I just recently went to the dentist. Even though I had lapsed on my visits I received a clean bill of health other than one filling that needed replacing, done by my childhood family dentist Dr. Jones, that was older than our adult children and had cracked since my last dentist visit.
Dr. Jones was my dentist from as long as I could remember right up until I left Albany years ago. Ridiculously nice guy, and that is saying something considering how many fillings I received from him. I have so much metal in my mouth that I can pick up Seattle morning radio on a clear day.... Aaand back to our regularly scheduled program. From childhood through college I used to look up at him from the chair and think he was a giant of a man. Must be at least 6'4" or so I thought. Over the years I grew, but my perception of his towering presence remained.
Dr. Jones was my dentist from as long as I could remember right up until I left Albany years ago. Ridiculously nice guy, and that is saying something considering how many fillings I received from him. I have so much metal in my mouth that I can pick up Seattle morning radio on a clear day.... Aaand back to our regularly scheduled program. From childhood through college I used to look up at him from the chair and think he was a giant of a man. Must be at least 6'4" or so I thought. Over the years I grew, but my perception of his towering presence remained.
I worked in BJs Wholesale Club as a ticketer in Colonie, NY during college which was my favorite job to date. Come in after college classes and no more thinking. Lift boxes up, take boxes down, wield a box cutter, put on a ticket with the ticket gun, and repeat were about all the instructions needed. One night I saw someone who looked familiar, but I could not place him. Names I am awful with (still working on that one), but faces I can usually place immediately. This bugged me. Finally it dawned on me that it was Dr. Jones. What threw me was that I stood over him height wise so the disparity between perception and reality rendered him momentarily unrecognizable to me. Was he taking a day off from wearing his lifts? No, the fact of the matter was that he was the same, but my perspective had changed. After a rotating cast of dental hygienists had finished lacerating my gums cleaning my teeth, I had always looked up at him from the comfort of the articulating La-Z-Boy and for the first time I was standing next to him. Vantage point shift.
Perspective:
Has the reality of a personal hero's character vs. your perception of them ever rendered them temporarily unrecognizable to you? Dr. Jones was the same, but my perspective had changed. It threw me for a moment like realizing your favorite larger than life action movie or TV star was really no taller than the average Joe. I got past it quickly enough, because ultimately it was irrelevant and did not change who he was or change the fact that he was a great dentist and person.
Expectations:
The more I thought about it the more I started thinking about other people that, as I progressed through life, had stayed the same, but my perspective of them had changed thus impacting my perception of them. They were good people through and through, but as a child does at times I had turned good people into mythic individuals who could do no wrong. Later when their mortal selves became revealed through the lens of maturity it caused a paradigm shift. I learned early not to view people as absolutes. The best man or woman contains some folly, and we are all a work in progress. Though it could be said that an individual I placed too high an expectation on had come short of my ridiculous expectations it would be more accurate to say that I was irresponsible for thrusting such a mantle upon them without their urging, unbeknown to them.
My perspective changed when I stood beside them (being careful not to think ourselves above another) rather than viewing them up on a pedestal of my own fabrication. I have heard grown people harboring ill will towards those that “let them down”, but are those individuals at fault or is the real issue that they were placed on a pedestal they had no business being put on in the first place? Like the Samaritan woman we can mistakenly compare the temporary things man has to offer, Jacob and his literal water in this case, with the permanence of what Christ has to offer, which is living water.
John 4:7-14
7 A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” 8 For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.
9 Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.
10 Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”
11 The woman said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? 12 Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?”
13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”
Perspective:
Has the reality of a personal hero's character vs. your perception of them ever rendered them temporarily unrecognizable to you? Dr. Jones was the same, but my perspective had changed. It threw me for a moment like realizing your favorite larger than life action movie or TV star was really no taller than the average Joe. I got past it quickly enough, because ultimately it was irrelevant and did not change who he was or change the fact that he was a great dentist and person.
Expectations:
The more I thought about it the more I started thinking about other people that, as I progressed through life, had stayed the same, but my perspective of them had changed thus impacting my perception of them. They were good people through and through, but as a child does at times I had turned good people into mythic individuals who could do no wrong. Later when their mortal selves became revealed through the lens of maturity it caused a paradigm shift. I learned early not to view people as absolutes. The best man or woman contains some folly, and we are all a work in progress. Though it could be said that an individual I placed too high an expectation on had come short of my ridiculous expectations it would be more accurate to say that I was irresponsible for thrusting such a mantle upon them without their urging, unbeknown to them.
My perspective changed when I stood beside them (being careful not to think ourselves above another) rather than viewing them up on a pedestal of my own fabrication. I have heard grown people harboring ill will towards those that “let them down”, but are those individuals at fault or is the real issue that they were placed on a pedestal they had no business being put on in the first place? Like the Samaritan woman we can mistakenly compare the temporary things man has to offer, Jacob and his literal water in this case, with the permanence of what Christ has to offer, which is living water.
John 4:7-14
7 A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” 8 For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.
9 Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.
10 Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”
11 The woman said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? 12 Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?”
13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”
A few points.
Let folks off of the hook
- People are not the source. Like Jacob, the best water they can offer will only satisfy for a little while.
- In church we can look to other people too often instead of Christ if we are not careful.
- A few folks had promised me a sure shot at a job once I graduated college, but when I came to see them afterward with degree in hand they really had no help to give. I let them off of the hook because.
- Intent vs. content. The content of their assistance was non-existent, but they had good intentions when they offered help.
- Perhaps they did not realize they did not have influence they thought they had until the time came to help. That is a sobering enough realization by itself without my bellyaching added on top.
- v13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again,
Look inside yourself
- Gifts have been given to you by Christ that will open doors to the promises of God, but they first require action on your part.
- The world gets caught up with hand outs and freebies, but as my father taught about the gifts of man “Anything easily obtained usually is not worth having.”
- I mentioned above that some promised assistance once I graduated college. Ultimately their promises inspired me to finish college. I did not have their help, but I did have a degree and with God's help and perseverance I went on to find a job for myself far better than what anyone had offered, namely an engineering job at GE. They did me a favor by not helping me.
- If someone gives you something you have to go back to them the next time you are in need. That which you obtain, in God’s strength, no one can take away and if you do lose it you know how to replace it.
- Notice that that in the process of gaining access to the living water Jesus first required her to draw water for him. Serving Christ was essential.
- v7 A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.”
Look to God not Man
- A whole lot of people have been hurt by putting people on a pedestal only intended for God. Pastors burnt out. People disappointed.
- v14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”
ELW
