more and more like him in what we say and do so our name may point others to God.
Prayers from Roots for Churches:
© Roots for Churches Ltd (www.rootsforchurches.com) 2002-2025. Reproduced with permission.
A prayer for all ages together --
God, as we put our trust in you help us to grow.
(plant feet firmly on the ground)
We want to love you more and more.
(hands on heart)
Help us to show your love,
(hands cupped like a bowl)
to everyone in our community.
(hands outstretched)
Amen.
A sending out prayer
We go from this place with perspectives changed.
May we have eyes to see you at work
in our lives and community.
May we have words of love to offer to people
society often shuns.
May we trust and obey your call on our lives.
Amen.
Prayers of intercession
Almighty God, hear our prayer
Almighty God, we recognise that you are the fire, the spark, the vision, the calling, that brings us to our knees to pray for those near and far and so we pray this day for those people and situations that are on our minds and in our hearts.
Almighty God, hear our prayer
For those who lead the nations, the good ones and the bad ones, those prepared to apologise for mistakes made and those who plough on regardless of the chaos and mess they cause. For those who are prepared to change their minds for the greater good of humanity and creation.
Almighty God, hear our prayer
Fort the peoples of the nations, those who support their leaders and those who despair of decisions made, supposedly in their name. For those who decide, whatever the risk to themselves, to speak out against injustice and unfairness. For those who risk their lives for the well-being and the good of neighbours near and far.
Almighty God, hear our prayer
For those countries at war, those whose countries want the war and the countries who don’t but who are unceremoniously dragged into violence and revenge trying to protect peoples and lands, heritage and borders.
Almighty God, hear our prayer
For the homeless, the hungry, the dispossessed, for those who face discrimination and injustice, those who feel isolated, lonely and alone, unloved, unwanted and fearful.
Almighty God, hear our prayer
For the ill and those who treat them, who bind their wounds and care for body, mind and soul. For those who are nearing the end of earthly life that they may find comfort, strength and peace. For those who mourn the loss of loved ones, who feel the emptiness and loss, who live with guilt and regret of things not said and deeds not done.
Almighty God, hear our prayer
And finally we pray for ourselves, that we may follow in the steps of Christ and in so doing find peace, love and contentment, healing, hope and joy.
Almighty God, hear our prayer
And hear all the prayers of our hearts, spoken and unspoken.
In the name of the risen Christ, we pray. Amen