Mary’s Vision
In Luke’s Gospel, the story is told of how an angel came to Mary to tell her of the coming of the Messiah. She believed his proclamation and the vision of what her future would become. Why? What drove this uneducated young girl to tolerate very difficult circumstances, even with the knowledge that her situation would not end well? What made her endure the pain of watching her son die in such a humiliating way? The answer lies in the clarity of her vision and what she chose to “ponder in her heart.”
This One Thing
When I think about vision, I think about what could be—if I plant this sapling, if I cut out carbs, if I invest in this friendship. There is something that is not yet but has the potential to be if I were to do this one thing. So, my “vision” drives me to take a step in a direction to live differently.
A Vision to Share
Jesus did the same thing when he called Peter to follow him. “I will make you a fisher of men.” He saw in Peter what was not yet true of him and called him to something bigger. No big announcement in front of thousands, no shame for what he had not yet become – just a quiet pronouncement that he will become so much more as he follows the Savior. And Peter dropped his nets and followed.
Nothing More, Nothing Less
I often wonder what it must have been like for the boy Jesus to live among mere mortals. Did He know that He was of superior intellect, superior morals, superior wisdom, than all those around him? What did He think the first time He realized that someone else in His family was lying? Or cheating? Or…sinning!
Vision Rooted in Holiness
I like the idea that any vision we have for ourselves, our ministry, or even other people, needs to be grounded in God’s holiness. For even when we come to the place of realizing, like Isaiah, that, “I am a man of unclean lips and I live among a people of unclean lips,” God’s holiness is not a “scorched earth policy.” His holiness is not only a consuming fire, it is the righteousness that redeems and transforms the unclean and makes them children.
Living in Glad Confidence
This is the kind of transformation for which we yearn…the capacity to be soberly serious, yet eagerly light as we engage our hearts, families, communities and the world. In other words, to live hilarious lives…
